Grapevine, TX is more than simply "the Christmas Capital of Texas." If you live in Grapevine or make the drive from nearby Dallas or Fort Worth, you know we are spoiled for choice for world-class Mexican food. There are so many Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX it might be more accurate to call it "The Mexican Food Capital Of Texas."
If you've ever visited our Dallas location or our new Grapevine restaurant will know we are picky about what qualifies as exceptional Mexican food. It's easy to be, where there are so many great Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX!
To help you navigate the best Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX, we've compiled a list of some of our favorites (and what makes them so great.)
The 10 Best Mexican Restaurants In Grapevine TX
From outstanding spots for street tacos to festive hacienda-style family dining, there's something for every Mexican food lover in Grapevine.
Tommy Tamale
Nothing screams 'authentic Mexican food' like tamales. Even though tamales date back to 5000 BC and are a part of nearly every traditional Mexican meal you could imagine, it can be challenging to find high-end tamales in restaurants in Grapevine TX.
Tommy Tamale is a true rags-to-riches story. Tommy's started out operating out of a food truck on Northwest Highway while selling tamales at local farmers' markets. They've grown to open not only one of the best Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX, but also a charming market, as well.
The cafe menu is small but effective. Tamales come adorned or as a plate, served with refried beans, charro beans, or black beans and rice.
Tamales come in six mouth-watering flavors:
Pork
Beef
Hatch Pork
Chicken
Habanero Pork
Black Bean
The habanero pork comes particularly highly recommended, especially for the fire-eaters.
Make sure you check out the tamale pie if you're looking for authentic Tex-Mex comfort food in restaurants in Grapevine TX. One or two signature tamales are made into a scrumptious bowl, fleshed out with chili and queso and topped with Frito's.
Tommy Tamale's to-go menu truly makes it stand out as one of the finest Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX, however. You simply MUST try the sweet tamales, coming in apple cinnamon or sweet potato flavors. Pumpkin tamales are also available, seasonally.
Get some tamales to go from Tommy Tamale and pick up some of their in-house salsa from their market, and you can have the whole Tommy Tamale experience at home in your kitchen. Except for the warmth and hospitality that Tommy Tamale and his family bring to this charming cafe.
Taqueria El Campeon
Mexican food lovers know to know judge a taqueria by its cover. So many of the best Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX are hidden gems, with scintillating scents and soulful homemade Mexican dishes coming out of little markets that look like convenience stores.
Don't let Taqueria El Campeon's strip-mall storefront or counter-style ordering fool you. This little fast-food style taqueria is a favorite among the locals, who stop in regularly for overflowing plates of tacos.
Texans know tacos, and reviewers frequently talk about making Taqueria El Campeon a weekly tradition. They also gush about the warm, attentive service and speedy delivery.
Make sure to try their chorizo breakfast tacos to enjoy a true Grapevine tradition. It's never too early for tacos.
Baja Mex Grill
Baja Mex Grill was called "The Best Mexican Restaurant In Grapevine," in 2011 by Grapevine Texas Online. We feel that's a bit subjective, as everyone has different tastes in Mexican food, but we'd count Baja Mex Grill as one of the best Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX.
Some of what makes Baja Mex Grill so fantastic include:
Some of the best queso in town
Also one of the best margaritas
Fast, friendly service
Hole-in-the-wall feel
Baja Mex grill is another example of the independent spirit of Grapevine's Mexican establishments. Local Mexican eateries embrace individuality and cultivating the family/neighborhood feel that so many of us love about Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX.
There's nothing stuck-up about Baja Mex Grill. Their food, however, is as UPstanding as they come, delivered by a friendly and attentive staff in a down-to-earth atmosphere.
Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food
There may be several Uncle Julio locations, but the hacienda-style seating makes Uncle Julio's feel like on the most distinctive Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX.
The sounds of sizzling fajitas filling the vaulted ceiling on a bustling weekend gives the North Freeway location a festive vibe. The smell of shrimp brochette or the sharp tang of their signature spicy salsa makes it positively tantalizing. It's a full-blown sensory Mexican food experience.
Uncle Julio's is best known for its drinks, however. The swirl margarita is what put Uncle Julio's on the map, making it an institution since 1986. Margarita mix swirls deliciously with frozen sangria, for those times when you don't want to have to choose between liquor or wine.
Uncle Julio's swirl margarita comes in a cool see-through chilled mug, as well. It's one of the most refreshing oases in Grapevine on the many hot days, especially topped off with the signature pink flamingo.
The fajitas are the main attraction at Julio's, however. Their steak fajitas are beyond perfection, created from the highest possible ingredients. 21-day old flank steak is hand-carved on-premises every day. The perfectly-aged meat is then rubbed down with an authentic family recipe of savory spices. It gives Uncle Julio's that personal touch that makes the best Mexican food stand out.
You can also get fresh chicken, shrimp, or veggie fajitas. They're not to be missed.
Mrs. G's Homemade Tacos
Another hole-in-the-wall spot, Mrs. G's personal touch and breakfast tacos make it stand out among the Mexican restaurants of Grapevine TX.
We've mentioned a few taco spots already on this list, and there will probably be more. Street tacos are a Texas institution, though, and we stand by that. We stand by Mrs. G's for their breakfast tacos and homemade shells.
Mrs. G's barbacoa also gets good remarks, as does their apple pie. How can you go wrong with a taco stand that makes a great pie?
It's really the fast and friendly service that gives Mrs. G's its heart, however. Some of our favorite Mexican restaurants have that bodega-down-the-road air, with people drinking soda out of the bottle and watching soccer.
People talk about growing up eating Mrs. G's tacos, and that's one of the marks of a great restaurant of any kind. The life that goes on around the food.
El Piquin
El Piquin has that neighborhood vibe of great Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX. The TV blares songs in Spanish while you order tortas or tacos while you're on the run. They also serve dinner fare, with the requisite fajitas and enchiladas.
El Piquin is the name of a pepper 10x hotter than a jalapeno, and they live up to their name for the fire-chasers. If you like your fajitas on the sweating side, you might want to drop a visit to this unassuming looking bodega.
There's talk of karaoke happening on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays as well. El Piquin's kind of a loud and exciting place. That also has delicious and inexpensive food. It's worth a visit or three.
Burritos Locos
Burritos Locos is another reminder you must dig beyond appearances to find the best Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX. Burritos Locos doesn't look like much, adjoining a parking lot and with simple place settings, but those aren't the things that make a restaurant wonderful.
People drive for hours to pick up Burrito Loco's tacos on their homemade corn tortillas. Their flour tortillas are hard to beat, for that matter. The breakfast tacos are a local favorite, in Texas tradition. There are nine types of huevos to choose from. They also have chilaquiles.
The atmosphere is truly what makes Burritos Locos on of the warmest restaurants in Grapevine TX. Mariachi music plays out of a speaker stack in a corner, or sometimes at your table on the weekends if there's a special event. It's all smiles and laughter in Burritos Locos even when it gets busy, which it sometimes does.
It's worth it, though. Burritos Locos is truly a cornerstone of the Mexican food community in Grapevine.
Go Loco
Sometimes you just need to grab great Mexican food in a hurry. In Grapevine, you barely have to get off the highway to get authentic Tex-Mex street cuisine.
Go Loco's premise is simple, to offer authentic Grapevine Mexican street food absolutely anywhere. They've basically officialized the noble taco truck tradition, placing Go Loco's next to gas stations off the highway throughout Texas.
Go Loco is also best known for their tacos. You must try the barbacoa. The pork is quite good, as well. Go Loco has commendable burritos, as well. They're big for their price, superior to chain burrito shops, plus they're local and more authentic.
It's nice to know you can even find good Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX in the gas stations.
Mini Taqueria & Pupuseria
As we near the end of our epic guide, we bring you another classic hole-in-the-wall, a hallmark of outstanding Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX.
It's a classic blue-checkered-tablecloth taqueria with stackable chairs. The walls are lined with pre-paid calling cards while Spanish is spoken in the kitchen. As is often the case, this signals they can cook mean Mexican food. And they deliver on that front at the Mini Taqueria & Pupuseria.
Chicken and beef soup are standout items on the menu, simmered to perfection all-day-long with the perfect balance of ingredients. It's really the texture that is so hard to get right with a good soup, but the pasta and tomatoes are perfectly done. They complement one another wonderfully, the mark of a chef that has likely lived their life in a kitchen.
There's all the tacos and burritos and fajitas and quesadillas you could hope for, as well. The carnitas is lovingly seared -- like it's been slow-roasted on a stove-top for hours with peppers and onions. The fresh-chopped onions and cilantro are the final touch, sprinkled on in the final moments, giving that brightness to the deliciously seared carne.
Popusas and homemade gorditas also make Mini Taqueria & Popuseria stand out from the crowd. The popusas are fluffy and fresh, able to be filled with all kinds of delectable stuffings.
Mini Taqueria & Popuseria is a mainstay of Grapevine's main street and Mexican food community.
Torchy's Tacos
We round out our journey of the many great Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX. with another fine taco establishment. We are truly blessed to have so many fine keepers of the taco tradition. It is a testament to how many things can be done with a tortilla, meat, cheese, and chopped vegetables.
The Baja shrimp is the most exotically named and a wide favorite. Hand-battered shrimp is served on top of cooked cabbage slaw, pickled onions, and jalapenos. Cojita cheese, fresh cilantro, and a lime wedge seal the deal.
There's a wide variety of more domestic-sounding tacos, too. The Trailer Park and The Independent are other fan favorites. Hand-battered chicken and portabello mushrooms, respectively, hint at Torchy's Tacos class, even with an item called The Trailer Park.
There's a full menu of breakfast tacos, to sweeten the deal. 'A Taco For Every Appetite,' and they're not wrong.
Rumor has it there are deep fried chocolate cookie bites to be had. The green chili queso or the Diablo hot sauce are a must for those that love spicy Mexican food.
That about rounds up our tour of some of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Grapevine TX. Scary things is, it's not even all of them or all of our favorites. It's truly a blessing to be a Tex-Mex fan in Grapevine.
Of course, we're also partial to our Grapevine location. Then again, we cook the food, so we know how good it is.
Want To Know What We're Cooking?
Chili seared salmon. Cochinta Pibil. These are just two examples of the gourmet Mexican cuisine we pride ourselves on at Mesa. Take a look at our full Dinner Menu, and come visit us today!