El Charro Cafe - The Original

520-622-1922

311 N Court Ave Tucson, AZ 85701

www.elcharrocafe.com

view the menu
This Old Pueblo institution has served authentic, homemade Mexican favorites since forever.

Categories:

Food, Catering Companies, Restaurants

Details:

$, Outdoor Dining

Bookmark and Share See hours

Mon-Thu 11am-9pm Fri-Sat 11am-10pm Sun 12pm-8pm

Message from El Charro Cafe - The Original

Merchant_icon

Established in 1922, El Charro Cafe of Tucson, Arizona is the nation's oldest Mexican restaurant in continuous operation by the same family, featuring traditional Sonoran cultural style and innovative Tucson-style Mexican Food. El Charro is truly, as Gourmet Magazine writes, "a taste explosion". With a large array of products which feature a synergy of Sonoran ingredients, El Charro is Tucson's culinary history. People come from all across the country to experience El Charro and we invite you to do the same. The El Charro family is also proud to feature our signature line of retail products, including salsas, tamales, calendars and gift cards, our Latin entertainment and tequila bars and our full featured catering services.

Editorial by Citysearch

The Scene
Operated by the same family since 1922, El Charro has become a local restaurant empire, with branches at the airport and on the east side at Broadway and Wilmot. Though nothing's like the original downtown location in the Old Presidio with its lovely patio dining and cantina bar. Toma!

The Food
Start with a cheese crisp, a kind of open quesadilla. Those favoring their carnivorous side love the air-dried carne seca, shredded beef enhanced by a delicious marinade of spices. Order the ever-popular chimichanga with the carne seca elegante-style (guacamole, sour cream and cheese) and you're in heaven. The cerveza chicken may not be traditional, but it's a new classic. A dish of Mexican chocolate ice cream, rich and creamy with cinnamon accents, is a delightful way to end the meal.

Key Points

  • Family-Friendly
  • Gift Cards
  • Two Locations

Editorial and merchant content by Citysearch

Have experience with El Charro Cafe - The Original? Write a review!

Click a star and select a rating:

Minimum required characters left: 150 (max 5000)

Title:

 cancel

Insider Pages Reviews for El Charro Cafe - The Original

Ratings_icons

EXCELLENT!

by Anonymous

I don't know what the previous reviewer is talking about! The chips portions are for your own good... if you fill up on chips, you won't have enough room to truly experience the flavors of your meal. I highly recommend this restaurant, which is rich in flavor, friendliness, and history! If you're new to Tucson or just visiting, do not leave without tasting the authentic mexican cuisine of El Charro!

Posted 02/11/08 | Report Abuse

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful to you?

Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons

Too classy for Mexican Food

by Melissa E. | insider_expert Insider Expert | Rank: 1,972

I enjoy the drinks but I'm not to fond of the style of Mexican Food here. It's a great place to meet people for drinks and meeting but I prefer not to eat there. The portions can be too small when you want to eat a huge mexican meal. They never fill up your chips as much as other places do.

Posted 12/16/07 | Report Abuse

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful to you?

Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons

great ambiance, super food

by P J. | insider_guru Insider Guru | Rank: 1,146

When I have out of town guests - this is the place I take them. It has such a fun ambiance. I love sitting outside and listening to the Mariachi es. The food is super. Make reservations as it can get busy.

PROS: great atmosphere
CONS:

Posted 07/24/06 | Report Abuse

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful to you?

Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons

If you don't like mexican . . .

by Regina K.

. . . you can still find wonderful food on this menu. I am not the BIGGEST mexican food fan but there are some non-traditional items available on this menu that are outstanding. The shrimp fajitas are plentiful, have a lovely selection of peppers and a healthy serving of rice and beans along with plenty of small flour tortillas. YYYUUUMMM

PROS: Great location with parking
CONS: Restrooms are small

Posted 09/14/05 | Report Abuse

Was this review helpful to you?

Ratings_icons Ratings_icons
Ratings_icons

This one knows how to change with the times

by Momma of 2. | insider_expert Insider Expert | Rank: 2,782

As a kid I recall going to El Charro and it was like eating at my Tia's house rather than a restaurant. Which it was and still is, in an old house smack in the middle of downtown. But over the years the decor has become artsy and the menu has stayed edgey, with noveau-Mexican dishes as well as standards. The great color and ambiance makes this an especially fun place to take out-of-town visitors.

PROS: Beautiful place with beautiful plates
CONS: busy at peak hours

Posted 07/01/05 | Report Abuse

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful to you?

Ratings_icons Ratings_icons

Latest reviews from Citysearch.

Ratings_icons

Inventor of the Chimichanga

by ChuckSal

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

Posted 05/31/09

Ratings_icons

Great food

by CSMobileUser2

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

Posted 03/09/09

Ratings_icons

The best anywhere anytime!!!!!

by chicarol1

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.

They definately earn all 5 of the stars given!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pros: of course - the food, lots of parking, great ambience

Cons: cant ship it to Chicago frequently

Posted 10/17/08

Ratings_icons

BEST OF TUCSON

by mnjs1943

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

Posted 03/02/08

Ratings_icons

Bad Rep is a shame

by junaca80s

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

Posted 03/02/08

Ratings_icons

EXCELLENT!

by Citysearch User

I don't know what the previous reviewer is talking about! The chips portions are for your own good... if you fill up on chips, you won't have enough room to truly experience the flavors of your meal. I highly recommend this restaurant, which is rich in flavor, friendliness, and history! If you're new to Tucson or just visiting, do not leave without tasting the authentic mexican cuisine of El Charro!

Posted 02/10/08

Ratings_icons

Wow...

by iluvfood22

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!!!

Posted 02/05/08

Ratings_icons

absolutely the worst excuse for mexican food I have seen in a long time

by winecup

horrible, abysmal
slow service. when it came, waitress screwed up both the drink and the food orders. when this was brought to her attention, all we received is a flippant response.
red sauce w/ the chips was like tomato soup.
chile relleno was uncooked.
what was supposed to be a chimichanga turned out to be a sodden, greasy mess.
spanish rice tasted like uncle ben's one minute w/ katchup mixed in.

Pros: none

Cons: poor food, poor service

Posted 12/26/07

Ratings_icons

MOST OVERRATED RESTAURANT IN HISTORY OF THE WORLD

by bubbleheadpa

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

Posted 07/03/07

Ratings_icons

Worst restaurant experience ever! Save your money, go to Taco Bell instead!

by kd1992

Surprisingly, we only waited about 20 minutes to get a table on a Saturday night. Once we were seated however, things went downhill fast.

The first person we saw apparently only drops off chips and salsa. After several minutes, finally our waitress came by to take our drink order. Since we didn't have drinks, we didn't want to eat the chips and salsa, so we waited, and waited. Finally my friend was able to get the attention of the first girl again, and she brought us our drinks.

After several minutes, our waitress came back again to take our order. No apology for forgetting our drinks. When the food came out, we asked for drink refills, which we never got, and I discovered that the food I received was not what I ordered. When the waitress finally came back again, I reminded her about the drink refills, and asked about my food. She frowned and said, "I'll talk to the person who made it." Again, no apology. By this time my friend and my husband were halfway done with their meals, so I decided to just eat it, rather than making them wait for me while the kitchen remade my food. Still no drink refills, and as the waitress rushed by another time, she said I wouldn't have to pay for my food.

My friend had asked up front for separate checks, but when the waitress brought the bill, it was all on one. She had to ask again for separate checks, and we had to continue to wait. When we got the separated checks, I noticed I was being charged for the food I didn't order! When I finally got the attention of the waitress to ask her about it, she said that what she meant was that I wouldn't be charged for what I ordered, I would be charged for what the kitchen sent out instead!

To recap, we had to order our original drinks twice, the waitress forgot to bring refills after being asked twice, I received the wrong food, which I was charged full price for, and we had to ask twice for separate checks. To top it all off, the waitress was extremely rude!

Pros: I can't think of any

Cons: Rude, incompetent service.

Posted 03/13/07

Ratings_icons

Good Food, and a fun atmosphere, great service!

by brandonrthompson

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...

Posted 02/27/07

Ratings_icons

EXTREMELY disappointed

by esu77

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!

Posted 01/22/07

Ratings_icons

El Chorro and Update: Terrible

by desktoptrouble

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!

Update to original posting: I was contacted by the owner of the El Charro Cafe and he encouraged me to visit again. I did twice. Once at the original location on Court Ave and another trip to the Orange Grove location.

There is so much Tucson Hype about El Charro's Carne Seca I had to try it. I ordered it at the original Court Ave location for a business lunch. It was served piping hot but had a slight smell of decay in the reconstituted dried beef. It was ok but I did not enjoy it like I do at Maria Bonita Mexican Restaurant on Oracle.

2nd Chance at the Orange Grove Location ended up being a failure. This time I went in with my daughter and a girl friend visiting from Australia. Again the wait staff seemed to be confused and inefficient and could not deliver what we asked for. Chips arrived very quickly but they seated us right next to the kitchen door in a restaurant that was basically empty. No flies that I noticed this time but the chips were stale and just unappealing. Looks like they buy them from Tennessee.

We noticed another group of patrons at the next table were complaining to the manager and it seems to me that they are batting 1000 in the complaint department in the 3 times I have been to this location. The food was so wrong, I ordered my date a carne asada burro chimi style, fried and with sour creme etc. because she told me she doesn't like tortillas but got a plain white burrito anyway.
She also spaced out our request for another round of cocktails for about 10 minutes and dashed to the bar as she saw my hand go up to get her attention for the check and end our pain. The assistant manager checked on us and tried to explain the poor service but its too late, just shoot me!

Pros: Location

Cons: Not a single thing. Remember this is their North Location only.

Posted 07/23/06

Ratings_icons

Nothing to write home about

by heyltd

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

Posted 05/24/06

Ratings_icons

Mexican Food In Tucson

by marykhan

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

Posted 05/18/05

Ratings_icons

Overrated

by cldelros

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.

Posted 03/26/05

Ratings_icons

DaRev1

by darev1

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

Posted 09/01/04

Ratings_icons

Why bother?

by soutine

Why wait? Why have servers that are borderline nasty? Why do this to yourselves for an outdayed review from USA Today? Carne seca dried on the roof? Hmmm... tasted more like the roof itself! There are about a 1000 taco joints in this city all of which are at least equals to this well over rated Tucson Icon.
Want great inventive Mexican in a friendly atmosphere? Go to Cafe Poca Cosa.
Want traditional food? Go to La Puriza Suza.

Cons: , Food

Posted 06/07/04

Ratings_icons

dinner time

by miriamandmichael

went to the wilmont &broadway location, it is a nice place to eat, only if you are not in a hurry, it is not a really long wait as long as you are not trying to get there on saturday night at peak dinner time, the ambience is pretty cool and their cuisine is very aunthentic they have some house creations which are delightful and very rich, if you are not a spicy food person READ the menu carefully, some dishes can be blazing. The ambience is much better at night, lunch hour can be little slow. this is the place to go if you like vibrant music and see people moving around not a place for quiet candlelight dinner. but is very fun and kids friendly too.

Posted 05/22/04

Ratings_icons

Disregard naysayers

by jrhoward

This is one of the best restaurants of any type in Tucson. I have been to El Charro more times than I can count over the years, and have never had a bad experience. We even held a business meeting there over lunch, and they were very accommodating and gracious. Each time I go, I swear I'll try something new on the menu, but I just can't stop ordering the carne seca burro, enchilada style. The carne seca, the specialty of the house, is air dried in a cage hanging over the roof. Go out on the patio and check it out. The one time I strayed from my carne seca addiction, I ordered from the modern section of the menu, and I was rewarded with an excellent meal that went beyond typical Mexican fare. Next time I go, I promise to try something new!

Pros: Carne seca, Good salsa, Attentive wait staff

Cons: , Pay parking, Small restrooms

Posted 05/07/04

Ratings_icons

Restaurant Nut

by jolo112

This place was the best. Great food, service, and the most colorful place I've been to ever. Can't wait to go again.

Pros: Great Food, Beautiful People, Lively

Posted 03/07/04

Ratings_icons

SAD

by jimd2002

We have been to EL CHARRO 3 times. Usually with quests. All three times we have found the food to be mediocre at best, the service to be poor and arrogant, and the prices far exceed the experience.

Posted 12/24/02

Ratings_icons

Boring and typical

by ddrqueen

If you're into boring chain restraunt style food El Charro's the place for you. The mexican food is edible but there's nothing special about it. An excessive amount of cheeze is found on almost any entree.

Cons: boring food

Posted 09/11/02

Ratings_icons

Extremely overrated.

by ben7

If this place wasn't such an institution, it would have closed. The food is bland, the service mediocre, and the management seems not to care because people will still, for some reason I will never understand, flock to this place. El Charro wouldn't last a week in Phoenix.

Pros: Near Downtown

Cons: Everything else.

Posted 08/28/02

Ratings_icons

native fav

by nursebax1971

where else can you get carne seca that is actually sun dried on the roof , enough said absolutely the best!!!!

Posted 07/24/02

Ratings_icons

10

by dreamswork

Awesome, the best Mexican Food in the USA! Everything is good, you will not be disappointed.

Posted 07/23/02

Ratings_icons

great food

by barbara520

I'm not normally fond of Mexican food but I love their Carne Seca platter. service is always fine at
the Broadway location.

Posted 06/28/02

Ratings_icons

RUDE!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!!

by hooka_chooka

these people have no right to own a business, they hire kids that treat customers like crap. do yourself a favor and go to mcdonalds, at least you save some money and time.

Posted 06/13/02

Map and Directions to El Charro Cafe - The Original

Get Map & Directions

See the best nearby...

Restaurants | Coffeehouses | Delis | Bars