Top Mexican Food Restaurants in Lockhart, Texas
All the same, you can’t beat good ol’ Tex-Mex cooking, and as a resident of Lockhart, I’m here to tell you about my favorite spots to find it. If you’re ever in the Austin area, take Highway 183 South about 30 miles, and try out one of these Mexican food restaurants for yourself.
1. Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant
Guadalajara is my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Lockhart. The staff is always very hospitable, and the place is family-friendly. Our waiter didn’t even seem bothered the time my toddler through a bowl of guacamole on the floor. And they have newer high chairs than most restaurants I’ve been in lately. No one wants to put a toddler into a filthy old broken chair, but let me tell you, those are the norm.
All the Mexican food is excellent. The chips and salsa are free and plentiful while you wait for your entrees, and the salsa is some of the freshest I’ve tasted. It has a lot of cilantro-a plus in my book. My favorite entrees include the big “Texas Burrito,” and the “Summer Plate.” My husband swears by the carne guisada. (That’s meat with gravy to you gringos.)
What’s surprising at this Mexican food restaurant is that the Mexican food is not necessarily the best stuff on the menu. The fried shrimp are lightly coated with cornmeal and perfectly cooked. They’re never overdone and rubbery.
Best of all, the prices are extremely reasonable ($6-$8 for most dinners).
Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant-1710 S. Colorado St., Lockhart, Texas. Phone: (512) 398-7707. This restaurant does not have a published e-mail address or Web site.
2. Mr. Taco
Mr. Taco made it to number two on my list of Mexican food restaurants in Lockhart because the service just isn’t as good as that at Guadalajara, and the food is not as consistently tasty as it is at Guadalajara. However, a few items on the menu are so good that you just shouldn’t go anywhere else in town for them.
Ask any Lockhart native where to get the best breakfast tacos in town, and they’ll tell you to get in line behind the 10 other cars at Mr. Taco’s drive-through window. You can get just about any kind of breakfast taco you want, but you have to order the cheese. I don’t know what kind they use, but it makes the tacos irresistible.
The other dish that’s a standout is what they call the “puff tacos.” These are ground-beef tacos made with soft-fried corn tortillas. They load them up with lettuce, tomatoes, more of that good cheese and, my favorite, hunks of avocado. The refried beans have a hint of bacon that makes them just right.
The prices are about the same as Guadalajara’s, if not a little lower. I might go there more often if the service (and the salsa, which is kind of runny) was better.
Mr. Taco-831 S. Colorado St., Lockhart, Texas. Phone: (512) 398-2704. This restaurant does not have a published e-mail address or Web site.
3. Taco Bell
OK, so I have ranked Taco Bell as my number-three Mexican food restaurant in Lockhart partly as a joke. There are a few other options for Mexican food in town. But honestly, when I want a burrito in a pinch, I head to the Bell.
My favorite item to order is the “Grilled Stuft Burrito” with beef, of course. But even more than I love to devour one of those nasty, fattening roll-ups of yummy goodness, I love to sit in the drive-through and marvel at what lives next door. You see, Lockhart is a country town, and in the country, they have goats. They have a whole field of goats grazing next to the Taco Bell, in fact. I guess it’s just the juxtaposition of the fast food restaurant and the animals that I hope and pray are not in my fast food that tickles my funny bone and keeps me coming back.
Taco Bell-1400 S. Colorado St., Lockhart, Texas. Phone: (512) 398-5438. Visit Taco Bell online at www.tacobell.com. For a map of the Lockhart location, type “78644” into the Store Locator field.
