On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
No funny Ha-Ha's rings through my mind at the moment must be a dark and dreary night. You may think that this chain is just another basic Mexican Restaurant chain, and you would be right. However, they impressed me with the restaurant itself. The outside and the inside a full of brilliant colors, orange, green, blue, yellow, browns and purple with matching pictures and in spic and span shape and clean, it was a pleasure just sitting there and taking in all the glass and art. There is a real nice covered outdoor patio area for those that like to enjoy the nice days we are having now.
I have been here three times and the service I had was always good and the wait staff was very friendly. I have never been during the lunch rush or dinner my times to eat is between 2pm and 3pm so I am not competing with the heavy lunch crowd.
The chips and dip arrived as I was seated and were good the sauce was not to spicy hot and I enjoyed it. I have tried the enchiladas with queso sauce and beans and rice, with iced tea. I have also tried the beef fajitas with the standard items that come with it. I liked them both, the flavoring and taste were good for me, not real spicy and everything seemed fresh. Is the best I have had no, is it the worst not at all. It compares just as good as many of the other chains and even some local Tex Mex places. I plan to bring my wife here in the near future. I have not tried the breakfast items or the Margaritas, so no comment on that.
The one item I went to try was the fried ice cream. I don't know how they do it but when I saw it I thought it was covered in corn flakes. It may have been corn flakes or something else I am not sure but it was good.
Would I go back? Yes on occasion and in the near future.
YAY! I can honestly say this is the ONLY place I've been in Austin that does enchiladas right! El paso style cheese enchiladas is how my family has been making them forever. I love the fact that they are flat, layered, and cheesy.
Will I go back...hell yes!
Surprisingly good!
Shopping at Lakeline and had an urgent need for Mexican food. I'm usually not a fan of restaurants near malls, but Texican is an exception.
First off - the salsa is great. This is usually the first sign of a good/bad experience, so I was happy that it didn't suck.
I had the veggie fajitas and I can't think of a better lunch for $7.
Will definitely return.
So I've been going to Texican (Manchaca) since I was a kid, and the one at Brodie Oaks since it opened, but THIS Texican is def my fave! The decor really blew me away, tons of pretty blown glass (too bad it didn't fit in my purse-jk:) Our waitress was awesome and took care of us 100%. The best part about the visit was the soup, I ordered a shrimp soup which I've never tried at any of the locations. Def my favorite dish they serve. The shrimp were large and grilled and the broth was delish! Don't even get me started on the queso, it lasted about 2 min at our table before it was demolished. My son was impressed by the soft tacos he ordered and hes a picky one when it comes to his soft tacos. The atmosphere was chill and inviting and t he food was poi-fect! Its a drive, but we will be back.
This place is not your typical mall chain restaurant. The bar is nice, the main dining room is roomy and comfortable, good artwork, ( the lighting could be better) and has a great covered patio. The service has always been excelent, and it's good place to take kids. The Chips, Salsa, Queso, and Margs are all decent. But the really good stuff are the entrees themselves: Enchiladas are my personal favorite for Tex-Mex, and I have to say this place does them very, very well. I highly recommend the Enchiladas San Antoinio, stuffed with cheese and covered in Carne Guisada, and more Queso. Very creamy, beefy, and filling. The Shrimp Flautas (not a big meal) are sinfully good- rolled in Red Corn, deep fried and served with Ancho- Mayo sauce. Wow! I could easily eat two orders of these, if I probably didnt die first of a heart attack. And then there's the Cabritos, (Goat) succulent and slow roasted with bell Peppers, served with Charo beans, Guac, and Pico. This about the best Tex-Mex available in Cedar Park. Dont be fooled by the chain looking exterior, or the claim to be El-Paso style Tex Mex whatever that means,....it's just damn good. Now if they can just dial in the recipes on the salsa, and Rita mix, I'd say this place could rival the best in Austin.
WOW!!!! astonishingly enough a chain restaurant w/actually decent Tex-Mex...... We went here this past Sunday for a quick lunch & I have to admit I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised w/their menu choices (yeah & the rates too). The atmospere is nice, cool painting decor on the walls, suttle & not overly emphasized. This may not be the place i'd recomend for a 1st time dinner date but it would definitely be a place to go w/some friends for a casual lunch/dinner. The waitstaff was cool & the waiting period was below 10 min, although granted there really weren't that many people but a plus in my book. I will definitely be visiting this place again.
They say the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach. I think it's the same for me. Don't care about flowers and chocolates, not a real big jewelry fan. But cook me a great meal and you got me. I'm cheap also as most people are nowadays. So the words "Free Happy Hour Buffet" is like foreplay. hmmmmm, oh yeah......say it again........
So imagine my let down when we went here after reading the big ad in the Chronicle yesterday and all they had was a steamer of chicken wings (spicy btw). What happened to the free queso, free taquitos, free nachos????
I asked the barmistress that exact thing and she said, well no one HERE really looked at the ad and it's more geared towards their other locations. I pointed out that the ad included the CP location as well. She just kinda giggled and said well, it's the first time for them and they weren't sure what it was all about. I blew it off. Had some wings and chips and salsa (their salsa is superb). And two strong and tasty mex marts into it, I wasn't hatin at all. All of a sudden she brings me out a bowl of queso on the house and next time I look up, there's a mini-crockpot of queso on the "buffet" table and some taquitos.
Even tho I coulda knocked a star off for their original disorganization and apathy, they earned it back by trying to please me, the customer.
So, color me satisfied. Ahhhh.........
Not much I can add to the fine reviews of this restaurant. Good food, the chips are warm and the… Read more »
The Texican cafe serves San Antonio migas - traditional migas smothered in carne guisada. While not great for your arteries, it is a delicious dish. My wife enjoys the fajitas and our young children enjoy it very much. Prices are reasonable and the service is really good.
I drove by Texican cafe so many times because I shopped in Lakeline mall often.
Finally we decided to try it after shopping. I called to make a reservation. And they said they don't make reservations, but they can put my name in the waiting list. When we got there, our table is ready. The whole restaurant is packed. I think it's because of the location.
The table behind us ordered Fajitas. It smells so good. I can't resist it and also ordered mixed Fajita, beef and shrimp. Matt ordered steak. But it turned out it's not typical steak, it just looks like beef Fajitas. He was very disappointed. I'm like their beef fajitas, but much about shrimp. Maybe they marinated beef longer time than shrimp. Or shrimp just doesn't absorb the flavors that much.
The guacamole is too little. I used all for the first wrap already. Too stingy on guacamole.
OK, being from New Mexico, when I see something that is called "Santa Fe" whatever I have been more than a little disappointed to learn all it is is whatever it is with corn added.
Thank God I found the Texican Cafe .... a Santa Fe Enchilada that we would have made back home. Smothered in Red Chili topped with two over easy eggs, and washed down with a Pacifico (or Corona depending on the mood)
Service staff is always pleasurable, though sometimes the bar gets a little slow. Parking is plentiful, which is about what you would expect from a strip mall. Outside is covered, so even on less than great days it is nice to sit out there.
I love the fact that I can get a taste of home 850 miles away. Thank you guys.
We ended up here for lunch on Friday. It's not a part of town I am in very often and neither of us had been here before. It was busy but not awful.
The good:
Service was good, we were seated right away, the server came by in a short time and the food didn't take long.
The salsa was tasty and the chips were warm.
The guacamole was respectable.
The atmosphere was decent and they had some nice art on the walls, also had a nice bar area and a patio that they had nicely hidden with shrubbery and plants so you feel less like you are sitting in the middle of a mall parking lot.
Not so good:
The spinach quesadillas - I often order these almost where ever I see them and these were pretty bad. Good ones have a nice blend of spinach, cheese, (mushroom, onion, tomato, etc.) nicely tucked in-between two tortillas and grilled. No ingredient overwhelming the other. These were the fold-over type quesadillas - which aren't bad in themselves but the filling was also poor. The spinach was clumped together, the cheese was heavy and also not evenly distributed. There was also so much cheese you could barely appreciate the other parts of the filling. It was a rather disappointing meal.
I wouldn't totally rule out returning, but I certainly wouldn't order these again. At least the service was good.
Okay...so the food is good...but for the price we paid, I expected better. It was like I got a $8 plate of food for $14. Either the portions should have been bigger or it should have been better. The server was alright, a hell of a lot better than the place that's almost the same food right across the street.
The food is good but not amazing. In the 3 years I've been going, I've never had bad service. Great place for chips and mexican martinis.
We've been to this Texican Cafe many times and I can't say I've ever had a poor dish there. It's a nice environment with a good outdoor eating area, the service is reliably good, and the food is a higher quality then your typical entry price Tex Mex restaurant.
Its not really remarkable in anyway, its just a good solid restaurant that will get our return business. Recommended.
We had a coupon so we gave this place a try.. To be honest, I am incapable of rating Tex Mex places above 2 stars. I just can't do it. We had steak fajita meat (called steak something on the menu) and the shrimp and beef fajitas. It tasted just like the other 100 fajitas I have had in my life. It tasted like the Fajita meat you buy at HEB..
With so many Tex Mex places to chose from, I still don't get why people like this place so much? This was my 3rd time (ever) there. We met friends. The wait was long (which usually means good food!). The salsa was decent but the food was just "eh". We had beef fajita Nachos and for those of you who have tried the Panchos at Chuys - these would be a huge dissapointment. Frankly, Taco Bell's 99cent nachos would have been better. There was just nothing to it. Skimpy on the meat, no guac or sour cream...just sorta some chips, cheese and sprinkling of meat on a plate. I will try not to go back -- unless a friend rangles me in.
I've driven by Texican Cafe and never had the time to stop but tonight I actually decided I would go. I grabbed a friend (also a San Antonio native) and we headed over and got there at about 6:30.
The atmosphere of the place is nothing too extreme but felt comfortable. There was some very interesting art on the wall and the lighting was set to a comfortable level, not too bright not too dark. The music however was throwing me off. It was basically the Top 40/pop/rock music from 2003 to today, a bit strange considering the nature of the restaurant. I only glanced at the patio area but it seemed quite spacious and well lit for the optimal dining experience.
There was a little bit of a wait but that's to be expected on a Saturday night.
We sat down and were greeted with chips and salsa and on a recommendation from a previous review tried the Chili con Queso Maya which was definitely worth the praise. The salsa was actually very good as well. Not too watery and just the right amount of kick. If you know anyone from San Antonio you know that restaurants live or die on the quality of their chips and salsa and Texican was a definite pass.
I ordered the Shrimp Enchiladas Cozumel and my friend the Spinach Enchiladas. Before I had even finished my first Dr. Pepper (which is less time than one may think) we already had our food. It was almost a little scary how quickly our order came out. The black beans were seasoned well and very tasty but a little bit watery. The cheese, sauce, and tortilla part of my enchiladas were good but it seemed like the shrimp hadn't been cooked long enough. It was chewy and kind of cold like you would find in a shrimp cocktail, not an enchilada.
Now I don't know if this was a one time thing and it just got messed up or if this is how these enchiladas normally come prepared but it was kind of a bummer. I had only heard good things about Texican and it kind of brought it down. I will however return for the excellent queso and to give Texican another shot and wowing me but for now a 3 star rating is all I feel comfortable giving.
I was impressed, but will need to visit again, since I didn't receive what I had originally ordered. (Don't worry though, they made good on it and I got is at no charge) The meal I got was good, (I was really hungry) but it was hard to make an assumption after the mistake the wait person made, however the service was great on the whole. Like I said, I'll have to go again to be fair. Chow Baby.
I am adding this update because if you read the paragraph above then there needs to be no explanation. I went back and am sold now. The Texican can handle any bomb you drop and the service is fast and cooperative. The food was right on and the prices are competitive.
Check it out, I think you'll be surprised and dazzled.
I wasn't impressed. I've eaten here several times and the service was crummy and the food wasn't anything special. We've tried different items on the menu and have come to the conclusion that we just either don't like their food, or their style of Mexican.
There are much better places in the general area that have much better food.
It was good/average food, but nothing to get excited about. I'd go if that's where everyone else wants to go, but I wouldn't suggest it myself.
When selecting a Mexican restaurant in Austin, one has to consider a few different elements that when combined, create the ideal experience. I consider these elements to be: Food, Booze (Margaritas), and Patio. Service, Wait, and Price are inherant anywhere you go. It seems that most places, at least in North Austin, never seem to have the complete set of good food, good margaritas and a nice patio. Texican Cafe comes close. There's a reason that you go to certain mexican food places in North Austin. You go to Baby A's to hit the limit and enjoy the patio, but the food is terrible. Trudy's meets the food and the booze requirement, and I know they have a patio... but it's no Chuy's. Chuy's has a great patio, but IMO, only decent food and decent margaritas. I live right by it and don't really go there unless it's a beautiful weekend afternoon. Texican Cafe, however, comes very close in these categories.
The food is very good here. They make the classics, but they also offer a nice seafood-ish twist on them. The shrimp enchiladas with their Cozumel sauce are excellent. The carne guisada enchiladas are also very good. I've tried a few other things off of their menu and have not been disappointed yet.
The margaritas are large and pack the right combination of taste and alcohol content, but are a tad pricey.
And, the patio is the best patio experience in North Austin. They have a nice shaded patio with a few TV's and misters in the summer. There's enough people there to have background noise, but never too many to be distracting or cause a long wait.
The service is always good... I've never had bad service here at all. The price is perhaps a tad above average, but not too bad. The wait is almost non-existant. I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table. Every time there's a wait, they tell me 15 minutes or so, and I go to the bar to wait... and before I can even finish my first drink, my table is ready outside.
So, all you guys waiting outside of Chuy's on 183 every night... please stay there so I can continue to get into a better place without a wait. :)
I've eaten at this place quite a few times,with lots of different people and everyone really likes it. The food is consistently good, the prices are good, and the service is good. Love the chimichanga and queso. Its also nice to sit out on their patio when the weather permits. I highly recommend the Texican.
Gonna have to second the last review. Quite happy with the Texican Cafe, and that says something. My wife and I are avid mexican food fans, ok, she is... but i get dragged along. What makes the experience for me, after the personel, atmosphere, food, etc. is QUESO baby... i am all about queso. The texican ranks second in my queso top ten, with only a certain place with the exact same tasting queso as the "el matador" of old in round rock (sadly, gone due to changing owners, and queso) beating them out. thumbs up!
I was pleasantly suprised when walking into the restaurant. The restaurant was very authentic. I was seated within a reasonable amount of time on a Friday night which in Austin or Cedar Park is almost a impossibility. The fajitas were above average and the queso was not bad either. The overall value of what was presented was very high. If you're in the Cedar Park area, Texican is one of the best you will probably find.
Texican Cafe also has a location far south, but I have never visited it. This location, near Lakeline Mall, has a great semi-covered patio, complete with misters during the summer. I love the San Antonio enchiladas (cheese enchiladas, topped with queso and carne guisada), and my husband likes anything with their cozumel sauce. Only downside to this place is that their margaritas are super expensive when compared to the rest of their menu. Stick with beer if you are on a budget.
Austin, TX
Category: Mexican
Austin, TX
Category: Japanese
Austin, TX
Category: Tex-Mex
Austin, TX
Category: Cinema
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
