El Arroyo is underrated, and honestly I love it (no wait time). I regularly come here to do work and the staff is so nice, welcoming, and friendly. For Halloween they made me this spooky margarita! Delicious! Given the prime location and authentic Mexican food, this is undoubtedly my favorite Mexican restaurant in Austin. Highly recommend the green chile torta. Their menu has healthy options too which is great! And you can’t beat their breakfast tacos.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa
partsmangler1
Even better than we hoped. Great service and real food.
Something has gone horribly wrong with this place. There was a horrible smell the moment my group walked in. There was no ice for the drinks and the food was freezing cold when delivered.
They are currently renovating, so maybe that’s the issue. But I won’t ever go back. So sad, it used to be so good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Edward Flatt
Breaks my heart to write this review, but I've eaten here since the early 1990's and I fear I've made my last trip. They've changed the menu up quite a bit and really shrunk it down. My go to was always the shrimp mexicana and now it's off the menu. They've also really increased the prices. $9 for a bowl of queso, $18 for chicken quesadillas...everything thing seems to be around $2 too much considering the atmosphere. I can eat at a "nice" Tex-Mex place for the same prices. I guess it's going to try and live on the crowd that comes for the sign and nostalgia, but I hope they bring back some of the old menu items and consider the pricing. I miss the "old" El Arroyo.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Josh
El Arroyo is a little Tex Mex gem in Austin. Too many fans appreciate its clever signs without stopping in for its great food. They seem to be expanding with additional patios, which will hopefully bring them even more customers. Personally, I love their BBQ chicken with a frozen margarita and chips - forward by a walk across the street for a beer at the Mean Eyed Cat. That's a great Austin experience.
Parking: They have small free parking lots behind and in front of the building.
Let's start with the margaritas here, they are incredible and the competition for a great margarita in Austin is stiff ? They're amazing, and if you like it spicy they'll do jalapeno infused tequila for you. Simply a delectable marg.
Now onto the food, again stiff competition. I think it's fair to compare El Arroyo to Matt's El Rancho because Arroyo's food is definitely on par with Matt's. With some dishes, Arroyo might even be better. There are also very tasty vegan options such as the portabella mushroom fajitas, the "no meat no way" enchiladas, and I was able to have the kitchen make me a vegan chile relleno which was fantastic.
Also they're open late! So if you're a night owl like me you can eat here past 10pm!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa
Joann Matthews
Laid back fun and cozy spot, I had to shrimp enchiladas and I scarfed the whole thing down. The flavors are delightful
Nostalgia, history, and these darn tootin creative signs that change regularly with spontaneous comedic text, this place has made a name for itself in memes across the internet and in the hearts of Austin.
Got the queso and a shrimp and crab cream cheese enchilada was pretty delicious. Actually tasted a bit like crab dip, which actually seemed about right after rereading the description on the menu. I don't know that I would order that again because it's a lot of the same taste, but it was good. Perhaps if one we're sharing that and something else it would be good to mix and match. That said, the plate was big enough to share between two. Lots of rice and beans, and two big enchiladas.
The design of the place is pretty cool. They have a cut apart school bus outside that is pretty neat. With Fun artistic design of the place in general. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoors probably more artistic, but ended up sitting inside because it was hot out.
You can also kind of gift shop Christmas ornaments, magnets, etc, of the oh so famous the sign. The ornaments were about $20 in September of 2024.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Tatum Hoopingarner
I was expecting great things from this somewhat, well-known restaurant but I can confirm that their tacos were completely below the Austin standard. If I ever came back to this establishment I’d likely bring my own taco, repair man, and help them figure out how to get their business booming. You would think a business like this would do so well in Austin but it’s obvious the company doesn’t want change and don’t provide any sort of incentive for eating their sub par food. You can’t just have clever signs El Arroyo ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Tanya Hatfield
Lived up to its fame! Can't wait to go back! ?? Ask for a peach margarita with sugar and Tajin!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa, El Pastor Tacos
Liz Ramos
Food was great! Chips were warm! Margarita flavor was watermelon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ryan Rosenkranz
We had a big group and they got us in and out quickly after a fair amount of margarita pitchers.
El Arroyo is underrated, and honestly I love it (no wait time). I regularly come here to do work and the staff is so nice, welcoming, and friendly. For Halloween they made me this spooky margarita! Delicious! Given the prime location and authentic Mexican food, this is undoubtedly my favorite Mexican restaurant in Austin. Highly recommend the green chile torta. Their menu has healthy options too which is great! And you can’t beat their breakfast tacos.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa
Even better than we hoped. Great service and real food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa, Chile Relleno, Beef Fajita
Food was amazing service was awesome I enjoyed my visit to Austin
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Iconic spot in Austin with friendly staff and great frozen margaritas.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Loved my first time here. Thought it was a tourist trap! But great texmex at great prices! $80 bought lunch for 5! And it was a delicious!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa, Combo Chicken and Beef Fajitas, BBQ Chicken Enchiladas
Something has gone horribly wrong with this place. There was a horrible smell the moment my group walked in. There was no ice for the drinks and the food was freezing cold when delivered.
They are currently renovating, so maybe that’s the issue. But I won’t ever go back. So sad, it used to be so good.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Breaks my heart to write this review, but I've eaten here since the early 1990's and I fear I've made my last trip. They've changed the menu up quite a bit and really shrunk it down. My go to was always the shrimp mexicana and now it's off the menu. They've also really increased the prices. $9 for a bowl of queso, $18 for chicken quesadillas...everything thing seems to be around $2 too much considering the atmosphere. I can eat at a "nice" Tex-Mex place for the same prices. I guess it's going to try and live on the crowd that comes for the sign and nostalgia, but I hope they bring back some of the old menu items and consider the pricing. I miss the "old" El Arroyo.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
El Arroyo is a little Tex Mex gem in Austin.
Too many fans appreciate its clever signs without stopping in for its great food. They seem to be expanding with additional patios, which will hopefully bring them even more customers.
Personally, I love their BBQ chicken with a frozen margarita and chips - forward by a walk across the street for a beer at the Mean Eyed Cat. That's a great Austin experience.
Parking: They have small free parking lots behind and in front of the building.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa, BBQ Chicken Enchiladas
Let's start with the margaritas here, they are incredible and the competition for a great margarita in Austin is stiff ?
They're amazing, and if you like it spicy they'll do jalapeno infused tequila for you. Simply a delectable marg.
Now onto the food, again stiff competition. I think it's fair to compare El Arroyo to Matt's El Rancho because Arroyo's food is definitely on par with Matt's. With some dishes, Arroyo might even be better. There are also very tasty vegan options such as the portabella mushroom fajitas, the "no meat no way" enchiladas, and I was able to have the kitchen make me a vegan chile relleno which was fantastic.
Also they're open late! So if you're a night owl like me you can eat here past 10pm!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa
Laid back fun and cozy spot, I had to shrimp enchiladas and I scarfed the whole thing down. The flavors are delightful
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Nostalgia, history, and these darn tootin creative signs that change regularly with spontaneous comedic text, this place has made a name for itself in memes across the internet and in the hearts of Austin.
Got the queso and a shrimp and crab cream cheese enchilada was pretty delicious. Actually tasted a bit like crab dip, which actually seemed about right after rereading the description on the menu. I don't know that I would order that again because it's a lot of the same taste, but it was good. Perhaps if one we're sharing that and something else it would be good to mix and match. That said, the plate was big enough to share between two. Lots of rice and beans, and two big enchiladas.
The design of the place is pretty cool. They have a cut apart school bus outside that is pretty neat. With Fun artistic design of the place in general. There is both indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoors probably more artistic, but ended up sitting inside because it was hot out.
You can also kind of gift shop Christmas ornaments, magnets, etc, of the oh so famous the sign. The ornaments were about $20 in September of 2024.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
I was expecting great things from this somewhat, well-known restaurant but I can confirm that their tacos were completely below the Austin standard. If I ever came back to this establishment I’d likely bring my own taco, repair man, and help them figure out how to get their business booming. You would think a business like this would do so well in Austin but it’s obvious the company doesn’t want change and don’t provide any sort of incentive for eating their sub par food. You can’t just have clever signs El Arroyo ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Lived up to its fame! Can't wait to go back! ??
Ask for a peach margarita with sugar and Tajin!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chips & Salsa, El Pastor Tacos
Food was great! Chips were warm! Margarita flavor was watermelon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a big group and they got us in and out quickly after a fair amount of margarita pitchers.
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