It’s 5:01 p.m. on a Friday. You’ve just punched out of work for the weekend and into a bowl of corn tortilla chips and spicy salsa. Each bite drives your cravings closer to the southern border as you contemplate “what’s for dinner?”
Should you go out for a sizzling steak burrito wrapped in a flour tortilla and smothered with yellow cheese like you had the last time you visited that ranch in Texas? Or, perhaps after all the Florida A/C this summer, you want to warm up with a steaming hot bowl of chili con carne just like the Tejano “chili queens” served up in San Antonio in the 1880s.
Half a bag of chips into your pondering later and enchiladas with a side of refried beans and rice sounds better and better. Maybe some tacos with fresh vegetables, a scoop of queso and Mexican street corn. Do you go out for Mexican food? Your chip intake rapidly rises as your indecisiveness grows.
Then, you check Mainstreet Daily News’ website and find a top six Tex-Mex list and realize you don’t have to worry. You can satisfy both your Texan and Mexican cravings in one stop because Gainesville has plenty of options, and we’ve got six of them to start you off with.
Whether you’re ready to kick off the weekend after a long work week, need a lunchbreak go-to or a place to bring the whole family to celebrate the first day of school, you’ll want to check these out.
You’ll also want to pay attention to the restaurants with asterisks as those are the places that offer complimentary chips and salsa so you don’t have to eat your whole stash at home before you go.
Address: 3410 Archer Rd., Gainesville
Hours: 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun-Thu; 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m., Fri-Sat.
Known for not “[taking] anything seriously, except [their] food,” Chuy’s has been serving up Southwestern favorites in funky restaurant atmospheres around the country since they first opened in Austin, Texas, in 1982. The menu features flavors from various southwestern American and Mexican border cities, including a South Texas fajita marinade family recipe and burritos “big as yo’ face.” Each restaurant is equipped with its own Elvis Presley shrine to compliment any takers for the “Elvis Presley Memorial Combo” enchilada special.
Pepper’s Mexican Grill & Cantina*
Address: 7750 W Newberry Rd., Gainesville
Hours: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sundays; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Monday – Thursday; 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday – Saturday.
Don’t let the label fool you, this Mexican grill offers plenty of options to satisfy the Texas tastebuds. The lunch menu is a smaller version of the dinner menu, which features nachos, salads, tacos and taquitos, quesadillas, chimichangas, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, and even vegetarian and seafood options. Be careful, a source has informed us the Pollo Diablo is not for the faint of heart when it comes to spice. On the drink menu, any drink is two-for-one every day from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 9 p.m. to close, and all day Sunday. Tuesdays are Terrific Tuesdays with free kids’ meals, and Wednesdays are Whacky Wednesdays with free queso.
Address: 15202 NW 147 Dr., Ste. 1100, Alachua
Hours: Sunday closed; 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Monday – Saturday.
Menu
El Toro invites you to come on by and “Get Full at the Bull!” The family-owned business got its start in Gainesville in 1990 before moving to Alachua in 2008. Their menu features a variety of Mexican dinners, “the best fajitas in town” and award-winning salsa that can be ordered online.
Address: 407 NW 13 St., Gainesville
Hours: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday – Saturday
Address: 5011 NW 34 Blvd., Gainesville
Hours: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sunday – Saturday,
El Indio features variations on traditional Tex-Mex, such as burrito bowls and fajita nachos, and also offers a breakfast menu. Tuesdays are Taco Tuesdays where you can get three beef, chicken or veggie tacos for only $7.29, or three premium tacos for $8.99. On Wednesdays, breakfast burritos are $3.99 and breakfast tacos are $2.19. If it’s your birthday, El Indio will give you a free meal, and if you’re a student you can show your student ID and that you are following El Indio on social media to get $1 off combo No. 2 or a 10% discount from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Address: 4405 NW 39 Ave., Gainesville
Hours: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sundays; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Monday – Thursday; 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday – Saturday.
With lunch specials such as burrito deluxe chorizo and Speedy Gonzales enchiladas, and house specials such as Hawaiin fajitas and seafood Jalisco, Las Margarita’s is the place to try something new. There are plenty of options to stick to the traditional Tex-Mex recipes or keep it all vegetarian. Make sure to save room for dessert with churros, flan and sopapilla among the options to choose from. Kids have their own menu and dessert menu, too.
Los Pollos Rotisserie and Grill
Address: 2410 NW 43 St., Gainesville
Hours: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sunday – Saturday.
Address: 3120 SW Archer Rd., Gainesville
Hours: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sunday – Saturday.
Los Pollos has been in Gainesville cooking up rotisserie chickens, Tex-Mex and Peruvian food since 2018. Order two whole chickens to feed the family or jump to the special Tex-Mex section on the menu for chimichangas, tacos and burritos. Sides feature Mexican and Merican favorites like fried or boiled yucca, tostones, maduros, mac and cheese, pinto beans and French fries. Everything on the menu is also available for catering.
Of course you left out probably the best Mexican restaurant in Gainesville and that’s La Tienda. 🤦🏾♂️
Wow, what kind of research went into this? How can you talk about Mexican food in Gainesville without talking about Las Carretas?! It’s the highest rated Mexican restaurant in town – a 4.9 rating on Google. Their margaritas are unmatched anywhere (strong but tasty, real and fresh fruit), not to mention the food quality and awesome portion sizes. They even have a salsa bar labeled by temperature. Las Carretas has been the talk of the town since it moved into the old Calico Jack’s location. Gainesville is lucky to have one of the best Mexican restaurants in the country. I’m not sure how you missed this. Also, Las Margaritas has been declining in food quality for years – every local knows that. Compare their margarita menu with Las Carretas’, which you can easily do online – the difference in specialty margarita options alone is obvious.
You missed several…your offerings are good, but there are others!
This top 5 list reminds me of the joke about how midwesterners find salt to be “too spicy”.
If you want a real top 5 (no real order, depends on my mood) here you go:
1. La Tienda
2. Blue Agave
3. La Pasadita
4. Tacos 352
5. Chuy’s
Bonus: (separate because not in Gville)
6. La Hacienda (Ocala)
7. Sayulita Taqueria (Ocala)