Escondido Tex Mex Patio — Restaurant in Dallas

Escondido is “OK” tex mex at a HEAVY $ premium in regards to pricing. Where to start with Escondido? I lived in East Dallas for 7 years and went to E-Bar 2-3x a week consistently that entire duration. When I moved to Preston Hollow, the biggest missing stop was great Tex-Mex. We’ve got Mico at forrest (BLAH) and we had Cantina Laredo at Preston / Royal which went away in the past couple years. If Escondido had to parallel one of these prior options more than the other, it’s definitely more Cantina Laredo and less E-Bar. E-bar is casual, the food is plentiful, traditional tex mex with STRONG drinks at a fair price, relative. I get it, inflation is rampant, but Escondido is WILDLY expensive for what it is. I’ve now been twice and each time my wife and I had one drink each, no appetizer, and an entree each and with tip, it’s over $100. I am ok with a premium priced option, but the food should back it up. The portions are meager at Escondido - the (half chicken/ half beef) fajitas are $26 and I can barely make two fajitas. Compare to E-Bar at $19 and I can make 4-5 fajitas. I prefer to eat protein and veggies only and I can’t fill up on their fajita plate without eating the carbs. The drinks is where it gets nutty. The Base Ranch water is $15!!! The Top shelf marg with a common decent tequila - $18! A top shelf or ranch water with my chosen tequila at E-bar - $11. Now, listen - I know it’s in Preston hollow and rent is expensive, but it’s next door to Gazeebo burger which is relatively cheap, seemingly empty many times and still stays open year after year. I WANTED so badly to be obsessed with Escondido, but the combination of the expense and small portions make me resent it a bit. I’m Totally down for upscale pricing if the experience and portion matches - but I don’t see myself frequenting Escondido the way I did E-bar. I will be back for patio drinks and meeting with others, but I eat chicken fajitas for dinner 3x a week usually -and I LOVE having a local spot to make that a regular practicality without cooking. Sadly, this is not that. That said, the food is good, not great and it is VERY convenient as I live right near St. Marks in Preston Hollow. We LOVE TJ’s and hope to love other concepts by this owner but we wish the serving sizes were increased to match the price and fill our stomachs after spending $100 for casual tex mex for 2. We hope the owners/ managers read this and appreciate the transparency in my thoughts. I’d love to see change and increase my frequency, but for now, it’s just not the practical, casual tex mex spot to have a drink and leave full for a reasonable sum. That said, I know the price will not inhibit their success as most people in this area don’t mind AND don’t eat fajitas as often as I do! We’ll be back and maybe I’ll have reason someday to update this review with a more positive twist if they open a happy hour or increase the portions. Give it a shot, let me know...

in my 60 years of life and 10 years in the Preston/Royal neighborhood I have never EVER been treated so poorly while dining out. Three of us arrived for our 3:15 reservation, ordered drinks and wanted to settle in a bit before we ordered food to begin our Cinco De Mayo celebration. after the second round of drinks we placed our first food order and continued on. 1.5 hours into it, the hostess approached our table shortly after we ordered our third drink and told us that we have been at our table for 1.5 hours and they are asking us to leave as we have exceeded our time limit. We needless to say were taken back a bit and told them we were not aware that there was a time limit per table and if indeed the rule applied to the three of us then why didn't it apply to the others around us that were seated shortly before we were? One hostess stated that one table was investors of the company and couldn't be asked to leave(only to find out later they were not)! We were then told that we could vacate our table and they would look for another location in which we could stand and finish our drinks until they could possibly reseat us. This entire time there were 5 open tables around us that had absolutely no one seated. We were then approached by the manager in which he stated there was no 1.5 hour time limit and he would gladly make it right by inviting us back. Long story a bit longer, they did comp our meal which by the way was not something that the three of us EVER pride ourselves to accept but the embarrassment and humiliation that it caused us was totally unacceptable on many levels holiday or otherwise. Past reviews have reminded me that we are not the only ones that have been asked to leave. We will...

Was looking to find a good TexMex spot in my neighborhood without having to go far. Escondido exceeded expectations. The chips, salsa, and queso were tasty and the frozen margarita perfectly balanced in taste and strength. We split enchiladas, rice, and beans and everything tasted like effort went into it. Jerry was our waiter and was super friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. Prices are a little high but I guess that’s to be expected in this part of town. I will definitely visit again.

Update: I've come back twice since my initial review and brought others with me and everyone has been impressed by Escondido. On the 2nd visit, Omar was our server and not only was the food good, but we had a blast with him. We had delicious chicken fajitas, ground beef enchiladas, and my one of my dinner mates loved the strawberry margaritas.....I went back last night for the 3rd visit and brought other friends and we had the pleasure of Victoria serving us. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and you can tell she loves working here. When asked for other recommendations, she praised the pork chops. Sounds weird at a TexMex restaurant but OH MAN!!! - tender, juicy, seasoned, and grilled to absolute perfection. It comes with spinach, mushrooms, and an arugula/pico de gallo salad. Perfect if you like to try to stay on the low carb side of the menu.

I've got my new spot. I hope they don't tire...