Family-owned La Casa Mexicana voted best restaurant in Mahoning Valley for tacos
The results are in, and one family-owned restaurant in Boardman is the winner of Mahoning Matters’ best-tasting tacos poll for 2026.
Since opening at U.S. Route 224 and Market Street in Boardman, the Mahoning Valley community has fallen in love with La Casa Mexicana, owned by Maria and Elena Hernandez and open since 2023.
“I think what makes us different is not only like our food, the taste of our food, we try to stay as authentic as possible, but also the atmosphere that we always get, you know, compliments on people, you know, of how nice our staff is, and how welcome they feel when they walk in, because we do, we try to make sure, you know, we try to recognize people, you know, you’re not just another customer, you eventually become part of the family,
The Hernandez family essentially grew up in the restaurant industry, according to Maria Hernandez, working in various positions under the guidance of their dad.
“My brother started with our first location in Wadsworth in 2001, but my dad had a restaurant for almost over 15 years in North Ridgefield,” she said. “He sold it in 2020, and we thought we were done. I moved to Mexico; my sister had a kid. My dad unofficially retired, and then a few years later, we realized we were missing the restaurant.”
When the Hernandez family started looking for a new restaurant space, the previous business owner at 7334 Market St. recommended the family check out his space in Boardman.
“They were like, ‘We need to find someone to take over,’ because the business wasn’t doing too great,” she said. “My sister and I didn’t event know where Boardman was, but after seeing pictures, we drove in, and it literally took five steps in the door for us to know. As we started driving back and forth to see the building, we realized how many Mexican restaurants are in the surrounding areas, but we knew we could offer something different. There are so many people in the area that there is business for everyone, so we just wanted to do what we knew how to do since we started working alongside my dad when we were teenagers.”
In April, Maria was an honorary inductee into Boardman High School’s Spanish National Honor Society, showcasing the community’s appreciation for the business owner.
“Our strategy was to start slowly and try to build up a clientele to make sure that everybody that comes in loves the food; that way, they return again,” she said. “Once word started spreading, we have had such a great response for our customers and business has been continuing to grow, which is a good sign. That’s how we ended up here, and now, it’s home.”
While Maria and her sister, Elena, are managing the restaurant, Maria’s husband Marcos is in the kitchen, while Juan, Elena’s husband, runs the bar.
“My brother-in-law works the bar, and he makes sure that every margarita that comes out is consistent and everything is to the standard,” Maria said. “Depending on the day, we all wear a different hat.”
In addition to the dining area, La Casa Mexicana also hosts events like graduation, bridal and bachelorette parties in the attached banquet hall.
“Mexican food might not your typical banquet food in the area, but when you have a Mexican theme with margaritas, you’re gonna have fun. Who doesn’t love a margarita?” she said. “I always say someone has either had a taco in their life or they have had fajitas, so you can’t go wrong because most people have been exposed to that. It’s nice for entire families because they have something that they have tried in the past, even if that’s not the regular food that they eat on a normal basis.”
Some of the customers’ favorite dishes at La Casa Mexicana are the birria tacos and the taco sampler platter with five corn tortilla tacos, including steak, carnitas, al pastor, chorizo and grilled chicken, topped with onions and cilantro, according to Maria.
When she visits Mexico, Maria said she’s always inspired to bring back something new for her customers to taste, like seafood dip.
“I love Mexico, and I love the food. When I was visiting Aguascalientes, I had the tacos gobernador, which are shrimp tacos,” she said. “The first time I tried birria tacos, it was in Mexico in 2014. I’ll be on vacation and look at the dish then start thinking, ‘We have all these ingredients at the restaurant, why not put it together?’”
La Casa Mexicana has drink specials every day of the week as well as lunch specials Monday through Saturday.
“Hopefully with the lunch specials, people can try a little bit of everything and stay within a budget,” Maria said. “We’re hoping to find a few employees that will love to help us out. We have a couple years on the lease here, so we hope to continue to grow. We hope to expand our banquet center. People always talk about having new locations, but this is our this is our home. We want to make sure that it continues to stay the way it is: consistent with good food and good service. For that, it takes a lot of effort and a lot of hours in our part.”
