El Charro Cafe - The Original

03/10/09

Great food

by CSMobileUser2 at Citysearch

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

11/06/09

DON'T ASK TO USE FAX MACHINE FOR BUSINESS!!!!!

by Lotion at Citysearch

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!!!!

06/01/09

Inventor of the Chimichanga

by ChuckSal at Citysearch

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

10/18/08

The best anywhere anytime!!!!!

by chicarol1 at Citysearch

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

03/03/08

Bad Rep is a shame

by junaca80s at Citysearch

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

03/03/08

BEST OF TUCSON

by mnjs1943 at Citysearch

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

02/06/08

Wow...

by iluvfood22 at Citysearch

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!!!

12/27/07

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

by winecup at Citysearch

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

07/04/07

MOST OVERRATED RESTAURANT IN HISTORY OF THE WORLD

by bubbleheadpa at Citysearch

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

03/14/07

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

by kd1992 at Citysearch

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.