Food is always good. I like their tamales, tacos, enchiladas, queso, and chips and salsa. Good service. I get this DoorDashed a lot. I would recommend their Bolaños plate. Very good portion for its price. read more

Very simple. Taco dinner. Beef was tasty. Nice beans. White queso with ground beef. Nice. All in all very satisfying read more

See all

Interesting...on 05/27/26 I requested a reservation for a party of 7 for 05/28 at 6 PM. El San Luis only responded a week later. Because I had not heard back if the reservation had been accepted or declined, we showed up anyway on 05/28 at 6:00 PM. There were plenty of tables, the restaurant was almost empty, my party was immediately seated. We evidently didn't need a reservation. The only thing authentic was the decor. The service was GREAT!!! The food was not! The chips were stale and salsa had no flavor; both the white and yellow Queso was so watered down, it wouldn't stick to the chips and didn't taste like cheese. We ordered a side of corn tortillas - they were hot, but tough & stale tasting and rather than served with butter/margarine, was given a 'bottle of liquid yellow stuff.' The only thing edible on the Cheese Enchilada plate was the watery beans - the rice was fluffy and not sticky BUT not Mexican Rice no seasoning just a little pink, the Enchiladas had some kind of yellow substance that wasn't melted - calling it cheese would be a BIG stretch, the chili sauce was so watered down, it just rolled off the enchiladas and again no flavor. My teenagers who will eat almost anything, could eat only part of their shared Nachos Supreme - the chips were soggy, the 'cheese' was so thick on the top looked like a solid sheet of thick yellow glue. The Nachos appeared to be left overs from the day before - extra cheese added and stuck in the microwave before serving. The Beef Fajitas had a funky sweet flavor; the vegetables had not been sautéed enough; again, the beans were watery and I can't describe the guac, it was just green. Since every dish was bad, rather than argue, we just paid the bill and left. However, they did keep one promise - it was an unforgettable experience. read more

Y'all. Trust me. The best salsa I've had in yeeeears and everyone saying "fresh" is correct, but not detailed enough. It is SO drool worthy. The food is hot and even though the pics make it look like every day TexMex, it's somehow more delicious than most. The marg hype is accurate - very balanced and clear (not those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle green margaritas you sometimes get at a local spot). Also the exterior is deceiving. This place is larger and nicer once you walk in. This is my new fave to drive to in the entire Cedar Creek Lake area. read more

Food was amazing Staff very friendly Salsa was good I got lunch fijatias was yummy read more

El San Luis - Fijatias - Mexican Near Me - Athens, Texas

Mine and my husband's favorite place for date night dinners. The service is always good and the food is phenomenal (and we're picky about our Tex-mex). Definitely recommend. read more

Great plates, salsa is very fresh! Nice atmosphere too. Staff always checking on me. The shrimp quesadillas are bomb!!

Acceptable TexMex . Nice atmosphere. Family owned and operated. Had Fajitas Nachos - interesting presentation of cubed meat with huge amounts of melted cheese but very few chips. Main was Big Tex- tamale, cheese enchilada, & Guacamole Tostada. read more

Best TexMex in Athens, TX. Very nice atmosphere too. I'd go back! It was recommended to us by our Hispanic friends.

All other Mexican establishments in town are better. Not sure what they do to their Fajitas but they tasted totally whacked! Worst I have ever had anywhere. No char, no sizzle...bad cat or old horse I guess. Queso was a very cheap canned version. Sorry I will go elsewhere. read more

We had a party of 4 adults 2 children. The enchiladas were bland and gross, the burrito had no flavor, we ordered a grilled cheese that came out with cheese not even melted. We ordered churros that came out nothing like they should have and had to send them back. Which were $2.50 each. The service was not good. We came here based on review as we are from out of town. I highly do not recommend this place. I am extremely disappointed. read more

Food was great! The charro beans were wonderful! Margaritas were good, too! Service was nice & the restaurant was clean!

The prices are out of this world folks.Example Blt $11.00 Its bacicly an order of toast, a slice of tomato, sprinkle of shreaded lettuce and two strips of bacon.Now restraunts buy in bulk. Im thinking .20 for that tomatoe slice maybe, .20 for lettuce, I allow ,50 for bacon and .25 for 2 bread slices.My math shows $1.15 so thats an 900% profit folks and look at some of the other menu items too. and last who wants that darn red sauce on a steak and its a secret how many ounces. They could bring out 6 oz for $26.00 and nothing you could do abot it. read more

Good food, great ambiance and always good service. Clean and great salsa. Thanks Chicken Quesadillas Chicken EnchiladasHuevos Rancheros. All good! read more

Enjoyed both our food and the decor! Our newest waiter tried so hard to do his job that we were charmed by his efforts!

We make it a point to get to Athens at lunch or dinner to eat at El San Luis. Love their Chili Rellenos! Yum!

Back in TX after living in Virginia for 21 years, we NEEDED a good Mexican breakfast and this was a perfect choice. The restaurant is very clean, the staff friendly and food delivered quickly. We both ordered breakfasts from the Mexican menu, though they have an American menu too. Chips and salsa was offers which was a perfect start. Coffee and Iced Tea were both fresh tasting too. Highly recommended! read more

Great food, service and atmosphere. I had chili releno. I highly recommend this dish and the resterauant.

I won't be going there anymore i mean the food is ok but i didnt like the fact that they added a 40$tip and charged different from menu price for some items to my ticket i went with my husband,son and daughter-in-law for a few drinks and dinner cost 180$ smdh when i go with my husband only to eat and have drinks they never have added a tip so i was confused i mean i paid but i will not be going back the service we got that night was not the best anyways and for them to add there tip without saying i didn't like i thought they added it when it was a party of 6 or more anyways rather go to Texas Roadhouse for 180$ a dinner read more

The service and food are unmatched anywhere In Henderson County. Food is over the top, prices are very reasonable. I would say El San Luis is the Uncle Julios or MiCocina of East Texas. You cannot go wrong here. Also need to add that the employees here are consistently smiling! Just a great experience. I'll be back with friends. read more

My wife and I eat there quite often. It has become our go to place for Mexican food. Good food, polite service and reasonable prices!

Great service and food! Our favorite place in Athens. Margaritas are great as well. Prices are reasonable. We are always in and out very fast. read more

My kids went here last week and said it was good so tonight my wife and I took the grandkids to check it out. In short, this has to be the worst Mexican restaurant in the area that I have tried. I ordered chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce. The chicken was dry and the sour cream sauce tasted like white gravy. My wife's pork chops were so tough she couldn't eat them. My grandson's beef fajitas tasted "funny" according to him. I didn't taste it, but my wife said it did not smell "normal." Then to top it off the grandkids had sopapilas and as my granddaughter squeezed the bottle of honey a small fly came out. The waitress said they did not charge us for the pork chops, however, she charged us $8.99 for my wife's charros beans which the menus says is $2.99. Needless to say we will never go back to this place. read more

Breakfast burrito was served open-ended on both sides on top of a piece of wax paper. Since I couldn't pick it up I tried cutting it with a fork and butter knife and got a mouthful of wax paper. Really? Come on! How do you eat a burrito that's open on both ends?!? The table was covered in a wet brown liquid that the annoyed server lightly wiped with a dirty wet towel. Dinner was worse. My "swirl" margarita had so much mix in it that I couldn't finish this tart-ass concoction. No alcohol detected at all for $7.50! Refried beans were watery and tasteless. Ground beef tacos were nothing special either. The small guacamole was a tablespoon at most for 3 bucks. We won't be back. We'd rather BYOB to El Arroyo where the staff are friendly and the food is much better. read more

My wife and I read the reviews and are always on the hunt for decent Mexican food. We tried out their breakfast first and we're seriously disappointed. We were the only patrons when we arrived at 0830. We were ushered to a table by an unhappy host and found the table dirty. Host vanished so we waited and waited for his return so he could wipe off our table. Again... WE WERE THE ONLY CUSTOMERS IN THE PLACE! Finally had our orders taken and waited at least 20 minutes for our lackluster breakfasts to be brought out. Wife had a chorizo and egg burrito that had mere specs of chorizo and was loaded instead with the potato add on. We wondered how pathetic the burrito must look without the potato. I chose the traditional huevos rancheros. No good at all and looked devoid of any effort putting it together. Refried beans are the worst we've had in Texas, seriously. Watery, no seasoning, almost a medicinal flavor. We've had better refried beans out of a can. Because we were the only patrons in the establishment for breakfast, we figured word was out that this place just does a suck breakfast and we didn't get the memo. So we decided to try them for dinner the following week. Wife ordered beef tacos and didn't care for the "just average" tacos. What's with the ground beef being served and not shredded beef? We had ordered a side of guacamole and found it to be bland as hell and severely over-priced at $2.99. I've attached a picture so you can see for yourself what this place is all about. Our booth backed up to another and we overheard that couple comment to their server that they were insulted by the price and quantity of their guacamole and instructed him to remove it from their table and take it off the bill. I had the skirt steak. Served with the traditional Mexican sides but with the same nasty translucent refried beans. The steak was seasoned nicely but was tougher than I expected. My jaw grew tired before I could finish it. My waiter offered the skirt steak as regular or spicy. I realized after getting the bill that he charged me .99 for the spicey option. Sure it won't break the bank but mentioning that during the ordering is only proper. When we went to the register to pay our bill I asked the non- English speaking cashier to add a butterfinger candy bar to my bill. She just gave us a goofy look and giggled. So, I said it a second time and got the same reaction which we recognize as Spanish for "what the hell are you saying"? Our suspicions were confirmed when I then proceeded to leave with the candy bar... she stopped me and said $1.50. Omg. Get some training honey. In closing, this restuarant is lacking in professional employee training. With the exception of the female at the register this place has only Male employees. They not only need to improve their attitude but actually learn the job expected of them. We won't be back and I suspect they'll be under inside of two years. read more

El San Luis - About 1/4 of an avocado at best. Impressive huh? - Mexican Near Me - Athens, Texas

Don't let all of the cars fool you. The food is tasteless, three of us ordered fajitas, the meat was super thin and very little of it, the plate was loaded with shredded onion and bell pepper, the carne asada was also very thin and bland, one of us had combination nachos and the ground beef tasted like it was boiled and again the complaint was no flavor. Nothing had flavor even the salsa. We were all very disappointed. I don't mind spending my hard earned money on food that's good, but I feel like the 100.00 I spent on this was stolen! read more

I had lunch on Sunday with my family and it was great! I was very concerned about the number of people coming in without masks, do they think they are invincible. Social distancing was in place but doesn't help unless everyone cooperates. Thanks Mike Horton read more

Our first Mexican restaurant in Athens was more than we expected. The reviews were for the most Pat excellent. But I've been fooled before. This time they were all right. I had the lunch Burrito and substituted fajita chicken instead of the beef. It was delicious. My bride had the chicken quesadilla and said they were not typical of what she has had in the past but she loved them. She thinks it was the grilled onions inside. Regardless we are camping at the lake for a week and we will be back before headlights by home. read more

Nice place, & very out of the way (off the main, busier roads). I like the atmosphere, the "optical illusion" artwork on the wall, & they also have some TVs. It's nice that they use washable, reusable cloth napkins--they are stronger & last longer without falling apart, so unlike most little dinky restaurant napkins. Their queso offered along with their chips & salsa is excellent! They also offer an extra bowl of pico de gallo, which can be added to the queso or the salsa, or eaten by itself. I think they could've offered a few more "obvious" vegetarian-friendly options. I got the "Azteca" platter, with a cheese burrito with queso sauce, a queso tostada, a guacamole tostada, & a "taco-ish" side salad. The food was fabulous! read more

Best Mexican food in town! The chicken taquitos are awesome.

Great service, no long wait for a table. Kinda good not great food . However great frozen margaritas.

Wow!!! This was delicious....and the prices were very good and the portions were huge. Definitely stop in again when we are here. Waiter was so friendly. Try a glass of the rice milk....like melted blue bell with nutmeg....yum read more

The service is outstanding. Very friendly staff. The restaurant is always clean. The food is so good. The best appetizer is Nate's special. Anything you order you will love. read more

Service was very bad. We waited 20 min before anyone came to get drink orders, much less for food. This is the 3rd time we have eaten there. Wait staff seems untrained or too many tables per person. We will not be back. read more

Love this place. I've been going here for years. I even remember eating there back when it was across the tracks. The owners are absolutely amazing. They are so sweet and always fix any prob. The food is amazing. I love the chips and salsa. The taco salad grande great. The fajitas never disappoint. Sergio makes a bomb margarita. The atmosphere is great for parties or family time. read more

Everything was great, with one exception, the queso was too thinned out. Waiter was quick , respectful, and responsive to our needs throughout our experience. The food in my opinion was way above average ! We definitely would return for another experience in flavor! I'm read more

We found this place through Yelp since we were driving through town. We found it but there were no cars out front but noticed cars in the back so we went in through the back. We were unsure of this place since there weren't many people in here and no cars out front but they were open and we were pleasantly surprised! The tortilla chips were warm, salsa had a small kick to it which was just right. The service was excellent! Our waitress was very nice. I ordered chicken mole which was very tasty but be aware that at the top of the menú it says "all items served with rice and beans" but that excludes this dish. The rice was awesome and I did taste the beans from my husband's dish which were pretty tasty too! I definitely recommend this place. Good food plus great customer service. read more

Wonderful chorizo Mexican breakfast with a very flavorful salsa! The barbacoa was brisket, which was acceptable. Atmosphere was great, clean bathrooms, fantastic service! Our fabulous, attentive waitress was Isabel. We plan to continue eating here on our way to/from Stay-awhile Rv Park in Murchison. read more

El San Luis - Chorizo, eggs, rice, beans, barbacoa burrito, salsa - Mexican Near Me - Athens, Texas

The food was good and the servers were efficient and friendly but the small children constantly running from one end of the dining room to the other screaming at the top of their voices is enough to keep me from going back. read more

Very unexpected ! I'm a trucker and parked in the lot near, I had no idea this place was even there. And the food was Unvelievably delicious. You will Not go wrong with the Chicken Fajitas! It was enough for two or three people and was some of the Best ever ! The chicken was tender and delicious ! Everything I had was fantastic ! For a small little place you will be pleasantly surprised ! And the wait staff was Top shelf superb ! read more