El Vecino Tex Mex — Restaurant in Dallas

This Tex-Mex restaurant is a fabulous little gem within the White Rock/Lake Highlands area my family loves coming to on most Sundays! Our first visit was Nov 28, 21 and haven't tried anything new since! But before that, I've been noticing this restaurant for years when passing through everytime going or coming from the NorthPark and/or Mockingbird areas. I then figured, "if its been there this long, it's gotta be good." I then pulled up the pictures and reviews, here on Google maps, and became tempted. When my aunt lived in the Casa Linda area, she said she's eaten here a couple times and says they are very good and recommended it to us before she moved.

After all, it was a great find and we have been enjoying every visit since last November. Everytime we enter, the hostess is very nice and welcoming as she asks "How many?" and when we are seated. As for the wait-staff, we've had the same waitress every visit. I still haven't gotten her name, but she is a very sweet lady who is very attentive and always has a smile behind her mask. Which is good that the staff is following complete safety measures and protocols during these uncertain times. But like our waitress, the entire wait-staff are very nice people and very helpful to one another in bringing customers their meals in excellent timing.

The chips are awesome and super warm when brought out of the kitchen served served with their house salsas, red and green. Both are good, the green has a sweet and sour taste which is an interesting taste, and the red is the perfect mild. (But have to say my favorite spicy salsa is Ojeda's) When the food is served, the plates are made with excellent presentation and is served at the perfect temperature. Everything we've had has been deliciously excellent! The brisket street tacos are the best I've had anywhere, enchiladas are made with authentic perfection, their Mexican stir fry is amazing and the Mexican lasagna is fulfilling! Still more plates to try... And their house coffee... Amazing!! I'm not a big fan of traditional coffee pot coffee, but they blend theirs with cocoa, almond and chipotle extracts and served to perfection. Blows Starbucks out the water! Even though it's listed under the desserts, we drink cup after cup along with our meals.

If they were to sell their coffee by the bag, I believe they could hit an excellent profit! This little gem is a big success that indeed provides an excellent dining experience, I can see this place expanding to a big restaurant! But overall, they are great on how they're running things! After paying and when leaving, our waitress and management always thanks us and bids us a good night. This restaurant is a great staple in Dallas and a great...

Most recent visit - 2/13/25 We stopped by El Vecino for a cocktail and queso the night before Valentines Day. We sat at the bar and Irving (his real name) and Raul greeted us. They were very friendly and welcoming. I ordered the El Pepino Margarita with the bartender Irving. The Margaratia was so refreshing and so good - highly recommend!! I had some trouble remembering what queso I liked and after some confusion (on my part) Irving helped us to figure out which queso I was talking about that I had before and just couldn't wait to eat that queso again. They have the best chips, salsa and queso. Irving and Raul were very nice, genuine, customer focused and had great cheerfull attitudes. Can't wait to go back for another margaita and the queso. Please commend Irving and Raul for a job well done. This place and the staff is awesome, don't hesitate to check it out.

Visited this restaurant on July 4th, which came highly recommended by 2 families. And man we were not disappointed at all. The atmosphere was inviting. The decor was cute. The staff was friendly. Our servers name was Dulce. She was so sweet as her name indicates. She answered all my questions on the menu and drink menu. We got a bowl of queso blanco and got it spicy it was delicious the best queso we had in a while. The chips were crunchy and thick, red salsa was yummy. I had the enchiladas and my husband had the fish tacos. Both were flavorful and we enjoyed our meals. Dulce was nice, knowledgeable, customer focused and detail oriented. We are really glad we tried this place out. We will definitely be back for the food, great service and atmosphere. In fact as I type this we are headed there now for the Tuesday special. And we are going to ask for Dulce as our server. El vecino is a must...

This is a fun festive atmosphere. The bright colored booths with beautiful patterns, walls decorated with one of a kind art and all the staffs quick service and friendly faces have made me a repeat visitor.

Let’s talk drinks, margaritas are strong. I had two but could have slowed down and nursed one. I wasn’t driving but if I was one is more than enough.

Wednesday is $5.99 Enchilada Day so it’s been packed. The first time I had a chalupa, a taco and a sour cream chicken enchilada. Delicious. However, by the time I got to my taco the shell has soggy and fell apart on the first lift. The chalupa barely made it to the last bite, it too got soggy quick. Basically this is happening because they are too thin. Easy fix but not sure they will change that so if you order tacos, chalupas, eat that first and eat it quick. The enchilada was good, not great, would have loved the chicken to be seasoned and juicy, rather pain. Rice, A+,charro beans, great, could be cooked a little longer, refried beans very delicious. On the second visit I had beef enchiladas, again, ground beef could have more seasoning and maybe some cheese mixed in with the beef, it’s basically a ground beef soft taco with chili on top. Chili seemed over cooked, almost burned. See pic. It even looks dark. The guacamole was awesome and their small queso was yum yum. My favorite is the salsas and chips. So tasty, seasoned perfectly, delicious.

Honestly Wednesday is great BUT if you don’t like screaming or crying kids then come late or try a different day. Lots a young families.

Last thing, it’s a small space, our wait was an hour in an overly crowded waiting space. Could have waited outside but it was...