Taqueria Arandas

This has got to be the best Mexican food I've had in Texas in a long time! The salsas were all so good! And my husband had the 32oz beer! Great service and great prices! You won't be disappointed.

I've been coming to this place for years. I enjoyed breakfast on Saturday mornings with my husband. On Saturday mornings you would find men with their guitar or an elderly couple come in, sing some songs and walk around with a tip jar. Never was I harrased to give a tip, that was my choice. Recently some time last year I realized no one was singing in the mornings anymore. I asked why and was told that a certain family that was a regular complained. We'll I too am a regular and was not complaining but I am now. How do you disallow an elderly Mexican couple from performing, to someone playing elevator music? I definitely won't be back and don't recommend this place. If you enjoy the Mexican culture...

Saturday 04/19/25 – First Time Visit This was my first time at this location. Right off the bat, the handicap parking situation was a bit cramped. When we were leaving, someone’s truck bed was sticking out, so I had to be super careful while reversing. There was parking to the left that probably would’ve been easier to use in hindsight. When my party and I arrived, we weren’t greeted at all. Instead, everyone—including employees and a few customers—turned around and just stared at us. It was the weirdest feeling, something I’ve only experienced in super small towns, never in Austin. After a bit, one of the waitresses stopped staring and finally came over to take our orders. This place is small—you can see everything, and they can definitely see you too. When the food started coming out, each plate was brought to the table one at a time, with noticeable gaps in between. Two of the four dishes arrived fairly quickly, but then we waited quite a while for the third. Mine was the last to arrive—after everyone else was already eating. That’s never happened to me anywhere else, especially with the few customers in the whole place. Oddly enough, another table that arrived after us started getting their food before my plate even showed up. Once we were all finally eating, one of the waitresses stared at us. It made me feel so uncomfortable that I had to stare back before she finally turned away. Again—weird. I wasn’t planning to tip because of the staring, and the weird order delivery, but I ended up tipping anyway, because that’s just the kind of person I am.

Great service, good food and prices. I suggest being very specific about what you want (size, spice level, how you want things cooked etc.) Otherwise, you may get the large size of everything and / or food could be a bit more bland than you want. Al Pastor was very good all around.

It's really more a three and a half star than anything. Fine, but not great. Got Carne gusada on flour and shredded chicken on flour. The Gusada was better than it looked, since it looked like bologna chunks, instead of beef. Tasted OK, only moderately tender. It's a no It's really more a three and a half star than anything. Fine, but not great. The chicken was better. Seasoned well. Substantial portion. $3.50 for each and two was a meal. Where it really fell short were the floor tortillas. Thickness was fine, but they didn't try to warm or crisp them up at all. Bland. Will try again for breakfast.

I Got the chilaquilles and my wife tried the guiso plate. She’s never had mole so we went with a single mole chicken enchilada to try. Got the red and green sauces and was an excellent dish to go with. My wife’s guiso was more liquidy than the usual thicker stewy texture we were looking for. The meat was a little dry but wasn’t terrible. The mole chicken enchilada was great! Their horchata is delicious!!!!!!!!! I can’t emphasize enough how good their horchata is!

Took my friends to dinner on Wednesday. The chips and salsa are good! They both ordered the enchiladas one beef and one chicken dinner. They both enjoyed their meals. I asked the server about the mole. She said it was good so I ordered the Mole enchiladas. I overheard some discussion from the kitchen and I think they didn't have more or something. My limited Spanish. The dish took more time while my friend's were eating so I guess they had to make some mole. It was not very good! The enchiladas were smaller than my friends and had little meat inside. The sauce was not reminiscent of moles in the past. Disappointed e ordered a carne guidada taco. The meat was tender but the sauce was off. The margaritas were large and good. I had not been to this Taqueria Arandas before but I had enjoyed other locations in the past.

One of our people ordered the TexMex plate , swapping the taquito for another regular taco . It came with a taquito ( which they called the enchilada), that has 1 little spoon of meat in the very middle of a rolled up tortilla. The plate has no enchilada and the taco tastes stale. We asked about this was told taquito was an enchilada, and sorry they forgot to write down switching the taquito for a taco but since she has already bite into the taco in the plate nothing could be done . After several minutes or arguing we sent the plate back and asked for our ticket was charged full price for all other plates .. lol and $2.99 for 1 taco. This place is a joke , if you can't get your orders right and then you have to squabble over an enchilada and a $2.99 taco then you have big money issues . I guess I should have argued that I didn't get my taquito and charged them a rebate . Lol At least we had a good laugh while we were eating at Polvos a real restaurant that knows how to manage a business and fix their mistakes . Btw, we had no mistakes and a great time ;!

I've been coming to this place for years. I enjoyed breakfast on Saturday mornings with my husband. On Saturday mornings you would find men with their guitar or an elderly couple come in, sing some songs and walk around with a tip jar. Never was I harrased to give a tip, that was my choice. Recently some time last year I realized no one was singing in the mornings anymore. I asked why and was told that a certain family that was a regular complained. We'll I too am a regular and was not complaining but I am now. How do you disallow an elderly Mexican couple from performing, to someone playing elevator music? I definitely won't be back and don't recommend this place. If you enjoy the Mexican culture...

This place serves tasty tacos with homemade soft tortillas. Their chips and salsa after 11am is free and salsa is amazing. I love the Barbacoa tacos. The server was kind and attentive and price was reasonable. The place could have been a little cleaner though.

It's really more a three and a half star than anything. Fine, but not great. Got Carne gusada on flour and shredded chicken on flour. The Gusada was better than it looked, since it looked like bologna chunks, instead of beef. Tasted OK, only moderately tender. It's amp on it for me. The chicken was better. Seasoned well. Substantial portion. $3.50 for each and two was a meal. Where it really fell short were the floor tortillas. Thickness was fine, but they didn't try to warm or crisp them up at all. Bland. Will try again for breakfast.

Late night Mexican food. The ladies who work here are goated. Open till midnight with table service. The burritos are my favorite and ask for the green salsa~ It's exactly what you would expect, seat yourself and pay at the front. The restaurant was clean and all of the tables were available. Free chips and salsa

Took my friends to dinner on Wednesday. The chips and salsa are good! They both ordered the enchiladas one beef and one chicken dinner. They both enjoyed their meals. I asked the server about the mole. She said it was good so I ordered the Mole enchiladas. I overheard some discussion from the kitchen and I think they didn't have more or something. My limited Spanish. The dish took more time while my friend's were eating so I guess they had to make some mole. It was not very good! The enchiladas were smaller than my friends and had little meat inside. The sauce was not reminiscent of moles in the past. Disappointed e ordered a carne guidada taco. The meat was tender but the sauce was off. The margaritas were large and good. I had not been to this Taqueria Arandas before but I had enjoyed other locations in the past.

My recent obsession! I find myself frequently thinking about the chilaquiles quite often. (Pro tip if you order the red sauce and carne asada) The cozy interior and friendly waitresses remind me of the taquerias on the east side growing up. The prices here reflect that time too. You can order a breakfast that feeds two and a cup of coffee for under $20. And complimentary chips and salsa! The parking is easy, they have a main parking lot as well as a few extra spots to the side of the building. The also take cash, card and ApplePay!

The food quality has changed. I ordered Carne Guisada. The beef was dry. The sauce was barely any. The rice was cold. There was more juice than Charro beans. The food used to be really good. The service was good. Prices are still reasonable. The restaurant is still nice and clean. I used to recommend but not anymore.

it is so good I haven't even eaten yet but it's already my favorite place in the whole world they gave me pancakes at 7:30 at night. I love this place

Love the tacos (breakfast and lunch tacos) and their tomatillo sauce is to die for. Order them for ofice breakfast every so often and are always well recieved.

Best menudo I have had away from home. great tasting barbacoa and awesome Lemonade but it cost $4

My friends and I came here for a quick bite and it was okay! The servers were nice and it wasn't too busy around 11am. I thought it was weird that the first basket of chips and salsa was free, but they would charge for additional tips. Not a bad idea business wise, but not something you typically come across at a restaurant like this. The food was good, but not super memorable like a few other places I've been to in town. Note: I only ordered breakfast tacos. I did enjoy the live music, he was very talented!

Been eating here for 17 years... it's never let me down. Impeccably reliable salsa, lovely women, epic white cheese enchiladas wif green sauce. One of the greatest communal Mexican restaurants of my whole life.

Feels like a neighborhood place to me and it always seems like there are families or small groups of friends here to share a meal. This place isn't huge and has colorfully decorated high back benches and tables along the ways and larger tables in the middle. The food here has been consistently tasty. If you're getting fajitas - don't expect big thick strips of beef or chicken. It's more like marinated chips of meat that are tender with food flavor. I also like the pastor and the guisada. The retried beans are a unusually lighter color but have a sweet savoriness that I really like. Add that with fresh clean crisp lettuce, tomato and avocado slices and it's a good meal. I also like the salsa because it unapologetically has a kick. Service was friendly and courteous.

Friendly and helpful staff, they always go out of their way to greet the customers and have a small but pretty great menu. Highly recommend the Chiliquilas with eggs and the tacos.

This is probably the worst place I have eaten in Austin. My boyfriend and I went around 2pm and were starving so this place really disappointed us. Service was okay and prices are cheap.

So yummy and great price ! Their pozole hits amazing after a long night of drinks! Tacos are 3 for like $4 great price & servers are the sweetest

Old school spot. Really good food, good customer service as well. I've been coming here well over 20 years.

Me dieron un pinche pescado crudo, yo creo hasta vivo lo tenia, nomas le echaron la salsa a la diabla y me lo dieron, que horrible que tengo que hacer extra y venir hacer un review porque siempre me gustaba venir aquí. Me quede sin palabras porque la probé Espero ver el cocinero en el infierno conmigo, pinche culero. I just took a bite of a completely raw fuxking fish. I'm speechless for the shiiii they just pulled on me it just makes me mad because I actually loved this place and location, but that cook must be on crack for bathing a raw fish with salsa and having the audacity to serve it to me. I'll be seeing his a$$ in hell with me.

Basic no-frills San Antonio-style Tex-Mex, and their best location. Big portions, low prices, simple tomato-y salsa, I love it. Everything is tasty and well-made and they have great service. When my uncle came to visit and asked for Tex-Mex I gave him a few options and he chose this one and just couldn't get over how good and simple everything was. Ignore the bougie low reviews here and go try out some awesome plain Tex-Mex.

Didn't leave Austin before stopping by for another local fix. Arandas was pretty good. The prices are reasonable. The salsa is delicious, but the tostada chips were not fresh. I had the torta de pastor and my husband had the gordita. The torta was ok. I've had better in El Paso. Too much bread. The pastor meat was delicious though. I tried the horchata because of a previous review, but I was disappointed. It is made from a powered mix and not authentic. We'll probably come back next time we're in Austin, but to try some other menu items.

I think we came here about 9-10 times during our month in Austin. It was that good, solid Mexican food and great service! The shrimp dishes are great and so is the caldo de res. The ladies working there are friendly too. This was our go-to spot during our stay!

I love this restaurant so much! The ladies always have such a positive attitude and coming here always helps me feel like home. Their restaurant is so cozy and the food is such a great price point! A party of 2 can eat for around $25 and I've taken a party of 6 here for about $80 which isn't bad at all - especially considering the food portions! If you want authentic Mexican food this is the place to go!

Some of the best tacos you can get near South Congress, quality is out of this world. I keep ordering more and more tacos

Food was good. Very authentic so authentic they didn't even know what mild salsa was. The salsa was very spicy but delicious, my poor little taste buds couldn't take the heat. Would definitely return

Worst food ever ...Small hair in my plate,undercooked shrimps i can say they must have microwave and served and most importantly michelada was the worst.lots of chili I cannot even taste my beer ...avoid going to arandas server did not even serve us water she forgot .poor quality and service.

I had to go all the way to Austin to get the perfect birthday burrito. The horchata was so refreshing in the heat. Our waitress was super nice. Also a good location next to congress st

Great price, food is really good. Can't beat 4.99 for a chorizo and egg plate that comes with potatoes and beans AND tortillas. Service was fast and friendly

The staff doesn't speak any English whatsoever. Nice staff, but it does concern me a little bit when the staff doesn't speak English in an English speaking environment. The food was good. I have no complaints on the food itself, however, the tortillas are NOT homemade. I can tell they are store bought. I find that interesting since this is a Mexican restaurant. I know this place comes up as Tex-Mex. Its not, it's an actual Mexican restaurant. The food doesn't resemble any Tex-Mex at all. Again, the food is good and I think it's just the right amount for a person. But Tex-Mex restaurants have taco salads, this place doesn't. I'm really on the fence between rating this place a 4 or 3 star. But, because I'm in a good mood, I'll give it a 4.

Part of the reason I like this place so much is the power of suggestion - the taqueria is Jalisco style, which is the neighboring state to Aguascalientes where some of my roots are buried. Aside from that, I've never been disappointed by the food. I used to prefer Tapatia on Ben White & Banister, but they are cash only. Arandas, however, takes credit card, even though I often feel foolish putting $2.17 on my credit card for breakfast tacos. Bring change for the jukebox, though! TIP: you don't have to order the breakfast tacos exactly as they list them (e.g. bean and cheese, potato and egg, etc.) I always order a bacon/potato/cheese and a nopalitos/eggs, and they're more than happy to customize my tacos.

The food is almost EXACTLY like it is at the other location (stassney) that I go to at least once a week. I thought for sure there would be some differences, but if I had closed my eyes I would have thought I was right back on Stassney. Good service, great food, and this building is really open and nicely decorated. It was a nice change of pace, but I'm glad I didn't have to give up the great taste I love so much! You can't beat this food as far as I'm concerned....amazing salsa, homemade chips, and a pork taco that makes me wish I'd known about them all my life.

Local spots live on! I grew up in here on sunday mornings. Great food and people.

This place is just a few blocks from my house, and I'm determined to find the best Mexican food I can in the area, so me and the girly decided to give them a go. The place is nice, bright and clean. The wait staff, while short on English,are all very friendly! The menu, both in English and Spanish, is uncomplicated and easy to make your mind up with. The food... well, they have outstanding salsa, though the chips were on the stale side. I got the barbacoa and lengua plate, and both were bland. The beans and rice were tasty, so wrapping the meat in a tortilla with the veggies made it much more palatable... but really, unless you are just really not in the mood to look further - try some place else.

My husband and I went here today because Torchy's Taco parking situation wasn't great and we didn't feel like walking from multiple blocks to eat so we went down the road and saw this place and I must say, for the price, it was great! I got the pork burrito with double rice, the pork was flavorful but the tortilla was kind of hard to cut through. I ended up having to dump all of the meat out of the tortilla because my knife wouldn't cut it properly. The rice was bland but the flavor of the meat made it good! Our waitress was super quick and helpful during our meal!

So sorry but this place really has the worst tacos I have ever eaten, I order 3 crunchy tacos and they brought them with a crunchy HEB tortilla cold and disgusting nothing to do with a Mexican taco. At then end a fly got into my horchata and when I told the waiter she said they can't prevent this to happen and I think that is not the appropriate answer with the right actitud for a customer. Definitely I will not recommend or come back.

The service was great and the food across the board was flavorful and very authentic. Large portions make this easy to split. And, I loved the salsa!!!

I liked the Gordita. It was big, tasty, fresh and reasonably priced. It's not your traditional Gordita but never the less, good. The staff is wonderful and speak English. They are attentive and friendly. I recommend all around.

Wasn't really as impressed as our friends and other reviews made this place out to be. Maybe it's because we didn't come for breakfast, but either way this visit will be our only one. We had a quesadilla, pork burrito, chicken enchiladas. Okay if starving, lacked flavor.

Came here on a night when I desperately wanted a cheap plate of food and a margarita (The dream, right?) This place did not disappoint. Margaritas were delicious and our server was very kind. I got the enchiladas and they could have used some more seasoning but they weren't bad in general. I'll definitely be back.

Pretty darn awesome. Al Pastor seems like the perfect meat, BBQ spicy pork. Had the combo plate with fajita meat and Al Pastor. the fajita beef was a bit chewy and the flour tortillas a bit stale. The Al Pastor made up for all that! The soda fountain is deceptive since when I ordered a coke, I ended up with a can. Fast service. WiFi didn't work when I visited yesterday (locked on but no Internet). Like I said Al Pastor made up for all the rough edges...

It's friendly-it's the best homemade red salsa I've ever had. The staff is friendly and the prices are good. Definitely worth a stop.

This place is terrible. We went there for breakfast and the potatoes and eggs looked green. The tamales were made with cornbread. Very wrong for Mexican food. Never going back.

I have somehow managed to go here twice and hated it both times. The food is bland and the waiters hate their job. The first time there I tried the quesadillas which were not good and overall lacked flavor. The second time I got the flautas which were cold on the middle. The rice was gross and you could tell that it came from a can. The aguas frescas are made from powder and are not actual agua frescas. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an authentic Mexican restaurant.

You goddamn bastards. I have eaten your Tortas 4 times in the last week. Can't you take pity on a simple white boy who doesn't know how to control himself? Delicious, dirt-cheap food and... UNLIMITED HORCHATA REFILLS! Argh! It's so delicious, and so many calories! They also speak spanish to me when I come in... I dig that.

I'm going to agree with Niki A on this one: whoa, I was a little surprised by the table of vaqueros drinking Especials (Especiales?) at ten o' clock in the morning. After that little awakening, it shouldn't have come as a shocking surprise that my waitress wasn't super comfortable with her command of English, and I basically ordered by pointing at things on the menu here. This place is flat authentic, no way around it, and as haphazard as the dining experience is, breakfast did hit the spot and was out in a jiffy. To their credit, Taqueria Arandas recognizes that they get a healthy dose of the local Hispanic population as well as a regular audience of gueros, and the menu is broken down into English and Spanish pronunciations under tiny flags of each country. There were loads of things that I wanted to try, but this go round I settled for three breakfast tacos (they're 90 cents each...I haven't seen a cent symbol on a menu in I don't know when) and a soda. Ultimately the three stars is more for the fact that the place is sort of randomly laid out and paying out was a pain. About a half dozen of us sort of stood around and waited while the gal at the check out counter slowly made progress. But everyone was super sweet here, and the people watching was solid enough that I'd go back just to experience the authenticity of a world which I'm allowed to periodically visit. And it reminded me why I'm amped that I live here. Because lurking behind some doors is an adventure, culinary or otherwise, always waiting and ready.

If you need a quick fix of good and cheap Tex-Mex food this is the spot. They have really good breakfast tacos which wont burn a hole in your wallet. Never had bad customer service here they're all great from the servers to the owner. They have some of the best chips and salsa in Austin. I highly recommend the al pastor, beans, rice, burritos, horchata, and flan. That being said don't come in expecting authentic Mexican food because it's not this is a good and cheap Tex-Mex restaurant.

How is this place listed at 4 stars? Food was bland. I'm pretty sure the chili con queso was actually velveeta cheese. Ordered a margarita, but were out. This place is a dump and the bathrooms are disgusting. Not sure how this place is in business. But please beware-this place is nowhere close to a 4 star rating.

After a night doing semi bad things in very strange places, I ended up on the southside, with a few friends, after no sleep, too much beer and a hangover. Suddenly I had a brilliant cure for said hangover- Breakfast Tacos! Luckily for us, we were able to stumble across the street in our pajamas ( well some of us) and sit at a really authentic, delicious, inexpensive joint. I had two tacos and hash browns ...but they were so filling I could only eat one. The hash browns were amazing too. They kind of confused our order a whole lot, but fixed it very quickly. Now I wont lie and say that Taqueria Arandas was the complete and total hangover cure, but it did make me feel human enough to attempt the drive back to north Austin. Great night. Great Tacos.

Would you rate authentic American food a 4 or 5 star simply for being authentic if you lived in France? If not, then you should probably think twice about doing the same for a Mexican food restaurant in America. Bad food in Mexico doesn't translate to good food in America. That's exactly what Taqueria Arandas is. If the above isn't clear enough for you, let me spell it out as frankly as I know how: the food and environment are authentic at Taqueria Arandas, but the food is terrible. There's a reason you pay $2 for a couple of chicken tacos with free, bottomless chips and salsa. Hint: it isn't because the owner is generous, but it might have something to do with cheap products and not having a chef in sight. I ordered a pretty simple dish - cheese enchiladas with red sauce. What came out of the "kitchen" was a microwaved plate containing three soggy tortillas, rolled around approximately a half-ounce each of nacho cheese sauce, and floating in what science would call a solution of grease and melted nacho cheese sauce. If there was any lycopene present it was in trace amounts and would take a team of CSI folks to detect it. Sadly, I'm not exaggerating. Measuring with my fork laid on it's side, the artery-clogging grease-bath was 3-out-of-4 prongs deep - or about a half-inch. The sides of refried beans and rice abandoned their roles as sides and instead took on new lives as beaches to the cheese-lake in my plate. Because I hate biased reviews that selectively include or omit information for the sake of bettering their argument, I'd like to say that their slightly-flaky-in-a-good-way chips are served warm and they aren't stingy with them, and the salsa has some kick to it, unlike the tomato juice you're served at a lot of places. The prices are, as preached about in the other reviews, cheaper than I feel comfortable paying for meat that I plan on eating. If you're broke or on a tight budget, have an insatiable craving for Mexican food regardless of the quality, and live in the area, give it a shot. Otherwise, I recommend passing this one up. Surely Austin has better Mexican food to offer at a fair price.

I hate to place a crap review on small, family friendly restaurants that are unbelievably cheap, but frankly, I can't NOT share this information. I live in Travis Heights and have been going to Arandas for years. Not every day, but definitely once a month on average. Cheap food that is good, cheap beer, relatively friendly folks. It's always been a winner. That said, the rest of the review will make you a little queezy, so if you're sensitive to disgusting food stories, stop reading NOW. I'll keep the story short and concise, saving commentary for y'all. The last time I went there, I got halfway through my burrito and found a fingernail floating in my mouth. I was in disbelief. Did I somehow chew my OWN fingernail that day without knowing it? So I looked up, and standing just over the food was the expo, or person who carries the food from the kitchen to your table, standing over the kitchen window chewing his nails and spitting them haphazardly out. I'm not accusing him of intentionally spitting his gnawed fingernails into the food of paying customers, but in my case, his fingernail was spit directly into my burrito. Honestly, I left cash on the table and left without saying a word. I know I should have complained, but I knew with certainty that I would never be able to visit this place again, and I was so irate that I'd have made a scene if I was to start talking about it. I still get nauseous just driving past it.