We drove from Waikiki to try this place out. My dad and I are always on the hunt for good Mexican food. The service was friendly and the ambiance was cozy. The dishes were flavorful and we loved it soo much that we literally went back with my brother three days later! Can't wait to go back. When you go, the horchata is a must! read more

The only Mexican place on island I've found molé! I'm not sure what type of molé it is whether negro or poblano but it's friggin' delicious. It makes my brain happy. Must be all that chocolate... Everything here is simply delicious and comfort food for the soul. Get a Margarita here, it's a nice frosty refresher. It's a great family atmosphere since it's a family owned joint. Staff is always friendly and hustling since there are a lot of phone orders they also take care of. Parking is shared with Aiea Bowl, a pharmacy and Dirty Lickin's so it can get really crowded certain times of the day. read more

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I arrived here on a Sunday around 10:30am when it was just opening. I ordered their combination plate consisting of chicken enchilada with mole sauce, chile relleno, and pork tamale. Overall, their plate was very rich with cheese and their red sauce, except for the mole sauce. That sauce was fruity with a subtle sweetness and spiciness. The problem with ALL tamales and enchiladas is that the meat is usually shredded, which always make me wonder if the meat really is what the establishment says it is. Added with cheese and red sauce, there is no flavor distinction between shredded meats. I enjoyed the dish overall and it was a welcome addition to a mundane Sunday. The staff was very friendly and able to explain and make suggestions to someone who thinks Taco Bell is Mexican food. Price wise, their "Special Plates" range between $11 to $27, but they do have a selection of a la carte items for those who wish to "customize" their meal. Those items range between $0.99 to $6.25. read more

Enjoyed this awesome Mexican restaurant in Aiea. Visited this restaurant for the first time with a best friend: I ordered my favorite Chiles Rellenos, beans and rice, they also served complimentary salsa n chips. Liquor available too! Overall the food was delicious, good portions, excellent service and a really clean, comfortable, south of the border decor. Looking forward to going back there soon. Great menu selection, prices are comparable to other Mexican restaurants in the area. read more

the food is good but not good enough for the service is terrible. they are not willing to work with customers due to a food allergy and they just hang up on customers. Only reason I'm giving 2 stars is for the food. read more

Very disappointing.. ordered to go. Felt a bit rushed trying to order, my gut told me to hang up. Wanted just the burrito chicken but got the full meal instead. Upon pick up they were real nice but I noticed I could not feel any heat like the food was just made. My hunch I was right, got home and seems the food was already pre made put together and boxed, I mean no warmth or anything. I live only 10 min away, c'mon man not good and they were not even busy. Another feed back also mentioned the same thing with getting cold food. What happened to fresh cooked meals . . Sorry, negative reporting isn't something any business would like to see but people ought to know. When in doubt, check it out !! read more

I like this place. It's clean. The staff is nice. The decor is fun. The food has good flavor. On my most recent dine-in experience I decided to start with the stuffed jalapeños with chorizo. It was good and cheesy. The chorizo had decent flavor and it wasn't spicy. I decided to get my go to for any Mexican restaurant, enchiladas. Like t other dining experiences here, the enchiladas were good. The proportion was great. The chicken wasn't dry. This time they remembered my "all rice, no beans" request. Overall, a good dining experience. read more

We found a gem. The food was wonderful! It was nice having some Mexican food on our trip! Pretty close to Tex-mex.

This is my favorite for Mexican cuisine. I wish I knew about this place sooner. The portions are great and the taste is outstanding! I promise you this is as authentic as your gonna get on this island! ENJOY!! read more

It is really nice to have a restaurant in your neighborhood that serves quality food. We dined in for lunch the very first day the restaurants could open from the corona virus lock down. You feel safe dining in because the tables are partitioned and you enter one door and exit another door. The menus are plastic so they are easily disinfected and they ask you if you prefer china or paper plates, and silver ware or plastic utensils. The restaurant was just half full but the owner was there to greet everyone and even chat with you, a really nice person. We've been coming here since they opened and every time I come I have to order the stuffed jalapeños, I think they are steamed or grilled and stuffed with Mexican cheese and add chorizo if you want. Absolutely delicious because it is not deep fried. I tried the steak street tacos appetizer for my lunch and I thought that they were the best I've ever had, the tortillas were slightly crispy. My wife had the mini tamale plate which she enjoyed also. If you want some heat they will give you some hot sauce that you can add to your salsa. Also, they give you the option of chips or dessert. read more

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This restaurant is a hidden gem on Oahu. Absolutely delicious, authentic Mexican food, and the service is great too! I felt like I was at a Mexican restaurant in California! read more

Wow!! I am beyond happy that we were recommended this place! I was born in CA, moved to San Antonio, Texas, and my family is from Jalisco Mexico and this food is close to home!! We were eating at El Mariachi and probably will never go back. Yes this place is more expensive but definitely worth it in my opinion. I got a lengua burrito that was actually made the way I love, which has beans and rice inside. The rice and beans actually tasted like my moms. Horchata was delicious and sweet! Also loved the sopapillas and flan! Will definitely be back soon! Thank you! read more

We had Birria tacos. It was very good. The place was small but they had tables to sit and eat. I'll definitely be back to try the other items. read more

This place is great. To be blunt it is a hole in the wall with great servers, good food. The chicken con Crema with poblano peppers is really good. They have an extra hot sauce you can ask for and it is delicious. The chili rellano is excellent. The veggie quesadilla is excellent....give it a whirl. read more

We love the food here, my husband enjoys the burrito and I love the taco salad and the jalapeños with chorizo minus the cheese. Great chips and salsa and they have a spicy salsa you can ask for read more

I originally had given this place 1 star due to the service I had received awhile ago. But I've been coming here recently and the service has gotten ALOT better. There is usually no wait and the restaurant is always really clean. One awesome thing about this place is that they serve pitches of margaritas and they are actually good and not expensive. The margaritas are decent and the beer is always cold. Also, the food is really good here. I really dig the taco salad and the fajitas here. If you are like my boy friend and like super spicy stuff, they have super spicy salsa that is available upon request. I usually come during lunch when it's nice and quiet. This place has become one of my regular spots! read more

Not likely to blow you away but an enjoyable lunch and dinner spot to grab decent Mexican American cuisine

Such a great authentic mexican food restaurant! Good service and great food !! Definitely a hole in the wall ! read more

El Charro Mexicano - Combination plate ! - Mexican Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Hawaii tends to be a Mexican Food desert but this establishment is definitely one of the better choices on the island. For some odd reason a lot of the menu pictures in the Yelp profile are from a completely different restaurant. read more

We're from California and used to good Mexican food. I can cook some mean Mexican dishes myself so I know good homemade. We were on our way to get some food Nextdoor at the bowling alley. The pictures on the door caught my eye. We decided we had a taste for Mexican food now and would get Tastey Chicken Nextdoor for dinner. We were greeted by a nice gentleman server. Water , chips and salsa came as we were browsing the menu. We ordered a Kalua pork burrito platter and I had the bowl of menudo. Salsa was pretty good, with fresh chunks of onion and tomatoes so we knew it was not out of a bottle. Chips were crispy with fresh flavor too. Our orders arrived after a reasonable wait. My menudo was very good. Very much like homemade that I would make at home. The selection of ingredients were like I would use at home, and very generous on the amount of tripe served. The soup was thick and tastey. My wife offered me a taste of her burrito. It was excellent and you could taste the smokiness of the kalua pork. Definitely worth the extra $2 over the carnitas burrito ( we're in Hawaii) first time to pay $13 for a burrito!!! I judge my Mexican restaurants by the flavor of their rice and retried beans. Rice was good, could have used more flavor. Beans were good 4 out of 5 stars for flavor. Excellent flavor on your Chile sauce and broth in the menudo!!! 4 star overall rating, plus 1 for great flavor on your sauces. We have been to a few Mexican restaurants here on Oahu. El Charro will be one we will return to. read more

Good food, fast service very friendly staff. I ordered lihing Margarita which is the bomb! And the trio jalapeños with homemade chorizo! It's soo good! read more

You shouldn't expect much from a Mexican restaurant in Hawaii. I think oahu in general is years away from getting Mexican food right. (I'm from California, I know a thing or two about food Mexican food) That being said, I wanted to grade on a curve. Positives: Chile Verde. Absolutely delicious Negatives: dry meat on tacos, rice was bland, beans taste like canned instant beans. Authentic Mexican Tacos should never be served on a flour tortilla. That's what Taco Bell does. That mixed with dry rubbery meat makes for a garbage taco. Really disappointed to see the restaurant miss on the basics. The waitress seemed annoyed that she had to work. She would take someone's order, look down, and not ask the next person what they would like, and then awkwardly look up and stare at you like "hurry up" Not sure if it was a bad day but man this was terrible. read more

My family and I went there for breakfast and it was amazing. The staff was extremely friendly and super helpful. They asked us about our stay and helped us make the most out of our time by suggesting family friendly places to go see and spend time at. read more

Best carnits I've tried so far!!! Had steak and carnitas tacos both were on point. (Mmm the rice and beans too) The cheesy dishes are a must. Get the jalepeno queso thingies and the queso skillet you won't regret it, oh and this place has great sauces both the red and green. Compliments to the chef...still gotta try the Pollo but I was only recently introduced to this place so I'll be back! read more

Cozy little mexican restaurant located next to Aiea Bowl. Parking is plentiful, if you can't find one upstairs there should be more downstair near Times. Inside the establishment there are beautiful colorful chair designed with hispanic artwork such as a hispanic cowboy lassoing an ox. They also do deliver, only reason I knew that was while waiting on my to go order a delivery person was gathering meals. Prices also has increase a bit, so if you do look through the menu pictures on yelp (I do that all the time it is so helpful :) ) be mindful of that. I think maybe like a few dollars here and there on certain items. I ordered the chimichanga plate, stuff jalapenos and a horchata to go. All were delicious but I personally felt like there were missing something. The Chimichanga was soggy, drenched with sauce. I personally would like it if it was crunchier, still the habanero sauce they gave that was really good. The stuff jalapeños were okay nothing spectacular, maybe I should have paid a little extra for the chorizo. And the horchata had to much cinnamon for my liking. I would definitely give this place a second try. It wasn't that bad. Still will definitely read the other yelp reviews before the next visit. read more

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The Pollo crema is delicious! I've only been able to find this dish in Mexico. The rice is very good too, it had flavor, not just colored orange like most other places in Hawaii. The guacamole is nice and chunky, but it needs a little salt. My husband loves their Chile verde, hasn't found better on the island. Love the decor! This is r go to Mexican restaurant on oahu. read more

I really enjoyed my food and the service was fast and polite. Great portions. Will be back read more

Food is outstanding as well as the staff. It's my place for Mexican food. Lunch and dinner. Close to Halawa Hts.

Salsa, chips and a beer... May your take your order? Menudo please. Sorry, we are out ( of a regular menu item)! $5.23 No comp or discount. Oh, I'm sorry too. read more

We waited for someone to seat us and nobody came so we sat @ a table that still had a glass on it.. it hadn't been bussed. We waited while all the other tables were being waited on for @ least 20 min and nobody came to our table. Finally, we tapped a wait person to serve our table. We ordered a cheese enchiladas plate and a chicken tamale plate. The cheese enchiladas plate came and then the waitress told me that they didn't have chicken tamale, they only had pork. @ this point, I just said bring me a cheese enchiladas plate too.. I was trying to hurry dinner along. We then ordered vanilla ice cream and it took a gd 12 min to get it. @ that point, I asked for the bill and wanted to get out of there after the ice cream was done. The whole bill came to $47+.. I left a $4 tip cause it wasn't gd service. It was way too long for a simple meal. Not satisfactory service @ all. I doubt that we are going back there ever again. read more

El Charro Mexican Restaurant [ECMR]. (2.75 stars). One of our friends who came to have drinks with us as The Alley at Aiea Bowl suggested that we come here to eat after the lackluster Pupus we had there. I was so disappointed in The Alley that I had to write a review! Anyhow... so we walk a few feet to the right and here is this Mexican restaurant!! Yay some place new!! I never knew this place existed!!?? ECMR is located on the 3rd level of the Aiea Shopping Center right next to Dirty Lickins and Aiea Bowl. Parking is on-site and ample during most of the days except for when there are bowling leagues or meal hours. We ordered: -Nachos -Beef Enchiladas Nachos. (2.5 stars). Honestly there wasn't anything in this dish that screamed, "This is an authentic dish!!"... It just seemed like canned ingredients were thrown on the plate. It's better than Gas Station nachos if that helps any??!! The chips were on the stale side. I do believe they did make their own chips though. Salsa was very bland. I wish the cheese was melted more!! Guacamole had no depth of flavor! Just tasted like smashed avocados. :( Beef Enchiladas. (3 stars). I tried a few bites of the beef enchiladas and the beef had a nice seasoning. The tortilla was nice and soft!! The rice and beans were just average. Nothing that sent me into a tailspin. The enchilada was a pretty healthy portion!! If we are in the neighborhood and come back to ECMR, I would order the carnitas enchilada. read more

El Charro Mexicano - Beef Enchiladas!! - Mexican Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Small spot but with good and attentive service. I had the chicken enchiladas with red sauce (it normally comes with green sauce) and comes with rice and beans. They use corn tortillas but it was still really good and the rice was cooked perfectly. The style of the enchilada sauce is not really my favorite but it was still pretty good. They also top it with queso fresco crumbles which it could use a bit more. Saw they had a "Mexican Moco Loco" on the menu which is Spanish rice, beef patties, 2 eggs, and topped with their red enchilada sauce. I think I'm gonna need to try this next time. read more

The shrimp enchiladas were really good! The service was also fast and courteous. I'll have to try more stuff in the menu before jumping my rating to 5 stars. read more

Like the people here, they are very nice. Food is a huge portion definitely will leave satisfied, overall a great place to stop in my only suggestion is bring some tapatio with you because they might be out they have a spicy sneaky sauce and tobassco to offer but if you are a Mexican food lover you know you need that "Tapatio sauce" you better head down to times and get some or bring some from home. read more

I was craving for a Mexican meal...no Taco Bell crave...browse through yelp and amazingly there were a lot! I had no idea! Decided on El Charro since it's close by my house. Actually, there's a bunch here at Aiea...we got in quickly since they just opened. Friendly staff, dine in and the place was super clean! They gave a complimentary chips and salsa-delicious! We started with the nachos with steak. I had a chicken enchilada and beef flauta with Spanish rice and beans. I ended with deep fried ice cream. A little disappointed with the ice cream cuz I thought it was fried but the outer part was cold and no crunch like other fried ice cream I had before. But it was still delicious. This is my first time dining here and I will definitely come back! read more

Great Mexican food and the staff was very friendly. The prices were also very reasonable for an ample amount of authentic Mexican food.

Menudo, one of my two favorite soups, is served at its absolute best at El Charro. Thick, tender pieces of tripe, simmered in seasoned broth with lots of hominy. Add the condiments of cilantro, chopped onion and lime with extra dried oregano and chili pepper flakes, stir and dive in. OMG it's a little bit oh heaven in a bowl! read more

Great service. That's all. Most non descript burrito I've ever had, no flavor whatsoever. But wait- it included a chicken bone . Yup. You will do much better at any of the taco trucks sprinkled around the island. read more

Yelp 100 Review Challenge 2015: 51/100 Believe it or not, this used to be my FAVORITE Mexican restaurant back in high school...probably because it was close to home. I hadn't been here in over a year and decided on it because El Mariachi (also nearby) was closed until July 23rd. I have returned to find over inflated prices and worst service than I remember. Of course when you're young, talking with friends and playing on your phone as you waited for service distracted you from noticing exactly how long you've been waiting. Well now that I am (a little) older, I have taken notice to the slow service (though this place has always been understaffed). It's not unusual to enter this restaurant and remain lingering at the entrance wondering if it is self-seating or someone will eventually acknowledge you, don't worry, EVENTUALLY someone will seat you. I know this restaurant is small but still, you need more staff! As for the inflation in prices, everywhere has been increasing prices but for the quality of food and service, the price hike is just not worth it for me here. The food was okay. I enjoyed the salsa, that isn't the least bit spicy, but my SO stated it tasted plainly like tomato sauce. We ordered a Chimichanga plate (includes rice, beans, sour cream and guac) and though this place has always been skimpy on their guac portion, the amount we got this time was ridiculously minuscule. We also ordered a Taco Salad (see picture below) that had watery oil?! under the shell which made it soggy. I enjoy the cilantro in their pico de gallo but not enough to offset the Taco Salad that I struggled to finish. Back to the service...we waited, and waited, and waited to get our bill. Then we waited, waited and waited to get my credit card back. And it wasn't only us because I observed other people looking around, trying to get the servers attention. Like I said before, they are understaffed! But the worst part of it all was when we got home and both of us had horrible indigestion (TMI?) I felt unsettled, unattractive and plain grouchy all night. My experience here was truly disappointing as this restaurant has fallen from what was once my most favorite Mexican restaurant. read more

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This place is not good. overpriced for small portions. food is so bland and not even seasoned correctly. you're literally better off going to taco bell. at least the taco bell server won't make you wait an extra 20 minutes waiting on your food that's now cold by the time she brings it to you. read more