Stopped at the TUS airport location for breakfast and to wait for our flight home. Chilaquiles Scramble was outstanding and made to order (no frijoles for me). Nice decor and lots of good beverage choices. I would eat here again. read more

The wait was long but worth the wait. The menu is extensive. I had the chicken Verde tamale. EXCELLENT! I was on my own and did not have a margarita but heard they were great from people who were also waiting. Three restaurants would love to eat st all if them - longest working Mexican restaurant in the county. read more

Dissatisfied with the albóndigas. It was served with rice in the soup but rice was not cooked with the albóndigas. It tasted like they added rice that is made for every thing else. Very sour and tangy. The corn tamales are good. read more

Wow. Nothing like the pictures I have seen. Whats sad is this is the best option at TIA. With El Charro being a Tucson staple you would think they would want to show people how good it could be. But wait, just like the rest of Tucson its a disappointment in execution. read more

El Charro Cafe - Burrito and something that fell on the plate that might be pico? - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Stopped by here on a flight back home. There weren't many options at this airport for food and also I always love some good Mexican food, so I thought I would give it a try. The menu touts this as the first Mexican restaurant in the US and as voted one of the best. Those are some big claims! As far as service goes, everything was excellent. Very fast and very friendly service. I got my plate in under five minutes! I got the el natural margarita and it was great! For food I ordered the combination tres, which has a shredded beef enchilada and a beef tamale. They were both pretty good and I did like the red chile. Definitely not the best I've had..but they were good! All in all, I had very fast friendly service here with a good drink and good, but definitely not exceptional Mexican food. read more

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I had the Heuvos rancheros for breakfast. The service was quick and friendly. The meal was good too. The plastic plate and utensils was a bummer. If I was sitting down I would like a real plate and utensils. read more

My brother and mother raved about this place. So I was happy to come and grab a bite given I had to be at the airport two hours early. I walked into the restaurant. There were two signs to both sections of the restaurants saying please be seated so I walked into the area with free tables and a nearby plug so that I could get some work done while I had lunch. I sat there for 20 minutes and no one took my order. Then a very snotty rude angry seeming woman with short blonde hair came over and said "you can't be here". I said well, I was waiting for someone to take my order. She said the section is closed. She then accused me of taking down a barrier to get into that section! What the heck? I explained that it was open with a sign that said please be seated. No barrier. She was incredibly rude and kicked me out of that section. At that point, I had no interest in giving this place any business. Walked next-door, where the service was pleasant and got lunch there. read more

Perfect burgers are hard to find, but I definitely found one today (10/27/19)!!! Before catching my flight to LA, I thought I'd check out the menu. My bartender, Lilly, kindly greeted me as I sat down. I ordered the 1/2lb Charro Burger and it was AMAZING! It arrived quick, just the way I ordered it, perfectly cooked edge to edge, accompanied by fries with an EXCELLENT seasoning on them. All of it was dipped in the side of chipotle mayo that I asked for. SO. DAMN. GOOD. It's almost worth a trip to Tucson, just for the burger. Thanks Lilly & kitchen staff!!! read more

El Charro Cafe - The PERFECT BURGER!!! - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Went to the restaurant on Kolb at Sun Rise and it was fantastic. Great view of the Catalina's and ambiance was well done. Anytime in Tucson is a must place for Mexican food. read more

Good all around Mexican eats with nice drinks. It's got a great outdoor seating area too.

We ate here with friends one morning before an early flight. Brueggar's Bagels was open but the line was so long that we decided to try this location even though we haven't had very good luck with other locations. We should have stuck to our original instinct, bypassed this place and stood in the long line as we would have at least had a good meal before our flight. We both ordered the breakfast burritos and I don't know how they managed to make something so bland with absolutely no flavor is beyond me but it was not good at all - especially here in Tucson where we have some of the best Mexican food in the U.S.! read more

If you are the mood for some very good Mexican food then I would highly recommend you come here. The food is great, the drinks are great and the servers are amazing. By the way also try their Tres Leche Cake as it is delicious. read more

El Charro Cafe - El Charo - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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My wife and I stopped in for a couple of quick margaritas before our flight. The house margaritas were decent size, not too syrupy, and had a decent pour of tequila in them. read more

Amazing food! No wonder this place is always packed. I got the combo 2 which came with a chicken tamale, chicken enchilada, beans and rice. I had them swap the enchilada sauce for blanco sauce. Everything had an amazing flavor and complimented each other. The tamale was the best tamale I have ever eaten. Third time visiting and three times satisfied. I highly recommend the chicken tamales with blanco sauce. read more

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If you are going to have a restaurant in an airport you have to be reasonable with service. Seems to be a trend based on other comments. I sat down at a table, ordered a water right away and watched for ten minutes as she attended to everyone else who sat down at the bar after me. I walked up to simply give her my food ordered and she stated I will come to you.. Which never did happen. So she basically wasted my opportunity to eat before my flight as there are not many options and I would not have had time to restart the process. I might be Hangry on this flight.. read more

The rice was hard and under cooked and food was served cold. Somewhat understandable to be served on plastic plates and plastic ware, but the product was just really done in a bare minimum take pride in what's being served way. The classic margarita was on sweeter side but most tolerable thing ordered. A sad disappointment. read more

It's an ok spot when waiting for the plane, we only ordered cocktails this time since we weren't impressed with their chips and salsa from our last visit. One server and she's busy, our flight was delayed so many of us are hanging out here. One thing that's not good, something is bad in their water... funky taste, even in the ice cubes. read more

I stopped in for lunch before my flight. They had cleared out tables to maintain social distancing and had virtual menus available. I ordered a bean chimichanga and it was great. I also got a house margarita and it was just what the doctor ordered. My server was Matt. He was friendly and took really care of everyone. In these times that try our souls, my experience was really pleasant. read more

Original is located downtown bragging to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in the United States along with inventing the Chimichanga. Since 1922! I went with the Huevos Rancheros - spectacular. Place is spotless, very clean and the service was excellent at the bar. Highly recommend if you are stuck at the Tucson airport. Enjoy! read more

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I have been to the original one in downtown Tucson many years ago. One of only a handful of places to eat inside Tucson's mini airport. Disappointed that they don't offer the iconic carne seca in this location. Tried their grilled chicken quesadilla and the flavor was definitely there. Not necessarily the grilled taste. It was more shredded chicken like than grilled. Certainly a good place for a quick bite. Only concern is there is almost always a solo server. read more

Food was delicious and consistent, you can count on it being what it is - fresh guacamole with large chunks of avocado! Chips were also fresh. They have a bar in the middle with TVs showing flight schedules and sports, along with tables with a nice ambiance. It was busy but not wait. They were out of coffee and had to grab some "across the hall" for me, which was fine. read more

Drinks good, poor bartender ran himself ragged. Food pitiful, avoid at all costs. Sadly nothing else available at the airport.

No idea how the food is. I took a seat at the open bar, sat there for 10 minutes, and was never even acknowledged. Waitresses were asking for drInk orders multiple times and still getting it wrong. They were growling at the cooks in the back. No thanks. Getting some chicken strips from the very polite kids at the burger place next door. read more

$17 for a small portion of cubed chicken, rice and beans? you're a Tucson landmark and iconic restaurant. Shame on you!!

el charro downtown was excellent service and food I had Carlotta chicken mole plate delicious also had the desert mini chimI cranberry sauce yummy a must try with ice cream read more

The original El Charros always gets our seating times wrong. This is the 3rd time & we live here! Overly busy with apparently not enough good staff. Will not recommend. read more

Airport version ridiculous. Very limited menu. A burrito that is just meat in a wrap! And for $16 read more

El Charro downtown was one of my favorite restaurant visits on a recent trip to Tucson so I was extra excited when I saw a smaller version with easily accessible bar seating in my terminal at the airport. Everything about this visit was delightful minus my slightly larger 10$ beer, but I suppose that is to be expected in any airport dining establishment. FYI, even the El Charro 95th amber ale was exceptional with hints of mesquite that I am already dying to have again. What originally drew me to El Charro was their vegan options, but what made me eat there twice in a week was the great flavor. At this location I had the "V" burro (it took me all week to learn that burro meant burrito in this part of the world). This is essentially a tamale inside a burrito with a bunch of veggies and a delicious sauce, I had no idea such a concoction existed, but it is now my new preferred way to eat tamales. The charro frijoles served on the side are also spectacular, possibly the most flavorful side of vegetarian beans I have ever been served. I had doubted other reviewers when they talked about how great these were, but it's absolutely true. I even tried to convince my server to tell me what made them so much better than ones served other places. I was also lucky enough to have two types of salsa to smother my food in as well, one red and one green and both out of this world. My server was awesome, extra friendly and helpful. We could see our gate from our bar seat. We were close to the bathroom. There was room for our luggage. My partner liked his non veg food too, some sort of quesadilla looking thing. I'll definitely be back if I am ever in this terminal again. read more

I do not ask much from airport food. But I had eggs and beans and the beans and tortillas were cold. I do not mean not hot. They didn't even pretend to be warmed up. read more

We went to this restaurant because it's the oldest Mexican restaurant in Tuscan. We are from Chicago so we came here expecting to be wowed. There was no wow in any of the food we ordered. My steak fajitas grossly over cooked strips of steak not chewable. The chips tasted like cheap store bought. Sour cream I could have got it in my table spoon, I asked for more sour cream , which came when we were done eating and they charged me for it. If you asked the waiter for anything, by the time you are done eating it, it came. We were a group of six and no one was really happy with their dinner. Everything was skimpy,cold poor quality & so on & so on. They are strictly living off their name in their past. 2 stars. Shame on them, they suck. I have to say this was some of the worst Mexican food WE have eaten. read more

I'd like to preface this by acknowledging that this is an airport restaurant. Additionally, the bartender was kind. My issue is with this thing they called a burrito (picture included). Only dry chicken wrapped in a tortilla. Not even beans. Not even salsa. I'm not a burrito professional but I am Mexican so I've had enough experience with burritos to weigh in on this. read more

El Charro Cafe - Dry chicken wrapped in tortilla or a "burrito" - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

They treated us terribly here. My boyfriend and I came here for our anniversary and the food was sub par and expensive, but the service was worse. We saw our waitress three times total: when she sat us, when she took our order, and when we got the bill. read more

The best Mexican place on earth! Everything is fresh and amazingly good. I love their guac and pico de gallo. Chips are unstoppable.

Airport location. Service was so-so, but the female bartender was about as surly as one can get. My wife ordered two vodka cocktails for us, along with our food. Without asking us, the bartender served us high end vodka, for which we were charged $11 per drink. I know prices at the airport are steep all around, but $11 for a shot of vodka? Really? Quesadillas were just okay, to boot. read more

We had an early flight and had time for some breakfast so we sat in El Charro to fill the belly and kill some time. We both had the scrambled eggs with beans and rice with corn tortillas. Our order came very quickly and I was amazed at the amount of food on our plates. They must use 3 eggs in the scramble and included was some guacamole and pico as well. The service was quick and friendly so all in all a great decision. read more

I had been to the downtown El Charro on this trip and enjoyed it very much. There seems to be something in the salsa that makes it so good! The enchiladas were so good. HOWEVER--NOT the same here. The place was full, the server at the bar was doing all he could to keep up but they were understaffed. Some of the other servers seemed a bit dizzy and had trouble locating the right place to drop the food. No...nobody moved. I could see training going on in the kitchen. They dont bring any salsa with the order, I had to ask TWICE and wait to finally get some. The real El Charro uses a little black three legged holder, here the small plastic thimball type cup. The enchilada downtown was wonderful, this one small and dry. The salsa didnt seem the same at all. Diners coming later than me were given menus while I still sat. The place is in need to serious help. I wondered why the original location was so good and this no NOT. I first noticed the receipts look different. Ah..thats a clue. Then I went to the El Charro website and in one place you only see three, and not the airport. Then there is a little "see all locations" click that and the airport then comes up. Google maps does not even list the airport location but does the other three. Then I notice on the bank statement the original location is listed El Charro Cafe and the airport is listed CFCSMA Joint Venture. SO, it's some sort of a joint venture and maybe they cannot control quality as well. Its also hard to keep the same quality in an airport that you can in an in house restaurant. read more

Poor service, waitress was more than rude, through me the menu and put my beer so far from that I had to stand up to grab it. I ordered beef quesadilla. First it stayed for more than 10 minutes on the kitchen counter before the waitress decided to bring it to me (easy to see when you seat at the bar) : dry, less than one once of meet and nothing else inside, beam were liquid, rice over dry. I paid $24 with a drink and left $4 tip which I think was generous regarding the service. Then I discover that I've been charge $30. Question is not for $2 but apparently waitress overwrite my bill. I made a claim at my bank. So in a nutshell Poor Service, Poor Food and on top of that they are thieves. AVOID and go get a bagel next door they are delicious and they smile at you while you place your order. read more

I will be going again! The food was amazing! Each thing we ordered got better and better! Our waitress Sabrina was the Best! She understood my kids needs and ours perfectly. She was fast,friendly and great! We were greeted by one of the cooks in back Miguel and he was awesome! We needed to compliment him personally! We love it, and them, they really made our experience so much better! Without them it wouldn't have been the same! read more

Ate here at the airport location and it was awesome. Food was hot and delicious. My order came out wrong but they quickly corrected the order. read more

Maybe it's great?? Not sure. After waiting 45 minutes for a table to open, NBD, wandered around the neighborhood, we were seated in an entirely empty section and promptly forgotten. No drinks, no chips, water, nothing. After twenty minutes with two hungry kids, a husband, and visitor from out of town we got up and left unnoticed. The hostess seemed pretty annoyed with us from the moment we arrived so perhaps we were banished to the back corner for existing?? Bummer. New locals looking for some classic fare and margaritas to love. Adios, El Charro. read more