Wholly Frijoles wholly delicious in Cuyahoga Falls

Horchata at Wholly Frijoles in Cuyahoga Falls.

Attention to detail is everything.

And at Wholly Frijoles in Cuyahoga Falls, that extends to the house-made agua frescas and margaritas, the birria that cooks for 14 hours at a low temperature, and the huge burritos chock full of fresh, delicious ingredients.

My husband, Steve, and I had an excellent lunch at this little spot in the Falls recently, which was our first visit. Our flavorful culinary experience left us asking ourselves what we'd been waiting for.

At this little restaurant, you order at the counter and walk up to get your food when it's ready. To start out, Steve ordered a mini margarita pouch ($7) in traditional lime and I went for the horchata ($7), a creamy type of agua fresca that's made with rice, water, sugar and cinnamon.

Margarita pouches are house-made at Wholly Frijoles in Cuyahoga Falls.

My sweet, rich drink was definitely large enough to share. For those interested in sharing Wholly Frijoles' house-made margaritas, jumbo pouches cost $13, offered in strawberry, mango, lime and peach flavors.

For an appetizer, Steve and I ordered street corn fries, which is all the great ingredients of elote on wonderfully seasoned fries, served with lime wedges. Elote is my favorite Mexican street food, made with roasted corn, mayo, Mexican crema, cotija cheese, freshly squeezed lime juice and cilantro.

Owner Juan Gonzalez, who said he offers elote made with local corn in the summer, switches to street corn on fries in cold weather. For his street corn fries, he adds bacon for some crunch.

The crispy fries underneath are made with a wonderful, mildly spicy Wholly Frijoles seasoning, which Gonzalez said is a secret recipe. (Steve surmised that the special seasoning was a street taco blend.)

These special fries were the star of our lunch, amid other great foods.

The street corn fries side at Wholly Frijoles is creamy elote over awesomely seasoned fries.

Wholly Frijoles started with food truck

Gonzales, who lives in Cuyahoga Falls, opened the petite, 10-seat Falls restaurant in 2021, where Hungry Howies used to be.

Wholly Frijoles started out as a food truck in 2013 and was was one of the first three food trucks in the Akron area, Gonzalez said. He now owns two Wholly Frijoles trucks.

The restaurateur has continued to grow his business, opening a larger, 32-seat Wholly Frijoles in Macedonia in 2023 and another location in May at the Market 42 food hall in Brunswick.

He also co-owns the Olive & Vine food trailer with his fiancée, Lena Brown, offering a mobile bar and charcuterie for catering events. They converted a horse trailer into the mobile bar, which also has a charcuterie cart.

Entrees we ate at Wholly Frijoles

Birria special tacos at Wholly Frijoles in Cuyahoga Falls.

For my entree, I ordered birria special tacos, whose tortillas are cooked in beef fat left from the low-and-slow birria cooking. A mix of three cheeses — Oaxaca, queso menonita and asadero — is used to make a crust on the tortilla. Birria, onion and cilantro are then added before the tortillas are folded.

The birria is served with a side of amazing consommé, which is the same broth that the beef is cooked in. Dipping birria tacos into this broth is the ultimate comfort food.

I decided to pass on salsa for my birria special but was happy squeezing lime juice onto my three, delicious tacos. I learned later that Gonzalez actually suggests doing both — putting salsa on the taco and then dipping it into the consommé.

He makes salsa packets in verde (medium), roja (hot) or diablo (extra hot).

Steve lunched on a huge campechano burrito, made with a 14-inch flour tortilla. Our friendly server, Logan Hanselman, said this burrito, which he commented is about the size of his face, is his favorite at Wholly Frijoles.

Needless to say, Steve took half of this hefty entree home, which made our 18-year-old son happy.

The word campechano means a mixture of two meats, which at Wholly Frijoles is carne asada and chorizo. It's a popular dish in Mexico City, where Gonzalez comes from.

"One of my favorite tacos down there is a campechano, so I was like, 'oh, how can we make that into a burrito?'" he said.

The restaurant's three-cheese blend is used to make a crust on the campechano tortilla for a little crunch. The massive burrito also contains Mexican rice, pinto beans, crema, avocado sauce, homemade salsa verde, more shredded cheese and lettuce.

The whole concoction is wrapped and grilled. I got a little taste of it and was impressed by the campechano's medley of flavors, namely the two meats and the creaminess that included the avocado sauce.

Plans for more seating

Wholly Frijoles in the Falls does a lot of takeout. In the future, Gonzalez plans to move a wall back into the kitchen to make room for a long bench, like a church pew, where he'll add two more tables.

Top-selling menu items at the Falls location include the birria special, all types of quesadillas and quesabirria, which is similar to the birria taco but is in a quesadilla, folded in half and cut into four pieces.

A specials board in front of the register at Wholly Frijoles in Cuyahoga Falls.

For appetizers, chorizo bean dip is popular, said Gonzalez, with chorizo, serrano peppers, beans, shredded cheese mix and queso fresco, a mild cheese.

"Everything we do in the restaurant is house-made. We do it from scratch," including marinades and a flan dessert, Gonzalez said.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or [email protected].