Meatless Mexican at Tacos El Charro

Located at 349 Centre Street, between Jackson and Hyde Squares, the restaurant’s unmistakable black and yellow neon sign has blazed at the same corner for over 20 years.  If you haven’t been here before, when you enter you’ll feel like you have entered a mom and pop diner somewhere south of the border. The low-lit interior looks like it’s been stocked with all of the goods from an open­-air Mexican market. The tables are decorated with colorful placemats and what appears like a venerable family collection of china.  The walls are hung with silver-embroidered sombreros, ponchos, and photos of Frida Kahlo and Mariachi stars.  Even the ceilings are strung with garlands of papel cortado.

You’ll quickly be on a first-name basis with Aida Navarro. She has been the charming and cheerful owner of throughout the restaurant’s long history.   Singing all the while, Navarro greeted and seated each arriving customer, took orders, served drinks, cleared tables and delivered food from the kitchen, where cook Jose Gutierrez is the other half of the mostly two-person operation that they have presided over for more than two decades.

Originally from Puerto Rico, the relaxed and casual Navarro said that Gutierrez, who hails from Jalisco, is the man behind the Tacos El Charro's menu of classic home-style dishes.

Chef Gutierrez explained that the restaurant, which was closed for several months last year, experienced some financial difficulties at that time, but that the situation has now been resolved.

Since everything is prepared to order, the only “problema” vegetarians might have ordering from Tacos El Charro’s extensive menu will be choosing. There are soups, salads, appetizers, and a variety of main dishes.  Its wide selection of tortilla-based entrees includes tacos, enchiladas, tostados, burritos, and quesadillas.  (Most items can be ordered a la carte, or as part of a combo plate.)  Any of the tortillas, Navarro informed us, can be filled with roasted veggies or beans, and if you’re not vegan, cheese. And on Wednesdays, the vintage restaurant offers a 99¢ taco special, meatless or not.

The knowledgeable and accommodating Navarro steered my dining companion and me away from the Tortilla Soup and any of the mole dishes because both contained chicken stock, as well as the meat-filled tamales.  We were also grateful for her reassurance that there are no animal products in the restaurant’s beans, which in some places are sometimes cooked with beef fat.

We began our meal with a complimentary basket of good crisp chips and a bowl of freshly made salsa. Along with a delicious glass of Sangria and one of its wide selection of Mexican beers served in an icy stein, we ordered the Guacamole ($5) and Cactus Salad ($5).  The homemade guac was great, a velvety batch of ripe avocados, tomatoes and lime juice that could not be improved upon.   The Cactus Salad sounded more exotic than it turned out to be. Lightly dressed in distinctively flavored vinaigrette, it included iceberg lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and slices of somewhat bland canned nopales, or cacti, that neither of us thought added a lot to the salad.

While some other bargain-hunter diners happily chowed down on the 99¢ Wednesday Taco Special, we selected two of the restaurant’s combo plates in order to try a wider sample of its fare.  Served with rice, beans and salad, neither the Norteno ($14.95) nor Poblano ($15.95) plates will leave you hungry. 

The Norteno platter includes a quesadilla, an enchilada and a tostada, that can all be prepared to your liking.  We ordered a cheese quesadilla, a vegetable enchilada in red sauce, and a bean tostada.  The quesadilla was a grilled flour tortilla filled with melted cheese.  The corn tortilla enchilada enclosed a tasty filling of grilled broccoli and carrots.   The crispy tostada was dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, and oddly enough, a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

The equally ample Poblano plate consists of a chile poblano, an enchilada and taco.  In this case, we opted for a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, a cheese enchilada in green sauce, and a veggie taco.   The roasted poblano tasted of the grill and was accompanied with a long-simmered tomato and onion topping.  The appetizing green enchilada was mildly spiced.  The taco was of the soft variety, filled with cheese and more of the restaurant’s flavorsome roasted veggies. 

With its satisfying food, affordable prices, and exceptionally warm and welcoming proprietors, Tacos El Charro serves up hearty homestyle Mexican fare with heaps of hospitality.

Located at 349 Centre Street, is open Monday - Saturday from 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

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