Taquería Arandas

Every time I go here I think to myself «why don’t I come here more» the food is fresh, hot, and so affordable. The salsa is bomb and the staff is nice. They work really hard and it shows in all the right places.
If you haven’t been just give it a try.

Found out recently that they make pozole on the weekends. good burritos remind me of the burrito shops in California/​Arizona/​New Mexico. Now that super burrito is closed, Arandas is the sanctuary for burros. Michoacana down the street, but hey rarely have pozole.

PLEASE DONT EAT HERE! My sister bought a taco and found a tooth in it. She let the manager know and told her that they have been in business for a long time and have never had a problem till today and proceeded to tell her that it was none of his employees teeth and it was not is problem. Now my sister had to go to the doctor and make sure shes ok and is not able to eat. If you want to find things in your food and have management not give a crap about its customers by all means take a risk

If the Taqueria Arandas on S 1^st gets 5 stars from me than this location gets 4.
Even though it is the original, the food is not as good as the location on S 1^st. For some reason the beef in the beef fajita tacos is not a good of quality as at the other location.
Also, the décor leaves something to be desired in comparison the the S 1^st location (however they get bonus points for all of the New Orleans decorations. Which is very odd…)
That being said, stick to this location or the one on S 1^st and stay far, far away from the location up North on Burnet…

Very cheap and quick! I just got some simple tacos and a corona and I was very content. It’s not amazing but it hits the spot on a budget.

Where do I start? Don’t be put off by the bars on the windows. They’re just for show, in fact there is a chase bank next door.. The place looks a little divey but don’t be fooled it’s worth it. It’s super cheap and super comfortable.
The food came out really fast and it was really fresh. One downside was the chicken was a little dry but still well worth the price. The size of the tea was amazing, I swear I could’ve taken a bath with it.
The star of the show with a salsa… it was so flavorful and chunky the way I love it. I’m a total salsa snob so this place is my new favorite place to eat salsa. If you want cheap Mexican food that is not Tex Mex this is the place to go.
As for the previous comments and this place is racist that is total crap. There was plenty of white people here and they seem to love the food and service so don’t buy it.

I’d like to give it 3.5 stars, but this place is so cheap I’m upgrading to 5. The food is not amazing Tex Mex or Mex, in the sense none of the ingredient are going to be the highest quality, but it tastes pretty damn good for the price. You will be full when you leave for less than $ 10 if you chose to be. $ 4 Micheleadas too. It’s a cheap Mexican place.
I had the chicken torta and added a fried egg. $ 4, and it’s larger than my hand.
Atmosphere, is like the run down places my parents used to take me, but I love it.
Staff was super nice.

If you are white and go to this location, prepare to get ignored. We were the only white people in the joint and had to leave after 15 minutes of being totally ignored. We couldn’t even get someone to bring us a menu. Other tables of Hispanics came in after us and were taken care of immediately.
TOTALLY RACIST PLACE!!!

mexican food, beverages, sweet bread and desserts.

I went here because I was seeing a show at The Off Center located a block east. I wanted some fast food and not a sit down dinner so there weren’t a whole lot of options that were really close by.
The Taqueria Arandas drive thru fit the bill. I ordered the carne asada which is basically a skirt steak folded over a bed of nopales. The steak tasted very good and the nopales were tasty. The rice was fresher than i expected. Visit #1 was a success.
I went back again and ordered the same thing and an enchilada plate, and some tacos al pastor. The cheesy enchiladas looked pretty tasty and my friend who had them thought they were pretty good. The carne asada was again very good. The tacos al pastor were good; not great but definitely up to par.
I would recommend Taqueria Aranadas to anybody seeing a show at the Off Center and needing a quick bite [not sit down dinner] hands down over Short Stop.

I don’t think we’ll be back.
APPEARANCE
It smells of the Hardee’s I worked at 20 years ago — sort of grease and cleaning chemicals.
Definitely run down, not cared for, etc.
I would bet it was an old Popeye’s restaurant. Not because I remember what used to be at this location once upon a time (I don’t get on E 7^th often enough) but because they still have Popeye’s decorations up. I don’t think Mardi Gras is part of a traditional Mexican décor. The menu board above the kitchen looks like Popeye’s too — you can still see one that says «10 strip basket.»
CLEANLINESS
Somebody has said something at sometime about their cleanliness issues because there are signs up around the place, in Spanish, to the staff: «clean the tables, clean the bathrooms, clean the floors, etc., etc., etc.» In my experience, making a sign doesn’t usually get the job done, but it is a clue about where management is failing.
Our table was dirty (like it had gotten a quick once over with a rag that hadn’t quite gotten everything). Seats all over the place were dirty. Floor was dirty. There was a mop and bucket over by the bathrooms, which I guess got us the chemical smell.
It was a weekend afternoon, business was slow, quite a few servers and few customers. So, the staff had time to clean up, but they were busier chatting to each other.
FOOD
Nothing special but not bad. If I were only rating the food, they’d get a three.
SERVICE
Our server was friendly and tried … but overall I’m not impressed w/​the service, which seemed to have no manager (thus, they’re spending their time chatting while the manager must have been somewhere else making a sign that says «chat less and clean more.»)

I just moved to the East Side and this Arandas will give you food poisoning. I ate there for lunch and I had 1 taco al pastor and 1 taco with beef fajita meat. The meat did smell funny and it came out VERY fast to my surprise. Was this pre-​cooked sitting there for how long? Weird.
Several hours later I felt very sick to my stomach and I totally barfed it up, got stomach pain, and then had a case of diahhreah later and sure enough there was the cilantro as proof. Gross but it’s the truth. I am now still sick recovering from this.
Bottom line is, this place will give you food poisoning, and I will never eat there again. I am calling the health department to go give them an audit so other people won’t suffer through this.
update:
Now it’s day 2 and I’m still recovering from yesterday… :(

–Raunchy, run-​down interior (not in a good, hole in the wall kinda way either)
–Greasiest quesadilla I’ve ever eaten
–Mediocre gorditas (not talking about the waitresses)
I’ll just go to Juan in a Million next time.

Borderland authenticity with a truly decrepit building and cluttered layout. BUT you can you get chips, (damn good) salsa and an fresh avocado/​bean burrito for $ 3.72. And they have a jukebox stacked with Conjunto.

Reminds me of my travels to Mexico. You def get a lot for your money here. I order the Gordita (non-​plate) and an Horchata drink and it was only a little over $ 5. Thought I was only getting one gorditas and they came out with two. It came out just the way I like it – too messy for my hands to pick up, so I ate it with a fork. The produce inside was nice and fresh: Avocado, lettuce and tomatoes.
I would come back. :)

Went here last week, and because the food was sub-​par and the service even worse, I’ll be sticking to the South 1^st and Oltorf location.
The torta al pastor lacked seasoning, and our waitress couldn’t have been more disinterested if she’d tried to be.

I’ll keep this easy. Whatever Arandas in Austin you wander into you should try the Pierna Burrito. I’ve been told pierna is marinated shredded pork leg. Whatever it is it’s mouthwatering. They throw fresh sliced avocado, grilled onions, lettuce, & tom’s in there too. Drown it in the fresh standard issue red salsa. That burro is as big around as my wrist & 6−7″ long. It cost around $ 3 – 4. A great deal.
Not the most spotless place. Not the greatest or worst service.
I met my wife at Emos on 5÷18÷95. As my band played, from the stage I saw her hanging with a mutual friend at the bar. As soon as we finished playing I ran over, broke out the schmooze power & invited her to grab something to eat. I took her to the old Arandas at 7^th & Shady Lane. We shared a couple of Pierna Burros at 3am. I’m convinced those burritos are why we’re still together.

Dear Unilocalers,
The five star rating is something to be cherished and honored, but it has different kinds of meaning and is not one-​sided. Echoing William G., it’s crazy to me that people can give this place less than 3 stars, especially if they like the food. This place gets five stars because it has good, CHEAP food that is very authentic. The coffee is strong, they serve breakfast all day, and you get to practice your spanish when you order and pay.
I’m used to the Burnet Road version and I have to say, the sauce on the Huevos Rancheros is much chunkier and hearty at this location. Also the menu on the board is illegible, which is hilarious. Judge this place for what it is, this doesn’t water down the 5 star rating you give to your favorite trendy downtown happy hour bar.

I reserve my 5 star designation for superior fine dining establishments that make you feel like royalty or for super cheap dives that I could eat at for every meal, every day and never get sick of it. I’ll let you figure out for yourself which category Arandas fits into.
I worked just down the street for a few months and ate at Arandas for probably 60% of my meals. Almost always I’d get a barbacoa burrito and a pastor taco for a whopping $ 4.90. I ventured outside of my comfort zone and had the gorditas and they too were great, although a little heavy for a lunch.
You owe it to yourself to try their barbacoa. Few establishments know how to do this meat correctly without drying it out but they have cracked the code and it’s perfect.
Arandas, you will always hold a special place in my heart.

I’m pretty sure that the breakfast tacos here contain a supersecret special remedy for hangovers. All I know is that when I wake up in the morning all cotton-​mouthed and cloudy-​headed, I crave a couple of their potato egg and cheese numbers. This stuff is real. Real eggs. Real potatoes. And real white, gooey, melty-​smeary cheese. Though tempted to rub them all over my body, I eat them and I start to feel human again.
It’s something like $.90 per, and it comes with 2 little tub-​ettes of salsa, one chunky, mild and fresh, the other hot, tangy and spicy. (I kind of think of them as angel and devil sauces.)
I also recommend the tostadas (rife with avocado, sour cream, beans, tomato and/​or whatever meat you choose), quesadillas on corn tortillas (little humble pockets of comfort), and tacos al pastor (simple and yummy, finished with cilantro and finely diced onion)
For a tiny little restaurant, their menu is huge, and their specials change all of the time. This is simple, fresh food at a great price.
Here’s a few tips though:
1. Try your hand at Spanish, even if it’s lousy. I’m pathetic, but even I can feebly mumble «papas y huevos y queso.» Oh yeah, and harina means flour, maiz means corn. You’ll need that when they ask what kind of tortillas you prefer.
2. The drive-​through menu doesn’t work, just use it as a reference guide. Drive to the window to order.