Carnitas Querétaro — Restaurant in El Paso

As I stepped into Carnitas Queretaro for dinner for the first time in over a decade on a short visit to the valley of the sun ,I was hit by an overwhelming stench—the first indication that this once-beloved Mexican restaurant has plummeted, and it's my duty to warn fellow diners.

Cold Carnitas Tacos and Enchilada Suisas The carnitas tacos arrived cold, lifeless, and devoid of flavor. The enchiladas were room temperature and presented like chicken tacos doused in a cream sauce that came from a can of Herdez.

*Queso Fundido: * When the queso fundido finally made its appearance 10 mins after the cold mess arrived,it was like someone literally took Monterrey Jack cheese and melted it. No acknowledgment of the out of order arrival either.

Microwave Magic: When I dared to complain about the cold entrees, the waiter's response was baffling. He whisked them away, moments later, he returned with the same tacos and enchiladas, now hot from the microwave - the kitchen literally added cool sour cream on top of the hot sour cream of my wife’s enchiladas and even left the avocado slices on my plate that were now, um, hot!

Margarita Mess The margarita—a sugary mess that would make a hummingbird cringe—was an insult to mixology. It tasted like a melted popsicle dipped in tequila.

The only saving grace? The homemade tortillas, which are still good thanks to the woman still making them from scratch and I was sure to thank her on the way out.

Fifteen years ago, Carnitas Queretaro was exceptional. The carnitas melted in your mouth, and the air buzzed with atmosphere. Now, it seems this establishment is hanging by a thread and I’m shocked that locals are tolerating it. The 4 of 5 stars must be bots or paid reviews, Google really let me down.

Avoid Carnitas Queretaro - there are far...

This time around, the taste of the food changed, first the chips and salsa were horrible, well not the chips they were great, but that salsa, not good at all, bring back the green salsa, second the food taste totally different, must of changed cooks or recipes, third the service was so bad, took long to get Waiter, and even longer to get food, then to get him back for forgotten items, wife said that her tortilla soup was ok but the tortilla chips we're burnt and tasted burnt. Now here's the kicker, the waiter tried to give me someone else's credit card, told him not ours, then after about 10mins he comes back and tries to apologize a head of telling me what happened, I then realized what happened, he lost my credit card, then says it's happened before, to please leave him my phone number, so when he finds it he will call me to go back and pick it up, I could not believe what he was saying, who in there right mind would leave there credit card behind. I told him I could not leave it , that I needed it and I would wait till he found it. After several minutes of waiting he came from the back and said he found it charged our meals and that I did not wanna know where he found my credit card. Worst service ever. I will not be back to this location again, we used to love it here but it is going down the hill...

The El Paso/ Las Cruces area is known for its “Mexican-Style” foods, but unfortunately, most places offer more of a “New Mexican”, “Tex-Mex” food, which is also delicious but it is its own thing, and happens to be very different from actual traditional Mexican food. When in search for the latter, visit Carnitas Queretaro, for they have 100% AUTHENTIC Mexican food and have the delicious taste of those original recipes. A great example of that is the fact they have “Chilaquiles”, a dish that is hard to find outside of Mexico, even in border towns. Their “carnitas” are so authentic their flavor made me feel like in the State of Queretaro in Mexico. They also have all the traditional flavors of “aguas frescas”, and even the traditional “Estrella” beer from Jalisco, Mexico. In addition to the awesome food, they have really nice staff willing to help you navigate their extensive menu. The environment is great and their variety of salsas is extraordinary while you wait for your food. I fully recommend this place! I can’t say all those flavors didn’t bring in me all the Mexican nostalgia of the real, good, traditional food, but they did in a good way, because if there’s a place in this area I would go to when craving real Mexican food, it is...