I'll premise this by saying I had very high hopes for this experience because we recently relocated…read morefrom Texas, and after reading the reviews, I thought we may have a restaurant that contended with the authentic Mexican and TexMex we got down there.
But alas, I don't think we will return to The Battleground.
The service was awkward. The hosts and our waiter were, for a lack of better words, socially awkward young men dressed like they just left school and may have tossed their backpacks behind the hostess stand. It was a weird contrast for the slightly upscale prices and interior they present. The waiter seemed nervous, which, in itself isn't a bad thing, but they awkwardly lingered when it wasn't necessary and was hard to get their attention when we needed our check and to pay the bill.
The food and drinks were a mixed review. The Battleground margaritas were delicious.
The chips and salsa were not great, we mostly got a basket of tortilla shards.
My partner got three tacos--carne azada, al pastor, and fish. His big takeaway was, "they're not very hot (temperature) and they're kind of bland."
Similarly, we got the margs "spicy," but my Texas palate said, "this is spicy?" It had a tajin rim, from what I can figure. ...Maybe we're not the normal Ohioan clientele.
A bright note, the refried black beans and esquites were awesome and the esquites big enough to share.
I ordered the Pescado Veracruz, the plating and sides were good but the mahi mahi was chewy and only slightly above room temperature.
Like I said earlier, maybe I did myself a disservice by hoping to find my new favorite Mexican restaurant... but, I just don't see us going back for great margaritas and sides.