El Mercado Restaurant — Restaurant in Austin

First and most importantly I like this place and have eaten here often over the course of several years. Overall this is a decent Texmex restaurant serving typical Texmex comfort food at moderate prices with a full bar and a laid back non formal admisphere.

Pros: The food tastes good. The admisphere is laid back, perfect for non formal group dining with friends, family or co-workers. Friendly neighborhood centered admisphere. I frequently run into local friends and family here. It's a great place for lively conversation and good vibes. Prices are fair and service is decent most of the time.

Cons: Up keep of the main dining area isn't as high on their priority list as I feel it should be. Unfortunately to me, it doesn't appear to be as clean as I think it could be. It's an old building and you can tell. If it were up to me, I'd suggest more attention to detail in the dining area. The bathrooms are out dated and could use an upgrade. Service during busy times is pretty dicey. Like every other food service establishment post pandemic employee shortages are probably to blame so go easy on em' and tip well. Times are tough. The outdoor patio does not have a smoking section due it's small size plus the furniture out there could use an upgrade.

In closing, the Pros far out weigh the Cons. It's a good place to fill up on Texmex and cold drink while enjoying...

First time eating here and will be the last. First walking in it was confusing on what you're supposed to do weither you wait to be seated or sit wherever. Once someone acknowledged we were standing there they told us to sit wherever we want and they would follow. They immediately brought out the chips and salsa but we waited for about 10 minutes for our waters to finally get there. Our server was good but it definitely seems like they're understaffed. The poor server looked like he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. We ordered our food and our drinks and after 5 minutes part of the food came out for the two other people with me. Another 5 minutes go by and the rest of the order came out. It was a bit odd but we got all our food. After eating some of my food I found a broken plastic piece in my food which immediately stopped everyone from eating and we were scared there was more plastic in other food. The manager comped my food but the rest of my party only ate a few bites before finding the plastic. After speaking with the manager he ended up taking all food off the bill and only charged...

We went here pre covid and the food, value and service were great. Decided to give it a try last Saturday afternoon. Prices went up wich is to be expected. Although, in Austin we had far lower food inflation (base costs) than the average city. But, fair enough, got the fajitas for two, $37, fair. I do like the amount of veggies asada they include with the fajitas. Beef was very low quality, chicken very, very dry. I was charged for 3 iced teas when it was my wife and I consuming one beer and a couple glasses of Austin's finest tap water. It was $3 per tea. I hope they have other dishes that are better. But, considering fajita meat is used in the vast majority of dishes...you can draw your own conclusions. I would like to compliment the waitress who took great care of us. She did a wonderful job and was tipped aproperitly. She didn't cut the wrong corners, or make chicken jerky. But, did charge me 9 dollars for a glass of water. I sincerly hope that was a honest mistake. Go down the road to enchladias de mas, not as laid back, but multiple times the quality of food at a better...