I followed the excellent Yelp ratings to Cruzteca for lunch today. The Saturday lunch crowd had…read morejust emptied out at 2 p.m. Alone, I sat at the bar. I ordered the Bowman Tacos (2) -- Two roasted chicken tacos, sautéed pico de gallo, and salsa fresca; and added rice and black beans, along with iced tea. It was a good choice. The flavor was outstanding. As I dined, five or six parties filed in for a mid-afternoon meal. The service was friendly and proficient. The price, okay. About $28 with a generous tip. I'll be back.

The service was fine and my margarita was decent enough but I ordered the "Tex Mex Cheese…read moreEnchiladas" and they were very disappointing because the cheese was low quality, like velveeta kind of stuff. On my list of how much I want things to exist in the world velveeta is up there with cockroaches and mosquitoes. No pico de gallo, no scoop of guac, no sour cream, no fresh salsa, just a brown plate of tortillas and cheap liquidy cheese. I understand that this may be what some people expect from a cheese enchilada plate and maybe for them it's comfort food in this style, but not me. I can go to Kerbey Lane (which is cheaper than this place by a country mile) and order David's Enchiladas and get a higher quality cheese, plus awesome pico, guac, and sour cream. I can go to Hecho en Mexico and also get higher quality cheese. This place was like cheese enchiladas from the 1960's... like I'd actually stumbled into that place on 30th St and the drag and ordered enchiladas from 1960. I came here once before and it wasn't nearly as bad. I think I ordered something less "classic" from the menu. My wife had shredded pork with white rice and plantains and it was fine, I tasted it. But their take on the "classic tex mex enchiladas" was like, way too classic, like we were living in the land of you'll get cheap government cheese and like it. My kids had quesadillas. I tried them and they also seemed like cheap cheese. Did I mention I hate cheap cheese? Service was fine. Tab was much too pricey. Like double what you'd spend at Kerbey.

We went to Las Palomas for cinco de mayo and we had a solid experience. Large parking lot, even…read morelarger restaurant. Tons of options for indoor and outdoor seating. Our waitress was on it! Drinks, chips, etc she couldn't have done a better job. The food itself was ok, not bad but just ok. The queso was way too watery and same with the salsa. I ordered the mole plate and couldn't believe the portion size of the chicken. It looked like a small chicken leg, figured it wouldn't have at least been a little larger considering the cost. Beet/avocado salad didn't have any beets in it. The beef tacos and chicken fajitas were good though. Our 4 top table was absolutely not big enough, that's not a usual thing I think about when I eat out. But we were constantly having to reorganize our table to ensure we didn't spill. We had a great evening here, ambiance was 5/5.

Las Palomas has been a beloved fixture in the Austin dining scene for good reason. The food is…read moregenuinely excellent -- flavorful, fresh, and a cut above the usual Tex-Mex fare -- and the atmosphere, when it's humming, has the warmth of a true neighborhood restaurant. This is a place where regulars feel at home, and the kitchen consistently delivers. That said, a recent visit left me with a few wishes. The outdoor patio, which could be one of Las Palomas' greatest assets in an Austin climate, is showing its age. The tables, chairs, bench seating with their worn/stained pads, are overdue for a refresh -- small investments that would go a long way toward matching the quality of what comes out of the kitchen. The interior, too, could benefit from some updated touches to bring the ambiance in line with the caliber of the food.

This was a completely unplanned stop! We were on our way home and needed to find a charging…read morestation, EVGo showed a charging bank in the parking lot, so we plugged in and decided to pop in here to pass the time! We had already eaten so we weren't hungry so just ordered a drink each and had the chips and salsa. The drinks were good! And the menu had a lot of great sounding options! Another table ordered fajitas and they smelled fantastic coming out of the kitchen! I'll make a plan to come back for an actual meal.

This place is definitely hit or miss with food and service , but when they started charging for…read morechips after two tiny baskets of chips for three people with three meals I decided to end our relationship. Do they realize you don't charge for chips in Texas? It's a dealbreaker.

Reminds me of a less good version of chevys…read more Pros: Decor is fun Chips and salsa are super yummy and they keep them coming Service was great Prices are low (I live in California, so everything in Texas is low) Portions are huge Cons: Taste / flavor Quality of food I had the enchiladas and my husband had a quesadilla and neither was that great I think all it all it gets the job done for what I presume to be a chain restaurant - but it's not a place to visit again

A quick southern classic, Chuy's serves up casual Tex Mex vibes backed up by good quality eats. We…read morewere recently at the Mueller Farmer's Market and were a bit hungry so we stopped by. Parking was TOUGH to find but that's more because of the farmers market's popularity than anything. The restaurant is nice, eclectically decorated, and just overall fun. They have both indoor and outdoor options but we chose indoor since it was chilly. We arrived with a party of four and were promptly seated. One thing we absolutely love is that this is one of the few places we've been at in Austin that still serves chips for free ahead of the meal, and the chips are good too. Our server was nice and we quickly ordered their steak burrito and cheese quesadilla. The food came out relatively fast and was piping hot. The steak burrito was delicious, very spicy and savory. Their green sauce brings a good and tasty layer of spice to the dish. The cheese quesadillas were also good. The tortilla was warm and soft and the cheese was the perfect amount melted in-between it. Chuy's may be a chain restaurant but it's surprisingly good quality for one. We would definitely stop by this chain again and if you're looking for something quick to sit down and eat in Mueller then this spot may just be for you.

We went here in a larger group for a birthday…read more Our server was really friendly and quick. We split an order of fish tacos and they were okay. Not my personal favorite, to be honest. I felt like it lacked some seasoning/flavor. The queso was really good though and I loved my spiked Jarritos! Just a heads up parties of 6+ are automatically tipped 20%. I might have missed it on the menu, but we were not told that verbally. I saw it once receipt came out.

This was an okay Mexican spot. Not terrible but not the best fish tacos ive had. The beans and rice…read morewere also just average. Perhaps i ordered the wrong thing as the main. I do recommend the chips, salsa, & queso. Service was good. This place is still worth trying but it was just a mid spot for me.

I've been going to this Maudie's location on South Lamar for years, and at this point I know…read moreexactly what it is and what it isn't. I always think it's important to set expectations. If you're looking for a polished, design-forward Tex-Mex spot with a modern vibe, this isn't that. The interior is older and a little worn in. The patio gets the job done, but it's sitting right on Lamar, so expect traffic noise. It's loud, it's casual, and it feels comfortable being exactly what it is. What it does offer is consistency and ease. We can walk in at pretty much any time, including weekends, and get a table without thinking too hard about it. Service is fast in a way that feels intentional but it's not rushed. Orders come out quickly, things are rarely missed, and the staff is consistently friendly without overdoing it. Food-wise, it's a mix of dependable staples and a few personal go-tos. The chips and salsa are solid, the mango frozen margaritas are reliably good, and I always come back to Pete's tacos and the enchiladas perfecto. The fajitas are fine, but not THE reason to come here if that's your thing. The real value for us is how usable the place is with kids. We can come straight from school pickup, get seated immediately, hand a kid a crayon, and have food on the table fast. There's no pressure to linger, no pressure to dress up, and no sense that you need to "match" the space. You can just show up. It's also one of those places that feels very Austin in an older, less curated way. TVs are on, games are playing, and the crowd tends to skew more local and low-key. No one is staging photos or trying to turn dinner into content. It's not the best Tex-Mex in town and it's not trying to be. It's the place you go when you want something predictable, relaxed, and quick-n-easy without having to think about it too much.

I came in for a margarita to kill some time before going to Alamo to watch a movie…read more I got my drink directly at the bar but couldn't stay there long because the smell of the kitchen was so overwhelming. It smelled so unclean, like old decomposed oils and food and cleaning solutions. It was bad. My margarita was also not good, I think I got the Gills one, 2nd down on the options for Margs. It was mostly ice and just didn't taste good at all. I waited to use the restroom and a staff member left the restroom before I entered. It was dirty inside and the whole sink was covered in water and there was dust on most of the surfaces. To me, it just seems like the employees probably hate working there if they don't take a moment to tidy up the restroom of the place they are employed. It just seems like an old run down restaurant with stale air, old furnishings, gross carpets and unhappy employees.

I still love this place! What a classic location with a new paint job. Everyone is so friendly and…read moreinviting with the yummy Mexican food. I had the flautas and my friend had the pancho villa plate that has a crispy taco as well as enchiladas. Everything was delicious and the servings were large!

The food was super good ! The location was very clean too, which is super important as far as peace…read moreof mind when eating out. The waiter was extremely kind ! We ordered the Arachera plate and the menudo without pozole, I requested red chiles de arbol because it's how I am a costumed to menudo in Chicago and they waiter was so sweet she went to go make them tossed in aciete which made them taste even more like home! Will definitely be going back-- oh, did i mention the tortillas were fresh, handmade?

As a group of friends, we are trying to expand from our normal rotation of restaurants and decided…read moreto try the new Hyde park location of Curra's. What a great decision! The food was delicious! Fresh, flavorful chips, yummy salsa and great guacamole. The ceviche was also so fresh and tasty. We ordered the margarita tower (suggest that you share among 2 or 3 people so they stay frozen) and loved them all. Absolutely best, hands-down was the spicy blackberry frozen margarita! I know the hype is around the avocado marg. It was fine, but the least fave of those we tried (lime, jalapeño, prickly pear, blackberry). The chicken enchiladas were so flavorful and the refried black beans were yummy. Our waitress was attentive, so sweet and on top of it. Highly recommend!

We're so all over the place with Curra's, which we just can't quit because Julio's is always closed…read moreon Sundays! We've been in several times since our last review, and of those, only one experience was four stars. We really wish this place was more consistent with both service and food, but it's always a crapshoot how it's going to go. Our most recent experience was consistent with all the other three star ones that we've had. Things start strong and then peter out. We always get the happy hour guac and queso, which we all have come to love. The frozen and rocks margs would really benefit from fresh juices instead of the bottled syrup stuff, and they *really* need to work on getting drinks to the table BEFORE the apps! We waited, not for the first time, a sold 10-15 minutes for our drinks after chips and dips were already down. This most recent visit was similar to the last one in that our main dishes took wayyyyy too long to come out. Uncomfortably long. Annoyingly long. But that's not always the case because sometimes the food comes out in a normal amount of time--this is the issue with consistency! Our daughter ventured into enchilada territory this time, which she enjoyed, as did one of the adults. And another one got the garlic fish dish again. Honestly, all of the food was fine, but because we had filled up on all the apps waiting for Godot, ahem, we mean the food, we ate very little of our actual meals. Had the timing been better and had our server bothered to acknowledge the delay, we would have been somewhat appeased, but no. Anyway, we will likely still be back again and...hope in Hyde Park springs eternal.