Portsmouth Ohio usually doesn’t get much respect in Ohio.  A once prominent city at the confluence of both the Ohio and Scioto river, this port city was once booming.  However, the once flourishing town has seen decades of decline since the 1960s.  Factories, which were once plentiful, have sequentially left…shops have closed up as big box stores have come in.  Then came the drugs.  But, things have started to look better recently with a better town and college collaboration and some revitalization and new boutique shops and restaurants.  Maestro’s must be counted among them.   

Maestro’s, a new restaurant in the Portsmouth scene, brings some third wave Mexican cuisine to the area.  Excellent Mexican dishes can be found, although some specialization is needed, and many items on the menu were previously unseen outside of cities.  Thus, the tides of time might be changing for the better, at least in the Portsmouth food scene.  

Located in a nondescript former house, Maesto’s provides an excellent atmosphere.  The location is actually quite good, it is directly across the street from the municipal parking lot, which is luckily free (thankfully towns like Portsmouth finally realized that paying for parking in a dying downtown was moronic and have removed the meters).  The interior is tasteful and has a vibe like a Californian Mexican restaurant.  

Maestro’s has a good menu with many options.  The Big Red Burrito is one full of many meats (ham, steak, and bacon) and is grilled to perfection.  The Burrito California is a steak burrito.  Both were similar, but the Big Red has more flavor.  Chilaquiles are a good option and the tortillas are both crunchy and infused with chile verde.  The chips and salsa appear to be made in house, the salsa is basic but good; a hotter salsa is available at request and is likely your best option.  The children’s menu provides some good options that would satisfy most palates. 

The quality control is good, but there is still a lot of superfluous cheese and sour cream sauces that are listed with many dishes.  These both detract from many meals and you do have to watch and ask for them to be removed to avoid making the meal bland and boring.  It would be good if they were opened for breakfast since they offer many good Mexican breakfast dishes, but it’s also doubtful if the local market would view Mexican as “breakfast” cuisine yet.