Zachary S.
Yelp
Visiting my girlfriend and her family in Amarillo led me to trying some of their favorite places in the city. My girlfriend's mom was especially excited to take me to El Tejaven while I was visiting.
This dinner was a celebration of my girlfriend's sister playing in the top All-Region orchestra. It has nothing to do with the food itself, but I want to mention it because she did a great job performing and I think it deserves to be remembered here. It is the reason we went in the first place.
It was a busy night at El Tejaven before we arrived. A group of 32 was just wrapping up dinner. Thirty two people. At that point, just cater, dawg. It took about 20 minutes after arrival to get seated, but it likely would have been much quicker if it were not for a group that size.
Once we were seated, we were served chips and salsa. The salsa was spicier than I was prepared for, but it was good. The chips were excellent as well.
Most people at the table ordered margaritas on the rocks, while I got a dressed Dos Equis on draft. From what I tasted, the margaritas were solid.
For appetizers, we ordered the small queso and the small ceviche. The queso was standard but good. The ceviche, on the other hand, was exceptional. I could have eaten a large bowl by myself.
I was pretty hungry, so I ordered the Orden de Tacos, which comes with four tacos on corn tortillas. I got all of them with al pastor. I also added a side of rice and beans, which normally comes with the three taco order but can be added on for the four tacos. The tacos were very good and exactly what you want from street style al pastor, especially with the cilantro and onions. It comes out to roughly four dollars per taco if you do the math. The rice and beans were both great and I ate all of it easily. The plate also came with a side of guacamole that had a nice kick, which I enjoyed.
Living in Austin with family in San Antonio, it is easy to find good and authentic Mexican food. That does not always seem to be the case in Amarillo, so it is nice to know there is at least one spot in the city that feels authentic and not overly gringoified. My girlfriend's family knows ball.
RIYL: the best tacos you can get in Amarillo