Always excellent food, extremely friendly people and a great location. Excellent decor.

You know the saying, never judge a book by its cover, the building may look a little outdated but don't be fooled, the food quality is legit. It reminded me of home, the decor, the Shrine to the Virgin Mary. Brought back memories of Mexican joints in Los Angeles. The food- we ordered chicken enchiladas in green salsa,with rice and beans. Lots of flavor, lots of cheese on a great green salsa, oh we ordered chips and salsa, I can testify, the red salsa packs a spicy punch, so beware. We also ordered the pueblano enchiladas, also very good with rice and beans. I also had to try a taco, I ordered the barbacoa. Lots of meat with a lot of flavor in a nice size tortilla, not sure if the tortilla was home made. I am not sure why the reviews are not better, they have great tasting authentic Mexican food. We are thinking of stopping by later this week to try their breakfast they have some top Mexican breakfast dishes. The employees are all very nice and attentive. Again beware of the red salsa it will sneak up on you! read more

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Went there for lunch. Had a Carne Gisada and Carnitas on flour. Flour tortillas are a bit too thick for my liking. Fillings were fine. Nothing special, but not bad. Really good chips and salsa actually ticked this up a bit. Will try again for breakfast tacos. read more

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Little Mexico is that classic Mexican place you think of when you think of your home town (if your hometown isn't Austin, of course). It's like they turned a cute little house in to a restaurant. There was plenty of seating for our breakfast and the server was very friendly. We got the Huevos Rancheros and Machacado con Huevo. For the low points... I'm a fan of crispy potatoes at Mexican places. Unfortunately, the potatoes were a little undercooked so a bit crunchy. The ranchero sauce had good flavor but was a tad watery for my taste. Now the high points... Some places have beans that you can drink, but I really like the thicker/chunkier beans here. We also both the red and green salsas which had a good kick. But the true star was the machacado con huevo. The meat to egg to veggie ratio was spot-on. It really made for a great taco when thrown on a tortilla. I look forward to coming back and trying some of their recommended lunch/dinner plates. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Huevos Rancheros - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Finally, a Chile Relleno my guy doesn't complain about! It's been so sad, seeing his little face fall when the server brings something flat, or soggy, or just Not Right. "This is it!" he said. "It's a whole pepper, a Poblano, it's filled with seasoned ground beef, it's battered and then deep fried!" He moved his refried beans aside to show me a forkful of his lunch in all its poblano glory. I nodded and said, "Yes, dear." I was busy with my Protein Plate, which was brilliant in its simplicity; just Mexican scrambled eggs on one side, and a pile of Carne Guisada on the other. No puddle of refried, no pile of rice, no shreds of lettuce or tomatoes--just the good stuff. The Margarita was too sweet and overpriced at $8, but that was my only quibble about this place. As South 1st gets increasingly renovated and super cool and hipster, this funky little joint, with window AC units, big parking lot, friendly service, and 1995 framed calendar is a treasure. read more

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This is the BEST TEXMEX in the world They had to make their picante sauce less spicy for the new Californians that have moved in. We call it "Gringo hot sauce" Every thing is better than good! It's family owned and always will be. read more

Okay, prices are up everywhere, but a bowl of menudo for $14.50? Lunch "Specials" for $17? Seriously? This is TexMex, not interior Mexican cuisine. They don't even make their own tortillas, but will charge fifty cents each for store-bought corn tortillas if you ask for another one. Nearby Guero's charges forty cents for their thick handmade in the restaurant corn tortillas. After living nearby and eating brunch/lunch at Little Mexico for 26 years, we're giving up. read more

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Pros: The food is very authentic and delicious. The prices are very fair. Location is prime and parking is ample. The service was great and I love the indoor outdoor option for seating. Cool decor! Con: the music does not match the ambiance. It's like 70s hip instrumental. read more

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Food is okay. Service is slow. Place is clean, and customers are friendly. I asked if they offered fresh homemade corn or flour tortillas. I was told no. Austin has so many Mexican restaurants serving fresh homemade corn and flour tortillas, there's no need to waste your time here. I ordered 2 tacos a la Mexicana. I was underwhelmed with the underfilled small tacos and left hungry. Go elsewhere to order your food. read more

The reason I pose on Yelp is to help others who are looking for a certain type of food to enjoy and to give MY opinion. It's never to discourage others from visiting. With that being said... My recent visit to Little Mexico is one that I hope to never experience again. Seventeen years ago, I used to bring my son, who was a baby at the time, to come and eat at Little Mexico. Sometimes I would bring my grandmother, who knew it was my son's favorite place to go. We came so much, that the servers knew my son and the food was great! My recent visit, was meeting my mom, who suggested little Mexico, because of the pigs feet in the Menudo. I was excited about the suggestion. However, it was quickly diminished from the time I sat down. The waitress appeared to have no interest in working today. And I get it, sometimes we just have one of those days. I think it was one of those days. Service was horrible. The menudo was not up to the quality that I remember. I think it was a few days old. The barbacoa taco was shredded brisket, and that is where I should have just left. To me, Barbacoa is shredded cow cheek. I'm finding that many Mexican restaurants are turning to shredded brisket to pass off as Barbacoa. No bueno. You should be ashamed. As for the Menudo, not the honeycomb quality, that would bring me to Little Mexico, almost every weekend in the past. It was the cheaper quality, and it tasted every bit the quality. I'm a little disappointed that all of these places that I used to visit in the past, have diminished on quality and service. And now I know why these places close up. It appears that Little Mexico will soon be one of them. read more

Many 'neighberhood' restaurants in the SoCo and South 1st Street areas have been coopted by millenial newcomers looking for a place with 'character'. This family run restaurant has managed to thrive workout losing it's home-spun character, true South 1st feel and delicious family recipes. I frequented this place for years when I lived in the area back in the late 90's. Now that I'm back in the area I returned to find familiar faces running the operation and food even better than my mouth watering memories. The salsa is spicy and flavorful. I've always been a fan of the Jerry Jeff Walker dip (Queso with fresh guac and well-seasoned ground beef). My favorite entrée is the #22. Poblano enchildas with the same sauce that comes!on the chili relleno. O. M. G. I happy-danced through the whole freaking meal. Oh. And give yourself time for a couple of their delish house margs. Parking is in rear via a narrow alley between the restaurant and the car wash. Don't let the cat out of the bag but do yourself a favor and skip the crowds on South Congress for a stop here! read more

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We immediately noticed the friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The food was great with a good variety of options. You can tell that it is a place with regular customers. This a great option for a casual meal with a large or small group. read more

The spicy flavor that once was seems to continue to decline due to the changing customer base of people from out of state. This is understandable as you must provide what your customers wish. I ordered the Menudo and hesitated when I realized that one piece was cold. Lots of possible reasons, but they do offer it each day. While onions were provided, no jalapeno, but rates an OK. However, ordering Menudo anywhere except on a Saturday can be a roll of the dice. The Lady ordered the Poblano Enchiladas, which had been her long-time favorite. They came out with a red sauce instead of green chilies and cheese sauce. She was not too impressed. We will return again in a few months for another try as this used to be a restaurant we frequented. The staff was friendly and fun. Also, they have greatly enlarged their parking lot. read more

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Support local! Clean restaurant, super friendly staff, fast service, and good food. Wish I took a pic of the menu but I was too busy enjoying the moment. The restaurant has all the dishes you think it would. If you haven't been here in a while, stop on in. read more

This restaurant has been in operation since 1986. It's clearly a family-owned business. The building is beautiful and the interior is very colorful. We sat ourselves and were quickly greeted for a drink order. Shortly after, we placed our breakfast order: the Protein Plate and the Barbacoa Plate. We got the flour tortillas with them. Both entrees were delicious. I absolutely loved the carne asada, and the barbacoa was wonderfully seasoned. This place was bumping by the time we left (around 11am on a Sunday). I can see why - really good food. It looks like they had a solid lunch / dinner menu, as well. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Breakfast: the Protein Plate - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

The Food is so good! This place is A south Austin original. We Loved the queso and fajitas. My kids also love the pancakes. It's great for the whole family. read more

I am so incredibly happy that I gave this place a try and have a feeling I'll be coming here often. The fideo with beef was out of this world. Everything was delicious, really. No bells and whistles. Just simple and delicious, and quite obviously made with love. We chatted with Rosa (the owner) for a while and she was so friendly, welcoming and interesting. She gave us a sample of the menudo (spectacular and apparently award-winning!) and now I need to go back this week to order a bowl! Very highly recommended. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Fideo, crispy tacos, chicken quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

We found this little gem one morning after attempting to eat breakfast on a Saturday morning on S Congress. Drove around for 30 mins and said we're out! Pulled off on a side street and Googled "Breakfast Near Me" and just blocks away was this piece of Heaven. Hidden on a curve wig big trees, is Little Mexico. Pulled in, ordered breakfast (yippee) and sat for two hours just catching up!! Great pancakes, coffee, chips & queso and service!! We came back for dinner another time and it was equally delicious! They close early folks - only drawback. They close at 7pm daily so go early for dinner or go for breakfast or heck go for both! You won't be disappointed . read more

The food is so good. I come from a small town and this place ALWAYS reminds me of home. Anytime I feel like I want a pick me up with some real food, I head here! read more

The mole plate and fideo plate both brought me back to my child hood when my great aunt would make these dishes. So excited for hat Little Mexico brought these memories back. They also have been great during this pandemic. After closing for a while they reopened safely and are continuing to practice social distancing. They also have sanitizing station at the door. This place has been a family favorite for years, and we continue coming every Sunday. read more

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The store bought flower tortillas really was a turn off. Other than that good authentic flavors.

This is probably the first time that leaving a two-star review has *us* feeling guilty. Little Mexico is a very cute mom-and-pop operation that we went to by utter chance (driving home Sunday night, child wants to go out to eat, we acquiesce, it's the first place we turn into). Nobody speaks English but the service is friendly and sweet. The food? Errrrhhhh...pretty bad. To be clear, we love Mexican dives because we know that they can be secret gems peddling delicious, homemade meals. Not so much here. The Jerry Jeff Walker queso was orange glop with a scoop of some sad guacamole and ground beef surprise. The soft chicken tacos were middle school lunch traumatic flashbacks. And the steak burrito? Don't ask. Even paltry margaritas couldn't wash away the culinary sins. We're "happy" that we went here so we could support a local, small business, and the place is charming in its own way, but we sadly can't say that the food is worth the goodwill cost. read more

They robbed themselves of a $50 tip. Food here was absolutely amazing, but the service was extremely poor. We were a table of 6 and upon being sat the waitress asked for our drink order. 1 person ordered water, so she assumed everyone wanted water and that's all that was brought to the table. No ice, no straws. Every time they came back to the table, they would walk off before we could finish speaking and even went as far to "jokingly" say "oh my god you've got to be kidding me" when we asked for refills. (Something that should not have to be asked for to begin with) one member of our party tried to order tortilla and was informed "they were too busy." There were maybe 4 other tables in the restaurant??? Like I said, the food was delicious. Everyone in our group has worked in food service at some time, so regardless we were still going to tip them well. It's a difficult job we all know that sometimes you have a bad day. To wrap up this long story, upon check out, one member placed $9 on the table after paying the entire check. I had actually go out to grab my wallet to get my cash. The waitress began yelling that we didn't pay her enough and before we could even get a word out, insisted on us REPAYING to include an automatic gratuity. We paid their newly 'required' amount, took our cash and left. We will not be returning. read more

So I walked into this place and was instantaneously reminded of my grandma's house. There was an extremely satisfying "homey" feel to this restaurant and a simplicity I loved. Eat here if you want food that tastes like home. Eat here if you care more about a real meal than decor. Their salsa is spicy and I liked it. Queso, the one with meat and guacamole, absolutely delicious. My fiancé got the calabaza con puerco and said it reminded her of her grandma's calabacitas. I got the chicken enchiladas with ranchera sauce and it's very very high on my list of favorite enchiladas now. Overall, I really did enjoy this place. I know it might not seem like much to some, but give it a try. You can tell it's family owned and they obviously take pride in their food and I really do appreciate that. read more

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We were nervous about going into a restaurant for take out with the recent health scare of COVID BUT from the moment we walked in the door we felt instantly relieved to see everyone in masks, hand sanitizers cleaning wipes and a fresh clean smell throughout the restaurant!! They even have printed menus that they throw out or you can take home!!! Social distancing in full effect for seating! THANK YOU so much Little Mexico for all the effort & of course amazing food too!!! read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

This place was so cozy and authentic. Loved all the plates we got. We ordered the arrow con pollo and menudo and they were both fantastic! We also ordered a barbacoa and chicharron taco and both hit the spot perfectly! The owner was so kind and attentive. We will definitely be coming back for some home cooked meals. read more

Second time coming here and we absolutely love it! The food is delicious and the staff is so friendly!

This was just as delicious as I remember it to be, ten years ago. I left Austin in 2009 (hey, don't judge me! The economy was bad!), and just returned two months ago in June. I had my old favorite from here, chicken enchiladas with roja (red) sauce. I'm a real gringo who knows very little Spanish, and while the waitress didn't seem to know English, I communicated just fine. Hint (for gringos like me in Mexican restaurants in Texas): the first thing they ask you at your table is what do you want to drink! I enjoyed everything. Note: the table salsa is spicy HOT. You may wonder, why is there so little in the bowl it comes in? Put a SMALL amount on a corn chip, while at the same time getting a dry chip ready. Ready to help extinguish the fire that is about to consume your mouth! But it *is* really tasty stuff. The beans taste unusual to me. This is not a bad thing. In fact, I like that the food doesn't seem run-of-the-mill to me at all. It seems more authentic. If you haven't eaten here, do yourself a favor and give it a try! I hope to be back soon. read more

This little restaurant has a lot of charm to it. I have a feeling it we had been hungrier and ordered something else or even breakfast it would have been a solid 4 star experience. I base a lot of that idea on the delicious salsa Little Mexico serves up. It's some of the spiciest I think I have ever been served at a restaurant. Typically, Mexican restaurants seem to make the salsa work for everyone and not just those of us with hardened taste buds and iron stomachs. This is YUMMY stuff. Can I get a jar to go please? Dr. Fredo and I shared a plate of nachos that were not well-made at all. Nothing much to them topping-wise aside from beans, cheese and chicken plus the jalapenos I requested on the side for the Dr's sake. Our main gripe about them was how soggy they were. Definitely fork nachos. How were the Margaritas? Nice amount of alcohol. But the flavor of the mix was far too syrupy. Not writing this place off. Service was friendly. We just plan on exploring them menu a bit more. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Spicy!!! - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Love this place and the staff. So much history in their building. Their chicken caldo is so good as well as their tacos and their salad & so much more . The red salsa is so good too! Give them a try if you haven't! read more

I drive by this place and it always seems to have lots of cars - so I'm thinking it must be a good place to eat. Little Mexico I was there yesterday for lunch and met my son and husband and the service from our male waiter was horrible. Honestly I felt like we were not suppose to be there or something. Snarky look when asked for silverware and btw " I said Thank You " I got silverware but my spouse didn't and I had to ask again. Chips and salsa refills was like asking for gold nuggets or something. Fajitas were okay - hence the 2 but the Johnny Walker Queso was cold and I wasn't about to ask our waiter to heat it up - heck no-way. No bueno folks!! Maybe it was a bad day for our waiter, not sure. read more

The pictures looked super promising, but overall the food was disappointing. There were 2 cheese options for the enchiladas - Monterey Jack and Queso Fresco. Typically, I don't like yellow, American style cheese in my enchiladas so I opted for the latter. What I got looked sorta like they just wrapped some queso fresco in tortillas and put some salsa on top and popped them in the microwave. Nothing tasted very much like anything. It wasn't expensive, and it was prompt. Just a let down - look at this compared to the other reviews tagged cheese enchiladas :( read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Oh, my goat, they serve fideo here. Hold the presses, y'all. Fideo is my ultimate comfort food - I make it frequently and it warms my soul and fills my belly. I frequently lament the fact that I can never find it in Mexican restaurants. It's such a basic, yummy dish. Imagine my delight when I saw fideo on the menu at Little Mexico. Their fideo has lots of flavor and was delicious; it's greasier than mine, but that was to be expected. It's not too greasy, though. I got it with beef because that's how I usually make mine, but I'm interested in trying it with chicken, as well. Like other reviewers, I thought their salsa was delicious. It had a good bit of spice to it, which I love. They also make their chips the way I like them. The tamale was the only item I wasn't so fond of. Maybe I got the sad little reject tamale? Maybe other days the tamales are better? Who knows, who cares. The salsa and fideo are all the reasons I need to walk the half mile from my apartment to Little Mexico. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Fideo with beef! - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Easily the worst Mexican food I've ever attempted to eat. Guacamole made from a lovely mix of unripe and bad avocados does not set a good standard. Carne guisada was more like carne sopa. Chile relleno was unseasoned. The rice was vinegared and salty. Even the tea tasted old. The table next to us returned his egg and bean tacos because they were too nasty to eat. He was trying to be kind, but how do you screw that up? He audibly gagged when he took a bite. On top of all of that, the service was slow and poor. Our waitress handled money and washed dishes and served food without washing her hands once. You're better served going to Taco Bell. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - So bad, we just left it. - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Meh. I was told that this place had great authentic Mexican food. It was okay. Nothing to really rave about. Also, they confuse scrambled vs. fried eggs. The waitress even argued that the sunny side up eggs where "called scrambled" we went cross eyed when she said that.. we aren't really in a rush to get back. Also the inside is about 63 degrees and the patio is right off a loud intersection. Atmosphere needs work. read more

Drinks came without straws. Asked for straws. Straws never came. I finished my drink a few minutes after it was brought to the table. Start to finish nobody at my table was asked for a refill. Ordered two bowls of queso. The chips were never once refilled. And now I've been waiting on the order ticket for 10 minutes. Overall sad experience to drive from northwest Arkansas to experience this place as a tourist destination. read more

I'm giving this place a three star only because the frozen margarita was a delightful combination of strong and delicious and because the service was great. The food however was pretty bland. It makes me think that they're afraid to add any sazón to their food only to make sure the gringo tastebuds are satisfied. The search for good Mexican food in Austin continues. read more

(#68)..We have truly pondered this review since eating here...came as a yelp suggestion, and then me asking my foodie friends I got the thumbs up...Yet It fell short in Our Quest....Good....OK..But ,Yes We Have Had Better..Every thing was flat on Flavor..Staring with the Queso...No spice, kick, punch, flavor..??...Of Course we stick to the Enchiladas on the First Round...Rice was fresh, not sticky at all...yet lacked flavor...Let just sum this up....Wife did like the Sauce, but beef by itself, bland...My chicken Verde plate, sauce was Very mild, and Breast meat..DRY breast meat...there is more to a chicken the Breasts!!..Charros Sadly feel short as well....One to the next One.. read more

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What a great little hidden gem. This place is adorable and delicious. Really feels like you're eating in someone's home with a home cooked meal. Definitely the best enchiladas in all of south Austin. read more

Little Mexico Restaurant - Amazing!!! Best cheese enchiladas in all of south Austin!!! - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

I ate lunch here, the food was very good ,very original Tex-Mex food . I would come back again.