El Real Tex-Mex Cafe

If you want the best Tex Mex in downtown, Midtown, or Montrose then come here. The staff is awesome, the food is delicious. They even have stuff on the menu for vegetarians. The restrooms have been clean every time I’ve gone in and that is very nice for ladies. I tried the La Flaca margarita (skinny) since I was eating some super comforting food I wanted to keep the balance. The margarita was perfect, not to sweet or bitter and I had two and it was plenty for me. My honey and I shared a pound of shrimp fajitas (of course taking home leftovers) and they had a great grilled flavor. Not to mention the cilantro butter was the perfect ratio of cilantro, most places over due it with the cilantro. We swapped charro beans for black beans and don’t regret it. We kept the rice normal even though they offer vegetarian rice which I have had and will say I prefer over the regular rice but both are great! We have eaten here many times and there isn’t anything on the menu I don’t recommend.
Don’t forget Montrose Monday ½ off food for the locals.

Had dinner last night and was pleasantly surprised. I am a big fan of Tex-​Mex and El Real delivered. I had the beef fajitas and they were amazing. They came from the kitchen cooked to a perfect medium.
The margaritas are no joke either!
I will definitely be back!

This is my gold standard for Tex-​Mex, specifically for margaritas, queso, and fajitas. Before I moved to NY I was a regular (even had a couple of family parties here).
Margaritas: absolutely perfect, the standard by which I measure every other margarita
Queso: same
Fajitas: Tied with the Original Ninfa’s on Navigation for best fajitas on the planet. What El Real does that Ninfa’s doesn’t is give you a vat of special garlic butter magic to add to it.
Tortillas: flour ones are homemade and perfect. Good for dipping in special garlic butter magic.
Beans: full of lard and deliciousness.
Chile de arbol sauce (not on the menu, you have to ask for it special) is a treat if you like super spicy sauces. Queso flameado con chorizo is also really delicious. They’re also really friendly to vegetarians, which I appreciate since one of my besties is veg (and also a regular, heh). Always great service, too, and managers are always quick to resolve issues should any come up.

I had the best normal old cheese enchilada of my life here. The amount of food they give you is so generous that when my waiter came by to collect my plate (still half full) I felt the need to make him aware that it wasn’t because the food didn’t satisfy me in ways that are too intimate for a Unilocal review… But just because of their generosity in sheer amount of food.
The salsa is warm. Do you know what they normally means? It’s fresh. Mmmmmm. So yummy. Although my hubby generally prefers cold salsa he was digging the taste of this stuff. It’s the good stuff.
The service was excellent. Our waiter was friendly and helpful without being overbearing, annoying, or hanging around too often.
By all means, if you are in the area then definitely check it out. You can’t miss the amazing sign that is still in the style of a vertical old movie sign. Loved it!

This is a good Mexican restaurant. The building is different being an old movie theater. I had the puffy tacos with carnitas and a cheese enchilada. Puffy tacos is San Antonio style which means it is not fried real crispy like most you will see around here (says that on the menu). More of a thicker corn tortilla that is slightly crispy on the out side and chewy on the inside. Cheese enchilada had a good chili gravy on it. Not the typical brown looking sauce you find at a lot of places, but a deep red chili-​con-​carne. The cheese inside was more of a velveta style cheese creamy and gooey. I prefer cheddar like you get at El teimpo (my fav) but this one was till good. We also had to get a Margarita at lunch and shared on just to see how they where. It was a very good 6 $ margarita seemed to be made from scratch and not a mix. Beans are made with lard so if you like that kind of thing then you will be happy. Wait staff did a very good job of taking care of us. You will not be disappointed with El Real. Quality food and quality service. I have not had enough on the menu to judge everything they have but what i have had has been good.

Best dang food in Houston. I swear Jesus Christ himself is back there cooking food for us. I am so full. Thank you. Everyone just come here

This place was way more than I expected. It was huge and roomy. The food was amazing. Now I love Mexican food and anyone who loves it knows it’s the chips and salsa that gets you. The chips were FRESH. I mean taste like they make them especially for you! I ordered a combination plate because I wanted to sample more than one thing. The tamales were good the enchiladas were super. They lost points with the chicken puffy taco. For some reason I imagine it taste like chalupa but it didn’t. The margaritas were strong I had a strawberry margarita. Over all this may be a regular Mexican soot for me now!

We were looking to take our company out for Tex-​Mex and show them the Montrose area. El Real seemed like a no brainer. It was a Monday – little did we know, Montrose Monday! We were surprised and delighted when our meals came out to be half off. This place has great food and a really fun ambiance. Set in what used to be a movie theater, they play black and white movies on a big screen at the end of the dining room. There isn’t any booth seating and the tables are a little crowded, but it’s not uncomfortable.
The house margarita was solid. Our food was fresh, delicious, and generously portioned. It was on the saltier side, but hey, that’s what water’s for. I had the pork enchiladas and savored every bite!

Things I liked: puffy chicken taco, refried beans, rice, HUGE meal
Eh: beef enchilada, cheese enchilada, beef tamale
When my friends first said we were meeting here, I didn’t know where it was, then when I saw it (old movie marquee), I remembered. The entrances are a bit strange, the one on the west side of the building is rather inconspicuous. Went in on Sunday during brunch time, were quickly seated. Server was friendly and helpful. Though a friend was raving about the bacon enchiladas on the brunch menu, I really wanted to try a puffy taco, and I don’t think I saw any for brunch. I went with the Leo’s Deluxe Platter, ~$ 17 and HUGE). I ate part, took the rest home, which could have been another two meals… but I ate as one: X Of course, free chips and salsa never help one be truly hungry when the entrees arrive.
I LOVED the puffy taco. Shell was great, and the taco had refried beans (which I think is either cooked with bacon, or the pork lard they advertise using), and white cheese. I could have been satisfied with the puffy taco by itself. Everything else was covered in chile con carne. I like chile con carne, but it seemed a bit overkill for me. The beef enchilada and beef tamale were good, and while the cheese enchilada is touted by many, when I took it home to reheat, seemed very Velveeta-​y. Which I like Velveeta, so was tasty, but I think I might prefer other cheese enchiladas. Rice was good, and the refried beans, again, were noticeably flavorful.

Their 1lb chicken and beef fajita platter is filled with moist chicken and tender, cooked to medium beef strips. tortillas are soft and chewy. baked tortillas chips available upon request.
this place is always poppin!
great fast service
valet only in the parking lot
they can accommodate large groups

Been there several times. This time I went for lunch with my brother, and got the #7 cheese enchilada plate with a fried egg. This place executes their food very well and very consistently. The egg was perfectly cooked on my food as well.
If you want a good rendition of classic Tex-​Mex food, this is a good place to do it.
Service was spot on too, never left waiting for a refill of my soda.

I came here for a team/​company Christmas party. We sat outside since the weather was nice and cool. They had our tables ready and our waitress was friendly and attentive. I believe her name was Debbie (hopefully I spelled it right). She was really great in serving our table of 12 people. She got our orders correctly and was quick. She had our cups and chips refilled and had our queso dip out in time for us to satisfy our hungry bellies for a bit until our meals came. We were waiting for someone else on our team to get to the party so she was patient with us in taking our orders.
We also ordered drinks that came out great. Some were on happy hour and some aren’t. She was nice enough to inform me that my drink wasn’t just in case. I had the coronita which was delicious. Our foods came out in a reasonable time of 12 people. I didn’t hear any complaints from any team members. I ordered the half pound chicken fajitas with corn tortilla. Which both came out fresh and hot just how it should be. The helpers who came out to deliver the food was also friendly and attentive. Overall, we had a blast and the staff made it easy for us and the food came out great! This was a perfect place for our Christmas get together. I would recommend this place for big groups and to enjoy the outside seating if the weather permits.

Solid Tex-​Mex joint.
They have three labeled vegetarian options on the menu (soft puffy tacos, fajitas, and enchiladas). I ordered the enchilada and my sister ordered the puffy tacos. Both the soft puffy tacos and enchiladas come without lettuce and tomatoes. Be sure to ask for them if you want it added (free of charge). My waiter asked if I wanted eggs and onion on my enchilada, but nothing about lettuce and tomatoes.
The food was good. Free chips and salsa as appetizers. Chips were crispy and tasty. The service was also great. Our waiter checked up on us often (almost a little too much).
Apparently this is an old converted movie theater. Expect high ceilings, indoor strings of light, and a large movie theater screen that may be playing a random cowboy movie inside. They also started playing upbeat Mexican music halfway through our meal.
The plaza has a pretty large parking lot for being in the Montrose area.

This a review for mostly the service… as I was quite intoxicated by the time we got there and honestly don’t think I ate very much (it was gameday, ok!)
We walked in really late on a Saturday night, like 10:30. The hostess seated us no problem and began taking orders, brining chips and salsa and not hounding us to be quick. The waitress was talkative and so nice! We ended up ordering fajitas and couple rounds of margaritas. Safe to say we were «those people» (sadly) and the whole restaurant staff was great. I do remember the margs were tasty and the salsa was great.

Came here on a Saturday night and it was surprisingly not crowded. The place was fairly large and they were quick to accommodate the group. Service was definitely good — the manager came out to make sure everything was going well.
Margaritas here are good but I didn’t feel like there was any liquor in the drinks. Tasted good though. The food was ok. The queso Flameago with chorizo wasn’t the best I’ve had but it wasn’t bad either. Same with the chili con queso. The tamale platter was actually pretty good — good sized tamale filled with pork with good flavors and a nice sauce! The bacon wrapped shrimp came out and there was a good portion of shrimp and sides! I’d say this place is definitely good for the price! Just wish the drinks were a little stronger.
The place does have a unique feel to it. Large glowing signs. Chairs above on display and a large projector playing movies in the back. Very unique and fun place to go with large groups!

El Real is a very popular Tex-​Mex restaurant located on prime real estate in Montrose. It offers decent vegetarian options: I’ve heard great things about the puffy tacos, which have a vegetarian option of black beans and guac. I was having dinner with a few coworkers on a Friday night, and the whole restaurant was buzzing.
I ordered the enchiladas de hongos, because a lot of me feels bad when I only eat beans, cheese, and carbs for a meal. These enchiladas came with mushroom and poblano fillings, covered in a Friday sauce. I think that tipped the scales too: eat Friday sauce on a Friday? Heck yeah. Well, I should have ordered my enchiladas with a sunny side up egg on top. I think it would have made the entire plate much better. The Friday sauce was not my thing, and halfway through the meal I really just wish I had ordered cheese enchiladas. I’m definitely not sophisticated enough to enjoy mushroom enchiladas with my margarita.
The service here was average. A server forgot to bring out a drink, and another server actually fell on the stairs directly behind me.
I’ll probably end up returning to El Real with friends, but for now, Houston offers so much Tex-​Mex that it’s easy to pick somewhere new.

I have a Tex Mex addiction, and this restaurant is one of my new favorite enablers.
I made my first visit to El Real this past Tuesday. Parking for happy hour was a breeze, but it’s a smaller lot, so they have valet for busier times. I loved the venue. It definitely still had the feel of an old theater (the old western movie playing in the background definitely had that), but it made for a nice, spacious restaurant and bar set up with solid character (and perfect lighting).
Our waiters were attentive and relatively quick with everything. The chips were fresh, crisp, and hot; the salsa was maybe a pinch too watery for my liking, but still fresh and flavorful. Shoutout to my friend Marcel for telling us about the $ 2 margs on Tuesdays (this is exactly why you want to go up on a Tuesday) — DELISH. They were tall, strong, and perfectly blended. I won’t tell you how many I wanted, but one was more than enough. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend. We also ordered the queso fundido (~$ 5), which was a nice tangy cheese with a smoky flavor. They came with fluffy tortillas as well. If I hadn’t pulled the classic «stuff yourself with chips until you can’t see straight» move, I would have definitely worked my way into the main menu. I was already eyeing the bacon enchiladas.
Long story short — take a break from your regularly scheduled Tex Mex chains, and check out this gem. I will definitely be back!

Drive down Westheimer day or night and your not gonna miss El Real. Had dinner there tonight with friends, first time for us all.
I was impressed when they asked for a phone number to text us when table was ready. They did not end up using it, just walked around yelling out names the old fashion way, but still I was impressed in the beginning.
I have been to many tex-​mex restaurants, living in Houston over the years, but this food was so wonderful. Everything had so much flavor and I appreciate that it was NOT covered in cheese and grease. The waiter was excellent, informative, ingaging, helping us make awesome menu choices. We topped off the dinner with a tasty treat on the house and it was oh so tasty.

My first visit here, but it won’t be my last! I had an excellent meal and fabulous service by Carlos. Chips and warm salsa (which I totally love) arrived upon being seated. Then the tough decision on what drink to order. Hmm… They have a decent selection of margaritas and tequilas and you can also create your own. I decided to try the special of the month, Sin City Margarita made with George Clooney’s Casamigos Tequila. The tequila is as smooth as Clooney himself.
Next up, what to order! I wanted everything, but was for sure eyeing a combo plate to maximize my variety. Now this is where Carlos truly amazed me. I wanted to make a few changes to the combo plate (think Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, not really, maybe). Anyway, Carlos accepted my changes without blinking an eye or writing anything down. I was positive it was going to come out all wrong!
My entrée arrived just as ordered. A Roosevelt special with 2 cheese enchiladas topped with queso and a fried egg, a bean tostada (I prefer that name to chalupa), and a black bean puffy taco. Everything was delicious!
We were presented with a sample of there Not for Minors milkshake after dinner and was the perfect ending to a great meal.

This place rocks! I am allergic to tomatoes and every dish I wanted was filled with them! Our server and the manager bent over backwards to have things cooked special for me without the tomatoes and without me even asking! Customer Service at its finest!
This place is in a pretty historic Houston building. Before you go, do some research on The Tower Theater.