Barcena's Mexican Restaurant -

Barcena's 2200 W Bay Area Blvd # B Friendswood, TX


Barcena's has been around for years but somehow we had not tried the place. We were greeted right away and whisked off to a table by the hostess. The waiter was well "waiting" to take our drink order before we could sit down.

The chips came out hot with a very nice red sauce. The red sauce had quite a kick. I ordered a Margarita. It was nothing special but refreshing nevertheless. We shared a large chili con queso. It was very good. I had to ask for sliced jalepenos!

I ordered the Carne guisada. It was fantastic. Rich red gravy with fresh flour tortilla. Their rice and beans were fair at best. The carne guisada made up for it. My daughter ordered some Mexican Special Plate that had everything. I tried their tamale and it was wonderful. The wife got the fajita nachos. They gave her a huge plate and the meat was tender and flavorful.

This is definitely a place we will visit again.

Campo Azul

Campo Azul, 2441 W. FM646, League City, 832-483-4269

The tall building which formerly housed My Amigos, midway between IH45 and FM517, is now home to this nice Mexican restaurant which serves better fare than most, but is priced in line with the rest. The bar is separated from the large dining room which has both tables and booths. This is the only place besides Mom Alone (Nassau Bay) that I have found to offer queso along with tomatillo and regular salsas gratis with your chips. I recommend the migas, but don't care for the way Mexican chefs prepare milanesa.

Taqueria Restaurant Vallarta

Taqueria Restaurant Vallarta
(409) 945-6533
2130 Palmer Hwy, Texas City, TX 77590

I work in Texas City and Texas City is not anywhere near the culinary center of Texas! When I go out to lunch; I only have a few choices and most are fast food restaurants from hell.

My favorite place to eat in Texas City is Taqueria Restaurant Vallarta on Palmer. This is a family owned Tex-Mex cafe. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast is fantastic with some of the best chorizo I have ever had. I'm not sure if they buy it or make it. The chorizo and eggs tacos are dripping with chorizo goodness.

I enjoy lunch there most of all. It is just good cheap Tex-Mex! My favorite is the Laredo Plate with three really good tamales and two cheese enchiladas with rice and beans. A Gringo favorite! They have fantastic red sauce. I also enjoy both the chili con queso and guacamole.

If you are looking for high class decor; what the hell are you doing in Texas City???

Favorite - definetly be back. Great place!

El Sentinela Mexican Restaurant - League City Texas

This little restaurant is one of my favorites. El Sentinela is situated on the corner of Highway 3 and FM 518 in the heart of League City. They have a diverse selection of Tex-Mex favorites; from the ubiquitous fajitas and enchiladas to fresh seafood and steaks. They also serve breakfast. This is really a Mexican café. They also have a reasonable Mexican beer selection; including my favorite Negro Modelo. The margaritas are nothing special but cheap.
We eat at El Sentinela at least once a week and we always seem to order the same things. My favorite in the Tejano Plate which includes Carne guisada, enchiladas and a tamale. This is a wonderful meal for the Tex-Mex lover. The wife always gets the fajita nachos. Their fajita meat is always perfectly spiced and generally always tender.
The view from the street and the dining room is nothing special but the quality and price of the food will always have me coming back again and again.

Favorite

Taquerias Arandas – League City, Texas

Taquerias Arandas – League City, Texas

http://www.taqueriasarandas.com/

Taqueria Arandas is a family owned chain of restaurants located primarily in the Houston Metro area but also has locations in Katy, Pasadena, Pearland, Baytown, Bryan, Nacogdoches, Waco, and in Dallas. Arandas serves a wide variety of Tex-Mex favorites from the usual enchiladas, tacos, burritos and fajitas to true Mexican favorites like menudo and pozole.
I have visited a couple of different locations in the Houston area and just this past Sunday morning stopped into the location in League City for a quick breakfast.

For breakfast I always seem to order the same thing – Huevos Con Chorizo - Two large eggs scrambled with Mexican sausage. All breakfast items served with your choice of sliced ham or two strips of bacon, with refried beans and tortillas. At a price of just $3.49; this is an incredible bargain. The chorizo is spicy and not greasy and they give you enough to make three huge tacos.
Arandas always serves fresh tortilla chips and an incredible salsa. They also serve a green sauce that will set you on fire but it is fantastic. The breakfast menu is expansive and incredibly inexpensive.

I have not been to the restaurant for any other meal other than breakfast. Hopefully in the near future I will post a review of lunch or dinner.
A sign of a really good Mexican restaurant is the make-up of its customer base. Taqueria Arandas is a favorite of the local Hispanic community and they know great food at a reasonable price. One of the downsides of the restaurant (at least at the League City location) is the service. It is strictly seat yourself and wait to be served. It took a good five minutes before anyone acknowledged my presence and brought me a menu or chips and salsa. I then waited several more minutes before my drink order was taken. When my meal finally arrived I was missing my order of Chile con Queso. After another five minutes the waitress came to the table and I had to mention to her that I had not received the queso. It took her several more minutes before I received the dip. It also took me a long time to get the check. I had a similar experience the last time I was in this location. Without being overly critical of the staff I have to admit this is a busy location.

Even though the service seems to be lacking; the quality of the food and exceptionally low price will keep me coming back.

Favorite - definetly be back. Great place!

Mamacita's - Webster Texas

As one of my first review of a Mexican food restaurant; I had to choose Mamacita’s Mexican Restaurant in Webster Texas. My wife and I have been eating here since about 1990. When you walk inside you are always greeted by a warm and welcoming staff. Even on the busiest nights you never have to wait long.

The place is decorated like a Mexican market with terracotta floors and stucco walls adorned with lots of bright colors and old world charm. Just the atmosphere of the place makes the restaurant worth sitting in and having a cold Corona.

Mamacita’s bar is just incredible. This is a great place just to pop in and have a drink or two and a bowl of chili con queso and chips and watch sports on the multiple televisions in the bar area. They have an extensive beer selection compared to most Mexican restaurants. Along with the standard American lager like Bud, Bud Light, and Miller Lite; they have Shiner Bock on draft. The Mexican beer selection includes Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, Corona, Corona Lite, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca, Pacifico, Tecate and Sol.
Do not pass up on trying a margarita from their extensive collection of unusual flavored drinks on the menu. I personally love the Hawaiian margarita. All I know about it is it is blue and taste incredible. Try one!

The food menu is extraordinary. Mamacita’s offers diners everything from superb enchiladas, fajitas, tacos and burritos to fresh gulf seafood and grilled pork ribs and steaks. I always seem to get the same thing when I go there. I generally get the San Antonio Enchilada dinner. You have your choice of beef, chicken or cheese enchiladas and then they are covered with chili gravy and then topped with chili con queso and onions. This plate has lots of layers of flavors.

Sometimes the family will order the fajitas and have a mix of both beef and chicken. The fajitas are always hot and tender with perfect seasoning. Mamacita’s serves freshly made flour or corn tortillas. I also love their refried beans and Mexican rice.

My kids love the place just for the atmosphere. If you are in the NASA Space Center in the near future stop in and give Mamacita’s a try.

This is a FAVORITE! http://mamacitasmexicanrestaurant.com/

Los Ramirez Mexican Restaurant – Dickinson, Texas

This location is new to the area. It has only been open a couple of months. Several of my coworkers have sung the praises of this little restaurant. The restaurant is the anchor business in a newly built strip center on FM 517 West in Dickinson Texas.

Entering, I notice that not a whole lot of money was spent on the décor of the little restaurant. A few sombreros decorate the walls surrounding the twenty odd nondescript square tables. No table clothes but the silverware were neatly wrapped in lime green cloth napkins.
The hostess was quick to seat us and ask for our drink order. Chips and salsa were brought to the table before we were completely seated. The chips were hot and tasty. The red salsa was horrible. It had way too much cumin for my taste The Salsa Verde was fantastic. One of the best I have ever had.

The waiter was quick to take our order. We started with a large bowl of chili con queso. The waiter brought it to the table promptly and it was piping hot. The queso was an almost perfect consistency; not too thick and not too thin. I personally would like to have had a little more spice in the dip or at least some jalapenos on the side to add a little heat.
Perusing the menu the first thing I noticed was the unbelievable selection of choices and very low prices. The appetizer selection had over ten choices. They had multiple soup and salad combinations. Lots of fajita choices. Specialties of the house included Barbacoa, Carne Guisada and even Tripita for the adventurous. Los Ramirez had plenty of seafood dishes and the standard Mexican plate combinations.

The lunch menu had over forty choices; with the highest priced being $6.25 for the shrimp enchiladas. I chose the lunch special of chicken flauta, chili con queso puff and guacamole.
The chicken flauta was fried beyond recognition. It almost took a jack hammer to get a portion separated and onto my fork. The queso puff didn’t have any puff left in it! The guacamole was bland.

My daughter ordered the tamale dinner; which included two tamales covered in chili gravy and cheese and served with rice and beans. It came from the kitchen super hot and looked like fresh. The tamales were not much more than the ones you find in the frozen food section of the grocery store. The chili gravy was the tastiest part of the plate but masked the dull tamales.
My wife had the beef taco salad with the sour cream, tomatoes and guacamole on the side. She basically had taco meat and lettuce in a tortilla bowl; so I passed on even trying it!

All in all it was only a fair Mexican restaurant. The service was very good; but then again it was lunch time. The food was mediocre at best. . The low prices and convenience will probably entice me back for another lunch and another review.

TRY AGAIN