El Charro Mexican Grill – Latham, NY

Most of the Mexican restaurants in the area are middle of the road, and El Charro falls right in the median of that classification, despite the fact that there is usually a 45 minute to an hour wait at busy times.

For a stretch, I was on a margarita kick. Being that it’s pretty close to home, I stopped in for a margarita and some nachos. The margarita was perfectly respectable. I always go on the rocks, original flavor, salt if they ask. They didn’t. It was fine though.

I figured the nachos supreme would be a good way to get a taste of a few of their protein preparations for a fairly low price. With the margarita, tax, and tip, I escaped around $20. I think the margaritas are even cheaper if you go for their 5-7 pm happy hour during the week.

They provide a decent portion for around $10. And for those of you who don’t think there are enough tortillas, they’ll gladly refill your chips bowl for no charge. The beef was much better than the chicken, which was dry and relatively flavorless. I wish the beans were more prominent, and I also could have done without the lettuce.

Hot sauce is a must at these middle of the road places, and they have a decent selection of familiar sauces at the table. I like the green one.

On other visits, I’ve had tacos and burritos, but none pull El Charro out of Capital Region Mexican Restaurant Mediocrity, but at least the margaritas are inexpensive and decent.