We got there at 545 on a sat and it was packed with an 1.5 hr wait! We learned that you can just for in and sit at the bar or one of the long tables next to it and you can order a full dinner without waiting. We did just that and didn't have to wait as long! We are vegetarian but I was really for the hemp stuff. We went with three kids and ordered two kids meals (which comes on a tray and comes with rice/beans, apple sauce and a drink. We got one quesadilla one and one beans and cheese burrito one and it was plenty for my three. My husband and I shared the Tucson's Enchiladas Sonorenses and although it sounded weird, it was really good. It was less of an enchilada and more of its own thing. The crunch was nice! Despite how crowded and busy it was, the hostesses and wait staff were so nice and patient through it all. read more

El Charro Cafe - Tucson's Enchiladas Sonorenses - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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If it's traditional Mexican you're looking for, this is the closest you'll get. Supposedly since 1922 the same family has ran this place and it definitely shows! Great food, attentive service, and a good place to fill up! The michelada was just the right amount or salty, spicy, and sour! I like that they give you a full pint and not just mix in the glass. My burrito was amazing with a great carne beef jerky saltiness. I do like things a little more wet but their salsa definitely hit the spot there! I found out late there's a spicy version so if you're a fan like I am, make sure and ask for it! Great food, go for it! Cheers! read more

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Always good. A go-to when we are in the area. Excellent food and service. Fun atmosphere, too.

Great food but waited a full hour for food, waitress and manager just said the kitchen was slammed...ok, but they never told us that until we got our food, never apologized for the wait, didn't show much professionalism. read more

once again, el charro pleased us all. the server, Miguel, was super friendly and competent. he kept checking on us despite being busy. the food was outstanding, authentic, and came exactly as we ordered it. read more

When visiting Tucson, El Charo WAS one of my favorite go to restaurants. We recently had dinner at the Sunrise address restaurant. The service was horrible. Obviously the waiter and bus boy didn't get along and even had words near the earshot of guests. The food was served and the server disappeared for long periods of time never available for simple requests. I had to eat my food cold while waiting. The quality of my dinner was very poor. I will probably return at another visit giving them another chance. Stay tuned. I hope others don't have the same experience as my family did! read more

Amazing flavor in everything prepared. Reynoso Chicken and Chicken Mole are my favorites. Ihave had many of the items on the menu.

Food and drinks were so good. Blackberry margarita was very fresh. We had tortilla soup, tacos, veg fajitas, charro carne deco enchiladas and combo 100. Everything was delicious. Will definitely be back. read more

The most satisfying Mexican experience we have had to date. Outstanding cuisine, fantastic service. read more

El Charro Cafe - Crispy Chicken Flautas - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Food was Devine! Went for lunch on Kolb and sunrise, after a great hike at Sabino Canyon. Sangria was incredible. Service was great. Patio was available with beautiful weather on our side near fireplace. My only disappointment was, when we got the bill, it required to sign for the not so cheap lunch (which is perfectly fine with me) but on the tip area for server, requested a tip for cooks. I was shocked and it was upsetting. Isn't that why you pay $18.00 for enchiladas for lunch to cover the cooks cost? We felt nickeled and dime, which cheapened the experience. Might as well charge to use the bathroom too at that point. Yikes. read more

El Charro Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Awesome place- friendly staff, awesome food. Abondigas delicious, michelada, tacos and enchilada combo platter. Will definitely be back to try more of the menu- was very full and very happy leaving. read more

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Excellent food every time. Even on Friday night, crazy busy, but our service was first rate. Our server Ramon M was attentive without being obtrusive. Always bring visitors here for the best Mexican food in Tucson read more

This is not true Mexican food. Also, the service was horrible. A party that came in after us had already eaten and was leaving by the time we actually ordered. read more

Same great food and service they have been known for with the oldest family owned Mexican restaurant in the US!

The food and drinks are fantastic! Real authentic Mexican food, coming from someone born and raised in Mexico. The issue is the service. This is our third time there and we were forgotten again. In the two hours we were there my drink was never refilled, other people wanted other drinks/deserts and nothing. The server did apologize this last time and gave us 1 free desert, but they need to do better. read more

I live in Phoenix, but whenever I'm in Tucson visiting family, El Charro is our favorite restaurant! We have had many meals and celebrations here. The food is outstanding, and the employees always go above and beyond to make our dining experience memorable. I highly recommend it! read more

What a joke. Come in and get sat at an outside table. 7minutes go by, no server. Move to the bar, five more minutes.......no bartender. The manager is at a register running reports and the hostess (maybe 17) do nothing. Voting with my wallet and never coming back read more

Love original tacos and margaritas love the patio dining in this fall weather. Highly recommend AAA+++ service

I placed an order on Cinco De Mayo with El Charro's online ordering service. When we were done it charged a pending transaction and started a countdown clock for "accepting our order". The clock ran out, and the website said our order had been cancelled. Today our card was charged for that order. I called every day to check on this, no one has called us back, and now I'm sitting on hold with my bank for over an hour to dispute a charge with a merchant who provided no service. (This happened with two merchants in one day! The other was Guadalajara grill) I'm pissed. read more

El Charro Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

I try really hard every time I come to love it as much as everyone claims but without fail it always falls short. The service at this location is consistently terrible. Last night my husband was drinking water and needed a refill there was a table close by and the server grabbed a water off of that table the people weren't using and placed it on ours instead of refilling it, absolutely unacceptable and definitely a health code violation. The menu is not great at describing what items come with. We ordered a cheese crisp and it came with a spicy sauce on top which I would of asked for it without had I known. I gave three stars because I think have potential but they just really fall short on some major things read more

I was looking forward to trying this place while on vacation. It was recommended by a friend. It was so disappointing! I had a hard time deciding what to get because every dish had one or two things that I was unfamiliar with. We ordered cheese dip thinking that's a good starting point. Wrong! It had to be cut with a knife! What? Why? They brought out the wrong dish for my meal. I had to wait for it to be made while my husband ate his dinner. Less than 50/50, so 2 stars. read more

We went in to El Charro i believe it was May 16th to hopefully get our wedding reception catered on May 21st. I know it was very short notice. We walked in an asked to speak with a manager. Deme introduced herself and asked how she could help. We told he we need our wedding catered for the upcoming Saturday. She said that wouldn't be a problem. She showed us their catering menu and really got involved and recommended their most popular choices. When we finish meeting with her moments later we were all set. She really made it easy we picked out a big variety a dishes (fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, mini chimis, taquitos rice, beans, chips and salsa, cheese and so much more) we left excited but actually mostly nervous because it felt too easy. Long story short Saturday came and my sister went to pick up all the food. Deme personally met with her and helped load every into her car. When it arrived moments later the food was still very hot and everything was AMAZING PERIOD. We were blown away could not have asked for more. Thank you thank you thank you Deme and El Charro Beyond Perfect TROY AND AMY read more

El Charro Cafe - EL CHARRO - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

We love bringing out of town guests here. Good and restaurant represents Tucson in the best of ways.

We arrived at 6:00 for a reservation at 6:00. Hostess said it will be after 6:20 before we can be seated. I asked for for free drinks while we wait. (I'd have been happy with an iced tea.) Nope. However, we did get seated before 6:20 and the food was great, as always. p.s. I wish Yelp would let me unselect the Food chip, but it doesn't. My only complaint was with the hostess. read more

Holy Tamales. These tamales are amazing. I would suggest getting the platter because you can try different options. Next time I'm in Tucson I will be coming by and having them again! read more

El Charro Cafe - Tamale platter - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Great service and food! Amazing waiter amd ambiance. We had so much fun. Can't wait to return. Amazing food!

We had out of town company and invited our whole family to join us There was 17 of us we were easily seated. The service was great the food was spot on and the ambiance was fabulous. Totally Mexican all the way. We had such a wonderful time and made a lasting fun memory. Once again El Charro never disappoints.. read more

Had a fantastic late lunch at El Charro today! Great service for our large group, very attentive to the whole table. Food was delicious! I recommend getting different entrees and sharing! read more

El Charro Cafe - Charro style beef tacos - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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I have dined at some of the finest establishments from Los Angeles to New York and never have I encountered more friendly staff than here at El Charro. Everybody from the hostess to the manager was warm and inviting. Our server Bridgette was warm, friendly, attentive, and welcoming. She went above and beyond to make sure my friends and I had a stellar dining experience. Hailing from Southern California, my palette for Mexican food is developed and dining here has only raised the bar for me. The food is authentic, the ingredients fresh and I can just tell the dishes are made by chefs that are passionate about what they do. I look forward to my next visit ! read more

Very disappointed of the service (waitress didn't know if they had a spicy salsa). The quality of the items for the happy hour is not the best. The tomatoes on the tacos were really old. Cheese crisp was alright, but again I wish they had a spicy salsa.... the beans were horrible, I assumed they were from a can. Not sure if I ever come back. read more

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We ordered a carne seca burrito, albondigas soup, carne seca platter and an order of original tacos. The carne seca platter is described as,"A deliciously grande portion of our world-famous Carne Seca." Which is not that at all... it is smaller than the burrito, they did not give us the tortillas or guacamole... there was a couple tablespoons of calabacitas, if that. Everything was mediocre for how expensive it was. The bar tender was not busy or paying attention. I wouldn't recommend coming here. They do not care about the quality of their food and appear only to be interested in charging the most for the least amount of effort. Stay away snowbirds they are looking for you. read more

El Charro Cafe - A small portion of carne seca and whatever laziness they put into this. - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

LOVE si charro!!!! delicious food and friendly people!!!! from the cheese crisp with chicken, bacon and avocado to the enchiladas and then flan-so good! read more

Not so good carne asada. Others at table enjoyed their meal, but the two of us that had carne both agreed it was poor.

El Charro has gone downhill since COVID-19. They now have bad attitudes, the food isn't any good, and the prices are way high.

Yummy I've wondered through the menu and everything I have ordered has been delicious And Cassie is our favorite waitress she fast and never forget anything Great for all celebrations !!! read more

El Charro is doing a great job under tough circumstances if COVID social distancing. We order from them and they are right there with your order when you drive up. Even Margaritas to go! Can't beat the carne read more

It was our first night in Tucson and we were craving some Mexican food. It was only 4:00pm, and we wanted delivery, El Charro was close by and open! We read the menu and decided to share their Carne Seca with the shrimp ceviche appetizer. The ceviche was outstanding with great flavors. The carne seca was a bit lifeless, seemingly overcooked and tough, with not much flavor. (Not sure if it would have been better at the restaurant than delivery). The squash and corn side to the seca was delish. The guacamole and pico de gallo was good as well. The corn tortillas and the corn chips didn't have any flavor, not even salt. We would go back again just for the civiche, and try something else as well. Happy hour 2-6pm! read more

If you want authentic Mexican food and drinks don't come here. Very whitewashed mexican food. Service was fine but the food wasn't. I wouldn't come back. Looked around and saw a specific audience who was eating there which was very telling and should've been a sign to eat elsewhere. read more

I asked several times if they could turn the AC to a more comfortable temperature. The manager insisted that it was set at 70, however as you can clearly see.. it's at 82. He said, "the AC is not broken. It is just humid outside." Hello. This is Tucson. It's not humid. Fix the AC! My friend said the food was good. I couldn't eat because my stomach was getting nauseous as it was so hot in this restaurant. People started clearing out quickly. read more

El Charro Cafe - Thermostat at the restaurant today - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

This was our first time at this location. We went on a Thursday evening, getting there about 5:45, and were told it was a 30-40 minute wait. We needed patio seating so we could have a little puppy with us. There were four of us in our party and we all ordered something different. We each enjoyed our meals and most of us needed take home boxes because there was so much food. We started out with complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa had a nice amount of kick, but wasn't overpowering. I got the chicken fajitas and they were able to substitute calabacitas for the rice and beans. It came with pico, sour cream, and guacamole, as well as two tortillas. Others in my party ordered the steak chimichanga, carne asada burro, and a vegetarian salad. Our server was attentive and willing to make substitutions for dietary needs. Other workers were making sure we had plenty of water and refill of chips. Dirty dishes were removed promptly when we were finished eating. It was a relaxing, pleasant experience. read more

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