This list is a transcription of notes I took about the city’s Mexican restaurants when I lived in Austin, Texas. The full list includes restaurants I copied from the telephone directory (and which were listed as “Mexican restaurants” in the yellow pages). Star ratings are for the ones I visited (and in the process verified that they were in business at that time).
Many of the restaurants rated with three or four stars are ones to which I made return visits, so really the desire to enjoy good food was the purpose for making the list. Today it may also be of some historical value, or it may be of some interest for nostalgia. Only a few of these restaurants are still open today, and I think this is to be expected.
At the time most of the restaurants in the city were Tex-Mex. I made some notes about places that were New Mexico style, but this mostly means that the enchiladas had red or green chile (and were not Tex-Mex).
Fonda San Miguel was a restaurant that I visited later and discovered that it was a very good interior style Mexican restaurant. This was one of the city’s earliest non-Tex-Mex four star restaurants, and I believe was one of the earliest of its kind in the United States.
All of the restaurants rated four stars were excellent, but I particularly thought Carmen’s La Tapatia and Mexico Tipico were among the best Tex-Mex restaurants I ever tried (both of these were east of IH-35).
South Austin was pretty much the center of authentic Mexican food, and for this my favorite place was La Reyna (at least it was the place I visited most often). Now I think there are probably several hundred taquerias and similar interior style Mexican restaurants, taco stands, food trucks, etc. in the city.
My favorite place for tacos was not at any of the restaurants listed, but it was at the food counter in Whole Foods on N. Lamar. This was part of another trend which is quite popular today, but which was relatively rare in 1985.
In 1985 El Chico seems to have closed all its Austin location (at least this is what I think from reading my notes). Other chains such as Pancho’s and Monterey House were also pretty close to their ultimate closing in Austin and other cities at this time.
In 1985 Chuy’s (which is now a chain) was operating its original location on Bee Caves Rd. in Austin. I was never a big fan of it, but I went there because it was close to my house.
For a city of its size, Austin had a very good choice of Mexican restaurants, and more of them were “real Mexican” than in most other cities. I believe today Austin is one of the foremost cities for Mexican restaurants in the United States, and even in 1985 it was building up to this position.
| RATING |
RESTAURANT |
ADDRESS |
PRICES |
COMMENTS |
| DOWNTOWN & WEST |
|
Acuñas |
511 E. 1st |
|
|
|
Casita Jorge’s |
1507 Lavaca |
|
|
|
Chimichanga |
121 W. 5th |
|
|
|
El Arroyo |
1624 W. 5th |
|
|
|
JC Garcia’s |
1402 N. IH-35 |
|
|
 |
Jaime’s Spanish Village |
802 Red River |
Exp |
Hot sauce is terrible |
|
Julio’s |
1005 West Lynn |
|
|
|
Las Mañitas |
211 Congress |
|
|
 |
Manuel’s |
310 Congress |
Very Exp |
Food is OK, but not Mexican |
|
Matt’s El Rancho
|
301 E. 1st |
Exp |
Very good, but too expensive |
|
Pinch-a-Pollo |
605 Sabine |
|
|
|
Santiago’s |
604 Neches |
|
|
|
Texas Chili Parlor |
1409 Lavaca |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| UNIVERSITY & CENTRAL |
|
Abuelita’s |
2323 San Antonio |
|
|
|
Austin’s Tamale House |
2825 Guadalupe |
|
|
|
Chef Lupe’s |
2804 N. IH-35 |
|
|
 |
El Patio
|
2938 Guadalupe |
Cheap |
Best bargain in town |
|
Fajita Flats
|
2830 Rio Grande |
Mod |
Just fajitas |
|
Las Casas |
Hancock Shopping Ctr. |
|
Formerly El Chico |
|
Los Tres Bobos |
1206 W. 38th |
Exp |
Fajitas are excellent |
|
Trudy’s Texas Star
|
409 W. 30th |
Mod |
New Mexico style |
|
Tula |
608 W. 24th |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| EAST |
|
Alejandro’s |
3701 Airport |
|
|
|
Amaya’s Taco Village |
4821 E. 7th |
Mod |
|
|
Austin’s Tamale House |
3518 E. 7th |
|
|
|
Carmen’s La Tapatia |
1501 E. 6th |
Exp |
Good, but expensive |
|
Cisco’s |
1511 E. 6th |
|
|
|
Danny’s Mexico Garden |
1402 E. 6th |
|
|
|
Don Juan’s |
2300 E. 1st |
|
|
|
El Azteca
|
2600 E. 7th |
Mod |
|
|
Gilberto’s |
1500 E. 1st |
Exp |
Excellent enchiladas |
|
Hernandez Cafe |
1300 E. 6th |
|
|
|
La Cabana
|
2101 E. 1st |
Exp |
Good food, but expensive |
|
Mexico Tipico
|
1707 E. 6th |
Mod |
Caldo is good |
|
Nuevo Leon |
1209 E. 7th |
|
|
|
Peak of Tacos |
1132 Airport |
|
|
|
Su Casa |
2201 Manor |
|
|
|
Tio Tito’s |
105 Tillery |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| NORTHEAST |
|
Chef Lupe’s |
7100 Hwy. 290 East |
|
|
|
El Menudito |
7213 Cameron Rd. |
|
|
|
El Taquito |
5849 Berkman |
|
|
|
El Torito
|
6134 Hwy. 290 East |
Exp |
Some dishes are very good |
|
La Palapa |
6640 Hwy. 290 East |
|
|
|
Tres Amigos
|
7535 Hwy. 290 East |
Exp |
Okie style |
|
|
|
|
|
| NORTH |
|
Austin’s Tamale House |
5003 Airport |
|
|
|
Casa Daniel |
11835 Jollyville Rd. |
|
|
|
Casita Sanchez |
834 E. Rundberg |
|
|
|
Cecilia’s Tacos |
9614B N. Lamar |
|
|
|
Chi Chi’s |
8833 Burnet Rd. |
|
|
|
El Matador |
5343 Burnet Rd. |
|
|
|
El Rio |
4800 N. IH-35 |
|
|
|
Fonda San Miguel |
2330 W. North Loop |
|
|
|
La Fiesta |
2190 North Loop |
|
|
|
La Fiesta |
7032 Woodhollow |
|
|
|
Lala’s |
2207 Justin Ln. |
|
|
|
La Mesa |
11606 N. IH-35 |
|
|
|
La Morada |
13450 Research |
|
|
|
La Ronda
|
Research & Fairfield |
Mod- Exp |
|
|
La Talavera |
6505 N. IH-35 |
|
|
|
Lupita’s |
8127 Mesa |
|
|
|
Mario’s |
7113 Burnet Rd. |
Mod |
More NM than Tex-Mex |
|
Mexicali Rose |
2113 W. Anderson |
|
|
|
Mi Burrito |
9428 Parkfield |
|
|
|
Monterey House |
8600 Burnet Rd. |
|
|
|
Pancho’s |
5800 Burnet Rd. |
|
|
|
Pinch-a-Pollo
|
7915 Burnet Rd. |
Mod |
Chicken only thing on menu (is good) |
|
San Miguel |
2330 W. North Loop |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SOUTH |
|
Alberto’s Tapatia |
1909 Wm. Cannon |
Exp |
Not worth the price |
|
BB Mexican Food |
2210A S. 1st |
|
|
|
Casa Ramirez |
3632 S. Congress |
Mod |
Good food– good prices |
|
Chuy’s
|
1728 Barton Spgs. |
Mod |
|
|
El Gallo |
2910 S. Congress |
Exp |
|
|
El Sombrero |
3116 S. Congress |
Mod |
|
|
Jalisco Bar |
414 Barton Spgs. |
|
|
|
La Fuentes
|
6507 Circle S Rd. |
Exp |
|
|
La Reyna |
1816 S. 1st |
Mod |
|
|
Las Casas |
2610 S. IH-35 |
|
Formerly El Chico |
|
Las Palomas |
3219 Bee Caves |
Exp |
Too expensive to try |
|
Mi Tierra |
6863 Hwy. 290 West |
|
|
|
Monterey House
|
1202 E. Ben White |
Mod |
Better than the one in OKC |
|
Noemi’s Taco House |
5607 S. Congress |
|
|
|
Pancho’s |
102 E. Oltorf |
|
|
|
Salsa’s
|
4308 Manchaca |
|
|
|
Tamales by Bargas |
2448 S. 1st |
|
|
|
Tres Amigos |
1811 Capital of Texas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| SOUTHEAST & MONTOPOLIS |
|
Casa Acapulco |
1705A S. Lakeshore |
|
|
|
Casita Jorge’s |
2538 Elmont |
|
|
|
El Corral |
336 Bastrop Hwy. |
Mod |
|
|
El Sombrero |
3502 Burleson Rd. |
|
|
|
La Reyna |
2205 E. Riverside |
|
|
|
Montopolis Taco Inn |
901 Vargas Rd. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ROUND ROCK |
|
El Matador |
111 W. Main |
|
|
The four-star rating system was as follows:
|
|
Very Good. |
|
|
Good. |
|
|
Fair. |
|
 |
Poor. |
|
Was El Matate still around in ’85? It was on Red River I think where Brick Oven is now.
These restaurants were on a handwritten list I compiled from the telephone directory around 1984-85. I tried to include every Mexican restaurant in Austin, and ones with “El” in the name would have been very obvious and I’m sure I would have included them (thus I would guess that El Matate was not there in 1985). There is always the possibility for error, though, either on my part or in the phone book’s listings.
This brought back some old memories of the Austin that welcomed me. Other great places of the era were Dario’s on east 6th, Joe’s Bakery on east 7th, Texican Cafe on Manchaca Road and El Gallo on south Congress – all great places to eat and fantastic memories.
I do not know why El Gallo was not on the list. It was one of my favorite restaurants in the 1970’s but apparently I did not make a visit there during the time period in which I collected this list (about 1985). Even so, it should have been part of my list of restaurants from the phone book and I do not know if this was a transcribing error on my part. In any case, the list was meant to be a means to start a discussion, and I am glad to see people’s comments about it. I am getting to the point that I do not fully trust my memory of past events, but I remember that El Gallo frequently had a very good live mariachi band (which is one of the reasons I thought it was a special treat).
Edit: El Gallo was on my list after all. This was truly one of the great classic restaurants, and I am sorry to see that it is closed.
My Carmen’s La Tapatia story: about 1980, returned to UT for the summer after transferring out of state, chances are I was higher than a kite and only AFTER I had eaten did I discover I had no money. Carmen, herself, told me, “that’s okay; you pay me next time.” I returned ASAP with what I owed. Carmen’s was THE BEST. ❤️
Thank you. This is a great story, and not at all surprising.
A beautiful person of such sweet disposition. Thank you for letting me share these memories.
What was the Mexican restaurant on Hancock across from the Americana theater, just West of Burnett Rd? It disappeared many years ago.
This was Jorges,part of Casita Jorges,the same owner though.
Carmen’s La Tapatia was the best, no doubt about it. I use to go there with my parents every Friday nite. Number 2 on my list of all time greats was La Fiesta on North Loop at Burnet Rd. Oh how I miss the hot sauce they both made, no one has ever recreated it.
There were a ton of good Tex-Mex restaurants back in the day but the ones that stick out in my mind as being the best were Carmen’s La Tapatia in Austin and Karam’s in San Antonio. They seemed to be particularly driven to provide the best quality food which showed how delicious this regional version of Mexican food could be. I think they went beyond just showing how much cheese they could put on everything and brought out the true flavors of the cuisine.
Gilbertos quickly became one of my go-to spots in Austin for Mexican cuisine. The variety on the menu is impressive; there’s something for everyone! I tried their enchiladas, which were perfectly zesty and came with a side of fluffy rice that complemented the dish nicely. What really stood out to me was how fresh everything tasted – you can tell they prioritize quality ingredients. The staff was also very welcoming and made sure my dining experience went smoothly. I can’t wait to come back and explore more dishes from their extensive menu!