Amaya’s Taco Village

I love this place. I’m a vegetarian and they have veggie rice and beans… a true find! We ordered take out tonight and it was quick and delicious and a good value. I think this is the best consistent Tex-​mex in town. You won’t be disappointed with the food. Don’t expect this place to be a cute date night joint. It’s kind of crappy on the inside. But the food is delicious. Every time. Enjoy!

I have been going to Amaya’s for over 20 years, since they were a whole in the wall restaurant in a strip center off of Berkman Dr. I’ve tried just about everything on the menu but the village tacos are my crack. Every time i go i tell myself to try something different but i can’t «that shit just be callin’ me man, it be callin’ me, man… I just got to go to it!» When first saw their sign they had in the window «Beware our food is habit forming», i thought that’s funny. Jokes on me cause it came true, i got a taco habit.

Had the carne guisada and it blew my mind. Delicious! Great food and sweet waitstaff. Loved it!

A lot has changed about Austin, but thankfully, Amaya’s has pretty much remained the same. (Although their prices have increased and their location changed — they just moved over on the other side of I35.) Love their Village tacos! Delicious homemade corn shells with beef, lettuce, tomato & cheese are the best — yum! I can’t really speak to their table service, as we almost always get our food to go from here, but it’s super easy to call in an order & pick it up in 15 – 20 min.

I’ve always gotten the food to go… However I I decided to dine in today. I got the beef stew. It was delicious. The service is not good. The waiter was not attentive. He never poured water & forgot multiple items.

I was disappointed by the entire experience. My friend and I were seated quickly by a friendly, funny and efficient hostess. She, sadly, was the highlight of our experience.
We waited about 10 minutes before any one greeted us and then several more minutes before our waitress brought us chips and salsa. The chips were mostly broken into small, inedible pieces. The salsa was good. When our waitress arrived to take our order, my friend asked about margaritas. He asked if there was a signature margarita or other drink that the place was known for. She said, «not really.» We went ahead and each ordered a margarita. They tasted okay, but from a machine and not made to order.
We waited a long time for our waitress to come back and take our order. She finally did and we asked for more chips and salsa. Another wait staff brought us our food several minutes later, but no more chips. We ordered fajitas. They tasted okay, but the meat was really tough. The tortillas were also tough.
We ordered a second drink and got it after we were completely finished with our meal. We never did get the extra chips and salsa. We also asked for napkins and never got them.
Overall: the food was so-​so, the drinks were so-​so and the service was terrible. The next day we went to Baby A’s and ordered the same thing. The service was great, the food was great, the drinks were great and the bill was $ 15.00 less. Lesson learned.

Finally had the chance to come here and I was not disappointed…
I was able to come in during the afternoon, just at the back end of lunch and the service was great. The ladies were always at your table filling drinks and the salsa cups.
Loved the simple menus that are not overloaded with things trying to accommodate every type of customer, just simple straight forward mexican food.
I ordered the Three Taco Combo and paid the up-​charge for fajita meats: Chicken and Beef. I have to say that they were all good, but I liked the Beef most.
They were on thick corn tortillas and the tortillas were extremely well cooked. Some places have thin corn tortillas that tear apart when you eat them, but not here. The moisture and flavor in the tortilla kept the whole taco together the entire time you ate them. Spot on perfect.
The chips and salsa were really good. The salsa gave you that subtle sweating that you enjoy when eating salsa, showing that it does not over power your taste-​buds, but yet does provide you the flavor you crave while you have that glisten of sweat around your brow to show your love for it.
Overall, Amaya’s is a great lunch stop, or anytime, for taco’s and good service.

Why is this place so popular? We’ve had so many people tell us to go here. So, one night we drove down from Cedar Park to try it. It was ok. There is nothing spectacular about this. The queso tastes like something my son would conjure up if he attempted to make it (that’s not a good thing because he’s not a «cook.»
It’s an ok place but not worth a family road trip or a place that would wow you. I didn’t leave here anxiously awaiting the next time I could enjoy their food. Yes, it filled my belly, but enjoyment or excitement wasn’t there.
I read in one review someone liked their Tortillas. Really? They come from a package. They taste like the ones off the shelf at HEB and not the one HEB makes in house. The food is more from a box or a can that is prepared for you. The problem, if I want cheap food from a box or a can, I’ll make it at home instead of spending almost $ 50 for 3 people (no alcohol) to have someone else do it. Maybe that is the secret. Maybe I have to be drinking alcohol to think the food is awesome.

I was drawn to Amaya’s Taco Village after seeing it on the Eater Austin 38. I wouldn’t say that it is out of this world, or fantastically impressive but they are definitely pushing out decent eats.
We came on a Thursday right about noon and there was a 15 minute wait for a table. They had a huge deck as well as ample inside seating for waiting. That, I love. There’s nothing I despise more than a restaurant that always has a wait, but doesn’t have ample places to wait. A+ on that! I will say that the parking lot was jammed full. We got very lucky, (we didn’t know it until a few minutes later when we made our walk in to the restaurant) that someone just happened to pull out as we were pulling in.
We were seated way back in a corner and we really couldn’t see much of the restaurant but it actually worked out ok for my friend and I, as we could actually carry a conversation while the restaurant was busy. Our waitress was super quick with everything. We ordered our drinks and she got them back to us immediately, then she took our order. Shortly after that, (we were very surprised) our food came out. I guess they have a very efficient kitchen and kudos for that as well!
I had the two taco plate — one with beef and one with chicken. Everything was very fresh, and each section was heaping, from rice to beans, to lettuce, to tomatoes — it was great! The chicken was a bit dry, and I would have definitely liked to have tasted more seasoning but it was still decent. The beef was also good, but needed more seasoning. The one thing that I think is massively important to mention here, is that Amaya’s does fresh corn tortillas, and fries them to make fresh crispy tacos. I was a little perplexed at first, as it is so different than what I’m used to. The best description I can give is that they are crispy, but slightly soft in the middle. I liked the shells, and I liked the effort.
All in all, this was a great experience and I’d definitely come back here to try different things. Four stars!

Amaya’s Taco Village just might have my favorite breakfast tacos in town. Don’t get me wrong, I love Taco Deli, Torchy’s, etc., but none of those places serve authentic breakfast tacos. The tacos at Amaya’s are cheap ($ 1.50-$ 2.00 per taco) and delicious. They remind me of tacos I can get back home in San Antonio. (I will always prefer SA tacos to Austin tacos, sorry!) This is my go-​to place to pick up a large order of tacos when I have guests in town.
If you’re dining in, they also have really great breakfast plates. My personal favs are the carne guisada and barbacoa plates.
Also, they’re salsa is AMAZING. Do yourselves a favor and order a to-​go container of it. You won’t be disappointed!

Having been a fan since the days on the OTHER side of I-​35, the time has come to part ways with Amaya’s.
15 minutes after being seated, I began to see the writing on the wall. The basket of «chips» was the first sign: a sad pile of stale broken bits… to dip into salsa AND queso. :-(
To say that ordering cocktails was «clumsy» is generous. First rounds were slow to arrive, and a second round took even longer; most arrived already half-​thawed.
The coud de gras arrived with an order of mixed fajitas, without any flavor whatsoever. The flour tortillas arrived luke-​warm and rubbery.
And if our visit wasn’t bad enough, the family of three across from us had been waiting more than an hour for ANYTHING!
I’m hoping this was just a one-​off as opposed to a sign of things to come; but Monday’s experience really rattled me. I’m not writing them off entirely, but for now, I’m playing it cautious.

Is it the best Mexican food ever? No. But the service is great and the portions are huge. Great place to go on a weekday and you are craving a huge amount of food.
Chips aren’t house made and the queso seems canned. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Holy cow, amazing breakfast tacos. It’s just bacon, cheese and egg in a tortilla but the egg is perfectly fluffy, bacon perfectly crisp and cheese is completely melted in along the side of the tortilla. An example of something simple, yet perfectly executed. Think it might be the bacon grease or lard, but it flavors the whole taco amazingly.
If you have time to swing by, grab some for the office — it’ll make everyone’s day :)

Food is authentic … Tortillas delicious hand made, and I love the soup… When I am in town this is the one place I always make sure to stop at.
Migas for breakfast this morning, just what the doctored ordered after a night in Austin!

I really enjoy their Village Tacos, which are made with their homemade tasting corn tortillas, which are thicker than the usual corn tortillas. They fry the thick tortillas up and it creates a taco shell that both crispy and chewy, an awesome combination. The cheese they use tastes like it’s been grated off a block of American cheese. Very low brow tex mex, but that’s what I want on my village taco, it pairs well with the meat.
For breakfast I enjoy their breakfast tacos with the thick corn tortillas, because they stand up to the filling. Most places have to use two corn tortillas per breakfast taco, but not here. I only get the corn here too, if I want a taco on flour there are other places I like better.
As far as the other food, I think it rates alongside your average tex mex restaurant you find in town. Their enchiladas and Carne guisada are good, but nothing great. Their salsa has a good flavor but absolutely no heat. This place was built on the village tacos and those corn tortillas. If you come here for the village tacos, you won’t be disappointed, but you will be full.

Full bar! That’s pretty cool, right?
This place has a good atmosphere and a full bar, but what they don’t have is real cheese. Listen, I’m from Austin, and I know about «old school» Tex Mex and the bad cheese that comes with it. Yes, there is a special place in my heart for Gringo enchiladas. However, times they are a changing, and we get to eat Tex Mex with real cheese nowadays. Now that’s what I call progress!
At the end of the day, this place is alright. If you’re in the area and want to sit at a bar and get a cheap drink this is a great choice. Not too jazzed about the food though. With so many delicious Tex Mex options to choose from, this whole cheese thing really throws things off for this Unilocaler.

What Taco Bell would taste like at a sit down restaurant.

Servers are all about hospitality! Great place to go with friends. I came here with a party of 20 during a busy hour, and the servers were so quick to get our order and deliver our food.
I love their crispy tacos!

In an area of town where food selection is sparse this is a welcome addition. Their food is nothing special but it does the trick. Not to mention it is well priced. I saw some comments that said the service was bad. Our experience was quite the contrary. Our server was quick, polite and gave solid recommendations.
They have a decent little patio, if you read my reviews you know I’m a sucker for s decent patio, so that is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Probably one of the key reasons I’ll be going back. Also, their margaritas aren’t half bad either.
They also have a to-​go store front which will be nice on lazy days.

This restaurant was close to our hotel when we got into town, so it was nice since it was right off the highway. I read the reviews which sounded good, however I ignored the reviews that were talking about «fake cheese» (although now I understand why they said that). Obviously, everybody likes a chip/​salsa set up at a Mexican restaurant. But when we ordered queso, I’m pretty sure it was velveeta cheese. Not impressed.
However I got the Pollo A La Parrilla and I mixed the cheese sauce and ranchero sauce and it was very good. My friend got the chicken quesadillas and she said she was impressed too. And the margaritas? Awesome. This is a pretty solid restaurant except for the crummy queso.

Awesome, reliable food. Fantastic chorizo and menudo!