It's been years since I first ate at the Raul & Theresa's on Litchfield Road, which I frequented often. Recently, I was in the Avondale area and made plans to meet a friend for breakfast, so I was excited to visit the original location when he suggested it. Let's cut to the chase. There is a reason Raul & Teresa's has been around for nearly 60 years. It good! And the only thing I love more than Mexican Food is breakfast. Two things stood out on the menu. I ordered the Machaca con Huevo because Machaca varies greatly. It's either great or it's not. My friend ordered the Green Chilaquiles. These are also hit or miss at most places. Honestly, the best Chilaquiles I've ever tried were homemade. He let me sample his choice and they were damn close. I'd order those next time. My Machaca was delicious. It had great flavor and was tender. That's impressive to me because it's dried beef. Combined with the peppers, refried beans, and the Cafe de Olla, this breakfast was amazing. Thanks for combining my two favorite cuisines into one memorable meal! Our server Mara was very attentive and friendly. The order came out quickly and refills were never far away. The food was so good, I neglected to take in the character of the dining room. It's got an authentic, rustic charm. Definitely worth the drive. This review was generated entirely by my brain and not AI. read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Cafe de Olla... More please! - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

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I haven't been here since probably '02-'03 until last night. I walked through the door and it looked exactly as it did 23 years ago. Man did it bring back memories! My beautiful bride (she had never been here) and I shared a #21 combo (cheese enchilada, shredded beef taco and bean tostada) and a couple of grande margaritas. The margaritas were good and the food is still solid. No complaints. Service was good. I will definitely return if I find myself in Avondale again. I am sure it will still be as I remembered. read more

Iconic for the food and service. The Theresa's Special is perfect for Spicy Mexican food. A pitcher of Margs is a must.

I have going to this place for 15 years.The food is really good but the prices are out of control. Ice tea $3.99 is crazy. The meal are $17 and up. When I went at 5:30 pm there was only one other person. I hope they make it and much as I like the food the $ is too much. read more

This is my second time at Raul and Theresa's. First time I was not pleased with my food. This time I got the Mexican Hat and it was delicious! Normally we have a group of 18-20 people and they are very accommodating. Service has always been top notch and they always deliver. I love the style of the restaurant and the pictures inside. The chips and spicy salsa are very good too. Check them out! read more

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Been coming here for years for the menudo. The portion left me wishing I would have just grabbed a can of Juanita's menudo. I will not be back for menudo as this has happened the last few times. read more

Best Mexican. A local favorite we get to whenever we are in the area. Try the Prickly Pare Cactus.

Our first visit. Nice place inside. Full bar. Clean bathrooms. Large breakfast menu and dinner. I had the Spanish steak with a very good tomato red sauce, rice beans and corn tortillas. Don't know what the wife ordered. Service was very good. Jr made sure we had everything we needed. Coming back Wednesday for all you can eat shredded beef tacos, and cheese enchiladas 16.99. read more

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My wife and I go to many, many Mexican restaurants of course because we live in Arizona. Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant is the best I've eaten in 25 years of living in Arizona. But of course, besides the amazing appetizers, drinks and dinner, the people and the service were impeccable. They made it feel like a hometown restaurant, made us feel happy to be there and made our experience extremely enjoyable. We now visit often and each time any family or friends visit us in Arizona it's the first place we go. Great job. read more

I'm sure. Was not impressed with the food. My husband got the carne asada and he said it was the worst he ever had. I got an enchilada and a stuffed chili pepper. Both were barely edible. So, nope. I'll stick with Arribbas. read more

Always enjoy my meals at R&T. My favorite is Teresa's Special, enchilada style. I think it is the best in the valley.

Our family goes every Sunday after church. We have found the best server in town. Request Junior he is attentive, courteous and spot on with service. Request him you won't regret it! Best Menudo in town! Ambience is great too! read more

We had take out and everything was fine. Order was correct , the food was good. Really like their guacamole and the beef flautas.

It was our first time visiting the restaurant. We were craving menudo, drove past it, and decided to give it a try. Our first impression was positive, the restaurant looked nice and had traditional Mexican décor. However, the experience quickly went downhill. The young lady with short hair took a long time to acknowledge us, even though we were the only ones waiting to be seated. We then waited an additional 10 minutes while they cleaned a table, despite several other tables being open nearby. Once seated, our server greeted us and asked what we wanted to drink. My husband and I ordered two Cokes. Although the restaurant was not crowded, our drinks never arrived until I had to remind the server. We ordered menudo, but what we received was very disappointing. Each bowl was mostly hominy with only four tiny pieces of meat no pata at all. This was not what we expected. While eating, I noticed that the servers and the hostess frequently disappeared to the back, leaving guests waiting to be seated or to pay. Our server finally asked how we liked the food when we were almost finished and had already resigned ourselves to eating what we were served. When my husband went to pay, another young lady came out from the back and asked how we liked the menudo and the pata. My husband told her we never received pata or meat just a bowl of hominy. Overall, this experience was very disappointing, and we will not be returning. read more

Food awful and the place is dirty Wouldn't ever go back. There are much better places to go and get good food. read more

The service was really good. Real nice staff. The chips and salsa were decent. We did not get drinks. The food... didn't care for any of it. Two meals and an appetizer just tasted... off? Not good. Won't be going back. read more

Fantastic food!! The chili rellano with hamburger added. Was unforgettable and we order it every time!! Services were great. Very friendly and helpful. read more

Been going for years and weekends I love menudo carry out. However the contents have decreased in size and the price increased. The size is smaller than a large McDonalds drink. The taste is great but they often forget my tortillas. The chips bag is small and with 2 meals should get two bags w 2 meals read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Menudo is white and on left and on right is tea from McDonalds. Menudo was $15 and too small for that amount of food. - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

Where do I start... well, let me begin by asking you this question: Can you say, Microwave? A day with my mother and sister brought an idea to have a girls lunch. Unfortunately for us, we chose this place. Raul and Theresa's Original Restaurant. AMBIANCE AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS: As we entered, I thought the place look very festive. Colorful, vibrant flags draped across ceiling to ceiling, banners, bar lights hung on the walls; basically everything Mexican Culture related. The hostess greeted us and prepared to sit us at a table; unfortunately this was my first clue: under the table and chairs were good dropping. But not just bits and pieces, it appeared as of an entire plate of food was scattered around the floor. If we even tried getting to our seats, we would have gotten food in between our manicured toes. The hostess didn't apologize, I ended up getting in contact with her and asked if there was anyone to clean. She got to work right away. SERVICE: Yesenia was our waitress.. super sweet, but extremely on another planet and forgetful. Both my mother and sister ordered menudo and a chicken taco each. I wanted a bowl of Albondigas but when I ordered was told they did not carry albondigas (even though it was displayed on the menu) so I opted for the shredded beef tacos, rice and beans. We all also order teas around the table. I requested extra napkins. Chips and salsa were brought to the table with no small plates to divide. It was a one for all and all for all. FOOD/SERVICE: The totality of our food did not arrive together. Mom & sister were brought one taco on a plate and my entire meal arrived. We were asked if we needed anything else. My sister requested more sugar because the teas do not come sweetened. I requested extra napkins for the second time. Menudos arrived and Yesenia asked for the third time if there was anything else we needed. More sugar please... (no response). She left. She came back to the table and again asked if we needed anything else. This time my mother politely requested the whereabouts of the extra corn tortillas she ordered. Then after dashing away, Yesenia arrived with the tortillas then darted away again. She then returned and asked again "is there anything else I can get for you?" And guess what? Yup, that's right... I requested extra napkins for the third time. Yesenia bumped her forehead, gave a chuckle and said, "Oh yeah.. I forgot". I was a bit confused because she seemed as if she heard our previous requests... but no... Finally I decided to go to the table across from us to snag a few sugar packets because I figured if it took that long for napkins, we would end up competing done before we got to drink out teas. The tacos were ok - nothing to rave about. The rice and beans tasted DAYS OLD and the rice was packed and mildly crunchy as if it was put into a microwave. Both the beans and rice were not hot. The menudo was also slightly cool with no steam. Our guess was that, it too got zapped into the microwave, especially because the color rim on the bowl. I suppose I could have realized this place wasn't great due to all the empty chairs. FINAL WORDS: Overall, first impressions upon being seated was bad, service was bad and the food was "ok". The chips were the best edible item available- although the paired "salsa" tasted like tomato sauce mixed with oregano and zero heat. The question I always ask myself is, would I send people I love here... and my answer is NOPE! My advice as a foodie: Skip this place. I've eaten better food off vendor trucks. read more

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This place is one of the closest to original Mexican food you can find. They've been here since before I can remember. As a Hispanic Arizonan that's been in the west valley for over 13 years. I can always go back to this place for original Mexican food. I'd highly recommend you give it a try. Yummmm read more

This place is gross. Seats were ripped, wall next to where I was sitting in the booth was dirty. We said hello to the man at the door he said nothing. He then asked how many and walked us to our table. He ended up being our waiter. Didn't greet us when he approached the table just asked for our drink order. We sat for quite a bit before the drinks came. Food took forever! People that arrived after us were served and finished their dinner before ours came. There were total tables. The three people I was with all got their food, started eating and we had to hunt down the guy asking where my fajitas were. He brought me the fixings .. not my meal. Just awful! He then brings me my meal and the plate is sizzling so much that it burns my hand ( you would have thought I was frying bacon the way it was splattering) .. he sees my reaction and walks away. All of the plates were so hot, I've been told hot plate" before but this was unreal. No one could touch their plates. I wasn't interested in eating here as their Litchfield and McDowell location was awful when I ate there a year ago and this place was even worse. Now I know why there were 4 cars in the parking lot at dinner time read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

Phenomenal food and service. Ask for Junior and he'll take care of you. Excellent salad and chips. Don't miss out.

I've made repeated visits to Raul and Teresa's for so years! Food always good as is the service! The family owned business has always been fantastic. read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

Have been coming here for a few years. Today, came in for dinner. Had three servers wait on us while we were there. One was the manger. Two of the three servers were brusk and rude, the manger was brusk and harried, and did not have much attention to detail. The food was good, however, as usual, but the experience was marred by half-*ss service read more

Shoutout to Brian and every one here. We had a party of 12 and the food came out super fast and watch out those plates are hot. Great chips fresh and crispy started us out and even Chris B liked the salsa. Which means it is really good. Guys had an assortment of entrees and everyone crushed them. Great place for a fun dinner where you can make some noise and have some laughs. Appreciate the great staff that takes good care of you. Love the simple look of the place. We only come to this area once a year and try to come here every time. Do yourself a favor and give they a try. read more

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Disappointed I've been to Raul and Theresa on several occasions and the food is usually good however this visit was very disappointing. I understand that most restraunts are short staffed and wait times are longer then usually and that is completely exceptable however there is no excuse for poor quality food. On this visit we ordered a cheese crisp, beef burrito, chorizo/egg burrito, and tamale with beans and eggs. All of our entrees were absolutely horrible. The cheese crisp was a soggy greasy mess, the chorizo burrito and beef burrito were dry & lacked flavor, and the tamale and eggs were cold, dry, and over cooked. We advised our server who apologized and asked if we wanted the kitchen staff to re-cook our meals at which point we said, no, as we waited 40 minutes to receive our entrees and couldn't wait any longer. It wasn't just horrible food that made this visit disappointing, it was the lack of service, the untidy restraunt, and the partially funtional womens restroom. I'm all for giving restraunts a second try on an "off day" however, I can honestly say I will not be going back. read more

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Reliving our years as newlyweds we exited the freeway to dine at our old favorite Raul & Theresa's Original location in Avondale! We had my hubby's dad along with us (unlike times before) he actually remembered eating here 50 years ago with APS crews. So, we were all thrilled to be ordering! While waiting for the entrees we all three agreed the chips were average and unfortunately were never refilled for us to continue to enjoy the ample bowls of salsa served to the three of us! BUT... am I complaining... no NO NO! We need to have room for the delicious meals about to be served. Both Men ordered Chimichangas. One was the Pork Carnitas with a Delicious Green Chili sauce. The other was tasty Beef with Red sauce! Pinto beans can be blah to exquisite! The beans served here are full of rich flavor perfectly seasoned! Yep I could be happy with beans and a flour tortilla. But is that what I ordered! Nope! Gimme my standard Mexican meal by which I judge all Mexican Restaurants! Tamale and Relleno! Pork Tamales are the best! If I'm gonna make tamales they are always pork! Mine Rock! These were right up there! Ample shredded Pork perfectly moist with red sauce and the masa held up to having a coating of the red sauce too! Yum Yum! Now about the Relleno.... This Relleno impressed me over 35 years ago and it didn't fail me! Would someone Puleeze explain to Texas and Missouri that a Relleno doesn't need to have meat in it! Just look at the photo I'm sharing! Perfectly fried batter dipped Poblano oozing with carb free cheese! I was such a happy camper! read more

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This place has completely changed since last year ('21). 1st they no longer make homemade tortillas. But 2nd, we've tried 4 more times in the last 6 months to get a good meal and last night was the end. We came with 2 couples, one who'd also been here the year prior and picked this place to meet up. From beginning to end, and it took 2 hours(!), it was next level horrible. SERVICE HORRIBLE, yet because we were a 6-person table we're made to pay 20% tip!! We all lost it, and below says why. One of our guests asked for a manager, and the young gal said 'that would be her.' Which actually turned out not to be true, because she had to go to the manager to get help from him. Like I said, this whole experience took 2- hours. My husband and I asked for napkins three times. My margarita glass was sticky, they never came. After the third time of asking and waiting, my husband had to go to the bar and get some. Little did we know, one of the other couples had asked twice themselves, and never got their napkins. Oh, and did I mention in this 2 hours we sat here, one of the gentleman asked way too many times to count for a glass of water, that never came. The menu states that you have to pay for the salsa after 2 servings. Let me also add with this, that means even if there's 6 people at the table, you pay for more than those 2 . Much like the napkins, my husband and I asked 3 times for, we did the same w/chips and salsa and they never came. Both the other couples asked a couple times each, too, and never got it. It took asking another server walking by each time to actually get another bowl of chips and salsa. And yes, you still have to pay for them. Two of us had the Carne Asada, which came like a rawhide with some pepper sprinkled over it. It was completely inedible. Sidenote, we did ask for separate "couple checks" (aka separate) all of us did. But of course that came on one check too. And let me say, I have no problem paying a 20% tip, even more, but it needs to come with actual service. Not just when ordering meals and alcohol. The waiter had no problem remembering our alcoholic drinks, but everything else, completely ignored. We all walked out saying 'we'll, that's the last time we go here.' read more

there menu listed is not current and when asked about meal they charged for sides not sure why she didn't state that .. for 2 people it shouldnt ve cost me over $60 for 2 sodas, burrito, tacos rice and beans will never go there again service was very slow too read more

Food was tasty. The restaurant inside is very old and hasn't been updated. I prefer to get takeout.

Food is delicious, great atmosphere and the waitress Mara took care of everything and gave me a all on great experience

We sat at the bar, the bartender was by herself and she was super busy, and still gave us great service she was fun and quick with out beer and margarita refills. The shredded beef sopas and green chili chimichanga were delicious. read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Outside - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

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Stopped by on a visit to Avondale in memory of my Uncle who frequented often over the past many decades as one of his favorite places. Ordered his regular (#3 chorizo plate). I was told by cousins that the place was nostalgic, but is in no way what it used to be. My Uncle brought me here 20 years ago and remember it as a bustling place with great food. It was empty on our visit and with more than an hour until closing on a Saturday night - they were ready to send us packing. Our server seemed annoyed we were even there. But, we were in town for tonight and to remember my uncle - so the chorizo it was. It was okay. but I'm certain it could be better if there was more care to it. We realized this place was empty on a Saturday evening for a reason. Hopefully they can take a step back and bring and change things up - brings this large and expansive restaurant with a huge parking lot back to what it once was. read more

Food was delicious. I loved the authentic Mexican flavors. The atmosphere was nice and the service was great. This is definitely on my list of favorite restaurants in the area. read more

Don't know what the food tastes like because we never got to order. Sat us at the table and almost 20min later no one came to even take drink orders, nothing. We gave it a longer pass because there were larger groups already eating ahead of us but the restaurant wasn't that busy and not a single waitress paid us any attention or checked on us. Poor customer service and after waiting that long we just walked out. read more

Was told to go here for good Mexican food but there wasnt one thing we liked here. Service was okay, ambiance felt like a fast food joint. The queso was definitely canned from the grocery store and the entrees were unflavorful.. even the margarita tasted overly sweet like from the grocery store read more

This is our first Christmas Eve without at least one child under our roof. We were feeling nostalgic. Hubby had been asking to go to Raul and Theresa's for a while. The food and the service couldn't have been better. It was the perfect place to go. Merry Christmas! read more

Raul & Theresa's Original Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Avondale, Arizona

My first time at Raul & Theresa's was roughly about 21 yrs ago. My girlfriend at the time; whom soon after became my wife, brought me here for lunch one weekend. At that time, this was probably one of the Best Mexican restaurants in Phoenix as I remember. We have been away from Phoenix for quite some time due to my military career and settling in Cali after retirement. We've seldom frequented Phx, except for the visits to my Wifey's family. So, when I looked up this restaurant a couple of days ago; in order to get the address, I was in shock to see that it only had 3 stars! I was in total disbelief, to say the least! To be honest I didn't even read a single review, I just saw the star rating and was in awe. I showed my wife, needless to say she was in awe as well. But, I know that some people are unrealistic with their expectations, specially when it comes to restaurant reviews. Therefore, we decided to give this restaurant an unbiased shot and see how they were failing their patrons!?! Just as I thought! People are unrealistic, I don't understand how or where/when Raul & Theresa's went wrong! The food is amazing! Drinks are awesome, and the staff are attentive and courteous! What else can someone ask for from a restaurant???? Aren't those the reasons we come to restaurants??????? My wife ordered enchiladas, taco, tamal with rice and beans. I ordered the beef and shrimp fajitas. The best unspoken complements came from my wife. She can be extremely critical at restaurants, but this time around all I heard was umms... As far as my regular order at Mexican restaurants, it was delicious! My only complaint was that I had ordered Steak and Shrimp, instead I got Chicken and Shrimp. But, after bringing this to the attention of our waitress, she fixed it without hesitation, roughly 5 minutes later I was eating "Steak, Chicken and Shrimp fajitas." My take on Raul & Theresa's: nothing has changed, it's still a great family restaurant with delicious food!!! If anyone is trying to talk craziness about this restaurant due to COVID-19, think again, be real! Restaurants are trying to please us all, these silly restrictions that governments have placed on this industry are unreal and unfair. Regardless, this restaurant's food quality has NOT changed and I for one am thankful!!!! Thank you Raul and Theresa, keep up the great work and thank you for putting a smile on my face and as my kids say "party in my tummy." read more

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Overall good experience! Food was good. Salsa was pretty good! Server was very attentive. Loved a pitcher of soda and not having to wait for refills!! This is a huge plus for me! Just FYI you put at the front. Downfall was once we got the check out server never came back to check on us. We were given the wrong check, but the lady at the front fixed it. read more

Great food, great service. Love this place!!!! Calm quiet and clean. Not to bad in price either.