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    El Charro

    4.5 (163 reviews)
    Open 4:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

    El Charro Photos

    EL CHARRO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - El Charro

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    Reviews With Photos

    12/10/25 -Lunch smothered bean chili relleno burrito done Christmas style
    Christa M.

    We are visiting here from Dallas Tx for a few days and had a great lunch experience here. Once you order from the counter, they'll call your name to pick it up. Got my chili rellano burrito, smothered Christmas style. The green sauce was my favorite of the two. It was a little sour and had a great silky texture. The red sauce was good, however read more like an Italian gravy. Had a very mild red tomato flavor with what tasted like Italian spices. The texture was slightly chunky. The meal proportions were good, enough for leftovers. We enjoyed the chips and salsa. The rice wasn't my favorite. It was too mushy for my liking amd tasted like stovetop stuffing. I LOVE me some stovetop, just not in my mexican food.

    Brisket burrito
    Steve O.

    Best Mexican food in Carlsbad. Very reasonably priced with huge portions. The chicken quesadilla could feed a family. The brisket burrito is a steal. You order at the counter and find your own seat. The place is packed every meal.

    Quaso birria tacos
    Kevin H.

    Stopped by El Charro for lunch while passing through Carlsbad. Being from Central California, where Mexican food is abundant and diverse, I've noticed regional differences in flavors as I travel. This was my first time here, and overall, the experience was okay but not particularly memorable. The food itself was decent but not as flavorful as I had hoped. I ordered a few tacos and a rice, bean, and cheese burrito--nothing complicated--but we still ended up waiting over 30 minutes. For a restaurant where you order at the counter and they bring the food to your table, that felt like an excessive wait time, especially considering how simple our order was. The restaurant seemed clean, which is always a plus, but the staff didn't greet us when we walked in, which made the experience feel a bit impersonal. Service wasn't bad, just not particularly welcoming. All in all, it wasn't a bad meal, just not one that stood out. Since I'm just visiting, I'll probably try a different spot next time to explore what else the area has to offer.

    Foodie Y.

    Casual dining experience. Tacos were great, beans great. The rice was okay. Loved the variety of self serve condiments. Bathrooms clean. Authentic Mexican tacos here. Extra parking in the back. They also have a drive through window for to go orders. I highly recommend and would go back if I was ever in the area. Order at the counter and they can your name to pick up, don't expect table side service. Tres leches cake was good too.

    Taco platter: steak tacos and pastor tacos

    This place was seriously so good. My tacos were amazing and so flavorful. I got the platter of 4 and got 2 steak and 2 pastor, and the rice on the side was so flavorful as well. The food paired with the complimentary salsa bar and the friendly, fast service make this place a must stop!

    Menu
    Khiem N.

    The food here is fire. The place is kept clean but they aren't actively cleaning it up. Of their meats, we'd go carnitas, brisket, al pastor, asada, chorizo in that order. The orange sauce is super hot. Like 2/3 habanero hot. The brown sauce is 1/2 jalapeno hot. The cream jalapeno is just that. Creamy and hot too hot. The horchata is nice, extremely cinnamon forward. Tacos better than Torta better than Lunch burrito. Their refried beans are actually kind of fire. The rice is great too. They've got like 10 people working here just pumping food out. Oh yeah, there's even a drive through! If you're in the area you owe it to yourself to stop by and eat here.

    Jessica D.

    4 tacos for $13 is not too bad! It even comes with rice and beans. We ordered our food to go and it took a long time because I think they forgot to punch in our order :(

    Birria Quesdilla
    Alan Z.

    Came on a weekday day and it wasn't busy. Ordered 3 things First was the birria quesadilla and it was too dry. I dipped it inside the soup and it didn't help that much. The meat was just overcooked. I got a steak burrito that also had the same issue. Was too dry. The chicken tacos weren't as dry but it was just grilled chicken so nothing special.

    Gabby K.

    This place is awesome - you order at the counter and then sit down. The best part is the salsa bar where you can grab a multitude of different salsas for your tacos. We tried the steak, brisket, and chorizo tacos and they were great with the cilantro and onion! Food came out pretty fast!

    tacos with rice and beans
    Luna L.

    tender meat. very delicious. lots of seating available though they get busy. nice servers too

    Star B.

    Staff is great here!! Food was good. I ate light because the flight here was turbulent and I don't have an appetite .. The restaurant runs hot so if you are looking for a cold place because its super hot out, this might not be comfy for you. There's an icecream shop next door!!

    Cocktail shrimp

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    2 months ago

    Long wait times and rude employees for food that is mediocre compared to other options in the area.

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    3 months ago

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    7 months ago

    The food was okay. But one thing I liked was it tasted like home cooked foot. The fried egg had bad oil smell that turned me off.

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    10 months ago

    The food here is amazing the service is great and fast and ambiance is well ,clean,but you can't beat the food and prices!

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    Page 1 of 5

    Ask the Community - El Charro

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    Carnicería San Juan de los Lagos - Worth the Detour, Even Years Later…read more Some places stay with you. So much so that five years later, on a completely different road trip, you find yourself checking the map and thinking... "we're kind of close." Back in 2021, while exploring nearby national parks, we stumbled across Carnicería San Juan de los Lagos and loved it. This time, on our way to White Sands National Park, we made a small detour to see if it still held up. First surprise... I barely recognized the area. What used to feel like the middle of nowhere has filled in. Suburban life has arrived. Growth happened. But the place? Still there. Still good. Inside, it keeps that same warm, easy charm. Cute wood, farm-style Mexican decor, nothing fancy, just welcoming. The space has grown too, now clearly divided into restaurant, carnicería, and panadería, which means more reasons to linger. And the smell when you walk in? That alone could convince you to stay. Service was just as we remembered, sweet, friendly, and genuine. The kind that makes you feel like a regular even if you've been gone for five years. We went with pozole and shrimp tacos, and both delivered. Flavorful, comforting, exactly what we were hoping for. It's always a bit of a gamble revisiting a place you loved years ago. This one paid off. Still a favorite. Still worth the stop.

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    El Charro - mexican - Updated May 2026

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