El Charro Café and its house special carne seca made Thrillist’s survey of America’s 21 best Mexican restaurants.
“They're known for their carne seca (dried beef), which is literally dried in a cage on top of the restaurant, but you can’t go wrong with any of their enchiladas, burritos, and quesadillas, all of which are made with the same aplomb that defined them over 90 years ago,” the site said.
Thrilllist compiles reams of surveys for everything from eats to drinks, spreading the top picks geographically. OK, so this isn’t a James Beard Award nor a mention in the New York Times, but Thrillist has some legitimate cred. Based out of New York City, it’s been around a decade and has some 10 million daily subscribers when combined with its other online media outlets Supercompressor and JackThreads, all operating under the umbrella of Thrillist Media Group.
In the Mexican restaurant list, El Charro is in fine company with fellow Arizona eatery Barrio Cafe, renown for its slow-roasted pork cochinita pibil. Also on the list: carne asada from Dallas’s Meso Maya; cochinita pibil from Portland’s fashionable Nuestra Cocina; and the melted tetilla cheese with lobster from New York’s Empellón Cocina.
