El Vaquero — Restaurant in Texas

Tucked in the corner of a nondescript shopping center, El Vauero is where you dine when your craving fantastic old school Tex Mex with outstanding service. No frills here, just the staples prepared with high quality and a nostalgic taste, set in a mom and pop "kitchenesque" atmosphere. Don't expect new and interesting dishes here, but do expect to recount some memories for your favorite dishes from your youth.

I had the chicken enchaladas with ranchero sauce. Heaped on an oversized plate straight from the salamander, my overflowing 3 enchiladas was accompanied by a very well prepared ranchero sauce scattered with melted cheddar cheese. Sides are the standard rice and refried beans. Delicious. It was a solid 2nd best of this particular dish that I've ever enjoyed and as I seek out this dish everywhere, I am thrilled to have this restaurant so close to my home.

Chips were plentiful and the salsa was a standard thin red that just barelly coats the warm and tasty tortilla chips. Order pitchers of margaritas for a great value. They're tasty, yet, also a no-frills standard fare.

Service was outstanding, as you'd expect from an owner run restaurant.

I will visit regularly and you...

The staff was so very nice and accommodating that I would love to leave a 5-star review, but can't. With the understanding that food is VERY subjective, my review of their food is based on my (take out) order of a cheese enchilada dinner, large sides of queso, guacamole, and extra chips last week.

The guacamole was mashed avocadoes with (a lot of) salt and I assume lime juice. The cheese enchiladas were just okay, but a good Tex Mex chili gravy instead of more cheese on top would have elevated their flavor. The refried beans were standard and par for the course, but the rice was the most bland I've ever tasted without even a hint of salt. Best guess is that the chili con queso is just melted Velveeta poured into a styrofoam container, and the salsa was a rather unusual orange color and very hot, which I don't mind as long as it's flavorful, but it wasn't. Almost untouched, the queso is still in my fridge and I'm going to heat it up and fix it later. I understand why they have a loyal following, but, in my opinion, they need to do a lot better with their food,...

I would give them zero stars if I could! Went here to grab margaritas for a family member’s birthday and the service was awful! We told our server we would be getting drinks and having chips and salsa. Our server never came back after delivering our drinks to see if we needed anything or to see if we wanted more drinks or to refill our chips and salsa. Our server was too busy sitting at a table with other staff watching novellas and eating herself. Don’t waste your money on this place! They obviously don’t need the business if this is how they...