Rating
3.0

Located on San Francisco Street, El Charro Café has stood the test of time, and there must be a reason.

Chips and dip are served quickly, with the server bringing a small bowl of salsa and unsalted tortilla chips shortly after guests take their seats. The menu is kept modest, serving up traditional Mexican cuisine with the “keep it simple, keep it sweet” principle kept in mind.

Ben Weitzenkorn / The Lumberjack

The food arrived considerably fast, or at least before the chips were gone. I ordered the three corn tortilla tacos lunch deal with a side of Spanish rice and refried beans. The tacos came with a lot of cheese and jalapeños mixed right into the meat.

I barely tasted the jalapeño peppers, and wouldn’t have noticed them at all if the tacos hadn’t fallen apart halfway through the meal. Part of the fun of tacos is being able to eat them with your hands, not a fork. Otherwise, I would have purposely ordered a taco salad.

Still, the tacos tasted delicious, and the beef had a good consistency.

The rice and bean sides were nothing to speak of — dry, unfilling and kind of sad.
My buddy ordered a burro a la carte, which was just a bean and cheese burrito. There was no need to make it fancy, but El Charro added a clump of shredded lettuce and topped it with a single tomato slice. It wasn’t enough to be a salad, or even decoration, and it confused us.

Prices were a little steep for the size and quality of the food. This place isn’t exactly fancy, and it’s probably lucky to still be around. It is just north of a college campus and has been for decades. Don’t they know better?

The restaurant is in an old house, and it’s a family-owned business that honestly keeps the “homey touch” some people enjoy. And perhaps it sometimes has a lively atmosphere, but not around noon.

The wait staff is genuinely friendly, even when a lot of people are crowded into the small building. El Charro has an air of the historical, even if the walls are a makeshift museum of contemporary beer ads and flashy colors.

Most of all, El Charro is simple. It gave us what we wanted — no thrills, no frills — so I can’t say I’m disappointed. It’s just that for Flagstaff’s oldest place to dine out, it didn’t impress.