El Charro has been serving Tylerites their favorites, including Tony’s Tacos, the Summer Plate, fabulous house margaritas and perfect chips and salsa for decades. The original location, located on Erwin, is the place to see and be seen on Friday nights despite the worn interior and sparsely decorated dining room. Their second location, on 5th and the Loop is much less bare-bones, but the food here never seems to taste as good to me as the original.

Gilbert’s El Charro #1
2604 E. Erwin Street
Tyler, TX 75702
(903) 592-9084

Gilbert’s El Charro #2
2623 E. 5th Street
Tyler, TX 75701
(903) 596-7222

I’ve always been a believer that, for the most part, restaurant style Mexican food is pretty much the same anywhere you go.  An enchilada is an enchilada, fajitas are fajitas and a quesadilla is a quesadilla.  Therefore, the biggest opportunity Mexican chains have to set themselves apart from the competition is their chips, salsa and margaritas.  Chuy’s obviously understands where I am coming from because their chips and salsa do not disappoint.  They make their salsa fresca fresh every hour, and their chips are always crispy with just the right amount of saltiness. And there’s the creamy jalapeno sauce aka crack dip.  It tastes like ranch on steroids.  Of course, I also have to mention their complimentary queso, beans, and taco meat station every happy hour… Can’t beat that!  I do think Chuy’s house margaritas leave something to be desired (there seems to be a funny, artificial lime flavor that I don’t care for in their mix) but the mojitos are so awesome they almost make up for the margaritas.
The food is pretty good, too.  The chicka-chicka boom-boom enchiladas have been the best thing I’ve ordered so far, with the appetizer platter coming in second.  If you haven’t been to Chuy’s yet (which can’t be very many of you), you definitely should give it a shot.  I’d recommend waiting until an off hour if you want to park remotely close and not wait an hour for a table, but all the hype is well deserved.  I give Chuy’s dos thumbs up!

I was a bit concerned that we might not be able to get a table since this was a Saturday night, but the restaurant was actually very quiet.  There were only a handful of other groups there, so we got to choose a prime table on the patio.  I promptly ordered a margarita, and my sis opted for a mojito.

I feel as though I have a pretty good handle on ‘authentic’ Mexican food and feel comfortable ordering and making selections even when limited English definitions are provided.  Mariscos DJ’s is a whole new kind of authentic for me.  Of course I could understand shrimp cocktail, shrimp fajitas, and a few other more commonly known foods, yet there were a few items that didn’t ring even the faintest bell.  So, I put myself to the mercy of our fantastically sweet and kind server and asked him what he’d suggest.

I don’t know what my food was called or even what exactly it was, but it was very tasty indeed.  I’m going to describe it in a way that may sound odd, but trust me, it was delicious.  You see, I don’t know of an appetizing way to spin the words fried fish chunks, because that’s exactly what mine turned out to be.  It was nugget sized pieces of really tasty fried fish on a plate surrounded by sliced cucumber.  There was also a side of what I discovered was really, really,  hot green sauce.

We were most impressed by our first visit to Mariscos DJ’s.  In addition to the unique food and the warm service, the architectural details of the restaurant building were especially remarkable.  Lots of intricate details were incorporated into the décor making it clear just how much love and hard work went into it.  I am already looking forward to my next visit.

Mariscos DJ’s
1201 E. Ewrin
Tyler Texas 75702
(903) 533-1220

La Plazita

11980 State Highway 64 West
Tyler, TX 75704-6938
(903) 526-4193

Lit up like a giant circus festival with it’s colorful exterior and flashing neon lights, Mercado’s Mexico Restaurant somehow manages to draw a crowd each and every night.  It even seems as though each time we have out-of-town guests come visit, their first request is Mercado’s.  Personally, I just don’t get it.

This brings me to notable hole in the wall numero uno, Los Gueros Taqueria on Vine Street.  My husband has been raving about this place for years…  Even claiming that their (free!) beans are better than his mothers.  Finally, I agreed to meet him for lunch there this week, and WOW have I ever been missing out.  You walk in, order, then take a seat and wait for your food to arrive.  I ordered one #7 Taco which I believe was something like beef, avocado, and melted white cheese and a small Maria’s salad which was lettuce, tomato, avocado, chicken, beans, carrots served with dressing.  We helped ourselves to the free beans, took a seat and waited for our food.   The food came quickly, and everything was just as delicious as I expected. I was especially impressed with the salad, which was HUGE and a meal in itself.

Los Gueros Taqueria
929 South Vine Avenue
Tyler, TX 75701-1463
(903) 526-8226

Lindo Mexico
2410 East Gentry Parkway
Tyler, TX 75708-9072
(903) 526-5464

Taqueria El Lugar
1726 E Gentry Parkway
Tyler, TX 75702
(903) 597-4717

Taqueria El Lugar
3320 Troup Highway
Tyler, TX 75701-8395
(903) 526-1188

Taqueria El Lugar
2121 East 5th Street
Tyler, TX 75701-3515
(903) 526-6118

Taqueria El Lugar
155 US Highway 69 N
Bullard, TX 75757
(903) 894-9242

With two locations, both on Erwin Street, Don Juan’s proximity to the hospitals and downtown offices make it a very popular lunch spot.  The biggest downfall to their location on the square is the limited parking, but it is so worth making a couple of loops around the Square or taking a short walk to get there.

The location on the Square, my favorite of their two locations, is brightly decorated with painted chairs and lots of colorful pinatas.  Though everything I have eaten there has been fab, my favorite thing to get there is two pork, cilantro and onion tacos with a small shrimp cocktail…  Soooo good.  I also love the sopes, the tortas, the quesadillas, the queso with sausage, and pretty much everything else on the menu.  I know Mercado’s has lots of fans out there, but I honestly don’t see how it even compares to Don Juan’s in service, ambiance, and food taste and quality.  To me, Mercado’s screams generic Tex-Mex while Don Juan’s offers deliciously authentic Mexican food.

I hope I didn’t offend any Mercado’s lovers out there, but I just had to do my part in spreading the word on the awesomeness of Don Juan’s, and unfortunately, Mercado’s was my collateral damage.  I know a lot of people are scared or intimidated by authentic Mexican food, but they shouldn’t be!  It really is fantastic food, and their Margaritas aren’t shabby either.

Don Juan on the Square
113 East Erwin Street
Tyler, TX (903) 526-0702‎

Don Juan
1313 East Erwin Street
Tyler, TX (903) 526-2999‎

Villa Montez is one of my absolute FAVORITE places to eat in Tyler.  A beautiful location, delicious food, and wonderful service all make Villa Montez one of Tyler’s most desirable dining establishments.  Tyler definitely has its fair share of Mexican restaurants, so if you’re like me you may be hesitant to try yet another one…  However, Villa Montez isn’t what you would expect at all.  Instead of identifying itself as strictly Mexican, Villa Montez boasts a Latin menu offering some traditional favorites as well as a few surprises.