El Charro

Stopped in for lunch with the lady. Was visiting the area and heard this is the place to get good Mexican.
Came in and got seated. Drink orders were promptly placed and the menu was laid before us. Talk about options. I kid you not hundreds of them. I went for the El Charro Fajitas and she had some sort of burrito.
My Fajitas were well seasoned and included shrimp, chicken, and beef. It came with re-​fried beans, rice, greens, quac, and sour crème. All in all A-​OK. Good but not mind blowing.
The lady said she liked her burrito. Both meals were quite filling.
The good.
Large Portions and mid to low prices.
Prompt service.
The bad.
So many choices its hard to decide.
The ugly.
Nothing made the list.

The food here is just okay. The drinks have very very little to no alcohol in them. We are from Texas so we were not huge fans of the flavor but over all it was okay. We will go back, just not for drinks.

Very flavorful food! Stopped in for a business lunch and we weren’t disappointed– quick service and great choices. A wonderful little place in Carthage.

Very nice servers and they are willing to accommodate my dietary needs when preparing the meals. Food is delicious as well.

We have ate at El Charro’s several times. It is normally very good and good service as well. We have ate in and carried out. We have recommended this restaurant to several people and costumers. This time we carried it out and it was horrible. We order the Carnitas and some Guacamole. The meat was very fatty and not cooked very well. The Guacamole was just about brown. It seems they used food that was past due and they could not get by with serving it in the restaurant. We were very disappointed. It was terrible.

Great food and drinks. I was pleasantly surprised to see a vegetarian options section of the menu. It was a small section but still several options to choose from. The staff was friendly and helpful. The prices are fairly decent. I would definitely go back.

The 3 stars I give is for the service portion, the guy i spoke to that worked there deserves 5 stars, but giving the business itself 5 stars would be misleading. The food gets 2 stars total, but don’t get me wrong, I bet the staff have way more potential to cook authentic mexican food, it’s just the food that they’re shoveling out here is catered to the locals, which is american «mexican» food. I am from San Diego, 5 minutes from the border, so I can get real authentic mexican food, so the contrast here is obvious for me.
I got a plate that had a block of monterey jack wrapped in a flour tortilla, flooded with what tasted like taco bell mild taco sauce. I did ask the waiter whether or not they had other dishes they could make that was off the menu like nopales, which he did say that they do get nopales but they didn’t have it at that time, and when they do get it, they often cook it for the staff because they’re all from mexico themselves and eat it, but apparently no one would order it if it was listed. So that in itself shows me that they are fully capable of making good authentic mexican food, but it’s understandable that they don’t due to the circumstances.

So I’m only in Carthage about 4 times a year for work, but I always make sure we have lunch at El Charro at least once while visiting. THis places is cheap (amazingly so compared to NYC prices) and the food is super delicious.
Make sure you wear stretchy-​pants because the portions are outrageous too. If this place was in New York, it would be so popular that you’d have to fight to get in on a Saturday night. Having a place like this in Carthage makes my business trips a lot less crappy.

LOVED this place. So I am from San Diego and I didn’t have high expectations for a mexican joint in Missouri. I live close to the Mexican boarder and I didn’t think mexican food could get much better than that. I ordered the vegetarian fajitas and they were the best I’ve ever had. The portions are massive here. Each of our dishes could easily feed 3 people each. Another amazing part about El Charro (at least in Missouri) is that the Margaritas are dirt cheap and still yummy! I believe we paid around $ 2.85 for a descent size house margarita. That is unheard of, at least where I come from! The waiters and staff were very nice and we had a great time here.

We were on our way back from Joplin, Missouri. Yes, that Joplin. We had worked up an appetite helping clear tornado debris and trees and came across this restaurant in Carthage (about 20 minutes outside of Joplin). The minute u walk in the door, you’ll see a sign that says «Now Serving Ribs.» Although the ribs are probably yummy– I highly suggest the chicken nachos and the enchiladas verdes. The food is plenty and the service was just okay. Overall, it’s heaping plates of tasty food for a great price! Not bad for Carthage, Missouri!

Although this would be considered Mexican fastfood by authentic Hispanics, it is a giant step above Taco Bell. Friendly crowd and really good food to the average American. You can always count on a cold Dos Equis or Corona and the tv turned to the Spanish channel. ¡Vamos!