Taqueria Guadalajara — Restaurant in Austin

How was my breakfast experience at Arandas? Glad you asked. I'd be hard pressed to find a more disappointing meal than the one I was just presented with and paid for. Seriously, where's a liver-filled empanada when you need one? You see, there once was a time when the buffalo roamed, the oceans were debris-free and Arandas was a respected choice to enjoy a good, hot, hearty Mexican breakfast. But alas, like the mighty ambling of the buffalo and the once pure oceans, the days of Arandas breakfast glory has all but vanished into nothing more than a storied tale from yesteryear. "Tio! Tio! Tell us again about the days when the beans at Arandas weren't as runny as La Llorona's sniffling nose!!" "Ah Si, Nino's! Those were the days, what? Like two years ago, maybe?" I ordered the Huevos Ranchero, Ranchero style, breakfast plate and, recalling how small the servings at other Arandas restaurants had been shrinking in serving size, I added an egg and bean breakfast taco, on the side. The plate was supposed to consist of two whole, fried eggs covered in red chili, a serving of home-styled fries and a heaping-helping of refried beans. What I got instead was two weakly fried egg yolks and six (6!) squared, diced potatoes drowning in a pool of refried bean soup. No. An ocean. An ocean of liquidity, brown, refried beans. No exaggeration required. Here's a suggestion for the Arandas staff: When offering "flour or corn" as tortilla choices, why not add "pescado (fish) flavored" as well because, as Captain Ahab as my witness, that is EXACTLY what the tortillas tasted like. Seriously, just put a sign on your window that reads "CATCH OF THE DAY: Flour or Corn" and save everyone that grotesque first bite. Also, this is Texas. When someone orders an iced tea, it better have more sugar in it than a Willy Wonka stool sample. I'll let you know whether or not I'm diabetic so until then, remember; when in Texas? Iced tea = Sweet Tea! And another thing, you simply cannot serve your 32oz unsweetened iced tea and expect someone to shake, open and pour 200 of those tiny, little sugar packets into until it tastes like sweet tea. My gawd! Use that money you're saving on your "River of Refried Beans" and splurge on some sugar pourers, already! As a Hispanic who tries his best to promote and recognize offerings, services and businesses owned and run by fellow Latinos and Hispanics (and people of color, in general), it broke my heart like a wrecking ball to a Salma Hayak themed pinata, to have to finally throw in the towel with Arandas restaurants. Quality and quantity at their eaterys has sunk quicker and lower than a White House intern wearing a blue dress. Not even to a transient who missed the cut-off time at the local soup kitchen, could I recommend eating at any of the Arandas restaurants (especially the Burnet Road location). Unless, of course, they just happened to have a hankering for some good ol' fashioned, refried-bean flavored...

Prices are so high for a run down restaurant with disgusting food. $80 for 2 kids chicken Nuggets meals $8/ each I would be okay with$15+ mole enchiladas if they weren't the most disgusting enchiladas I ever had. My husband had 2 chicken fajita tacos with a side of charros he didn't eat because they were disgusting. This isn't even the ridiculous part! When we order us all lemonades we didn't realize they were $5 for each of the kids & $6 each for us & we asked for some avocado for his tacos. GUESS HOW MUCH! $7!!! For a side of avocado for 2 tacos. I used to love this place when the food was good & if it was half as good & authentic as it used to be the price wouldn't even matter. But it was disgusting!! We felt completely tooken advantage of they raised the prices ridiculously on things you don't typically think to check prices on simple things like drinks/ sides.. we will never come back. Please listen to all the reviews saying costs are high for disgusting not even close to mexican food. I'll be more than happy to post the outrageous receipt if my husband still has in his truck. Yal should really be ashamed of yourselves for lowering the quality of food to barely edible & raising the prices as if you sell jalisco or dos salsas level mexican food. The girl at the register looking at me dumbfounded when I wanted the receipt to look at it because I was flabbergasted when my husband came to tell me the total. I thought this had to be a joke for that trash they served us. But money isn't the issue so of course no fuss was made. it's the scam they're running & taking advantage of people & that's why I'm making this review to save other the same experience!! We had chili's last night let's just say we for way more for less!! Alcoholic beverages/shots included. I hope yal see this review & make some serious changes somewhere. Because that was unacceptable food for...

There are indirect ways to learn about a restaurant like the crowd of cars in the parking lot or the demographics of the clientele. Arandas has a consistently busy parking lot, and a majority of their customers had their first Mexican food in Mexico or at least in an abuelita's kitchen. This is where Mexicans come to eat Mexican food. There are other places that serve authentic Mexican, but here it is down-home, down-to-earth home cooking like, well, you would eat in Grandma's kitchen were you lucky enough to have a Mexican grandmother. The ingredients are high quality, and the synergy of their coming together to make chilis rellenos, enchiladas, or tacos reminds me of what happens when you clap two chunks of plutonium together to form a critical mass -- explosively delicious food. I love the menudo and the pozole here (these are soups if you're uninitiated, though it's an Injustice to call them merely soups), and they're served with side plates of shredded cabbage, cilantro, and sliced jalapeños, and corn or wheat tortillas add to the frolic. A bowl of menudo and a couple of tacos al pastor is a feast for the salt...