El Charro - Lubbock, TX

El Charro may be in an out of way location since it's off the Interstate, but it's worth a stop to try some of the good food they serve up. It's been called different things over the years, but's always remained an authentic Mexican restaurant, which can be hard to find in Texas where Tex-Mex rules. Ever since leaving California I've been searching for the Mexican food I grew up with. El Charro definitely fulfills that search and it will be going in the normal rotation.

Carne asada mini tacos

I love mini tacos, especially when they are made with just a simple carne asada with onions and cilantro. The carne asada was chopped up into small pieces and cooked tender. The onions were sautéed and softened and had a good char on a couple of pieces. My favorite part of these tacos were the actual mini tacos themselves. They were lightly fried and had a great crunch to them. They were also double stacked.  

Yummy! 

One of my most favorite memories as a kid was going with my dad to have these mini tacos. We would go to a number of different places, but some of the best memories was stopping by a cart on the side of the road. I loved them not just because they tasted so good, but also because they were small enough for me to eat like I was a big kid. Plus they tasted so good!

Best pineapple soda ever.  

I had to have my most favorite soda ever. There isn't anything quite like having Jarritos pineapple flavored soda. I don't know what it is about it and I know it's not that healthy for you, but I don't care. It's has a lovely sweet pineapple flavor. It's not very carbonated either so it doesn't bother me like other sodas can. 

Tres leches cake

My friend and I shared a slice of the tres leches cake. You can order a whole cake if you want. It was delicious as well. I had to look up what goes into a tres leches cake. I know it's made with three different kinds of milk - my two years of high school Spanish wasn't all for nothing. It a sponge cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream. You really can't go wrong with a sponge cake soaked in heavy cream. It was soft and mildly sweet.

You should give El Charro a try, regardless if you've never been or the last time you went it was called something different. You'll find a big selection of terrific authentic Mexican food.