El Charro

Eating the most delicious eggplant meal I’ve ever had on the specials menu. This place is awesome! Been coming here for years and always great food and great service.

We are frequent customers of El Charro. The food is consistently good and the service is generally fast and courteous.
Our family likes the crispy tacos, enchiladas, chile rellenos, Camarones Ala Diabla, burrito mojado and prawn enchiladas or tacos. The enchilada sauce is delicious so definitely give it a try. The corn tortillas are homemade and yummy too.
The servers are always very friendly and very good with our daughter. They tend to go the extra mile to get her extra crayons, drinks, more tortillas, etc. It’s nice when a restaurant treats everyone well, even the littles.
I’d give 5 stars if it weren’t for the noise level, which is loud when the restaurant is crowded, typically on weekend nights. I’d recommend the main restaurant portion if there are bigger groups in their back area as it gets very loud in there.

I shoulda READ some reviews before visiting El Charro (I only looked at «star count» and location.)
Stopped in with my kid after a basketball tourney nearby at the Livermore Community Center. We were both hungry and I didn’t feel like making lunch after a morning of hanging out in the gym watching youth hoops.
Atmosphere at El Charro is pleasant, service friendly and super burritos bland :(
Yup, bland. I had to pour the entire contents of chip salsa on every bite and there was still no kick to pick up the lifeless log. I had shredded chicken in my burro — nada… flavorless. My kid had a bean-​cheese super burro. His comments? «It’s okay (with a shrug of the shoulders).»
Had I read my fellow Unilocaler’s comments, I may have opted for Carne Asada, Carnitas or even ground beef.
I’d try El Charro again, but for now — 3 stars.

Another Super Great meal at El Charro! Great service and a perfect room for a meeting for Savvy Women!

We came in here at 9:30pm on a Friday night. Service was fast, timing was on point, glasses never went dry. Prices are very reasonable. Our ticket said our server was Erick B.
It’s currently 10:04pm and we’re about to leave very happy.

The food was pretty good. The service was not bad. But I was there on Saturday 1÷9÷16 for a party and 17 of 19 attendees were sick and throwing up the next day. The Health Dept is looking into this and it is possible it could be something else, but I think it is safe to say to eat here at your own risk. Also, if you were there this day and had similar symptoms please let the Health Dept know. Hopefully the problem will be nailed down and fixed ASAP.

Me: «I don’t feel like cooking. Where do you want to go to eat?»
Hubs: «I don’t know, where do you want to go?»
Me: «I don’t know, where do you want to go?
Both of us at the same time: «El Charro?»
This happens at least once a week, sometimes twice a week.
The service is always great and the food is always good. Always… good! All the servers know what I want…
–Carne Asada taco basket: the Carne Asada has simple seasoning, is flame kissed, and always has good texture
–Carnitas taco basket: they do Carnitas so well! The pork is very flavorful and is perfectly moist and crispy at the same time!
–Super Burrito with ground beef: I am pretty sure I had this exact burrito when I would visit my grandmother.
And an extra plate for splitskies!
«No Carne Asada plate this time?» is what they ask because they know the only other item I order. I could eat that twice a week and not get tired of it. In fact, I think I did that a whole month in a row and I am still going back.
Is it a destination restaurant… probably not. It’s more like a «neighborhood/​local» destination. Arguably the best Mexican restaurant in Livermore when location, food flavor, and service is considered.
Final Taco Thought: get the Carnitas!!! Served with one single, larger corn tortilla with onion and cilantro. They serve some of the best Carnitas I have had since moving to this area.

This is a pretty consistently decent Mexican place in Livermore. The last time I went, I tried the Fajitas — and they were just OK. They didn’t come out on a sizzling platter like some places, which is fine — but the ingredients were getting kind of cold, the tortillas were too small, and what appeared to be a nice sized glob of sour cream was mostly lettuce hidden below a thin layer of sour cream.
The rest of my party was also pleased with what they had — including a new sour cream based dish they had, the Sopas, and my kids had some pretty decent looking enchaladas off the kids menu. The chips and salsa served were very good.
I will say that the service was very good. I forgot our servers name, but she was very friendly and attentive.
All in all, I’d go back and keep trying out other things on the menu, but it’s not someplace I’m going to rave about just yet.

Excellent service from Katie Jo! Food was excellent. We enjoy the ambiance, only next time we go we are sitting outside! Prices are a little higher than we anticipated, however downtown Livermore is such a great place to visit so we are ok with that. Caught a movie before, and went strolling down 1^st st. afterwards, picking up an ice cream cone from Loards.
We will definitely be back and recommend to our friends.
I wish Tracy would take a look at Downtown Livermore and do something similar.

Yum yum yum!!! My ABSOLUTE favorite mexican food. The mole, oh the mole. If you’ve never been here, I recommend the enchiladas. It is was they’re known for and for good reason. It is a red mole with an almost creamy texture and the perfect blend of fresh blended peppers and spices (but it’s not spicy fyi). If for some crazy reason you do not like enchiladas, try a wet burrito or really just anything with mole! They also have a great sour cream sauce that I believe is rotational. Fajitas are also a great choice. ALWAYS get the corn tortillas– they are handmade and SOOO good. I also really enjoy their shrimp cocktail. Obviously I come here a lot!
Full bar w some new drinks on the menu. Happy hour is super reasonable– $ 3 house margaritas (at least last time I went)!! Can’t beat it. If you want to go for the fancy varieties, the cucumber margarita is fabulous.
The location itself is also prime. It’s in the small shopping center across from the downtown movie theatre. Very convenient. Inside is nicely decorated and clean. The bar is open seating which I appreciate. Outdoor seating is also available for those nice, sunny Livermore days.
Give this place a try, it’s DELICIOUS, fresh, reasonably priced and has great service!

I have to give a shot out to my favorite restaurant in Livermore! Every time I come here I have to share at least two plates because I want to order everything on the menu! Extra mole sauce please! Today I’m having my favorite, chicken enchiladas, but I am also sharing another favorite with a friend the steak and chicken fajitas, yum! I’m about to have my second mango enchilado margarita! I know I won’t be able to walk out of this place because I even ordered their bean and cheese dip app which now has mole sauce! Who ever knew you could make bean and cheese dip 100 times better!
With all that said, I highly recommend this place, great happy hour which I love taking advantage of, great drinks, and in the downtown area which I love!

I’ve been to this place a couple times and it’s time for a review as I have enjoyed myself every time I come here! One of my favorite dishes is the burrito mojado. The mole sauce is awesome! My wife generally orders the fajitas. They have Micheladas which are generally hard to find, some of the best I’ve tasted! I’ve been here for happy hour too for some cheap beers and some great tacos.
I’ve been to Mexico many times and I can tell you that this place is pretty authentic; I would definitely recommend this place when you’re in the mood for some good Mexican food!
Salud!!!

A semi fancy Mexican place. Came here with some co-​workers and we were seated outside in the patio. I didn’t even get to see what the inside of the restaurant. It was a nice day so I didn’t mind. Anyways I had the chicken enchiladas plate. Came out on a super hot plate. The whole enchilada including the chicken was very easy to break apart with just your fork. Super cheesy and tender and creamy. It also came with rice and beans. Those were ok. But I really liked the enchiladas. I didn’t pay for lunch so not sure how much it was. And I had a huge truck so I parked on the street but I think there’s a small lot in front.

My favorite Mexican in town! Service is great and I’m a sucker for Elias chavelas! Yummy!

The best «Happy Hour» in town! And the staff is so friendly. The margaritas are excellent I love this place.

I love the new white sauce on the Crab Enchilada! Friendly staff, authentic Mexican food… a real pleasure to find this place in Livermore!

4.5 stars. Second time we’ve been here. GREAT cheese enchiladas and Chile rellano! The Chile rellano is fantastically de-​seeded, and not mushy, like they usually are! Consistently the best I’ve ever had! Their chips and salsa are awesome! Boyfriend was very happy with his steak and shrimp fajitas. Had the ceviche last night and they definitely don’t skimp on the seafood! Just, not enough tomatoes and lime juice for my liking, but still good! Attentive service, but, sometimes the bar drinks take awhile. The margaritas came out the same time as our dinner, but our dinners came out surprisingly fast! As far as prices go, in my head, it feels expensive ($ 14.99 for Chile rellano and enchilada combo, $ 16.99 stk and shrimp combo, $ 12 HUGE margaritas), but, honestly and realistically, that’s the same price as the majority of other sit down mexican restaurants.
Definitely recommend!

So I’ve been going to this place for over a year now, maybe two years and my go to is always the chicken enchiladas with red sauce, whole pinto beans and rice.
Tonight I tried one of the «new» white sour cream enchiladas in place of one of my red ones and it was good. The white sauce is heavy so unless you’re super hungry go for the red… my friend liked the green sauce enchilada in case that’s your preference.
Tried flan for the first time tonight and I liked it but I do not have any others to compare it to… so can’t help you with this one.
Happy hour was a nice surprise so take advantage of it if you can.
You will get great service so don’t worry about that.
My only complaint would is that they do not give you enough sauce for the enchiladas but I’m sure you can ask them for extra.

Friday lunch was tucked into a hardware store errand.
Wanting some *home made* Mexican we stopped by here early.
Lots of parking, booths and great service throughout our meal.
Chips with the salsa were nasty… you can get better at the grocery store… salsa was great. This is probably a good thing, they I didn’t eat too many.
Hubby went for the Soft Tacos El Pastor, and I opted for Flautas.
The great: The home made corn tortillas are wonderful, and the rice was yummy with a warm flavor.
The not so great: Soft Tacos El Pastor had no flavor, Flautas were way too much tortilla to meat ratio.
OK, but for us we want flavorful food when we go for Mexican.

Preferred El Charro back when it was a little hole in the wall, but for Mexican comfort food, you can’t go wrong with El Charro. And their happy hour? Amazing!
Their red enchilada sauce is delicious, probably why I always order a burrito mojado — a big burrito with your choose of meat and drenched in their famous red sauce!
Oh, and their specialty namesake margarita? The El Charro? Totally worth it.
Their patio is dog friendly and the service is great too.