Best Mexican Food In St. Louis According To Me

El Guanaco Taqueria & Pupuseria Takeaway. El Grand Guanaco Delivers With The Baleada Especial. Oh my god, was that delicious. Chorizo, steak, chicken, queso, eggs, avocado, and cream. I mean, come on. Where has this been all my life? And only $7.99?!?!!?!? The $3 pupusa was heavy on the bread, and the sauce detracted from the flavor. It wasn't a table favorite. Chips were a 4.8/10 for me, but free. Excellent red salsa > green salsa.

Total hole in the wall on Page Ave. Barely enough parking for lunch.

Friendly, fast service.

No frills. No filler. Just totally amazing food. Currently in my top five best restaurants in St. Louis.

El Burro Loco Takeaway. I'm loco for El Burro Loco. My new favorite Mexican restaurant in St. Louis. Best fajitas I've ever had. Top-of-the-line rice and beans. 8.4/10 unlimited chips. Above-average complimentary salsa. Amazing atmosphere and decorations. Good service. Gross bathrooms. The most expensive Mexican food I've had because it's in the Central West End. $21.25 for fajitas compared to $12-13 elsewhere in STL. Still great for families. Parking on the street. They have a second location downtown.

El Potro Takeaway. El Potro perfectly provides everything you'd want in a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. Reddit was right. 8.1/10 dive bar Mexican on the strength of the chips, guac, and Al Pastor quesadilla. Part of my search for the best Mexican food in St. Louis.

Service was fast and friendly. Prices are refreshingly reasonable, and our family of four spent $50 including guac. The free chips were some of my favorites in St. Louis at 8.2/10.

The food is solid, high-quality dive bar Mexican without any frills. The Al Pastor quesadilla was huge and tasty, and the guacamole had a surprising fresh kick. The whole family loved it.

Taco Buddha Takeaway. I'd Rub This Taco Buddha's Belly Any Day. Fun, fresh, family atmosphere with mostly outdoor seating. 7.9 / 10 Mexican food overall. My favorite chips in the area with a score of 8.6 / 10. Unfortunately, the chips cost extra 🙁 at $4.25 and $11.25(!!) with guac. My kids and friends love the tacos, but I'm not a taco guy, so I go with the Baja salad with chicken for $13.50. All in all, $71 for lunch isn't cheap and lowers my overall rating for the Buddha.

The atmosphere at Taco Buddha is hip and trendy. The kind of place where the chairs don't have backs, the tables have QR codes instead of waitresses, and it feels like you're eating family-style. They have a pretty extensive drink menu, but I mostly come with family or friends at lunchtime. Parking is easy on Pershing, and it's never more than a 3-minute walk. They have dedicated parking spots for curbside pickup.

Amigo Sole Takeaway. Amigo Sole gets ambitious with their spicy Cheeto burrito. I'd give it a 7.5/10 for the novelty alone, though the execution is more fun than life-changing. Worth grabbing once in your life.

If you work on the Loop and want to shake up your lunch rotation, this fast-casual spot delivers solid Mexican fusion with a side of sneaker culture.

Service was quick, parking was easy, and you're in and out within 10 minutes. It's not worth a special trip across town, but it's a solid option if you're already in the area or catching a show at the Pageant.

Taqueria Durango Takeaway. Taqueria Durango is the quintessential hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant. Great for families. Free, unlimited chips with 3 salsas. Everyone can eat for under $10--big portions. Easy parking. Usually packed, so service isn't the fastest. Two words: Ahogada Torta. Tip: Wait for water before you taste the salsa.

Session Taco Takeaway. Session Taco serves up solid, standardized Mexican in a setting that's more modern bar than hole-in-the-wall. I give it a 7.5/10 for delivering reliably good food that won't blow your mind.

If you're looking for an authentic, intimate Mexican experience, this isn't it. But if you want a fun, lively spot to hang with friends over quality burritos, strong drinks, and chips and salsa, Session Taco delivers. It's one of the most reviewed restaurants on Google Maps in the area, which is a good indicator of quality and popularity.

The service is great, parking is easy off Delmar, and while you might wait 10-15 minutes on a Saturday night, it's worth it for a laid-back date night or group hangout.

Arzolas Fajitas + Margaritas Takeaway. Grown up Mexican food. Definitely not a hole in the wall. Everything had a little kick of spice, which I enjoyed but the rest of the group didn't. 7.6/10 chips were salty, but very tasty. No complimentary salsa. $28.75 for fajitas are crazy expensive. Too expensive for me to go again, but my wife would be down. Easy parking in Benton Park. Very, very attentive staff. They default to 20% tip in a group of six or more, but then ask for more… My buddy gave 7% extra and I gave 0%, so he made us look good in aggregate because we net out to 3.5% 😂

El Molino Takeaway. El Molino delivers memorable meals with Yucatan Mexican food, but at a price much higher than your typical Mexican joint. While you'll recognize the form, the food here has a different set of spices and ingredients. Overall, I would give the food an 8.1/10 on taste, but 7/10 on value.

I really enjoyed the layers of flavors, particularly in any dish featuring tomatoes and pork belly. But the price taints the memory of the food.

Note also the restaurant's menu structure, which feels like a hybrid of prix-fixe and à la carte dining. The plates are exceptionally small, forcing you to order multiple items per person to assemble what feels like a complete meal. That, unfortunately, transforms a delicious dinner into a surprisingly expensive affair, especially for the Mexican food category.

With that in mind, El Molino is a fantastic destination for an upscale date night or a special occasion when you want to try something different. The food is great, but the price-to-portion ratio makes it difficult to recommend for casual or regular dining.

Ladue Taco Takeaway. A Mexican takeout restaurant in "downtown" Ladue. Top-notch pico de gallo. Above average guac. Better tacos and quesadillas than you'd make at home. $4 per taco or $10 for a quesadilla. Ample parking. Probably not somewhere I'd go back to on purpose. Outside seating is available without servers. Tip: Beware the false entrance that makes it look closed and loop around the side.

Maize & Wheat Columbian Cafe Takeaway. A Cozy Columbian Cafe With Excellent Arepas. One of the few good non-chain restaurants near the Brentwood Promenade. Columbian food is kind of close to Mexican food but with more plantains, eggs, and soup. My favorite part of the meal is the potato soup. Arepas, fried ground maize filled with your choice of meat, and empanadas are better than average. Fairly priced.

You should definitely give it a try. The dough in Columbian food is too corn-heavy for me, but you need to decide for yourself. My buddies liked their food a lot more than I did.

Service was a bit slow. The main chicken dish ($13.99) took 24 minutes to arrive, while arepas (~$9) and empanadas ($3.5) came out in 14 minutes. Very friendly and helped me with my order. Dedicated parking lot.

Mi Ranchito Takeaway. Standard hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in University City between Olive and Delmar. Most mentioned restaurant at UCity parties. Free, above-average chips and salsa. $11-17 for an entree makes it on the high side of average pricing. Good for kids. 6/10 chips are solidly above average.

Chipotle Takeaway. The Mexican Comparison. Chicken burrito clocks in at $8.75 with a 5 / 10 burrito score. It's big enough to be a filling meal, particularly if you go calorie heavy with cheese and sour cream. I keep it healthy and low calorie by sticking with only adding veggies. Their chips are a 7.0 / 10, thin, salty, and with a hint of lime.

The Chipotle corporate overlords removed the fun of ordering here. No longer can you hack the menu with ½ and ½ beans or a tortilla on the side. Everything costs extra and they lightened the load.

Service at Chipotle has been getting worse over the last five years. Lines take ten-plus minutes for five people. I've had pick-up orders that they hadn't started ten minutes after the scheduled time. It's all just sad because ordering ahead of time used to be a superpower.

Holds a special place in my heart as the first Mexican food I ever had - when I was 18 at college. Even if it has been on a sad, slow decline.

La Tejana Taqueria Takeaway. Tinga Tacos Taste Like A Tuesday. Got the lunch special for $7.99. The side of refried beans was the best part. Tinga tacos were solid, particularly when I added green salsa. Campechano was dry. The corn tacos were the standout on the taco front. Roughly 12.7 oz of food. Free chips were a 4.8 / 10. They were thick but not salty or flavorful. Tasted wontonish. Green salsa was the best salsa.

Another pure hole on the wall off of Lindbergh. Service was standard and very friendly. They were continuously half-full from 12 to 1:30 on a Tuesday.

Parking out front in a dedicated lot.