Fodor's Expert Review El Azteca
Editor's Note: This location is no longer in operation.
This old-school family restaurant has been around since 1963 in the heart of bustling, working-class East Austin, and draws local Latinos and downtown workers alike. The interior is a decades-old accretion of Mexican and American kitsch, with fabulously tacky posters and velvet hangings featuring half-naked Aztec warriors and swooning volcano goddesses. The servers speak predominately Spanish and you dine at red Naugahyde booths with wood-tone Formica tables with steel-frame chairs. The house specialty is cabrito, or goat kid, which, at $11.95, is the most expensive dish on the menu, served with guacamole salad and beans a la charra. There's a covered patio with tables as well.