El Pocito

El Pocito Mexican Tortillería is one of those rare places that should be preserved as a historical and cultural landmark, not just a business. According to locals, it’s been around for over 100 years, and after eating here, I believe it. The building is old, worn, and unapologetically traditional. Nothing fancy, nothing staged. They still make handmade tortillas using real nixtamalized corn, the way it has been done for generations. The flavor is deeply rustic, pure, and incredibly good. This is the kind of food that reminds you how things used to taste before shortcuts and additives took over. The gorditas are excellent. Thick, freshly cooked, and generously filled with options like meat and chicharrón. You can also buy plain gorditas, fresh tortillas, or masa to take home and cook yourself. Many people order to go, and seating is very limited, but that’s part of the experience. This food is meant to be eaten fresh and right away. They are cash only, and while I don’t know the reason, everything is clean, well organized, and professionally done. You can see the process. You can smell it. Nothing here feels artificial. Most importantly, the flavor hasn’t changed. That matters. Places like this are disappearing fast, and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever. El Pocito is a reminder of real food, real tradition, and real craftsmanship. Support it while it’s still here

This establishment has been around for over a hundred years. A neighbor of mine informed me about this place and now I always take new visitors and guests here at least one time. I absolutely love it. Sometimes I take it to go and add a egg and avocado at home ;)

Although the place is very small, it makes me think of my grandma's home kitchen! The ladies that are preparing the food are amazing and the smells definitely took me back to my childhood when I was growing up in Monterrey Mexico. The food is amazing! The definition of authentic Mexican food!

Ok so I looked this place up here in Yelp and I don't feel that the reviews pay homage to the actual historic place we have here at home. When I walk up to the place, I'm immediately taken back 35-40 years to the tortillerías I used to visit as a child in Mexico. The smell of freshly cooked tortillas hit you a few yards before getting to the door. Old-school screens on the door and windows allow the rich aroma of tortillas and beans to permeate the surrounding air. The griddles are hot and the long time chefs are busy cooking tortillas and gorditas for pending orders. The menus is simple and the prices are good. Now, you might be tempted to ask, "what's the big deal, it's the same breakfast as other places?" The big deal is the food is fresh. The bigger deal, is that they ground the maíz and do the nixtamalization process all in-house; making the corn tortillas as fresh and natural as possible. For the lovers of flour tortillas....those are good too. Made fresh when you order; or...if you take flour tortillas home, they hold up well for a couple of days in the fridge. Don't buy too many and not eat them right away, there are no preservatives so they won't be as fluffy or as good as when they are fresh. That is expected from fresh foods like that; the same thing happens with Breadsmith bread, it's great, it just doesn't keep a long time like store bought prepackaged tortillas/bread. Now, El Pocito has been around for over 100 years; even surviving the pandemic. The head chef has been there over 30. The prices are good. The food is good. The process is traditional and the tortillas are great! Let's all visit El Pocito for some tacos and gorditas. Let's keep them around another 100 years. Oh and it's cash only and they are closed Sundays. We'll see you there!

Bought different gorditas here to give them a try and there wasn't really anything exceptional, the filling were just okay in general, the barbacoa was good, both the picadillo and asado de puerco were just okay. The taste of the gorditas is really good, I just think they are a little to thick. The place doesn't look very clean or welcoming. Overall I don't see myself returning to buy their food, perhaps to buy their flour tortillas although I didn't try them, they do look very well made.

This town’s best kept secret, till now! This humble hidden gem that offers a slight blast from my past is situated in the alley between two busy streets in our downtown area. It is not a sit down type of restaurant. In fact, there isn’t even any parking. You need to be creative with making room to park your car and walk in to place your ‘to go’ order. The small staff of maybe five workers are clearly very organized with their structure. You see one lady manning the gorditas station while the other one is manning the tortillas de harina station. They each knead and roll their dough with their hard working hands and they then place it onto the large griddle. It’s truly a work of art right before your eyes! If you order masa to go, you will get to witness first hand, how they grind the maíz right in front of you. Great field trip for those who want to see how our traditional gorditas and tortillas de harina are made. Now for the food. Their menu is very limited. However, it’s all you need. The gorditas I order happen to be the best ones I’ve had in the valley.

Recommendation from ArnieTex YouTube video for local recommendations. Truly such a great food experience to see everything be in house made and with its great taste. For any other southern, the fresh dough would fit so well as fried corn bread that I want to try with some rich chili to truly savor the juices that these gorditas can truly absorb and compliment.

Downtown Mcallen, doesn't get more authentic than this. The handmade gorditas with carne guide were very delicious.

This is our town's best kept secret, till now! This humble hidden gem that offers a slight blast from my past is literally situated in the alley between two busy streets in our downtown area. It is not a sit down type of restaurant. In fact, there isn't even any parking. You need to be creative with making room to park your car and walk in through the screen door, into the non-air conditioned room to place your 'to go' order. Don't let this discourage you! The small staff of maybe five workers are clearly very clean and organized with their structure. You see one lady manning the gorditas station while the other one is manning the tortillas de harina station. They each knead and roll their dough with their hard working hands and they then place it onto the large griddle. It's truly a work of art right before your eyes! If you order masa to go, you will get to witness first hand, how they grind the maíz right in front of you. Great field trip for those who want to see how our traditional gorditas and tortillas de harina are made. Now for the food. Their menu is very limited. However, it's all you need. The gorditas I order happen to be the best ones I've had in the valley.

Ok so I looked this place up here in Yelp and I don't feel that the reviews pay homage to the actual historic place we have here at home. When I walk up to the place, I'm immediately taken back 35-40 years to the tortillerías I used to visit as a child in Mexico. The smell of freshly cooked tortillas hit you a few yards before getting to the door. Old-school screens on the door and windows allow the rich aroma of tortillas and beans to permeate the surrounding air. The griddles are hot and the long time chefs are busy cooking tortillas and gorditas for pending orders. The menus is simple and the prices are good. Now, you might be tempted to ask, "what's the big deal, it's the same breakfast as other places?" The big deal is the food is fresh. The bigger deal, is that they ground the maíz and do the nixtamalization process all in-house; making the corn tortillas as fresh and natural as possible. For the lovers of flour tortillas....those are good too. Made fresh when you order; or...if you take flour tortillas home, they hold up well for a couple of days in the fridge. Don't buy too many and not eat them right away, there are no preservatives so they won't be as fluffy or as good as when they are fresh. That is expected from fresh foods like that; the same thing happens with Breadsmith bread, it's great, it just doesn't keep a long time like store bought prepackaged tortillas/bread. Now, El Pocito has been around for over 100 years; even surviving the pandemic. The head chef has been there over 30. The prices are good. The food is good. The process is traditional and the tortillas are great! Let's all visit El Pocito for some tacos and gorditas. Let's keep them around another 100 years. Oh and it's cash only and they are closed Sundays. We'll see you there!

Very good tacos. Handmade tortillas, nice fillings, fresh and spicy chile! Prices are fair...I eat here at least 1x a month now that I know about this place.

LOVED this place. Felt like we were in Mexico. If you like experiencing authentic food and restaurants go here. Bare bones, no seating, just walk in the back and order. Small menu. We had a taco and a gordita (both carne guisada). So great. I'll definitely go back. Great prices too. See the tortillas being made!

Inexpensive, artery clogging comfort good. Yes, the beans are fried in lard and soooo good! The gorditas are filled to order. Don't come here looking for skinny food. The complimentary salsas, three in all, will get the endorphins going. Hurt so good!

Perfect local gem for breakfast or lunch. It's not fancy, and it served up just the soul and character I was hoping for on my midday gastronomic quest. The staff are friendly, food and atmosphere are pleasantly authentic, portions are generous, and prices are a bargain. I'm not saying the flower tortilla was invented here, but... Do yourself a favor, dive on in and experience the historic tortilla bliss for yourself! BYOB

Mom and sister ordered the Cosido. Was salty as hell. my mom got a stomach ache from the soup she ordered. Chilaquiles was made with stale chips. Chips and salsa were obviously recycled. We found bits of corn chips that had obviously been sitting in the salsa for some time. Disappointing for a traditional McAllen Spot. place is also a dump visually with paint peeling off the walls and definitely needs a deep cleaning.

My wife and I go downtown every now and again to walk and go shopping. I never fail to meet a friend or a client in our excursions, and one of our favorite places to sit and eat is at El Pocito on 17th Street. I've been eating here in El Pocito for as long as I can remember. My uncle Juan Manuel had a flower shop across the street from it, and I would always go to El Pocito to have some Asado de Puerco for lunch or some Gorditas stuffed with egg and chile de arbol for breakfast whenever I visited or helped him out at the shop. Some things never change, and this place is still my go to place when I feel like having a good Gordita, or just want to have a good lunch or comida corrida. 17th street has long since transmogrified from the old Mexican main street to the new night time hot spot, full of night clubs. The old Hierberia is now a chic pizza parlor and my uncle moved his flower shop and rents out the building to a trendy night club, but El Pocito is still the old school restaurant/tortillera it always has been. If you are in a hurry you can pick up a Gordita in the back alley entrance to the tortilleria or if you have time sit down in the restaurant and enjoy a good meal. Two thumbs up for one of my favorite places in McAllen.

Reeked of urine! My chips were stale and the food that arrived at the next table had a cockroach in it! Never going back, its a shame. I used to love that place.

Where do I begin?! None of the 5 dishes my family got had any flavor, BUT each did contain long strands of women's hair. Everything looked like it came out of a can or a bag. Gave us poor quality STORE BOUGHT tortillas after they had told us that they were freshly made in-house. What really pissed me off.. the orange juice they gave my 2 year old was SPOILED. This place had layers and layers of dirt and grime on the floor and it wasn't even lunch time, it was empty. This restaurant needs to be shut down.. worst place I've eaten yet.