Serranos Especial

Serrano’s was a destination in Austin for me for many years. Great location, delicious food, beautiful venue. I’m really sad it closed.

Two words: happy hour.
I was never disappointed by their happy hour. The drinks were only like $ 2.50 and that included a free nacho bar. They had the most margarita flavors of any place I’d been to in Austin. For $ 2.50 you would think that the quality would not be very great. However, it was the complete opposite; the drinks were a very fair size and the taste was exceptional. There was also a waiter frequently making sure that you had everything that you needed. This location had plenty of seating, as well. The outside area had amazing scenery. The one downside was parking. There was only pay-​to-​park, and it was pretty difficult to find a spot close to the restaurant.
Sad to hear this location closed.

Well, it seems that this location has closed down for good, dang it. I always loved this particular Serranos because it’s ambience made you feel like you were down on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. The food was very good in my opinion and the margaritas were strong and tasty. Another Austin restaurant goes down to make way for… what? Another godforsaken hipster bar/​restaurant? Serranos, we hardly knew ye. Sigh…

Upon recommendation of our cousin, we dined at Serranos before a concert at TX Performing Arts Center at UT. Our server, Carlos, was friendly and service was so prompt that we arrived an hour early to the concert. Happy Hour prices are fantastic for Margarita’s! The house margarita is only $ 3.00 and the Perfect only $ 5.00.
We had chicken and shrimp enchiladas and both were delicious! The Pacifico rice is so much better than the typical spanish rice you normally get. You also have several choices of beans.
This was our second time at Serranos. The first being our cousin’s wedding reception. The beautiful patio made for an excellent location for their special day!

This is my first time visiting Austin so I wanted to try out all the restaurants that I can’t have at home in Dallas. I was extremely disappointed in the staff. There was no host at the door when I arrived, and I had to wait about 10 minutes before anyone would even aknowledge my friend and I, however the waiters walked past us several times, no eye contact, no hello, nothing. We only had an hour to eat unless one of us went back to pay our meter which was three blocks away, the place was dead, and we STILL had to wait and wait and wait! Terrible service, I only ordered the chips and quest because I wasn’t spending anymore money than I had to. If I could give it zero stars I would. Needless to say I won’t be going back. Ever.

Problem #1 — when you type «Serranos» into Unilocal,this location doesn’t even come up. I had to Google «Serranos downtown» and then find out that the real name is «Serranos Especial» and type that specifically into Unilocal to find it. Aside, the location is pretty awesome! It’s in a great historic building, although with old comes problems. We had water dripping on our table from above the whole time. The happy hour drinks were okay priced, nothing super special, but they tasted good and had kick to them. The chips were over cooked and tasted burnt. A coworker brought it to the servers attention and she just brought out more of the same. I didn’t taste any of the other food but my coworkers seem to like it. Was it great? No. Would I go back? Sure! They have different drink specials each day and the food looked pretty good. I’ll let u know what I think next time.

Came here for brunch with a group of friends. It was okay. Nothing too special about the food. They were able to seat a group of 7 really quick so this is a good place to bring a group to. The omelette I got, the toppings were barely grilled and it didn’t come with any sides. They also have $ 5 bottomless mimosas which is a great deal.
Overall, it was an OK place. Wouldn’t complain too much if I came back here; just nothing extraordinary about the experience.

Our waitress was pretty slow but they catered to my food allergies! And the view + margaritas can’t be beat!

I went to this restaurant with my wife, my son, and three other families. It was a Saturday night and not very crowded. The setting is very lovely, however we were extremely disappointed with the quality of the food, and being a large group we had only one waiter who seem to be very dis-​interested in providing good service. I have not eaten at Serranos in many years, so I was looking forward to visiting again. It was a huge disappointment. The margaritas were decent tasting, but very expensive. Do you know that wonderful smell and sound of a sizzling platter when fajitas are being delivered to your table? That didn’t happen. It was just warm. The onions were not even caramelized. All in all, I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone that I know. Time to lift your game Serranos.

This restaurant has a great patio & is located in an historic building. I went here for a casual dinner with colleagues. They recommended it, and I was a little dubious about their impression on the quality of the food as they are East Coasters. Lol. :)
We ordered the queso especial to share. This was one of my favorite things about this place. The queso was flavorful & so yummy.
For my entrée, I ordered the bandera, which is 3 different enchiladas. The best one was the chicken with verde sauce. The other two were okay. I also ordered the pork tamale as I’m always curious how a place makes tamales. It was average.
While the hostess was awesome, the server provided less than average service (i.e., didn’t refill our water or check in to see if we needed anything.
Overall, this was a nice stop, & I will likely return on my next trip to Austin.

Awful happy hour service. 3 different waiters, never took complete orders, never brought everything correctly on the first try. Even when we wanted to leave they ignored us and wouldn’t let us pay. As I type this I am sitting in front of their order system by myself waiting for someone to come run my card so I can leave. I am a hostage. Someone please help

My co-​workers treated me to Serranos for my birthday. The restaurant is in a historic building which I am not too sure the name of the building per se but it was beautiful with a nice patio. I wouldn’t have mind sitting outside since it was a beautiful day. Since it was weekday lunch it was packed.
I ordered a quesadilla and taco lunch combo. It was really good. The taco was large than I expected it to be and the quesadilla was filling along with the black beans and rice. I was tempted to give them a three star review due to the fact the service was slow. I decided to give it four stars of the food.
They do have a small parking lot across the street and then there’s street parking. Despite the slow service I wouldn’t mind coming back to Serranos. It is nice enough to bring my parents when they come to town.

Great lunch for large group! Serrano’s friendly staff, good food, and warm atmosphere made for an awesome lunch for a group of 25. We had the fajita buffet, which was ready and waiting for us when we arrived. Beef and chicken both nicely marinated. Tortillas and Guacamole top notch!

Amazing brunch! Recommend the Micas w/​chili con queso. Huge plate, so good I had to come back for dinner.
Outdoor patio is perfect, string lighting makes it very charming. Dinner special was 2 plates of food and I ate every last bite (if that says anything). This is what Tex-​Mex was meant to be.
Wait service was genuinely helpful and attentive.
Highly recommend! I think I might be going back for a third time before I leave town…

Very tasty food in a great environment.
Service was very good and quick. My 3-​enchilada meel was delicious and well presented. Standard chips n salsa were good, but not special. Good margarita, but also not special.
But the food was excellent for me.

Went for Sunday brunch with 3 daughters and sons in law. Buffet was only $ 14.95 and really big and delicious. Bottomless mimosa for $ 4. Live music today and next week. I hope they extend it. The building is gorgeous historic Austin stone. Service was great. We stayed for hours as the music and food are so good. I have not been to the other locations. This one is wonderful.

No, this is not the best tex-​mex in the world. Don’t get your hopes up, folks.
Serranos is cheap, close to the Capitol, and the semi-​meh food will hit the spot when in the mood for something «more authentic» than Chipotle.

This review is for Abel, the catering manager, and for the service staff who took care of us this past Sunday for brunch.
Not only were we given rock star treatment, but Abel provided a reserved table in the bar area right next to the buffet for my rather large brunch group. Our servers accommodated us by splitting checks for the table (a table of around 20 people…) and then never ONCE letting us see the bottom of our bottomless mimosas. Which cost $ 4.00 by the way.
By the end of this incredible event, not only were we all seriously stuffed and happy, but we had also cleared the restaurant out of its entire champagne supply.
I mean, they had a busy Sunday even without our group’s presence, so it wasn’t all us. Although I’d probably give my table most of the credit :)
Abel brought out a few tasting platters for our table with some amazing breakfast concoctions in perfect sharing portions, we had sharing plates of mini pancakes which were just perfection, and on the buffet — the meats. Oh, the meats. The carne guisada was phenomenal.
Like any buffet, plan your arrival accordingly for freshness. We arrived at 1:00 — but I think that this buffet is going to be best at noon. Jump on the fresh fruits and cheeses when you see them being replenished so they’ll be cold, the pastries were all great, and if a dish seems to have sat for too long — just ask that it be replaced! Their Mexican-​themed dishes I found to be the best on the the buffet.
In the end, we had a great experience, got a great deal, and Abel and his staff presented a lovely showcase of Serrano’s offerings. Their brunch special is great $ 17.95 for the buffet with $ 4.00 bottomless mimosas in a beautiful atmosphere.
(Gracias y mucho amor, Jokabeth!)

Before I came here I was asking a lot of Austin Unilocalers for help. I wanted a good Tex-​Mex spot that was within walking distance of where I was. I ended up at Serranos. I promised a review to let them know. (Not like I wasn’t gonna write one anyhow)
First, great ambiance. A little cheesy looking on the inside but they have tons of outdoor seating on the patio. It looked great. Though my friends wanted to sit inside at the bar to catch the rest of the Elite Eight games. Knowing I had to save room for an awesome night of drinking later I decided only to get one them especially after I kept eating their chips and salsa which were excellent. I got the tacos tulum which is, achiote marinated tender pork served on home made corn tortillas with pico de gallo, avocado slices, spanish rice and choice of beans.
Simply amazing. The pork was great. Smokey and real tender. I asked for some extra kick to my meal and it was exactly what I was looking for.
In the end was I blown away, no. But I did enjoy my experience very much. I’d recommend Serranos, especially if you can get that patio seating.

I’ve eaten here before, and LOVED the food. This time, well, meh. Why the big change? Well, there was some big shindig going on downtown (and I’m not talking the Annual film and tech thng), so they only had a «Hey, We Can Make A Lot More Money By Offering Very Limited Menu and Turning Tables» menu, of about 8 items. The choices weren’t great, and that food was, to be honest, lackluster. A complete turn around from the usual great, great environment, and great food, and great service.
Perhaps you could call ahead to see if they are offerning the Full Menu before you try it.