El Charro Negro — Restaurant in Torrevieja

We came in to the restaurant with high expectations, since they had a detailed allergen list and had some gluten-free options and it looked very nice. The decor is 10/10.

However, I wouldn’t go here again. Why? Because this is not Mexican food as I personally know it. No, I’m not Mexican, but my friends are and when they cook for us, it’s different, mainly: more flavourful. Maybe I asked for the ‘wrong’ dish, because I see many positive reviews, however, if a restaurant serves a dish I believe it should be tasty.

The melted cheese I had was great, the stuffed jalapeños were not amazing, the chilli con carne was bland and not spicy and the tostadas that I had were fine (see photo) but not great. A bit bland as well, under salted, no spices etc.

The service was very friendly though. When I asked for some lemon to make my dish more palatable, it was served. They were friendly too, but seemed a bit stressed/rushed at times. Prices were good, only the jalapeño portion was on the smaller side.

All in all; the restaurant’s atmosphere is cozy but the food they serve seems like a less flavourful European adaptation of real Mexican food. Gluten-free option are great. It’s possible that it’s to your taste, but certainly not to mine. In my opinion, it’s better if they create a smaller menu with dishes the people are...

This was a disappointing meal after the reviews we have seen.

The atmosphere was busy and lovely which was nice but otherwise it was just lack luster and the food was quite bland and had no real Mexican flavours at all.

My sizzling fajitas came out very much not sizzling with the cheese almost already solidified on top of the hot plate, with the bacon looking almost raw underneath. There was not a single spice added to the meat ( of which there was not a lot of) it was just grilled and thrown on the plate ( I’m not even convinced it had salt and pepper on it).

The nachos crisps themselves were fairly stale and again the cheese came out as though it had been sitting under a hot light for a while waiting to be distributed.

Servers looked like they wanted to be elsewhere and disinterested.

An unfortunate all round experience and I can’t say it’s one I would visit again, didn’t even take any picture of the the food as it wasn’t worth it, better off spending your money elsewhere...

This is a busy downtown restaurant and they obviously benefit from passing tourists! The food was disappointing and definitely not freshly made! I had a stuffed jalapeño starter but unfortunately it was made with pickled jalapeños and not fresh ones! There was no heat from them either! My chicken dish with mole sauce was dried out (which tells me that it was sitting somewhere for too long!) The accompanying rice and salad were equally dry too! My wife's chicken enchiladas on the other hand were drowning in tomato sauce! We have been to Mexico and have enjoyed some superb indigenous food but this was really disappointing! I don't like to be very critical of restaurants, as long as I think that they are doing their best but..... This is a typical tourist trap and I would advise you...