El Merendero

Great Mexican Food The first thing I noticed was the spectacular selection of hot sauces in the rack on our table! The full range from somewhat mild to extra hot. I tasted them all and enjoyed the variety. Warm tortilla chips and salsa were brought to the table as we sat down. My wife had the Cameron Taco Salad. A bowl made from a fresh fried tortilla filled with loads of warm, marinated cooked shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, beans, guacamole, sour cream and cheese. She absolutely loved this salad and the flavor of the shrimp. I ordered the Borchetta. This was a skewer deep fried with five good size shrimp along with bacon, onions and bell peppers. Mexican rice and beans accompanied the entree. The bacon flavor on the shrimp was great. Service was attentive and we never felt rushed during our visit. I would definitely visit here again.

I order to go a caldito de red grande(cosido) for about $14.68 + tips the caldo have 3 lil pieces of beef not even enough for the tortilla that comes with it. It's way better to buy a the carniceria herredero and they are not a restaurant and the flavor way better 100 % better. Never going back.

Please, avoid to order the milanesas, they’re deep fried then resulting in a hard breaded beef filet. Awful taste, the beans made me sick from my stomach, and one of the salsas was spoiled. We ordered 4 orders of milanesas with fries, rice and beans on May 05, 2022. The taste and quality of food were terrible.

Local 12th Ave favorite for amazing Mexican food! I always come for the Michelada and Tampiquena! Great breakfast and dinner menu! Huge portions as you can see and never disappoints! The ladies are amazing and always sweet! Not to mention this place is so we'll priced! I love it!

Great food. We both had the bacon wrapped stuffed cheese shrimp. It was excellent. Service was also very good.

Bestest Mexican food ever! THE FOOD WAS SOO GOOD. The fajitas where great, came with a homemade tortilla. The chips and salsa was good. And the service, also great. We even loved dessert. Dinner for two with dessert was under 40 bucks.

I love this place. The food is always delicious and the service is good. My favorite dish is the Tampiquena. I've come many times for lunch and a couple times for dinner and plan to keep coming back.

Went here for dinner with my family and it was definitely worth trying. The service was great and our waiter was so sweet to us.The food tasted amazing. I also enjoyed the atmosphere. Very nice! We will for sure be back.

Fui hoy a recoger comida que ordené y me atendió Alejandra. Como todo el tiempo ella sigue igual de amable como siempre . Me da gusto entrar y mirarla porque hace sentir bien a la gente .

Not many places open on the 4th of July. Friend and I headed to El Merendero to eat, as they were open. The same server (the same one every time I'v been there) greeted and seated us. It took awhile (it always does at this place) for the server to return to take our orders. There were maybe 10 customers in the place, so I'm not sure why everything takes so long here. Friend ordered a shrimp tostada; I ordered my usual liver platter. After an EXTREMELY long wait (at this point there only 2 other people in the place and they had been served their food), our food arrived. The tostada was delicious, very citrusy and crisp. It was served in a bowl with an orange colored broth that was really good. My liver platter was delicious as always, with a noticeably smaller portion of liver and a noticeably higher price. When we were done, we waited for the bill. We finally stood up to leave and the server immediately brought over the bill. I love the food here, but hate the long delays in every aspect of eating here.

Classic and authentic Mexican fare. Good variety on the menu and some interesting dishes. Casual atmosphere. Good service and good prices. Went for lunch and had the steak Milanesa. Good but not great execution. The others in our party were happy with their dishes. I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to go here but it is on a list of best breakfasts in Tucson, so will try to make it next time for that. Was hoping for bunch today, but I think they stop serving breakfast at 11 am. That's better than McDonald's breakfast hours but don't show up at noon expecting chilaquiles. Get it together and get out the door earlier. Set your alarm and learn from my mistakes or you'll be having chicken fried steak instead of eggs, dammit.

Food was fantastic. I had the number 12 (chicken fried steak). It's very thin but wasn't overcooked. My husband had a chile rellenos . The chicken fried steak was very thin and VERY good. I was amazed it wasn't over cooked. So much food. No way for me to eat it all.

We came here with a group of about twenty for lunch. I really didn't know what to expect from a Mexican restaurant in Tucson, but wow there are so many of them! This place wasn't really much to look at both inside and out, pretty standard casual restaurant. They brought us a pile of chips, salsa, and some pico de gallo. The pico de gallo and salsa were great, not too spicy but just enough kick to make them super tasty and hard to not just fill up on that. It was almost comical, we'd have a bit left and set it aside in anticipation of our food arriving and then more chips would show up! The service was quite good and prompt aside from some initial confusion mostly due to the size of the group. I ordered the shrimp enchiladas and they were great. It was a bit of a challenge to find out if the beans were vegetarian and I speak Spanish, so it may have just been an unexpected question for them. So caution to vegetarians on this one, but definitely give it a shot!

Long time favorite! Excellent service and great food. Breakfast all day is an option.

No queso dip. No mild salsa for ppl who cannot do spice. Need more varieties. I ordered chicken enchiladas... look at my picture..Came here off of yelp reviews. Very disappointed. Won't be back.

Great Mexican Food The first thing I noticed was the spectacular selection of hot sauces in the rack on our table! The full range from somewhat mild to extra hot. I tasted them all and enjoyed the variety. Warm tortilla chips and salsa were brought to the table as we sat down. My wife had the Cameron Taco Salad. A bowl made from a fresh fried tortilla filled with loads of warm, marinated cooked shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, beans, guacamole, sour cream and cheese. She absolutely loved this salad and the flavor of the shrimp. I ordered the Borchetta. This was a skewer deep fried with five good size shrimp along with bacon, onions and bell peppers. Mexican rice and beans accompanied the entree. The bacon flavor on the shrimp was great. Service was attentive and we never felt rushed during our visit. I would definitely visit here again.

We tried El Merendero last night after recommendations from a coworker. First impressions: real authentic Mexican food joint. Friendly staff and fun ambiance. We ordered the tortilla soup. Amazing. It has a tomato-y chicken bullion base with the stretchiest cheese. I wish I had gotten the large. I got the carne asada taco and beans and rice for my little one. He devoured the rice and beans but the carne asada was hard and greasy. My husband ordered the chimichanga and thought it was mediocre. We order this at every restaurant, and it just didn't hit the spot. He said it was very dry with lack of flavor. My brother orderer the taco salad and said the same about the meat. As we were leaving, I realized my feet were wet and the horchata machine had been leaking down through the kitchen and under our table. Not the best impression. However, the staff was apologetic and thankful we let them know. I would like to go back and try other items. Recommendations: knowledge of Spanish is recommended but not required.

I could not leave Tuscon without trying a Mexican restaurant. This fulfilled my hopes and dreams, authentic, casual and focused on the rights things-good food. I am pretty basic in my dish preferences so Monday lunch special for me-three tacos! Loved it, ate all of them + the beans and rice. And before it arrived, had to stop myself from eating the chips, with a perfect amount of salt and wonderful salsa. Would absolutely visit again when I return.

I ordered the caldo de queso for take out and it was delicious! Def will be going back!

This has been my favorite Tucson digs for nearly 30 years. From the first time there to now, it still has great food. Back in the day of Entertainment Coupon Books I would make it my firs coupon to use. Their shrimp coctail, as a special on Fridays, is the BEST. I have not picked a meal that I did not love.

Unfortunately I have to give a star but deserved none. . It was the worst Mexican food ever. The food had no flavor, so expensive for just beans and rice.

Amazing authentic best Mexican food I have had in a very long time! Great customer service and a quality that's unmatched. Not only do I recommend this place, I insist you try it.

We went here for breakfast and both meals were great. Coffee was amazing and service was the best. Not very busy when we went but a great place to have great coffee and Mexican breakfast!

I walked in right when they closed. Although, the sign says open till ten, I was allowed to order a to go dinner. I bought chicken enchilada and cheese enchilada dinners. In addition, I received chips, salsa, limes, and cutlery. The food was good and the sauce hot like I like it. If your looking for good quick food give this restaurant a try.

We were in town for the night and looking for some authentic Southwestern Mexican. The reviews looked good and pretty close to our hotel. It's not much to look at outside and older inside but I believe it's been around a long time. The service was "ok". Only three tables and our waitress didn't seem too excited to see us. Waited a few minutes for her to stop by our table. I had the burrito plate that was filled with carne asada and cheese. The burrito itself was really good. Especially the carne asada they seasoned really well. The rice and beans were very mediocre though. Nice added touch of a steaming hot plate. My better half had the enchilada plate. She said it was good and I "may have" tried a bite or two. Nothing extra special to write home about. Once again just average rice and beans. No seasoning or taste in the rice. Honestly I wouldn't come back. Not because the food was bad. Just too many other places to try.

Service was great and the food was great. We beat the morning rush and we're surprised by the flavor. We will be back!

This is our go to breakfast stop every time we are in Tucson. The food is delicious and Alejandra's friendly and welcoming service has had us coming back for years! The menudo blanco with buttery, toasty bread is hands down our favorite. The milanesa plate is another one of our favorites. Highly recommend you check this place out.

Service was absolutely amazing, but my chicken soup smelled and tasted like sweaty socks and the chips, salsa, and guacamole were extremely under seasoned.

We went to go eat breakfast and the food was so good. Granted I had the Huevos con enchiladas rice and beans. We had to taste the menudo rojo and we were not disappointed. We also had their Michelada and wow it was one of the best I have had. The service and ambiance was great!! Will be going back and try lunch or dinner. I was so hungry forgot to take a picture of food.

Great home style food. Chile rellenos were covered in a mild red sauce with very good beans and rice. Our server was friendly and kept our chips, salsa and drinks filled throughout the meal.

I ordered through door dash, I ordered the shrimp in chipotle sauce that was $17.00 and this is what I received ???? Very disappointing, $17 meal for nothing, the portion is super small it's so disappointing, in person this plate is huge and to go ? You gotta be kidding me... the toast was literally placed over the little space where the fork is at... I always love the taste from here it's always amazing I'm just sad about the portion. Too expensive !!!

Authentic Mexican cuisine at it's best had the great chips & salsa and the Steak Milanesa with rice and refried beans which is very very good!!! Going back tomorrow for lunch going to try the Enchiladas

Pretty sad as far as Mexican food. First, some of the chips were stale. We tried the Carne Con Chile Colorado and carne asada enchiladas. I asked if their green sauce was like enchiladas suiza, creamy. She said yes, but it was more like canned green enchilada sauce. The beef dishes were not flavorful, actually, didn't taste good or barely fair. The menu looked good but the actual food needs major improvements. Sorry, won't be coming back.

The food was amazing! I had the camaron culichi, and husband had the chicken chimichanga. I've had camaron culichi at many other Mexican restaurants in Tucson, and this one is the best I've had. My husband loved that the chimi wasn't overcooked or super crunchy. We both said we'd go back just for these dishes. The beans and rice were tasty as well. The only thing we weren't impressed with was the chips and salsa. I felt like the chips were out of a bag, and the salsa was bland. Another bummer is they don't have the proper liquor license so they can only serve beer and wine. The wine margaritas are not margaritas. I ended up with a safe favorite...Modelo Negro. Overall, go for the food, not for cocktails.

Small but homey restaurant. You can tell the cooks know authentic Mexican food flavors. I got the shredded beef combo plate. The beans tasted just like my Nana's. The shredded beef was full of flavor and tasted like it had cooked for hours. Will be back!

Today I needed a good Mexican breakfast so I decided to drive to 12th Street to El Merendero. I was greeted with a smile and the place was spotless. The tables were marked to comply with the 6 ft distance. I ordered the two eggs, enchiladas, potatoes, retried beans, and topped it off with red chili sauce. The order came out piping hot and was delicious. The waitress when not serving tables was cleaning everything. Door knobs, tables, walls, outside door handles, windows, and everything she could reach. Very good experience today. Stop in and have a good breakfast or meal like I did today. Best $8.00 breakfast I have had in awhile.

This restaurant was a first for me and my friends. It has a down-home family feeling. I mostly came to try some seafood... Specifically ceviche. Our waitress was very attentive and personal, even though we were the only gringas in the place! All three of us decided on taco plates. My partner went with beef, my friend decided to do one beef and one shrimp, and I had a shrimp and ceviche tostada. Much to our surprise the beef one over the fish! My shrimp taco tasted like it was cooked the day before and set in the refrigerator to rubberize. My friend agreed. My partner also had the cocina soup. Which is better known as the kitchen sink soup where they throw a little bit of everything in the pot. The vegetables were so overdone and mushy. And the salt level was over-the-top. She could barely eat it. But the salsa - - oh the salsa - - was simply amazing! As in most Mexican restaurants, the waitress brought out our drinks along with two different salsas. She even brought for a little bowls so we could all enjoy. Furthermore, we made a comment at the end of the meal that we really enjoyed the salsa. When she came back with that bill, she brought a small bag of chips and had packed some salsa in a to go cup. To me that was a very personal touch. I am hoping to try this place again on a lunch visit, hoping that I might get some fresher seafood. Other reviews look good, so I'm hoping I'll hit the mother load next time!

Food was awesome! Some of the best I've had in Tucson. Servers were very friendly and smiling. I'll be back for sure.

Highly recommend great Mexican breakfast everyday! We will be back moving forward. Must try the fresh tortillas beans steak.

Meh it wasn't bad but far from good. The empty parking lot at 5 on a Saturday should have been a clue. It had been years since I've been here and sad to say it's definitely not the same. My dad said his Dos XX was the best part of his meal.

Went to El Merendero tonight based on a co-worker recommendation. We are very glad that we tried this Tucson Mexican restaurant. We started our dinner with free chips and salsa. The chips seemed homemade and we very good and the two salsas were good as well. For our meal, my wife had the Chicken Taco Salad and I had the taco, enchilada, chicken tostada combination. The food tasted very good and we were pleased with our meal. While I felt that the rice on the combination dinner was nothing special, I really liked the refried beans.. quite tasty! If you are looking for a nice meal at a family type Mexican restaurant, you should give this place a try.. we are glad that we did.

We were two for lunch at 12:00 on a week day. There were just two waitresses and they were going all over the place handling the registrar orders placed by devices and taking orders st the register and at the tables short handed and over whelmed. Our waitress brought one order after waiting for a long time for the food but not the other. My food came in a chipped bowl that had gotten its money's worth and should have been thrown out. I showed it to her telling her the paint was coming off. She said nothing, did nothing about it and went on her way. I had to wait for the condiments There was no refill on the drinks. Poor service. Nothing was resolved with regard to my food served in this condition.

Great breakfast! We went for breakfast on a Sunday and got seated and our drink order taken right away. Restaurant was very clean as well as the menus too. I ordered the red menudo and it was some of the best menudo that I've had. All of us enjoyed our breakfast dishes very much. The green sauce on the huevos divorcado was really good! The handmade flour tortillas were amazing as well. We would go back in a heartbeat.

Hubby & I both had the Carne con Chile Colorado. It was too spicy for him, not too spicy for me but still not a big fan of the flavor. Mediocre rice & beans, and the corn tortillas were stale. Service was good, but not a place we'll choose again.

Our first time here for a quick lunch. I had the grilled shrimp served with rice and beans. The shrimp was tasty but the serving size was small for a $17 lunch item. Overall, food was good, service was acceptable, serving size was on the small size for value. Tucson has amazing, over the top Mexican on every corner. With that said, three stars for this local Mexican restaurant. Nothing memorable and the food was average.

The place is small, the food portions are even smaller. However the price is way too much for what you get. As we sat in the restaurant the door was left wide open so we can see the dishwasher, and waitress eating in the back. We will not be going back. Not worth it at all.

Very clean, the service was great and we loved the nostalgia of knowing this was an A&W back in the day. We were the only people in there at 9:30 on a Saturday morning. The menu has a lot of great traditional choices as well. The food was okay. The chips were kind of stale, so after a couple crunches we passed on filling up before our meal. The portions are hearty. The hubs got the steak and eggs, being I am obsessed with Chilaquiles (Rojo)...of course that is what I ordered. So the Hubs said his meal was good... he was a little weird about the tortillas. He is hispanic and likes his tortillas cooked and fluffy. The ones here are the oily kind (but trust me, he ate them) My Chilaquiles good but I am still in search of the best Tucson chilaquiles. We enjoyed the breakfast. Three stars means thumbs up to me, and this is the extent that I can go with El Merndero. It was not bad at all, but with so many other options we will likely not return and give other bookemarked untried establishments a go. I guess all the 5 star reviews brought me in, but the food was definitely 3 star in our opinions. (5 stars on service and cleanliness!)

Went here for lunch with office colleagues, based on the yelp reviews. But I felt like this place is a bit over-rated. Food was okay, not bad but not impressive. I found it pretty expensive as well, but portions were huge too. We had a lot of left overs. Service was fast and servers were nice for the most part. Complimentary nachos and salsa were great. The cheese and jalapeno crisps were very tasty for appetizers. I had the shrimp ranchero platter for entree, it came with rice and beans on the side. I felt it lacked flavor. My colleague had the fish veracruzo or something like that. There wasn't much of a difference between that and my ranchero platter other than the fact that fish tasted better than the shrimp. Another colleague had the cocktail ceviche shrimp and said it was good. We also had freshly squeezed lemonade and that was pretty good.

Very good authentic Mexican food! Enchiladas are very good with the red sauce and the chimichanga was very flavorful! Highly recommended, will return!

In town for site visit and was craving Mexican. You usually can tell a place by its salsa. Excellent 2 salsas with the complimentary chips. I ordered shrimp fajitas, when my flour tortillas came out they were stupid hot, awesome! The fajitas had very good flavor and the shrimp were on the medium large size. If you are near the airport, this place is 7 mins from there, worth a stop and fill up!

Food is fantastic. Best Menudo in Tucson. There is many types and styles of Menudo depending on the region in Mexico. I'm happy they have the style I like. Service is great, very friendly and English is spoken no problema amigo.

Not as great as it was 15 years ago . Service really sucked and food was expensive and not worth the money. Would definitely going somewhere worth your money waited over 1.5 for a table and table and plates were dirty. No thanks will pass next time.

Came with my sister after a day spent at San Xavier Mission. We were greeted as we walked in the door, our waitress was very sweet and friendly. My sister says "the soup was so good and I like how they put the water pitcher on your table". I had two tacos and I would get them again. Very good.

Came here with the family. As a Filipino-American, especially being a first born in America, my lens for things is different. And needless to stay, I've noticed that there are not many Asian people walking around Tuscon or going into Mexican restaurants in Tucson (or even AZ as a whole). That being said, when we first walked in with a group of 7 of us, we got strange looks from the wait staff and kitchen peaking at us! And after a couple of minutes and big smiles from our group, the wait staff ladies eventually warmed up to us and showed us their smiles. I have to admit that was a tense 3 minutes! Came here after reading on the "visit Tucson" website that this place was on the famed 12-miles of authentic mexican food, and they served a proprietary dish called chicharon camarones...basically fried shrimp balls. Hmmm I was intrigued! Overall I agree with some that this wasn't the "best" mexican food I've had. It was pretty standard tasting really. Maybe my taste buds are biased because I'm a San Diego born Mexican food lover. California does it's Mexican Food different than Arizona! However this restaurant does have some stand out dishes that aren't found at every Mexican joint. I wish I would have ordered more of the seafood items here. Here's the quick and skinny on the rest of the food/place: Pros: -Large portions, freshly prepared food -Quick service -Cheese Crisps! I actually think this was my favorite item of food I ordered. It's huge, tasty and really satisfying. Don't call it a mexican pizza, tho it looks like it. It's way better, less "doughy". -Chicharon camerones, yes this is different. It's not flavored a whole lot which is good because you can taste the shrimp and they served it with sauce. This is different, I haven't seen this item at any other mexican/latin restaurants I've been to. -Service was quick, but it wasn't a busy evening either. Being that there are so many other Mexican restaurants in Tuscon and Tuscon is a "gastronomic city" I'd have to try other restaurants in town to really know what the food scene is about in this town.

Wow. The things you notice when you are having a poor dining experience. So, I have been here a couple of times now. However, I hadn't been back for a while because I found during my previous visits that the service and the food were both inconsistent. On this visit, I noticed much of the same that concerned me before: an absentee server, stale chips and watered down salsa. I imagine that the restaurant caters to many of those people who are merely looking for a cultural experience. That's cool. Sometimes you need a starter restaurant when you're trying to break in to a particular type of cuisine. Still, there are couple of things that I like about the restaurant. In particular, they have great specials -- especially their daily lunch specials, which include seafood specials as well. I also love the natural light. I find that this place is great for lunch, and maybe dinner. Now, back to this current visit and the reason why I'm giving this restaurant an abysmal number of stars. There was old salsa caked to the side of the bowl, "sandy" seats and drive by waiter service. My server even asked me from a table over if I was ready to order. I went with a half-dozen oysters. I told her that I would keep the menu because I wanted to order something later. The oysters were meaty but served improperly -- stacked. I have never experienced this before and it ruined the oysters. Not only did the leftover residue on the bottom of each stacked shell muddle the oyster beneath, the liquor from most of them drained out because the were haphazardly placed. What a bummer. Finally, I just decided to call it a day. But I couldn't find my server anywhere. So I just decided to leave my cash on the table and leave. On the way out, I told the busser that my cash was on the table and thanked him. As I was backing out of the parking lot I heard someone yelling at me, "you didn't pay me!" Ahhh! There's my server, yelling at me (read: microaggressions). I let her know that the money was on the table, at which point she gave me the most embarrassed look in human history and apologized. Well, that experience does it for me. I will be taking my hard-earned money to other wonderful Tucson establishments.

I've only come here for breakfast, but based off that experience, I would definitely come back again. I came less than 10 minutes before the cutoff for breakfast (11am) and they still took my order without hesitation. I'm not sure if they normality adhere to this policy but nonetheless worth noting. They gave us chips and salsa which, I must say, the salsa was really good and addictive! For my entree I got the huevos divorciados and my significant other got the huevos mexicanos (a short of egg scrambled with a bunch of veggies in it). Tasty! Both the red and green salsas were good and spicy. He enjoyed his meal as well. We enjoyed our meal here and would definitely come back. Besides the food, our waitress was very kind and attentive. Honestly just a good place all around.

Cheese crisp with green chilies was delicious and perfectly cooked. The fish tacos were large and stuffed full as well as delicious. Rice & beans were perfect. Our server was very kind and sweet. We will definitely be back to try out some of the soups and extensive seafood options!