The Best Mexican Food in Austin, Updated for 2020

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*** Post updated for 2020***

Mexican or Tex-Mex? What’s the difference you ask?

I think of Mexican (or interior Mexican) as more chicken and pork than beef, thick flavorful sauces like mole, and while not edible, beautiful ceramic plates and tile work. Tex-Mex is more cheese and bean-centric, nachos and plastic tortilla holders. Think chicken enchiladas in mole sauce vs. cheese enchiladas with red chile sauce. Here’s a great article explaining some of the differences on Serious Eats (and written by a former Austin Food Blogger Alliance member). Some places serve both types of dishes, and that’s okay, there's bound to be crossover! And I don't claim to be an expert, I just know good food when I taste it! 😉

From April 2019: An article from Eater Austin explaining some of the different Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes and where to get the best ones!

Here’s the South Austin Foodie guide to the best Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in Austin!

Interior Mexican

ATX Cocina, 110 San Antonio Street (Downtown)
Modern Mexican food in an upscale setting. Heirloom corn from Mexico, from which they make their own tortillas and masa; gluten-free establishment. Pretty much everything we had was spot on; you can read my full blog post here. 

Pork carnitas tacos from ATX Cocina's happy hour menu

Borrego de Oro, 3900 South Congress (South) 

Definitely a diamond (or should I say piece of gold?) in the rough; just north of Ben White/Hwy 290. One of the few Mexican spots that I see with lamb.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Borrego's chipotle cabrito, which was absolutely OUTSTANDING! The meat just fell off the bones.

Comedor, 501 Colorado (Downtown)
Also modern Mexican, and totally worth every penny. Get the mango nectar cocktail and bone marrow. Dinner, fine dining. My full report from February 2020 is here.

Comedor's bone marrow, with fresh made tortillas

Curra's 614 East Oltorf (South)

Popular spot, known in part for their avocado margaritas; prepare to wait on the weekends. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of my go-to places for taking vistors for a casual meal.

El Naranjo, 2717 South Lamar (South Austin)

What started as a food trailer on Rainey Street has graduated to a brick and mortar, run by James Beard nominated Chef Iliana de la Vega. El Naranjo moved last fall from Rainey Street downtown to South Lamar and Manchaca, and continues to do an outstanding job. Dinner and weekend brunch; fine dining. My full blog post from February 2020 here. 

El Naranjo's mole negro with duck

Fonda San Miguel, 2330 North Loop (North Central Austin)

This iconic spot has been a mainstay of fine dining in Austin for over 25 years; the beautiful hacienda and all it’s gorgeous tile work and decor is worth the price of their delicious margaritas. Try their traditional dishes like mole or cochinita pibil. Dinner and all you can eat Sunday brunch; fine dining.

Fonda's margarita

Habanero, 501 West Oltorf (South)

Mom and Pop place just off South First Street, open breakfast and lunch daily, and dinner on Friday and Saturday only. 

Hecho en Mexico, 6001 West William Cannon Drive (Southwest) and 4300 North Quinlan Park Road (Steiner Ranch/West)

This family-run establishment is also known for their monthly tequila dinners. Lunch and dinner.

Tacos al Pastor at Hecho en Mexico

Juan In A Million, 2300 E. Cesar Chavez Street (East) 
A neighborhood staple since 1980, very popular, especially on weekends.

La Condesa, 400A West 2nd Street (Downtown)
Trendy, modern Mexican in the heart of downtown. Great little outdoor patio to watch the people go by while sipping on a sangria, margarita, or cerveza.

La Mexicana, 1924 South First Street (South)

Mostly known as a Mexican bakery, they also have great inexpensive tacos, tortas, gorditas, and street foods. Open 24 hours, which comes in handy when you're jet lagged from an international flight.

Fat and inexpensive breakfast tacos at La Mexicana

Manuel's, 310 Congress Avenue (Downtown) and 10201 Jollyville Road (Northwest)

Their tortilla soup never disappoints, and I've always been a fan of their chicken mole. Lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch at both locations. 

Manuel's enchiladas with mole sauce

Nixta Taqueria, 2512 E. 12th Street (East Austin)
I keep hearing amazing stuff about this new East Austin spot, but haven't yet made it myself.

Papalote,  2803 South Lamar (South), 3632 South Congress (South) and 13219 North Hwy 183 (Northwest)

The South Lamar location only has a handful of tables, and does a lot of carry out business. Street foods including tacos, tortas, and tlacoyos; known for the vegetarian cauliflower taco. Daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Great spot for a quick meal, not to be overlooked by other area taco places.

Sazon, 1816 South Lamar (South)

One of the few spots that serves huitlacoche; they have indoor and outdoor seating, nice happy hours.

Sazon's pastor

Suerte, 1800 E. 6th Street (East)
New trendy spot on the eastside, brunch with tacos, tostadas and doblado was quite good, but the palmier with cajeta is not to be missed!

Shrimp tostado, beef tongue taco, and chorizo + potato stuffed doblado.

Taqueria Chapala, 4201 S. Congress Ave. (South)

Looking for awesome chilaquiles? Look no further.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Veracruz All Natural, Several trailers plus a brick and mortar

This popular food truck offers plate specials on weekends, like these mole enchiladas with plantains and chilaquiles.

Mole enchiladas at Veracruz

Tex Mex

Chuy's, Six locations

The original on Barton Springs Road is what started it all, now with multiple locations nationwide. The tortilla soup is still a staple for many. Daily, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Chuy's sangria

DK Maria's Legendary Tex-Mex, 1807 Slaughter Lane (Far South)
They took over the former Tres Amigos spot at Slaughter and Manchaca, and have incredible thick tortilla chips and a jalapeno/avocado sauce that's amazing. Pictured here, Anselmo's Grilled Fish, which on this day was a drum with veracruz sauce; hearty portions. Large venue, great for groups.

Anselmo's Grilled Fish at DK Maria's

El Dorado Cafe, 3300 W. Anderson Lane (North Central)
This family-owned establishment has quickly earned its buzz. I went for lunch and the place was packed! Salsa X, calabacitas, and Esme's Magic rolled enchiladas with mashed potatoes amongst the standouts. I really wish this place was south!

Esme's enchiladas at El Dorado

Fresas, 915 N. Lamar Blvd (Downtown; drive through/carry out) and 1703 S. 1st Street (South Austin)
I recently had a very solid meal at the South 1st location with excellent service, which had been my bone to pick before. But they are back in my good graces. While known for their chicken al carbon, the posole was outstanding.

Posole from Fresas

Joann's Fine Foods, 1224 S. Congress (Downtown/South) 

I debated whether or not to include this in my Mexican foods post, but yes, as they say online: "The menu is a tribute to diner culture featuring Tex-Mex favorites and California inspired healthy options." And the beef picadillo enchiladas were delicious. Here's the link to my full blog post.

Joann's hash brown nachos

Matt's El Rancho, 2613 South Lamar (South) 

Serving some of Austin’s most popular Tex-Mex since 1952. Lunch and dinner daily; closed Tuesdays.

Maudie's Tex Mex, Seven locations

Multiple locations around town, popular happy hours. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Nachos compuestos for $5 during Maudie's happy hour!

Mr. Natural, 1901 East Cesar Chavez (East) and 2414 South Lamar (South) 

This is the spot for vegetarian and gluten free options; tamales, migas, and rellenos. Both locations, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, closed Sundays.

Mr. Natural's stuffed pepper

If you've got favorite dishes at any of these places or suggestions for other spots, leave a note below! Buen provecho!

Looking for taco-specific recs? Check out:
Kitchen Concoction's Taco Guide 

For 2020, check out my post on the Best New Restaurants in South Austin, and my 2019
City Guide picks for the ultimate South Austin restaurants!

Sazon: Interior Mexican

I used to go to Sazón (1816 South Lamar) with relative frequency, as it's not too far from my house and I've always enjoyed their interior Mexican cuisine. But it had been about 2 years (or more?) since I had been -- shame on me! Their on site parking got a little tougher in recent times, and apparently that has stymied me from dining there along with the onslaught of traffic on South Lamar. But Sazón is still standing in the face of over-development along this corridor.

Around 1:15 pm on a recent weekday, I met a friend for lunch, and I had my pick of parking spots, not to mention tables inside. (I hope we were just fortunate to miss the lunch rush, and not they're not hurting for business.) There were only two other tables with patrons, and I was promptly greeted by the waitress/hostess, and settled in at a lovely painted tiled table to wait for my friend who arrived just a few minutes later. The chips were tasty and they brought two little bowls of salsa, one for each of us.

I ordered the Ensalada Mexicana, which clearly was made fresh. The spinach looked like it just came out of the bag, and had almonds, tortilla strips, ancho chile, and a nice vinaigrette that I remember liking, but now I can't remember what the flavor profile was.

And I got the tacos al pastor, because the sweet and savory pork is always a favorite! These are fairly small, but they were perfect to go with the salad, and these also tasted good and fresh. Crispy bits of pork with little bits of pineapple on a corn tortilla.

I also ordered a Crema de Elote (creamy corn chowder) to take home for dinner with half of the salad. My friend also ordered a salad and a bowl of the caldo, their version of chicken and rice soup. I didn't try it, but she said it was great. The crema de elote was creamy, sweet, and not overly rich.

In the past, I have been very pleased with their mole negra de Oaxaca and the cochinita pibil, both traditional interior Mexican dishes. Sazón is also one of the few places I know locally that serves huitlacoche (corn smut... yes, smut -- look it up!), which they put in empanadas. They do have enchiladas, but these are not your greasy Tex-Mex type.

So if you're looking for good interior food, and can grab a parking spot, stop by for breakfast, lunch or dinner! I've actually never been there for breakfast, so I'll have to check that out. I also remember their margarita at happy hour being decent. I've linked to their Facebook page, but normally they have a website at www.sazonaustin.com which shows their menu, but the page is currently not functioning. Their Yelp page does have a link to their menu though. Sazón has nice atmosphere, including a outdoor patio on the Lamar side; the food is not fussy or trendy, just good and fresh as it should be.

Recent Austin Eats

Manuel's
When I used to work downtown, we would frequent Manuel's for lunch or happy hour. Their interior Mexican food has always been consistently good. I hadn't been in a couple of years, and a friend held a birthday celebration there on a Saturday night in August. We had a reservation for about 12 people, and while the food was overall fairly good, the service was not. Clearly the waiter knew that with a party that size, he was guaranteed an 18% tip, and our consensus was, because of that he didn't try very hard at all. Drinks took 30 minutes to come, lemon that was asked for when the fish dish was ordered took an extra 10 - 15 minutes to appear after the dishes were served, and he was in general absent for long periods of time. Yes it was busy, and there were other large tables, but the place was not a zoo, nor did they appear to be short handed. Anyhow, no surprise that I ordered the mole chicken enchiladas. I've always liked their mole in the past, and while I do still find it good, it didn't wow me. Not a lot of depth to it. Still on the quest to find the best mole in town, and sorely disappointed I missed Scumptious Chef's Oaxacan pop-up dinner in September.

Hopdoddy
Hadn't been to Hopdoddy in a long time either, and met a friend for an early dinner. I had the Greek burger, which is made with lamb, and my friend and I split the parmesan truffle fries and a milkshake. Delicious. Have to give props to the staff, as when we arrived at about 5:45 pm, there was a  line to order food, but their credit card machines had just gone down. They had someone working the line with a big tray of fries, and letting people know there was an ATM around the corner. Fortunately for them, they got the machine back up and running pretty quickly.

Bonneville
I was invited by Citygram Magazine to participate in their Twitter chat at the Bonneville. We had a great evening of various cocktails, and a couple complimentary appetizers, the salt cod fritters, and this arugula and banana pepper pizza, which was surprisingly really good with the peppers.

After the event, a few of us stuck around and ordered dinner. I had the bacon and egg ravioli in brown butter. I could have used more bacon (duh), and probably even more brown butter flavor, but the pasta looked freshly made and was nice and light. Throughout the evening the staff was welcoming, and I really want to return for their Sunday brunch.

My Fit Foods
On a recent weekend, I was running errands on Bee Caves Road, and realized I was starving since I hadn't eaten lunch. Not totally knowing what I was getting myself into, I decided to try My Fit Foods, hoping to get a quick bite. I was given the whole explanation of their meal program by one of their staff; in short, when you sign up, you meet with their nutritionist to design a healthy eating program. They make pre-packaged meals in two sizes (basically for men or women, depending on what your calorie intake should be), and they really did have quite a variety. I picked the Chargrilled Crazy Chicken, with green beans and sweet potato puree. They have microwaves to heat the meals up, and you can eat on site (which I did), but everyone else I observed during my time there was buying a few meals to take home. I would have called this poached chicken, as I didn't see any indication that this chicken ever sat on a grill, and it was pretty bland. I could tell even before we popped it in the microwave that the green beans were overcooked, and sure enough, soggy, tasteless green beans. The sweet potatoes were tasty, though definitely sweet. This whole meal was 240 calories, 21 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fat. And completely lacking in flavor, which could be easily remedied by the use of spices, which wouldn't add calories! I've also kept their menu for inspiration for some good healthy home cooked meals.

The Flying Carpet
One of my all-time favorite trailers, The Flying Carpet, recently did an evening of pastilla, a traditional Moroccan dish of chicken with ground nuts, a touch of sugar,  and some egg, wrapped in phyllo dough.  They took a while to arrive, because they had to switch commisary kitchens as the oven in their regular kitchen broke, but it was worth the wait.  I had a salad and fries with their famous L'Afrique sauce in the interim -- make sure you try some when you go, and tell Abdu and Maria I sent you. :)

Austin Beer Garden Brewery
I was invited to the media preview of the new ABGB, located on Oltorf, just east of Lamar Blvd., next to the railroad tracks. Their brew masters come with a lot of industry experience (Live Oak and Uncle Billy's, amongst others), and they will always have 6 regular beers on tap, and another 5 or 6 taps of seasonal or special brews. Plus, they've got a kitchen producing good salads (you could take the anchovy in the Caesar salad dressing), and nice pizzas (good crisp crusts). I've driven past a couple times and the parking lot has been packed, and surely once the weather cools down, their outside areas will be extremely popular. If you build it, they will come -- and they are!

LA Barbeque
A friend bought it, and I only took a bite, but OMG! This is LA Barbeque's El Sancho, with pulled pork, sausage, and onions. Must go and get one of my own.

Olivia
I met a friend at Olivia for brunch, and realized I hadn't been there in over two years, which is a crying shame, especially since they're in my neighborhood. I had the MacDaddy, the upscale take on an egg breakfast sandwich, this with crispy pork belly, scrambled eggs, and mustard glaze. The glaze was a bit sweet, but otherwise, a very tasty dish. My friend had the bison burger, which was huge!

Ikea
What does one eat when one visits Ikea? The Swedish meatballs of course! This was my first time trying their famous meatballs, and I have to say, I am sort of on the fence about them. Something was a bit strange about their texture, but I can't put my finger on it.... not dense, not gummy....over-processed? I liked the lingonberry sauce a lot, and the little flag is a great touch. And I would guess a Texas Ikea store is one of a very few worldwide that offers hot sauce as a condiment.

Local Yokel
Over at the Moontower Saloon, there are three trailers in residence, but on a recent Tuesday, the Local Yokel was the only one open. There were three items on the menu: bratwurst, quesadilla, and cheesesteak. I had the beef fajita quesadilla with caramelized onions and their housemade jalapeno sauce. I think they're pressing them, rather than grilling, because this was one of the best, crispest quesadillas I've ever had! Great flavor, and again, super-crispy, and perfect with beer. Thankful the weather is starting to cool down -- time to visit more trailers!

So this will give you something to chew on for awhile! What have you eaten lately?

Borrego de Oro

A trusted foodie friend has eaten at Borrego de Oro multiple times, and has always spoken very highly about their mole. I LOVE a good mole, and am always on a quest to find good ones. I have made them before myself, but it certainly is time-intensive. I do have a pretty darn good recipe that's "only" about an hour of work once you have all the ingredients; if you're interested, email me.  While there are different types of mole sauces (as in, the seven moles of Oaxaca), it's the Coloradito Mole that's the most common amongst Mexican and Tex-Mex places in the US. What attracts me to this mole is its depth of flavors when properly made -- some spice from various chile peppers, nuttiness from ground almonds, sweetness from raisins, a subtle bitter savoriness from chocolate or cocoa powder (or both). It's a huge flavor party, but not everyone appreciates it. 

So I met a friend at Borrego at 7:30 on a recent weeknight; there was no one dining, but two guys at the counter placing a to go order. The friendly waitress immediately brought me water and warm tortilla chips and salsa, as I waited for my friend, who arrived shortly thereafter. Warm chips are darn addicting and go very well with cold Negra Modelo!  After studying the menu, I ordered the chicken mole plate (of course), and my friend got the shrimp fajita plate (a slight misnomer, but we'll let that pass!); we had our choice of charro or refried beans. 

The mole turned out to be okay, but not the billing I was lead to believe. My guess is this batch had been sitting in a container in the fridge, and they pulled some out, and heated it up in some oil. It was fairly oily, as can been seen at the top of the plate. The chicken still had it's rubbery skin on, so I pulled that off to the side. Taste-wise, it had some chile in it, so it was a bit spicy, and it was dark brown, so probably some chocolate in there, but there was no real special flavor to it; I couldn't discern any flavor other than chile with a hint of chocolate. No almond, raisin, cinnamon, allspice.... Just kind of meh. The rice & beans were fairly standard for a Tex Mex place. My friend really liked her shrimp dish, though I didn't try it. 

The two young ladies who were the servers were very friendly. And fortunately, about 4 more tables filled up, so the place wasn't a total ghost town. So while the food was fresh, the service really good, and the food came fairly quickly, the mole was a disappointment. Maybe there are other dishes on their menu that are real standouts that I missed. (Have you been?) But if I want really good mole, I'll stick to Manuel's or Sazon or make it myself.