El Charro Cafe

My family & I, party of eight decided to have dinner at El Charro downtown on a Monday night. The service was slow and to our very dismay all of us were served cold food. When we complained about all of us receiving cold rice or beans or the main entre being luke warm the server proceeded to let the manager know about our complaints. His solution was to offer us ""3"" free desserts! My reply was that all 8 plates were cold and your only offering 3 desserts! Needless to say, we won't be going back to El Charro Cafe. more

the food is absolutely incredible!! I have only been to the location at sunrise and Kolb and the service at the bar has always been great, but any time we have sat in the dining room the service has been awful. Despite poor service the food is undeniable delicious and they have an amazing happy hour so go and sit at the bar! oh and don't buy the salsa they have in jars to go because they are impossible to open!! I bought five for family members and none of us could open them!! what a waste! more

I have been there for lunch during the weekdays, as well as for dinner on the weekends. I have to say it is a hit or miss with this place. The last couple of times I have gone for lunch the food was cold and didn't taste very ""authentic."" I am Mexican, so I know Mexican food! Also there were a couple of dismissive employees ( including our server) which we found to be odd because we had a large party. Usually restaurants love large parties. The last time I went there for dinner it was good. So maybe this is just due to a different day and night shift. I hope they get better because I work downtown and would like to go there for lunch. more

I found out if you eat at El Charro on Court and need to use fax machine for an URGENT BUSINESS MATTER, You will get TURNED DOWN! That's what happened to me. It wasn't like I was asking to fax a joke. A rather urgent unexpected matter arose while I was eating at El Charro. NOT BUSINESS FRIENDLY AT ALL!!!! more

Festive atmosphere with good food, be sure to ask for both the green and red salsa to go with your chips. The tres leches cake is a great way to finish your meal. That is, if you have room left in your gut. Pros: Best tortilla soup in town Cons: can be a little loud if you seek a peaceful meal more

I love this place because the restaurant looks authentic. The service is great the food is great and the prices are good. more

If you are going to be in the southwest, you MUST visit The El Charro. Their menu will leave you counting the days to your next meal there. I live in Chicago and frequently dream about the sour cream enchiladas, which are pure heaven and perfection. When I find my way back to Tucson, the biggest decision is what to order at the el charro. I will make my decision a hundred times on the plane ride there in anticipation. I have never been let down. Now that my mouth is watering, and my stomach growling, I have to go and book a flight. The Carne Seca is a must have if you have never been before. It is a main attraction and earns it's reputation. Pros: of course - the food, lots of parking, great ambience Cons: cant ship it to Chicago frequently more

El Charro is a part of Tucson for a reason, it is the BEST. I think it is the oldest family run restaurant in the nation, and it brings an exclusive experience to Tucson. I have never had a bad experience here and even if my server were to mess something up, it does not compromise the food, ambiance, and experience. Everyone makes mistakes, people should learn to be more patient and forgiving. This place EXCELS in all culinary aspects and people ""flock"" to it because of these reasons. I AM PROUD to have El Charro in my Tucson backyard! Pros: EVERYTHING more

I have heard everything you can possibly say about El Charro Cafe in my years. However, it seems that everyone wants to be a critic. No one is perfect, and El Charro comes quite close. They are passionate innovators and have put a lot into their beautiful restaurants. Besides this, the food is always amazing Pros: GREAT more

I have experienced El Charro Cafe for 5 years and I have fallen in love with it. The food is always excellent and you can taste the freshness of the ingredients!! If you want a clean and proud restaurant, eat here! Pros: Great food, atmosphere, and cleanliness!!! more

horrible, abysmal Cons: poor food, poor service more

I am so amazed that people still flock to this place. I hear it was a wonderful, authentic place when it first opened decades ago and I long for that experience. I have eaten here on 3 occasions - the first because of the self-perpetuating myth that it is THE place to have mexican food in Tucson. The other 2 times were in hopes of better experiences and unfortunately they did not tranpire. The icing on the cake was where the manager refused to strike the horrible margarita from my bill while stating ""my bartenders do not make mistakes"" or words to that effect. Plus, 2 ofr our guests got sick from the undercooked CARNE SECA. I am dead serious. The new owners (kids/family) have run this place into the ground and it is tragic. Anyplace would be better, including TACO BELL. Pros: Parking was good Cons: Food and customer service more

Surprisingly, we only waited about 20 minutes to get a table on a Saturday night. Once we were seated however, things went downhill fast. Pros: I can't think of any Cons: Rude, incompetent service. more

Decent if not a little bit bland food, but the rice and beans were great, and so was the service...We got in quickly with 2 people and it was a great experience. Food was good, but not the best, could use a little more seasoning, but very authentic and would reccommend! Pros: Great atmosphere downtown, and good food, for decent price Awesome service! Cons: Food is not the Best... more

After moving back to Tucson after 2 years away, I happily returned to El Charro. I was shocked at how poor my overall experience was. The host made us wait 30 minutes in the bar for our table, and then when we were ushered in, we were seated in a nearly empty restaurant. They do not allow you to transfer your drink check from the bar to the restaurant. The host was not at all personable or welcoming. He was blatantly rude to the servers as he sat us and said ""sit there!"" to us pointing to our table. We waited 15 minutes for our server to pay any attention to us, and when she did, she made no eye contact and acted as if we were holding her up. She barked twice at us that our food would be out soon. My husband's fish tacos were over cooked, and both of us felt we had had better quality Mexican food in many other sites around the city. When we were finished with our food, our server practically threw a box at us for our left overs. I heard many other tables rumbling about the poor service as well. On the upside, the girl serving the chips and water was very friendly and apologetic, and the site is in a nice area of the city and has a lot of history. I am very disappointed that such a well-known Tucson landmark would fall short in so many areas. I will never return. Pros: nice site, historical Cons: horrific service, poor food, unnecessary wait at bar, too comfortable with landmark status! more

Terrible!!! 20 minutes, no chips. Food was cold and there were flies all over the place near the windows and on our table. The server staff out numbered the customers. The other location is good but someone needs to do an intervention at the North location! Pros: Location Cons: Not a single thing. Remember this is their North Location only. more

I expected better. The food was plentiful, and our server was pleasant but overworked. more

Excellent food, representative of authentic Mexican food without skipping on good ingredients. Take your time here, El Charro takes their time to make it right. Expect to pay a little extra for the good ingredients. Pros: Excellent Quality more

Especially with a USA Today Top Five rating, I was expecting something a bit and beyond the ordinary. I didn't. The special on the menu was the Carne Seca, which was dried shredded meat. A lot of food, but not tasty enough to finish. more

I saw this restaurant featured in 2 shows on the food network. I made the 90min. trip down from Phoenix to try it. What a waste of time. The food was mediocre at best. The service was terrible not to mention we were seated right next to the kitchen where the group of 19 year olds running the place were loud and obnoxious. This aside, I decided to try the specialty - a $16.95 carne seca chimichanga called the USA Today special. The carne seca tasted alot like soggy beef jerky. I paid about $12.00 too much for this experience. My gilfriend had the chile relleno. It was so stringy, her knife wouldn't cut through it. DON'T GO....SAVE YOURSELF Pros: lots of history, great exposure, a lot of hype Cons: , very young wait staff, sub-par food quality more