El Charro

Best taco in town! The reviews are pretty accurate. The staff is friendly, the ambiance is lively!

Best Mexican food in San Juan! If you’re looking for authentic Mexican food, this is the place! Courteous staff and fast service. Great menu options and refreshing drinks including a Mexican favorite, Micheladas! Best salsa that goes well with any dish! From tacos al pastor with choice of tortillas, to enchiladas in a variety of sauces and salsas, you will be back for more! I definitely will!

Still the best Mexican in Puerto Rico! They have now added a patio and a stage for live music.
Go to El Charro. Tell Keyla and Alfredo that Herrero sent you!

The Charro is one of the best Mexican restaurants in Puerto Rico. The quality and experience to become a tradition. To have an idea! The May 5 is the best Mexican fiesta in PR ever.
Recommend to entry Chimichangas! Boom!

El Charro is a delightful little hole in the wall in the middle of a working class neighborhood or (barrio) in Puerta de Tierra. The food is fresh. The service is excellent. The atmosphere is authentically quaint. I won’t say it’s the best Mexican food I’ve ever had, because Puerto Rico is not Mexico. I will say that it is the most wonderful Mexican restaurant in old San Juan and the flavors are pleasing. Go to El Charro. Have fun. Enjoy the great food. Don’t over think it. This place is a true gem.

Update… nothing has changed! It is still all GOOD! This is the best little secret in Puerto Rico!

Todas las veces que vengo al viejo San Juan, me encanta visitar este lugar porque es muy acojedor y la comida es muy sabrosa!

Decent food at fair prices. Lots of locals were here for lunch and our food and check came pretty quickly as people were waiting for tables. The staff were friendly and we ordered fish tacos off the menu (although they got the order slightly wrong).

The best Mexican food I have ever had. We got shrimp tacos and el pastor tacos. The mixed frozen drinks with passion fruit we awesome too. I promise you will not be disappointed. It’s not on the main drag and doesn’t seem from outside that it would be that good. I would have paid double for that meal. Staff super friendly and helped us with translating the menu. Owner came to speak with us and she was super genuine. The best meal we had in Puerto Rico and we had some really good ones.

think i ordered wrong. friends brought us here which is around the corner from their apt.
i try not to read reviews before going to a restaurant. i want to order what i’m in the mood for. that said, this is one place i should probably have read the reviews first so i could have ordered appropriately. i.e. not everything on the menu is yummy.
AMBIANCE: 4 stars
— tables are close-​ish together but makes the place feel quaint and still feel you have your privacy
— chairs are comfy. kinda a cross b/​w a love seat and a bucket seat
— there’s a downstairs, which i didn’t check out
SERVICE: 4 stars
— food/​drinks came out in a timely manner. i had asked for hot water and many refills and they were great about that
— one of the servers must have been new cuz she didn’t know the difference between the 2 nachos dishes.
— think the owner was hustling orders herself
DRINKS: 4 stars
— the tamarind margarita drink was good. unique
— sangria was good
FOOD: 3 stars
— chips are not that tasty. maybe i’m looking for salt?
— nachos with meat not tasty. i don’t even care it doesn’t have salsa on it. have had nachos that were cheese/​meat based and they’ve been tastier than this. i’m thinking it’s the chips themselves that need help
— melted cheese with bits of chorizo on top. melted (i think it was mozzarella) chz is always yummy
— Husband’s dish had 4 bistec enchiladas. tasty.
— friend had soft shelled tacos, which he mostly finished
i would come back but get the tacos (soft and crunchy) or burritos as most reviewers seemed to enjoy those dishes

It is a very good place to go for Taco’s; though it is not quite Mexican. The food is good but soulless. Portions are OK. The staff, sometimes, seems to be in limbo where they don’t even know the ingredients on their menu items… Strange.
Expensive little spot…

This was a terrific find once we checked into the caribe hilton and were up for a little walk. It’s a cute spot with fantastic shrimp tacos and fajitas. Great flavors, casual but nice place and really good service. I have a feeling we will be back!

The steak tacos were excellent and the margaritas were tasty!!! I loved the staff and ambiance was on point. Highly recommend this place!!!

I have to chime in as well and give kudos to anyone who finds this place and actually isn’t deterred by the fact its in a shady looking area with flickering street lights and homeless people… Charro is definitely worth the visit. Not only does it have great food, but the margaritas are awesome! I would go there just for them. Slip on to the downstairs area for happy hour and sit outside as well.

Walking to Old San Juan from La Concha, I decided I wanted a Mexican burrito. Found this place on Unilocal and was a little skeptical based on the limited reviews. This place is a hidden gem. Delicious fresh food, great service, amazing atmosphere. Extremely impressed, worth the walk and definitely worth the risk. Enjoy!