It was our first time here. We had heard about the place from friends before, but did not go until now. It is always busy, so be prepared to wait. The food was good, the cinnamon coffee was definitely different. We did not try the dessert, as the food was a lot. Great atmosphere. the staff is friendly and accommodating. Will definitely be going back. Parking situation is...difficult, as there are not many spaces available if they are busy. You can walk a bit if you park further. read more

Casual ambience. The restaurant was very large and had a wait of about 20 minutes, which was not too bad for our group of six. The complimentary nachos were good and the salsa was enjoyable as well. The pico de gallo was very fresh and refreshing. The server was very friendly. I ordered steak ranchero and lemonade. The lemonade was refreshing and not too sweet, with a nice balance between lemon and sugar. The steak was a bit dry for my taste, but the beans were good. Overall, it was a decent experience, and the server created a friendly atmosphere. The service was slow but still good. read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

Glad I checked Yelp for good food in El Paso! L&J Cafe was a nice spot for some no frills Mexican food in a lively atmosphere. It definitely felt like the center of town with the buzz of energy and the clientele. I sat at the bar and was greeted with some chips and salsas (yes, plural), it was a nice touch to get a free bowl to snack on. For my dinner I ordered the mole chicken enchiladas, and it was great. The mole wasn't as aromatic as I expected, it was mostly sweet with a little herbaceous taste in there. But not very smoky or complex. Still, the dish overall was great, the beans were delicious and the enchiladas themselves came out really nice. I can see why this place comes highly rated! read more

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Honestly I got recommended this place, and I decided to stop by it is pretty busy and packed. Waited about 10 minutes to get sat down at the bar Honestly, the food is regular with lots of locals and the service was fast which I liked read more

L & J Cafe - Flautas bandera style - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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Always top notch service, the staff is always amazing in verification of ingredients in the menu due to food allergies. They have even suggested a few different menu options to accommodate my food allergies. read more

L & J Cafe - Steak Burrito and chili con queso, absolutely delicious - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

I was driving by El Paso on a roadtrip and wanted a quality meal, so we stopped here because of the reviews. And it did not disappoint!! There was a little bit of a wait, but it was worth it. I don't usually love Tex-Mex but this was more Mex and truly tasted authentic and was so fresh. Our server was so kind and the service was great. I will say the guacamole was pretty bland and underwhelming, but their sauces and meals made up for that. Cool homey environment too. 100% will be stopping here when I pass by! read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

Often visiting El Paso for shopping my wife and I come to this historic iconic restaurant for lunch. My wife was there a week ago with one of her girlfriends and I got 'jealous' so it was my choice for lunch this visit. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our table but it was worth it! We both had the cheese enchiladas in mole sauce with side of beans and rice. I know that Mole is like BBQ Sauce, there are many variations and taste, too smokey, too hot, two chocolaty, etc. I grew up in a Hispanic home where Mole was prepared regularly. For me, the L&J Mole is one of the best that I have ever tasted. As always the food in general was amazing, including the fresh fried tortilla chips and their selection of salsas. Cesar the server was outstanding. It's our place to take our visitors in El Paso. read more

L & J Cafe - My Cheese Mole Enchiladas with beans and rice, so delicious - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

So good! Was reading the articles on the wall and tried things they are known for. Green chicken enchiladas, lime margarita, and the lemonade. The green chicken enchiladas are like nothing I have ever had, Chile piled on top of cheese and chicken and corn tortillas. Margarita was the best one I've had in a while. Lemonade was perfectly refreshing. Husband got the combination plate and he had no complaints. Service was excellent. read more

L & J Cafe - Green chicken enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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Wow! Wow! We had an incredible time. We are so happy we came here! We were driving through El Paso on a road trip and stayed an Airbnb down the street. So we were able to walk up this restaurant - which was great bc the parking lot and adjacent street parking was packed! This restaurant came highly recommended by both the airbnb host and my friend who is from EP. We came on a Thursday evening around 630pm - there was a wait out the door and we ended up waiting for about 15-20 min. Based on reviews we ordered the following: 1. Queso dip as an appetizer 2. Mexican combo plate - but we substituted the red chili enchilada with their famous, legendary green chili chicken enchilada (which the waiter confirmed was what they are famous for) 3. Chicken tortilla soup 4. Tres leches dessert Everything was amazing!! INCLUDING THEIR included and unlimited chips and 3 salsas! Their red salsa was very good. Their green salsa was even better!! And my favorite was their mocaheta salsa - which I ended up getting three refills of!! The chips were fresh and made in house! So good!! The ambiance was exciting and joyful! The waiter Alex was wonderful. He created an amazing experience! He was friendly, helpful, attentive. He did his best to pay attention to us and serve us in an efficient way even though we could tell the restaurant was super busy - he worked very hard to never rush us! We are so happy with our food choices! On the Mexican combo plate - I loved everything: beef stew, steak flauta, green chili chicken enchilada and chili relleno! The chicken tortilla soup came out with the toppings on the side so we could put as little or as much avocado, cheese, or lime as we wanted - i loved that feature. We first tried the chicken and broth by itself and it was amazing - so when we added the toppings it was next l level! The tres leches dessert had peach in it, the whipped cream frosting and the soft spongy cake was SO GOOD! We kept raving about our experience for the remainder of the night. We will definitely come back to El Paso - even if it's just for this restaurant! PS. The waiter packed me extra chips and salsa to take home bc I loved it so much. I ate them for breakfast the next day! read more

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Love this place. The Steak Tampiqueña is a chefs kiss. One of the best I've had between west Texas and New Mexico. The red chile here they serve with the chips is got great flavor and heat. The service is great and friendly. They keep the drinks full and everyone is pleasant. The ambiance is old school and very much local family style. Love this place no problems. read more

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Great food! We were disappointed to find out they do not have liquor only agave. Many tables did get Agave Margaritas though. We started with guacamole and chile con queso. The Queso was amazing loaded with chiles and you could tell homemade with the real stuff. The guacamole was really just avocado with some diced tomatoes on top but very fresh. I got the Chicken Enchiladas with both red and green sauce as the server highly recommended the green sauce. She was not wrong, the green sauce was very creamy loaded with chiles and had lots of flavor. I typically get red sauce but would recommend the green sauce! The enchiladas themselves were very good the chicken was on top and not a ton of meat. The place was very busy yet big on the inside. Parking can be a bit challenging as street parking. Server was awesome with the recommendations and attentive to our table. read more

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Hands down the best Tex-mex I've had! If you are ever in town you have to check this place out. We visited this restaurant after we landed in El Paso and before our road trip in NM/TX. I'm so glad we picked this restaurant. The food was so good that we kept on looking for its replacements throughout our trip. Nowhere got even close. We missed it so much that we were excited to visit again after our road trip and before we flew out of El Paso. I'm not an expert in Mexican food, but everything we had there just tasted exceptional. Started from the free tortillas chips. They were so crispy and made fresh. There was just enough grease and salt to taste good, even after the chips got cold. The chile con queso dip was addicting. All of us ordered fajitas as we were really impressed by our first visit. The food not only had good flavoring, and cooking was done right that it has that "wok fragrance " if you know what I mean. Even the sour cream was extra creamy and a bit sweet. I'll 100% come back again when I'm in town. The service was quick and attentive. The place was popular, but we didn't have to wait long because there are lots of tables. read more

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Amazing!! As another reviewer suggested, I relied the Mexican combination plate but subbed the red cheese enchilada for the green chicken enchilada. It did not disappoint! The portion was huge! My favorite was by far the Chile Relleno. It was so good I would up snacking on my leftovers as soon as I got back to my hotel room. 10/10 read more

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I've been wanting to try this place for months. We come out here a couple times a month for work and have tried many Mexican places in the city. Nothing worth writing home yet. Stopped by here once but it had a line out the door. So this time we got here early. Loved the decor inside and it has some old school charm. Rumor has it this place has been around a long time. So we started with margaritas and queso. The chips were spot on and fresh. The margaritas were very good! I got the combo plate enchiladas with a chili relleno too. Wow! Amazing taste and very fresh. Loved every bite. My buddy got the fajita nachos and said it was superb! Definitely come back and try a different dish again. read more

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My friends and I ate dinner at L&J Cafe during a quick one night stopover in El Paso. We weren't familiar with El Paso, so I found this place on Yelp. No regrets at all - this was an absolutely fantastic meal. We went on a Friday night around 6pm. The restaurant was busy inside but there's lots of tables so we only had a short 5 minute wait. The parking is mainly street parking, but there's dedicated parking spaces outside in front of the restaurant. We found a spot fairly quickly. Our server Jazmine was excellent. Super friendly and gave us some great recommendations on the menu. The chips and salsa are complimentary and super craveable. You can tell the chips are made fresh. The trio of salsas were uniquely different and carried the perfect amount of heat. To start we ordered the Queso Fries. Their Chile con Queso is fantastic and unlike other queso's I've had before - definitely recommend! For entrees we all got the Mexican Combination Plate. This is a great opportunity to try multiple menu items all at once. I highly recommend subbing the red cheese enchilada for the green chicken enchilada. For dessert we shared the Sopapillas. Another delicious bite, especially when drizzled with honey. Next time we're passing through El Paso, we know where we're stopping for dinner! read more

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The first time we tried going here, the place was packed so we waited to try again another day. And that day came!! We went during lunch. There are nice attendants to help you park along the street so that was a plus. We only waited for a table for maybe five minutes and were seated. We started with the Chiles con queso which was yummy. Get ready for a nice cheese pull!! The different salsas were yummy. The carne de res is really comforting and delicious. My husband ordered the Mexican combo which was nice to try a mix of things. Nice friendly staff who were very attentive. Would go back with friends to try more things on the menu. Overall fun experience! read more

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Amazing chips and salsa. Great chile verde burrito. The $3.99 avocado is a WHOLE jumbo avocado, so if you want it, get it. They get busy and parking is limited. read more

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Had a great experience here! Our waitress was the best, she came out with all the salsas, endless chips, and even brought out the enchilada sauces for us to try! The mole sauce was probably the best I've had yet! Great food for a great price! Restaurant was busy, but great service! Will be back this was a great place and it is street parking, and they have stairs for the entrance only. read more

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Been here twice and was really good both times. I recommend the steak plate in particular. Salsas must be authentic because they are not what I usually expect! Less tomato based and a lot thinner and spicier. The chips here are spectacular though I could eat them with nothing on top. Do be careful as it can get pretty busy and parking is tight. Usually there's some seats at the bar even when the place is packed. Food comes out quick. read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

Food and service was top tier. Everyone was very kind and the restaurant was very clean. I was traveling out of town from Florida and had this location recommended by several people. Now I will be the one recommending for anyone visiting or living in El Paso. read more

L & J Cafe - Steak Ranchero - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

This was a great little find. Recommended by a colleague. Came in for lunch and was not disappointed. Except for the wait. But it was the lunch hour and there was I think 6or 8 of us. The wait was an hour but we ended up breaking our party up and sitting at the bar to eat. It was a lively place between the customers, staff, music, and TVs, it was not at all quiet but oddly wasn't overwhelming. At least not sitting at the bar. I ordered the steak which came as steak strips. It was really good. Not too spicy but could have used a little more salt for me. Overall enjoyable. Would come back and would recommend. Parking is TIGHT so be prepared for that. read more

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Very lively spot offering excellent Mexicsn dishes. We had tortilla souo, chicken nachos and pollo mole (among the best I've ever enjoyed). It is a cozy setting and the servers do a great job of keeping things moving. The portion sizes are great; we took home enough forcanotger meal after eating our fill. VERY popular at lunchtime and parkung was a bit tifhrmt although the have someone outside directing. Definitely on our list for future visits to or through El Paso. read more

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Chicken tacos were amazing, so good I had to take the last taco home! 10/10. Amazing customer service and so many dishes to come back and try read more

Tried this place while waiting for a flight and we enjoyed it. We were looking for some Tex Mex since we were in Texas and this place was one of the top recommended places on Yelp and other sites. Overall we had a pretty good experience. The entrance was unsuspecting and you would not be able to tell how lively and bustling the inside was from the door/entry. The staff were nice and greeted us quickly. Our waiter was really nice and the service was very fast. The food came out really quickly after we ordered it. They serve complimentary chips and salsa which were home made. The chips were so good, fresh and crispy. I also liked the variety of salsas. We ordered the queso, chicharrones burrito, and the combo plate. The combo plate was huge and enough for two meals. I loved the chicharrones burrito and the queso was cheesy and delicious. I wish I got a chicharrones burrito to go! The price was reasonable, especially since I'm used to California prices. I'm glad I tried this place while I was in the area. read more

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L&J Café is a must-stop whenever you're in El Paso. Just blocks from the border, it serves truly authentic Mexican food in a lively, welcoming atmosphere. The servers are friendly, and you can choose to grab a drink at the bar or head into the main dining room depending on the vibe you're looking for. The caldo de res is incredibly flavorful, the combination plate is perfect when you want a little bit of everything, and if you're sitting at the bar, a cold Tecate is the way to go. A local classic that absolutely lives up to the hype. read more

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For Arizonans: I would best describe the food similar to Macayo's. The restaurant is deceptively big. It is like a maze inside. While there, there were a couple families celebrating their birthday mornings, so I got the vibe that this place is a fan favourite among families and locals. It was around lunch time, and the restaurant was PACKED. I think we waited for a table for ~10-15min. Ordering and getting the food after being seated were relatively quick. I got the Mexican Combination plate, and it came loaded basically with a ton of favourites on the menu. However, I didn't feel like any of the food was something to write home about except that the rice and the chili verde con carne (soup) were both good. If I ever come back, I would just get the chili verde con carne, honestly. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the food here, and was a bit disappointed when it was recommended to me by locals. read more

This place was great! My wife had a chile relleno plate and I had the combination. We are from El Paso but currently live in San Antonio. This was the Mexican food fix we despise needed. We sat at the bar and the service was amazing! read more

L & J Cafe - Combination Plate - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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If you ever needed a single reason to visit L&J Café, this one should do it: back in the day, they had bootlegging and slot machines hidden behind false walls. Honestly, if that doesn't make you curious, you might need to check your pulse. Sure, the slots are long gone--but the flavor jackpot's still paying out. We kicked things off with chips, salsa, and guacamole that could probably broker peace treaties. Then came green chile chicken enchiladas, Caldillo Soup with hot flour tortillas, and Deshebrada Tacos that practically whispered "don't share me." I've been eating here since the 80s, and not once has L&J let me down. Even if you're just there for margaritas, beer, and a good laugh, you'll leave wondering if maybe those old slot machines aren't still hiding somewhere--just to see who's lucky enough to find them. read more

Friday late lunch, the place was humming. We were promptly seated. We ordered 2 orders of red chicken enchiladas. Shredded chicken on top of cheese stuffed enchiladas covered with red sauce. It's nectar of the gods. The rice was good and refried beans was as expected. The service was friendly and efficient. I know understand why it is one of ElPaso's legendary restaurants. read more

Came here for lunch, waited about 15 minutes for a table when we got here around 1130. The restaurant was busy, but the service was great. The variety of salsas they give the table at the beginning were amazing! I chose the Mexican combination for lunch and it didn't disappoint. The chile rellenos were incredible! read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican combination - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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We love L&J Cafe. Not sure why it's called a cafe though. Just seems to me like a very nice old very authentic Mexican restaurant. read more

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Some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. The staff was amazing and super kind. The restaurant was very busy, but they took the time to make sure we had everything we needed and that our cups never went empty. They also have really affordable beer and the best queso I've ever had. People say that there's more authentic Mexican food, but I haven't found it. Also, this place has been around for over 90 years, so you can't argue how good it is and how they've been able to stick around for that long. read more

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I loved reading about the origin of this place, very meaningful. The chips + dips were great, ask for a refill and they'll bring warm chips, SO good! Got the steak burrito, amazing. Queso was delicious. Shrimp tacos were just okay. Portion wise was fantastic, they came in 3s and that's the best portion. However didn't feel like it tasted any different from other tacos I've had. Overall, food was decent. I didn't like the service where he charged me for soda water and refilled with regular water. He also charged for the queso to burrito without letting us know it's an extra charge. It'd be nice to know upfront what will be extra charges. We'd still come back again when in the area! Btw there is a wait at 4:30pm... waited about 25 mins. read more

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Really good food!! Outstanding service!! There is a wait on the weekends but worth it! Parking is plentiful on the street but it can be far though! read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

This place has been in a lot of magazines. Southern living twice. I guess the south west is southern but it has a lot more in common with Santa Fe over Charlotte. You'd never know it was there other than the small sign tucked on a residential street. The server was quick and attentive. The food came out quickly. It was good. The drinks were $3.50 and the plate I got was $17. I got to try more than one thing so it was worth it for a first time. The chicken and chilies were out standing. The pampas soup was wonderful. I can't say I liked it all but that's personal taste. I recommend for lunch read more

L & J Cafe - Mexican combination - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

My mom dropped by for an event this week. We started off with am EP classic. She stuck with her chicken mole, but Liz and I had their green chile chicken enchilada. I wish there rice was a bit fresher, it seemed overdone. The refried beans were good, and the chicken enchiladas were very good. The amount of chile and cheese atop the enchiladas were healthy. I also ordered a small menudo cup for a starter. It was full of hominy and chitlins...it's just today that they put a lot into their menudo. The broth was warm, and could have been piping hot. Alyssa was a very nice server. If we needed something we got it. She and her team got our food out to us quickly. The manager came out to check that everything was okay...it wasn't needed, but was very much appreciated. Staple in EP, it's consistent, and the food is pretty good too. They have so papillas, so it'll be good to come back for those next time. read more

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Heard great things so when we visited for the Sun Bowl we had to go! Did not disappoint so delicious and authentic read more

L & J Cafe - Chill con carne, red beef enchiladas with a fried egg and steak nachos w mango margaritas so so delicious most authentic Mexican food! - Mexican Near Me - El Paso, Texas

It was a bit of a wait, but the food and service were excellent!!!! We had a party of ten and they were very attentive, and everything they brought to the table was delicious!!!! read more

This hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant had good reviews so we decided to come here for dinner while in the area. They provide complimentary chips and salsas which is always nice; but the salsas weren't that good. I got the chicken mole enchiladas which came with rice and beans. Usually mole is more sweet than spicy, but this one was very spicy for me which ruined it for me. The service was a bit slow and it took a while to even get waters. The price was very reasonable though. read more

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I can't say that I was blown away by the food, but the price and portions were very solid and the chips and salsa were delicious. Probably one of the best Tex-Mex/New-Mex food I had the whole trip. read more