Santa Rita Tex Mex Cantina

Posted by chappy | Nov 21, 2006 · Filed under Austin, Central, Reviews

We first encountered Santa Rita at this years’ AusChron Hot Sauce Fest, AKA, the great title robbery…but thats another story. Santa Rita had a booth setup and they were peddling tacos and stuff.. we ate one and like it very much.. it was standard beef soft taco and it was served by a beautiful woman… ..yes, let it be known that a beautiful woman can sway our vote….

so we got a coupon at the booth and managed to hold onto it for a while until we finally got around to checking their restaurant out.. turns out it is located in the old tres amigos spot at ‘26 Doors’ shopping center (38th st. just west of Lamar).. we showed up for lunch, a little underdressed considering the clientel seemed to be older business women in black pantsuits.. and I hadnt shaved in weeks..nor changed my pants..oh well.. we were hungry and we had money..

the decor in Santa Rita is done up… in a funky sort of way, creative stuff like latex covered prickly pear cacti and a wall made entirely of wooden shoe filler clog-type things.. very colorful and wierd.. in a crazy-ol-austin-lady sorta way.

the menu is full of tex-mex type stuffs, plenty of combo plates and standard mexi fare.

i got the san antonio combo which came with a variety of stuff.. the beef taco was a standout…the ingredients fresh and of noticeable high quality.. the portions were large.. i honestly dont remember much else about my visit to Santa Rita because I think I ate too much..
I mustve blacked out after my last bite of beef enchilada.

Cabeza mentioned later, after I came outta my tex-mex coma, that the waitress had been very good…. and thorough..

Santa Rita Tex Mex Cantina

1206 West 38th Street
Austin, Texas 78705
512.419.RITA (7482)

Atmosphere: 6
Food Quality: 6 (fresh, tasty)
Salsa: 6 (nice, standard but nice)
Service: 7 (nice)
Price: 5 ($6-10 a plate)
Rating:

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3 Comments »

chappy said,

November 21, 2006 @ 1:18 am

this does seem like a good place to kill a happy hour.. they have daily specials on drinks which looked quite cheap.. theres a patio..

specials here:

http://www.santaritacantina.com/specials.htm
joby said,

November 28, 2006 @ 7:02 pm

Love the site.. I wanted to tell you guys the hot sauce contest is planned for 12-10-06 from 1 to 4.. The location will be selma hughes park. It’s off of 620.. hit me up for details.
Cabeza De Taco said,

November 29, 2006 @ 12:02 pm

Here’s what I had:
#5 El Rey 10.50
One soft chicken taco and guacamole; followed by one chicken enchilada topped with tomatillo sauce, a beef fajita taco in a flour tortilla and one taco beef chalupa

but I subbed the chicken enchy for PASTOR enchy. Good call. The pastor was “uhvery nice” It was all good, fresh ingredients, tender, juicy chicken, and very filling. i can’t complain at all. Salsa is uhvernice too- just a standard red sauce, but spicy enough to make you say agaadamn. reccommended mex.