Coming from Los Angeles we are used to the best Mexican Food outside of Mexico. The food at El Charro Cafe was outstanding. Love the ambiance of the interior of the restaurant. Service was very quick. Our son had the kids meal which comes out on a special tray. Highly recommend the table side guacamole, mini Birria Churros, Fish Tacos, and the Grilled Parillada Steak Chimichanga. A visit to El Charro Cafe is a must on every trip to Tucson. Even their fajitas looked and smelled delicious. Also love their special green salsa with chips and their Margaritas are on point. read more

I can't speak for the food. Went there last night and the hostess was really rude to our party - 6 of us looking for a table. The time was 8:20pm and we were walk/ins. Sure they were busy, and perhaps flustered - but being welcomed by a young lady that says, " how can I help you." After walking past us three times in five minutes was weird. Then we asked for a table. Se said ok, went off for a few minutes and came back and said they were full and closed at 9pm so there was nothing she could do. Am I upset? No - but it was strange. That's all. I ate lunch at the airport location today and the service and food were consistently bad. read more

We've been going to El Charro Café for about 30 years, both downtown and the Sunrise location. Friends and family have eaten there with us many times, and over the years we've probably spent thousands of dollars there. We have also bought their discounted gift cards every single year they've offered them, and have recommended those gift cards to many friends who now buy them too. Last night (March 6) we arrived at the Sunrise location around 5 pm. We ordered drinks, full dinners, and dessert and were there about 1 hour and 40 minutes total, including conversation afterward. A manager we had never seen before came to our table and first asked "Is everything alright?" When we said yes, he then told us we needed to leave because they needed the table and there was a 30-minute wait. But when we walked out there were only about 6-8 people waiting, and the back dining room had many empty tables. We've waited over an hour to get into El Charro before and never complained. That's part of going to a popular place. But being asked to leave after a normal dinner felt unnecessary and honestly a little embarrassing. To be fair, the food and atmosphere have always been good, which is why we've kept coming back for decades. But hospitality matters just as much as the food, and long-time customers shouldn't feel rushed out after ordering drinks, dinner, and dessert. I hope the owner, Carlotta Flores, sees this. If someone from management would like to follow up, I would be glad to discuss the situation. We still like El Charro and hope this was just a one-off experience. read more

Loved the decor of this place! Our server was so helpful and funny. The avocado was so fresh on my sandwich. Drinks looked awesome and were really good! read more

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We really enjoyed our lunch at El Charro. We went at 2:00 and had a reservation and were seated right away. There were a couple of empty tables so going at that time without a reservation would probably work. The complimentary chips and salsa were excellent. The chips were not salted and the tomato based salsa had smoky fire roasted tomatoes and was slightly sweet from the smoke on first taste but had a lingering heat. The green salsa had pasillo chili and was also great. I had the vegan hemp tamales and they were excellent with a complex flavor. Also liked the charro beans. My husband had the shrimp burrito Christmas style and loved it. We split a flan for dessert and it was very smooth and creamy with lots of caramel sauce. I would definitely come again. read more

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Food was great as always, server was very nice & fast! And restaurant was clean. Will definitely be back read more

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Where to start.. while in Tucson near Sabino Canyon or Ventana Canyon, a few minutes away, delicious Mexican food. Pulled up on a Tuesday night for dinner and had a 15 minute wait for a table of 4. Started with a sangria, very refreshing. I am impressed by all the vegan options! See menu photo. Vegan enchiladas, vegan burrito, jack fruit tacos. I decided on enchilada, they were good. The complimentary chips and salsa gets a shout out. Red salsa was soo good! They were refilled. Waitress Service was okay, not terrible but also not great. Eat outside , lots of tables. Pretty view of mountains! read more

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We got takeout. I was going to post a picture but the relleno was so good that I wolfed it. read more

El Charro Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Don't get me wrong -- I really wish I could give El Charro Café a five-star review. Growing up, it was one of our favorite restaurants to visit. However, I feel like they've lost some of their spark and authenticity. Their service staff is always very friendly and attentive, and their Oro Valley and Ventana locations offer gorgeous mountain views. But the menu leaves you wanting more. If you're a certified foodie, the prices will definitely make you feel like you're paying for the ambiance rather than an authentic culinary experience. For example, their nachos are big, but they look and taste like something you'd get at Taco Bell. If what you're looking for is ambiance, beautiful views, and good drinks, this is your place. If you're after a true Mexican culinary experience, there are other spots in town that will deliver that for a comparable or even better price. read more

El Charro Cafe - Grilled Chicken Tia's Topopo Salad - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Two of us went for dinner while in the neighborhood and were able to get seated right away though they were full. Our timing was good. I had the fish tacos with beans and rice. The fish was a little cool but not cold. The flavor was good. I like the charro beans as well. One thing I like to do around the holidays is to get the frozen tamales which are great when warmed up. I wish the food served in the restaurant were a bit more consistent but do enjoy the taste. read more

El Charro Cafe - Fish tacos with beans and rice - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Mighty fine food and great drinks. While visiting friends in the Tucson area, we had dinner here. I was very happy to find chile rellanos on the menu, something most chains have dropped. Everyone enjoyed their meals and the service was prettry good. I would go back again when in town. read more

Was in town for a work conference and I just had to dine at El Charro as I remember it from back in the day when I went to UofA some 25 years ago. I'm used to going to the original location downtown off of Congress, but this was a nice atmosphere for a secondary location. We walked in around 7pm and they were busy so we just sat at the bar as there was no wait to dine there. We were treated by the bartender who took our drink order and we also put in an order for the table Guacamole as an appetizer. We order dinner after the drinks were dropped off. I tried the Birria Chimichanga which was outstanding and my friend ordered the Quesadillas. We both really enjoyed our meals. read more

El Charro Cafe - Birria Chimichanga w/side of rice & beans - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Special Send off dinner for an old friend. When this place is full, expect to wait. Dining and paying. So since we were 8, there was. Automatic 20 pct tip. On the receipt, and the server advised us. Then there was an additional tip line(exact words) and a cook tip line (exact words). Some how, I think this is beyond the pale. On the other side, dinner was very good, and I might come back for the enchiladas, looked better than mine. We ll see.... read more

A male owner who I saw drive up in a Bentley with license that said he was the boss was horrendous to the employees. He yelled at me and my husband because we were interrupting his phone call. We had not said a word! His meanness was evident that the whole time we were there. Never again. The gall of bragging he owns the place AND driving a Bentley he parked right by the entrance for all to see. Couldn't say if the food was good we were too appalled read more

This is for the Ventana location. The restaurant is visually appealing; it has an authentic look to it. Here are the problems: 1) Salting margarita glasses with fine table salt -no one does that. 2) Got my order wrong. 3) Complimentary chips come from a bag -probably purchased at Costco. 4) Their salsa tastes like it also comes from Costco, or a similar wholesale vendor. 5) The air in the restaurant was stuffy and warm. In order to preserve the Mexican food culture/heritage here in Tucson, this restaurant must be closed immediately. Put another way...I get better Mexican food in Thailand -that's not hyperbole. read more

The quesadillas were tasty, perfectly seasoned, and delicious. Our server was friendly and accommodating. The atmosphere was quite nicely de orated. read more

Lovely outdoor seating. Service started a bit slow, like maybe the server had just come on duty. I could have used a refill on my water but that didn't happen. However, the food made up for the so so service. My husband ordered a burger, warm red and bloody. Came out well done. He ate it anyway as it was tasty. What's nice is that the burger didn't come with a ton of bread. I had the margarita salad. This salad was totally delicious! Mangos, apples, avocados oh my! Just fantastic! It was big enough to take the rest home for dinner. Now, what was new to us is the $2.00 charge added to the bill for the cooks. In fact there's a line item on the check so noting the charge. We have never sent this before. Had we known, we would have sent back the burger to have it prepared as ordered. read more

Ambiance is great, their patio has the most amazing views of the Catalina Mountains. The food is amazing. I highly recommend Carlotta's Chicken Mole platter. It's delish and big enough to share. Order any of their dishes you will not be disappointed. I highly recommend this place. read more

What has happened to El Charro? At one time it was among my favorite Tucson restaurants. Tonight we had out of town visitors and wanted to impress. We waited one hour for our meals, with no sign of our waiter. Two of four orders were wrong. The chicken in my always reliable enchiladas was dry and overcooked. The restaurant was loud and felt more like a sports bar than a nice place to eat (with football games on). I live nearby and won't be going back. read more

FYI the sizzling summer 5$ off certain menu items each Sunday most combinations Monday fajitas Tuesday tacos Wednesday enchiladas ends July 22,2024 Two for one 100$ gift cards Christmas in July now on sale on line through July 22, 2024 then in person July 24, 24 Great deal read more

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Food was great, again. Ordered the bean and cheese burro, which was superb. I love near Ventana Canyon, so the location is wonderful. Service was fantastic. Server was Julian, and you could tell he knew what he was doing! The ambience is a traditional Mexican restaurant, with portraits of famous Mexican stars that my sister was studying. read more

El Charro Cafe - Bean and cheese burro - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

El Charro Café is a Tucson icon and an absolute must if you're craving authentic Mexican food with history. I visited the Sunrise Drive location and was blown away by the flavor and quality. The carne seca was incredible--smoky, tender, and unlike anything I've had before. I also tried their famous chimichanga, and it lived up to the hype: perfectly crispy with flavorful fillings, topped with fresh guac and pico. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, with beautiful Mexican decor that adds to the experience. The prickly pear margarita was refreshing and paired so well with the meal. The service was friendly and attentive, and I appreciated the range of vegan and gluten-free options. Whether you're a local or visiting Tucson, El Charro Café delivers delicious food and a sense of tradition that keeps you coming back. Read the full write up on Casa Saguaro's website! read more

El Charro Cafe - Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

3rd time we come here, the food always takes a long time to come usually between 45 minutes and today more than 1 hour to come. Is not worth the wait. I wouldn't recommend to go. The service is awful the waitress doesn't even check on you during all this time. read more

I normally LOVE El Charro. Last night it was meh. It's probably my fault because I normally have a Birria burrito. Always excellent. Decided to say what the heck and try their burger with fries. I'd say my only hiccup is it wasn't very busy but it sort of took forever to get drinks get our food ordered and it took about 40 minutes until our food finally arrived It sort of went downhill from there when the food arrived and I looked at the burger and was asked is there anything else we needed and I said well how about some ketchup for the french fries fries and the burger? A few minutes later, the waiter came back to say I think we're out of ketchup, but I'll keep looking. He finally came back and said yep we've been out of ketchup since yesterday and I was a little puzzled by saying there's a bashes 500 feet from this restaurant Wouldn't your manager just go over and pick up a couple bottles of ketchup or stop somewhere and get ketchup? I get it. It's a Mexican restaurant who orders a burger and fries at a Mexican restaurant but at the same time if you're gonna sell a burger and french fries 90% of the people out there are almost always gonna want ketchup for their french fries The Caldo de queso was excellent I had never had it before and thought I usually have albondigas soup and figured let me try something different To sum it up have the soup skip the burger or bring your own ketchup read more

El Charro Cafe - Caldo de queso - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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What a wonderful lunch. I tried the Tucson's Enchiladas Sonorenses with Port Carnitas (our server Anna's suggestion) and it was amazing. The flavors paired so well and I'm now in love with this meal. read more

We eat at El Charro Cafe Ventana several times a year and every Dec after Christmas when family comes in from out of town. We eat out three nights in a row and El Charro is always visited one of those 3 nights. We have never had an experience like we did this past visit. I made our reservations 1 month in advance for a party of ten. I asked for an inside table preferably in their back room. ( we have an elderly member in the party who is very hard of hearing and can not do patio dinning if it's too chilly) I was told that would be just fine. Upon arrival we were greeted and taken out to the patio. I mentioned I requested inside and she told me they had a private party in the back room. I asked why we weren't place in the main dining area and she did not answer. To make matters worse, they had only two small tables pushed together. Others seated at the same size tables were parties of 5 or 6. We were a party of ten adults and there were only 8 chairs at the table. They did not apologize for placing us outside nor the extremely small table. They offered heaters but took at least 30 minutes to get them all in place and working. My 85+ year old mother was very cold for a good bit of the meal. When our food was ready one person brought out two meals at a time, with several minutes in between deliveries. It took a good 15 - 20 minutes for everyone to get their food. The two chip bowls were refilled many times but with about 10 chips per bowl each time. The table was so tight two people had to sit at the corner of the table, we had very little room to move. I'm surprised no one knocked over a glass or anything. As far as the food it went, it was the normal delicious food that they serve. Just wished someone would have called me to let me know we had been moved outside so we could have been dressed more appropriately and that they had put 3 tables together instead of two. We are seriously contemplating if we return here next Christmastime for our family dinner or go elsewhere. read more

Every single time I eat at El Charro Cafe I leave SO happy. Tummy full, attentively served and feeling my time was well spent! This place is LEGEND for reasons earned! One day I'll get to meet Carlotta. She is the visionary restaurateur and culinary impresaria behind the city's most celebrated mexican establishment - a woman whose empire of taste and hospitality redefines the very art of festive dining ...... and maybe get her to take a break and hang with us for a little while. A girl can dream! I highly suggest you make reservations and bring your whole gang to El Charro Cafe, like me, you won't be disappointed. read more

Delicious food!!! We had shrimp tacos which were soooo fresh and the Mexican pork burrito with elegante molé sauce was memorable. I'm definitely ordering that again. Everything was fresh and delicious. MMMMMMMMM read more

I can't believe this place only has 3.5 stars. We were just there and I ordered the steak and chicken fajitas. My wife ordered the taquitos. Both were fantastic. The steak and chicken were cooked perfectly, we got the chicken tortilla soup so good. My wife said the taquitos were awesome as well. Great food, excellent service. What more do you want. read more

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Taco sampler was a great way to taste a variety of meats and the calabacitas. Mole enchiladas were stuffed with white meat chicken with a rich mole sauce on top. Large portion of rice and beans complemented the enchiladas. read more

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For whatever it's worth to anyone, I don't think I've ever really posted a review before about anything, but I wanted to give a thank you to El Charro (east side.) Went in earlier today for lunch and just had a really great experience that stood out to me and my out of town guest. Right when we walked in the place and staff felt warm and inviting. Everyone actually looked happy to be there, moving around busily, interacting with each other, checking in on people, keeping things running smooth but not rushing anybody. It just had a good vibe to it. I could tell there seems to be some changed from the last few years (self confessed snowbird). I believe the lady managing the ship that day was Miriam?? and she was doing a really great job. She checked in once or twice, but not hovering or anything like that -- just the right amount. You could kinda see her guiding things in the background and the team seemed more than willing to help. My guest even joked that I must have some clout there because the service was so on point, but really that's just how the whole crew was treating everyone. Food was great like always, but honestly the way the staff handled everything is what stood out this time. Hope this might be helpful to Someone :) Happy customer, read more

on 4/19/2026 we had a reservation for 4 people great service!!!!!! the problem lies with in womans restroom roaches!!!! dirty and this was at 11:30am i'm bring this matter directly to management instead of yelp! when the problem was mention to the young man with the broom sweeping up around the brunch display a confused look came to his face and said he did not care???? as a loyal customer for years and years this type of attitude would cause us to consider going to, heck even pacos tacos have cleaner facilities and workers that actually care read more

We ate here tonight. Everybody is very friendly. The server was very nice. It took 45 minutes to get our food. It looked like that was pretty much the norm for everybody. I would think since this restaurant has been here for many many years and it being a Friday night they would have enough kitchen help to get the job done a lot more efficiently prices are average however, the drinks are way overpriced. read more

After reading some of the recent reviews, I was having second thoughts about picking this place for meeting up with an old friend - but afterwards I wanted to drop onto yelp to say....we had no problems! This was my first time at El Charro and it was delicious. The birria roja chimichanga with rice and beans was just how I expected it to be, the service on a Monday evening was attentive and friendly. I'll definitely be back next time I'm in town. read more

Their prices went up. The portions are small, and the food is very poor quality. The biggest concern is the management is terrible. They do not have good customer service skills and they get offended and rude if you're not satisfied. It is very disappointing after all of the years in business at this location it is no longer a good choice. Our friends and I will not be back.! read more

Reservation at 6 pm. Got seated 30 minutes later! Waiter sweet, however food served cold- mediocre. Just get a margarita, eat chips and salsa. Spend your money elsewhere. Overrated. read more

Living in a city known for its Mexican food, I was excited to try El Charro after seeing the amount of positive reviews. Unfortunately, my experience did not live up to expectations. I enjoyed the salsa, but it did not make up for the cold, bland entrees that had to be sent back. The atmosphere was pleasant, but the service was slow. If you are looking for authentic Mexican food in Tucson, this is not the place. I will not be returning. read more

Three people, three meals; only one was decent - and not by much. The Red Chile and Fresh Corn tamale plates were disappointing. Dry filling, no flavor and an overabundance of masa - especially on the ends of the tamales where there was no filling and big chunks of plain masa. The chimi was better but not by much. We should have just had the guac and some beans. Service was slow and inattentive. People seated and ordered after we did were served well before we were. Over attention for customers on the patio. Too much area to cover for too few servers. Had to hunt down the waitress to get our check. In my opinion - The El Charro universe has lost a few steps due to expansion of locations. Never would have had this experience years ago. read more

The last 3 times I times I have been in the wait time from being seated and a waiter or waitress coming to take a drink order has been 10-15 min. Once drinks are brought and food order placed we do t see them again until food is brought out. Sometimes by our server others by a different server after another long wait. They don't come back to Check if everything is ok and don't bring or ask for drink refills. Then the next waiting game begins where you hope you can get them to clear the table and bring your check before they close. It's just such a disappointment that the service is so slow and inconsistent that it makes me search out other restaurants read more

We were excited to try the original Mexican restaurant in Tucson. We did take out. It was 45 minutes delayed. The place was PACKED, there wasn't even a seat to wait at. The hostesses were not pleasant and/or welcoming. The quesofondido seemed like it had been sitting for well over an hour. It was more like a brick and less like the gooey cheesiness we were looking forward to having. The Reynosa chicken was my main meal - it was good, the white sauce hit the spot. Would I go back? Probably not. read more