Don Carlos Restaurant

Don Carlos is my favorite Mexican restaurant on Cherokee ST. Authentic and tastes like home.
Great Salsa Verde
Tortas are on point and huge
The burritos are delicious and can feed a family of 4 unless you’re hungry then you will be full for days to come.
Great patio, great people watching and great owner.
Very amicable
Authentic
And generous.
If you can’t decide where or what to eat.
Give this great restaurant a try.

We have eaten at a lot of restaurants on Cherokee and this is by far the best Mexican food! Our server was great really nice and attentive.

It’s a store, Mexican meat deli (carnicería), and a quick order taco shop (to be fair they have more than just tacos). What really counts is that they have all of the different really tasty meat options for your tacos (including ‘adobada’)! They even have the half liter glass bottle Coca-​Cola! Best tacos I’ve had in St Louis so far, and I’m from Socal, the Mecca of good tacos (besides Mexico).

My favorite mexican restaurant on Cherokee. The tacos are far superior to La Vallesana. The melding of the different fats on the flat top make the meat super tender, juicy and almost buttery-​rich. The tostadas are excellent as well. I usually only have time for a quick lunch stop, so I stick to the quick items. It’s also super affordable.
Service is always friendly and attentive. The grocery store is quite expansive as well.

I’ll preface the negatives of this review as being related to vegetarian offerings.
Stopped in on a Thursday evening and sat on the patio, which was nice. They brought out 2 different kinds of salsa & both were really good, but I liked the smoky/​chipotle one the best.
For dinner, I tried to order the Chile Relleno, which was the only veg item on the dinner menu, although they did have chilaquiles on the breakfast side, but they were out.
I asked if they could make a vegetarian burrito and substitute grilled veggies for the meat. The waitress said no, they don’t have veggies, but allot of vegetarians ask the same thing. She said the only thing they could make was a bean burrito with lettuce.
Here’s what’s strange — they are attached to a grocery store, so how could they not have veggies? Also, unless I’m remembering wrong, this same place catered a Unilocal Elite event an Nebula a few years back and I’m pretty positive they made a veggie burrito, that was really yummy.
Normally Mexican is a no brainer for having veggie options, burrito, quesadilla, nacho’s — so this was disappointing.
Since the bean burrito with lettuce did not sound appealing, I didn’t order, but otherwise the waitress was nice and the salsa good. I would go back as long as they were not out of the relleno.

Update July 2014: I’m taking away a star Don Carlos for service… this is twice in a row my party’s order was flawed. You’re slipping lately…
Original reiew: It’s ALL good! If you like great mex food, go here. If you like americanized mex food… stay away. This is a great spot.

I hate to write a review on a one time dining experience. I want to see if there’s a trend in the food and service, so I’ve waited until we’ve been here a couple of times. This restaurant is in a little latin-​american grocery store, an adjunct to the meat department. It definitely would be categorized as a «hole in the wall» kind of place, but a really really authentic Mexican great «hole in the wall.» Like with all such places you have to know what to order. So here’s my list of great bites from Don Carlos:
1) Carnitas Platillos (roasted pork plate). So the context is that I love pork and I especially love lechon (the Filipino version of this dish), and carnitas (as done in Mexico). And this version is THE best carnitas I’ve ever had. Hands down. I’ve eaten this in California and Texas and a lot of places in between and this is just amazing. Yes, it’s fatty and greasy, but you know, it’s supposed to be that way. You can’t eat this every day, but every now and then … indulge. It may not appear on the menu, but just ask for it.
2) Lengua Tacos (tongue street tacos). This was only my second tongue taco in my many years of eating Mexican street food, but my husband loves lengua and he pronounced it the best that he had ever had, ever. It’s the classic street version — two corn tortillas (great as well btw) filled with a big portion of melt in your mouth, slow simmered lengua, and topped with onions and cilantro. Perfect food.
3) Agua Frescas (fresh fruit beverage). I’ve now had the cantalope, mango, and horchata (rice milk with cinnamony flavor (kind of like «red hots» candy)). Cantalope and mango were excellent, horchata is better at La Monarcha (Olive at 170).
4) Crema (sour cream). It’s not sparkling white, it’s not solid like a «dollop of Daisy». It’s off white, like it’s made from fresh whole milk with a very high butterfat content. It’s oozy, creamy, and LUSCIOUS.
5) GREAT corn tortillas (seem like homemade to me, like this little place in the mission district of San Francisco) and really good tortilla chips and salsas.
6) The Mexican rice is exceptional, but I don’t like their refried beans. Always too runny for me, as I like my beans a little drier, with more granularity and heft to them. Next time I’ll have a «double rice, no beans» on my plate, combo. They have much of this available on a steam table to go, btw.
And they have Mexican breakfast here too. I’ve got to get over there for breakfast some weekend. And menudo then too. So much food to try, too little time.
And the servers are really nice and work hard. Give them a break.
They have a counter inside where you can eat, but outside on the sidewalk is great for watching this little bit of Latin America in St. Louis and it’s all open air in the warmer times and heated when it needs to be heated.

My wife and I eat a lot of Mexican food. We have been trying to find an authentic Mexican restaurant like the stuff we use to eat back in California. This place is the best stuff in St. Louis. Its a little sketchy but worth it. The food was great and the people watching was awesome. I will diffidently go back here. I had to give it a four because the service was a little slow.

I have to preface this review by saying I ate at this restaurant in the last moments of IndiHop this year so my appetite was a little, shall we say, clouded in hops.
Let’s start with the bad. First, since it was IndiHop, they were really, really busy. The service suffered a little bit. Not on my end, but unfortunately for two people at my table. A friend we were with asked for a menu item without cheese. When it came, it was drenched in cheese. We had to ask our waitress a good 20 minutes after the rest of us got our food, where my husband’s food was. It was another 20 minutes before he got it.
Now the good: The food was AAAAMAZING. Seriously so good. I am dreaming about it right now.
Overall, I want to return but go when it is not so busy and I can get my food at the same time as my fellow dinner companions.

Been there and ate there, now I can mark Don Carlos Restaurant off my Cherokee Street Bucket List. Like Christian K. I am going to meet Don half way on a good rating. Rarely do I forget what I ate at a restaurant, but this visit I had to review my pictures to refresh my memory. So glad I am a true Unilocaler and photograph all the food I eat out. I remembered the Margarita, Chips & Salsa, Guacamole and Flan, but could not recall my entrée. Guess I wasn’t that impressed.
We started out with regular Margarita’s that did not skimp on the booze. I enjoyed the extremely coarse salt on the rim of my, «no salt» request. Seriously, I did like how they salted their rim. It was not the typical bar salt.
The chips here are not impressive, but the two salsas they serve with them makes up their lackluster. I favored the Smokey Chipolte over the Chili Arbol Salsa. We also had a side order of Guacamole which was huge. It had a unusual flavor that I could not pinpoint, but I think that may have been its winning vice.
The entrée that I blocked out of my mind, was two tacos and a side of refried beans.
I enjoyed a Chicken and Barbacoa Taco. Unlike George O., the Barbacoa did not blow my knickers off. It was good, but I favored my Chicken and wished I had tried the fish when I realized they grilled their fish. Grilled is so much better then fried.
We shared a slice of Flan for dessert and it would have their Abuelita rolling over in her grave knowing how they butchered an old family recipe.
The service was a tad on the slow side, but the Señorita was working the entire sidewalk café alone and was doing The Hustle the best she could.
We shop at Carniceria Latinos Americana, so I know we’ll be back to enjoy another Margarita and something else on their menu.

Very, very good. Yes the wait staff isn’t the greatest, but where else can you sit next to the cook station and watch her work and argue with the meat-​cutter guy in Spanish? And watch Spanish TV as well? They could use a little work with the serving glasses (small and plastic) and speed up the refills.
My wife is a Latina and loves this place. And there are usually local mexican dudes eating here which says a lot.
Very good food and interesting atmosphere. You can also pick up some mex groceries on your way out.

Really torn between 3 and 4 stars. Food was good. Unfortunately, the service brought me back to 3. Split the Molcajete with a friend… honestly the large could have served 3 average size plates. Good but not amazing. Fresh salsa is smoky and spicy and delicious! Also the queso dip was very good… better than your average Mexican restaurant. But served in a styrofoam cup? WTF?
Anyway, it was nice to hit this place on a weekday night when it was cold out and the heated tent was adequate. The server alternated between really helpful and chatty to completely ignoring our end of the restaurant for extended periods of time. I think the worst was when our platter came out and the tortillas never followed! So we stared at it for a while then began eating with our chips. I eventually walked inside to ask, saw a container of tortillas sitting there… but she said they would be right out. Several minutes later they arrived. I think I will try another place on Cherokee St. before I head back here…

I have now dined in a few times and ordered out for an event I was hosting and I have yet to have anything but great service and food at Don Carlos.
If your on a lunch date and want to get filled up for under $ 5 a piece their chimichanga is HUGE so its great split between two people. I’m not sure what they do differently with their rice but it is some of the best rice I’ve ever had at a Mexican restaurant.
Like I had said before, I’ve also put in a large order recently for an event I was hosting. They had by far the best pricing (compared to a couple of other similar restaurants I had called), were extremely helpful when deciding what exactly to order and when I got there to pick my order up, they had it ready on time and had thrown in a tone of complimentary dips and condiments!
They are also a small grocery store which I like.
Don Carlos is serving great food at an even better price and I will most definitely be back!!!

Good authentic Mexican food. The Molcajete is a great dish to share. I would suggest reviewing you bill closely.

The large margaritas are like fish bowls only 8 bucks!
Very tasty Mexican food with a heated patio connected to a Mexican Grocery store. The taste was authentic and service was friendly. Try the Mujete (I am NOT spelling this correctly)…but it’s a cast iron bowl of delicious mixture of meats, shrimp, veggies, and cactus all cooked together and served with tortillas on the side. Order to share. We got the regular one for three abd left satiated! Yummy Margs too.

I’m going to meet this place half way to a good rating.
I hate to admit this, but I don’t like Cherokee Street. I know what some of you might be thinking, but it’s just not my cup of tea. Send me your hate mail. Drop me as a Facebook/​Yelp friend, but I just can’t spend more than a little while wandering this street.
Last night was our first time trying out some Mexican food on Cherokee Street. My pop gave me a gift certificate for Don Carlos, and we didn’t waste any time using it. My wife loves Mexican, but I’m just not a beans and rice kind of guy.
We were both pretty weak on our orders: a couple of Modelos and three soft tacos each. For me, the true measure of a Mexican restaurant is how they prepare the meat. The ground beef and chicken definitely had some quality flavor, well seasoned, and the pork and onions were super spicey, so much so that I couldn’t finish it. I can be a little light on the spicey side. Still they had me pretty satisfied.
Therefore, the food is not the problem. And the price for that matter. Also, up until the end, we dug the patio.
However, about halfway through our meal, a truck with three shirtless Hispanic guys pulled up just on the other side of the gating, blasting their music for several minutes before getting out. Then they put on some wifebeaters and sat at the table next to us and continued to play their music loudly on a cellphone. The waitress said nothing, and we were left in silence for the great remainder of our meal.
I’m all about a little culture and experiencing new things, but more than anything, I just want to relax when I’m having a few drinks and a good meal. Is that too much to ask?

It was nice out but rain was in the forecast… so we decided to grab a bit under the covered patio at Don Carlos. We ordered the Molcajete… a huge bowl of grilled meats, shrimp, and cactus. Super fragrant and good. I also tried a tripe and legua taco. Both tacos were just ok. But both had a wierd mineral taste.
Ok… the bad. Our server sucked. She was nice when around, but was forgetful and gone for extended periods.
And then the rain came. We thought we picked a good option, being fully covered by the safety of a covered patio. But I don’t know what material was used… because it was raining just as hard inside as outside. And right into the food. We immediatly asked for boxes… but it took a while before she was back. Our food was ruined & my clothes wet. Not a fun experience.

Banana Chimichanga… Good, but not great. Although I still ate the whole thing! It was our third stop in the area, so I didn’t eat much.
Fresh Salsa was awesome!!!

So Don Carlos (carniceria latino americano) got a little facelift not too long ago, and set itself up as a little sidewalk bistro of sorts. With La Neveria across the street going under construction, this place has been relatively busy the last couple times I’ve been.
Tacos are good and pretty cheap ($ 1.60), they have the usual staples of asada/​carnitas/​lengua that I usually get, and I like their shrimp tacos-​even though it was a touch overcooked (ask for shrimp as it isn’t explicitly on the menu), but went well with a bottle of bohemia. Salsa here is not a strong point, but the guacamole is good.
The carnitas torta was pretty damn tasty, although I think it’s just slightly better across the street at Neveria. And the mariachi (on Saturdays) was pleasant to have. My next mission is to get some more of their seafood, i have a sneaking suspicion that it’s their specialty.
All in all, a nice spot to grab some tacos and have a beer. Food wasn’t quite as good as some of the other spots, but still very satisfying. 3.5.

Where do you go when America shuts down to remember its soldiers, past and present. little Mexico of course!
One of the few areas in town that restaurants (besides fast food) stay open on this day is Cherokee Street, and to celebrate I went there and ate tacos for America.
We sat in the shade underneath that black awning covered patio, as there is little room to sit inside, and after peering in there I didn’t get the sense I wanted to enter any way. Other people celebrating around us included a blond threesome of girls with giant margaritas for America, a couple eating Fajitas for America, and a table of thugs, just representin’ for America.
As is natural in little Mexico, the tacos were authentic. Just like I’ve had them when I lived in Chicago. It’s a nice change of pace after sticking to Chimi’s and the like for so long. Finally a real taco, right? The price was also right, only like $ 1.40 or something for a taco. cheap enough to tempt me into trying la lengua tacos. but I chickened out literally, and got two pollo tacos.
The salsa was also nice and fresh, much better than at other places in town. My friend got the combination fajitas. with rice, beans and lettuce for something like 5 bucks. I don’t know if I’d get the combo since some of the meat looked and tasted like it could be tripe or lengua, but maybe that was just my authentic mexican meat fear influencing me. The margaritas were also better tasting than Chimi’s. These ritas had a little more lime taste to them, less sour mixer.
If you ever find yourself searching for food on a random warm holiday, try Don Carlos for some real tacos for America. I can’t say this is the best taco joint on Cherokee since it was my first one, but it didn’t disappoint.