2023 Best Mexican Restaurant In Every College Town pic.twitter.com/HpsvlSE9uX

— Big Game Boomer (@BigGameBoomer) July 21, 2023

Fuegos in Collard Station is straight up swill.

I doubt Ninfa's is the best in Waco.

Another thread in the football forum that has absolutely nothing to do with football. Sigh

I think I remember Waco getting a Chuys around the time I graduated in 2014. There is also La Fiesta. Good memories. IDK, I like all those places. Hard to pick the best one

Chuy's in Waco opened in Dec 09. There is a lot of good Mexican in Waco. Hecho en Waco, Maria Mescala etc.

Apparently Ninfa's was also number 1 in Houston as well next to Rice and UH. Never heard of the Mexican place they have for UT Matt's El Rancho.

It's about football towns! Yes, I know that is a stretch.

I love Fuego. Eat there frequently in Waco.

Ninfas might barely crack the top 10.
Hecho, Maria. La Fiesta, El Ranchito, Rufi's, #9, Mexicano Grill, Mi Casita, Los Cucos... I'd probably go to all of those before Ninfas.

Blue mesa grill is terrible and Joe Ts is about as overrated as they come. Not sure how much research was put into this list

They got Matt's El Rancho correct for Austin and Mi Tierra's in San Antonio but Ninfa's, not even close.

Like all these lists, it's all just one person's (or maybe a small group's) opinion. It's clickbait and we are interested because we are eager for football season to start. It's either a distraction from that or it helps us anticipate because it's tangentially related.

Taco Casa - Alabama?

I miss El Chico

Matt's in Austin is pretty good. No clue if it's the "best" but solid.

The "best in Lubbock " is referreto locally as Taqueria Jaliscolitis.

I don't know if Mi Tierra is the best one in San Antonio but it probably is the most famous. They have plenty of great Mexican restaurants (although it's been years since I've been to any of them).

It's not Pizza Hut with Mexican toppings?

Jesus ...can you imagine how bad the Mexican food must be in places like Wisconsin and Buffalo?

And they're on point with El Charro Cafe in Tucson... original has been around since 1922..the chimichanga was invented there.

I've been to all to of them. Hencho is a good bar with an averighish restaurant wrapped around it. Chuy's is chain that has lost its charm, just like On the Border. Los Cuocos is a middling Houston chain not made better by coming to Waco. Ninfas is a problem waiting to happen, wrong temp chicken etc., food poisiong there twice, will not go back. Locals, La Fiesta, El Conquistador, Casa Del Castillo are uniformly awful.

I wait patiently for the dawn of good Mexican food in Waco, like we have had with Italian food (Moroso, Pignetti's and Di Campli's). Maria Mezcaleria is a harbinger of things to come food wise, and is good, but it is not great, especially if you don't like mezcal (like drinking charcoal), way worse than Islay Scot's Whisky.

The three "uniformly " awful locals you mentioned have been in business over 50 years each. If they were "awful " that would not be the case

You might not care for them. So be it. But that's different from being awful.

I would love to buy your dinner at El Con. I'm there every Monday night in the bar. Come join me. Ask for Mike. They know me

La Fiesta was once great, but woefully lost their way about 20 years ago. Such a crime. Ninfa's? LOL. It's OK for what it is, but...

Chuy's is tourist crapola. When they went chain they sold their soul and threw out all the recipies that made them famous. I don't know where the good hole in the wall Mexican joints are any more, since I'm not in Waco much except for game days.There used to be quite a few good ones.

CorsicanaBear said:

---

I've been to all to of them. Hencho is a good bar with an averighish restaurant wrapped around it. Chuy's is chain that has lost its charm, just like On the Border. Los Cuocos is a middling Houston chain not made better by coming to Waco. Ninfas is a problem waiting to happen, wrong temp chicken etc., food poisiong there twice, will not go back. Locals, La Fiesta, El Conquistador, Casa Del Castillo are uniformly awful.

I wait patiently for the dawn of good Mexican food in Waco, like we have had with Italian food (Moroso, Pignetti's and Di Campli's). Maria Mezcaleria is a harbinger of things to come food wise, and is good, but it is not great, especially if you don't like mezcal (like drinking charcoal), way worse than Islay Scot's Whisky.

---

Of the big chains, Don Carlos has far more edible food and less bullcrap marketing tourist flair than the others. On the Border is terrible. I think I would rather go to Taco Bueno than the others, but even they have fallen quite a bit from long ago when they were a really underrated fast food Mexican place.

Married A Horn said:

---

Taco Casa - Alabama?

---

He always trolls Bama fans. It's part of the schtick. Though Taco Mama might be the winner there just because great Mexican food is kind of thin on the ground east of Louisiana

historian said:

---

I don't know if Mi Tierra is the best one in San Antonio but it probably is the most famous. They have plenty of great Mexican restaurants (although it's been years since I've been to any of them).

---

We ate there the last time we were in San Antonio, just picked it, didn't know any reputation of it. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. I've had better down there, but I couldn't tell you the name of any of the places--just random ones we've tried.

I don't go to SA often anymore & when I do, I don't eat Mexican food. Alamo Cafe is a chain in the city with good good. There probably are lots of neighborhood places that are pretty good. Sometimes, they can be the best. Again, my experience was years ago so things might have changed.

Also, there are different kinds of Mexican food: TexMex is not the same as the food in California or New Mexico. Lastly, it's very subjective. One person might love a place while someone else hates it.

CorsicanaBear said:

---

I've been to all to of them. Hencho is a good bar with an averighish restaurant wrapped around it. Chuy's is chain that has lost its charm, just like On the Border. Los Cuocos is a middling Houston chain not made better by coming to Waco. Ninfas is a problem waiting to happen, wrong temp chicken etc., food poisiong there twice, will not go back. Locals, La Fiesta, El Conquistador, Casa Del Castillo are uniformly awful.

I wait patiently for the dawn of good Mexican food in Waco, like we have had with Italian food (Moroso, Pignetti's and Di Campli's). Maria Mezcaleria is a harbinger of things to come food wise, and is good, but it is not great, especially if you don't like mezcal (like drinking charcoal), way worse than Islay Scot's Whisky.

---

When I was a kid, we witnessed a man have a heart attack and die at our local Ninfas.

One of my friends saw a mouse inside La fiesta

There are certain Tex Mex restaurants where you basically need to be drunk to enjoy the food. In fact, the restaurants kind of bank on it.

La Fiesta and Trujillo's in Waco.

@gobears20 - please for the love of God, no longer post anything from biggameboomer.

It could always be worse like Swaim lolol

Chuy's has grown almost into a national chain over the past 10, but it is still very good with a cool vibe. It might be more common now and isnt a regionally unique thing anymore but it is still good.

I agree about the 3 local places mentioned. I dont dislike them but I'm not sure why other locals think they are just awesome.

In the early 80s, there was a little hole in the wall called Angelita's that had the best Mexican I've ever had. I think it was on 3rd near La Salle, walking distance from my Mark Twain Apartment. The building is gone now.

John Hawk said:

---

In the early 80s, there was a little hole in the wall called Angelita's that had the best Mexican I've ever had. I think it was on 3rd near La Salle, walking distance from my Mark Twain Apartment. The building is gone now.

---

Never been there, but those tend to be the best kinds of places. Hidden gems that don't look like a place most people would go sometimes have the best food, best prices and without the big crowds. But of course, many of them are bad, as well. You just have to try them and see for yourself. When it comes to restaurants, word of mouth isn't always a very good rating system.

In Austin there's El Patio on The Drag just north of campus. Joseph family owned it for years, think some branch of the family has it now. A great place for locals (still a handful left here) on Friday nights. After that I'd try Enchiladas Y Mas.