Best Mexican and Tex-Mex Restaurants in Alief, Houston: 8 Picks

The best Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants in Alief, Houston, are Lopez Mexican Restaurant on S Wilcrest Drive and Tequila Lopez on Highway 6 for sit-down Tex-Mex, Taqueria El Charro #3 and Mi Taco Taqueria on Beechnut Street for tacos, and Mariscos Mar Azul on W Bellfort for Tierra Caliente seafood. Add a birria truck on Bissonnet and a Mexican bakery, and you have eight places that cover a full day of eating in southwest Houston.

Alief is famous for the Asian restaurants on Bellaire Boulevard, but its Mexican kitchens have been feeding the neighborhood for decades. Lopez Mexican Restaurant opened on Wilcrest in 1978, the year after the City of Houston began annexing Alief. Some of these dining rooms are nearly as old as Alief’s Houston address.

Where is Alief?

For this guide, Alief means the City of Houston’s Alief Super Neighborhood: the Westpark Tollway to the north, the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8) to the east, State Highway 6 to the west and the Fort Bend County line to the south. That covers most of ZIP codes 77072, 77099 and 77083. Everything east of the Beltway, including the busiest stretch of Bellaire Boulevard, belongs to our Chinatown Mexican guide instead.

Here’s the “I didn’t know that” part. According to the Texas State Historical Association’s Handbook of Texas, Alief started out as a prairie stop called Dairy, and was renamed for its first postmistress, Alief Ozella Magee, when the community applied for a post office in the 1890s. The City of Houston’s neighborhood history adds that the town had only about 25 residents around the time of the name change. Next time someone asks what “Alief” means, it’s a person.

The quick list

• Tex-Mex since 1978: Lopez Mexican Restaurant on S Wilcrest Drive.
• Fajitas and cabrito on Highway 6: Tequila Lopez, serving Houston since 1979 by its own account.
• Early tacos, late nights: Taqueria El Charro #3 on Beechnut, open from 7 a.m.
• Birria ramen: Mi Taco Taqueria at Beechnut and Eldridge Parkway.
• Molcajetes and seafood: Mariscos Mar Azul on W Bellfort.
• Birria from a truck: Tacos de Birria La Güerita on Bissonnet.
• Homestyle Mexican cooking: La Catrina Restaurant on Bissonnet.
• Pan dulce for the road: Panificadora La Michoacana on W Bellfort.

How we chose

Every pick sits inside the Alief Super Neighborhood boundary above, and every one was confirmed as operating on its own official website in October 2026. We wanted range: classic Tex-Mex, morning-to-midnight taquerias, regional Mexican seafood, a birria truck and a bakery. Alief has dozens of excellent taquerias with no website at all; we left those out only because we couldn’t verify them, not because they aren’t worth a stop. Hours change, so check each official site before you go.

Where to get classic Tex-Mex in Alief

Alief’s two Tex-Mex anchors are both family-run and both date to the late 1970s.

Lopez Mexican Restaurant

11606 S Wilcrest Dr, Houston, TX 77099 · Tex-Mex · full bar

Lopez Mexican Restaurant has been serving Tex-Mex on S Wilcrest Drive in Alief since 1978. According to the restaurant’s own history, Rodrigo López emigrated from Mexico in 1962 and opened Lopez in 1978 with no prior business experience, and it remains a family restaurant built with his wife Bertha and their children. The menu is built around enchiladas, Tex-Mex combination plates, grilled specialties and margaritas. Lopez is typically open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and closed Sunday, with weekday happy hour in the afternoon; confirm on the official site.

What to order: a Tex-Mex combination plate, enchiladas and a margarita.

Why go: it’s the closest thing Alief has to a family dining room that everyone’s parents also went to.

Tequila Lopez Mexican Restaurant

8145 S Texas 6 #144, Houston, TX 77083 · Tex-Mex · brunch and happy hour

Tequila Lopez on Highway 6 in Alief is a separate, family-owned business that says it has been serving Houston since 1979. Its menu reaches past the combo plate: sizzling fajitas, cabrito, mole, tamales, menudo, chilaquiles and huevos rancheros, plus margaritas. It is typically open every day, with later hours on Friday and Saturday; see the official site.

What to order: fajitas for the table, or cabrito if you’ve never tried goat.

Why go: weekend brunch with menudo and chilaquiles on the west side of Alief.

Which Alief taquerias are worth the trip?

These Alief taquerias run long hours and lean on fajitas, street tacos and birria.

Taqueria El Charro #3

10860 Beechnut St, Houston, TX 77072 · taqueria · open early

Taqueria El Charro #3 on Beechnut Street in Alief says it has served Mexican food in southwest Houston since 1993. The menu covers sizzling fajitas, street-style tacos, tortas, combination plates and homemade salsas. It typically opens at 7 a.m. daily and stays open until 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight Friday through Sunday, which makes it equally useful for breakfast tacos and a late dinner. Check the official site.

What to order: street tacos with the homemade salsas, or fajitas if you’re sitting down.

Why go: one stop that works at 7 a.m. and at 11 p.m.

Mi Taco Taqueria

13548 Beechnut St, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77083 · tacos and birria

Mi Taco Taqueria sits at Beechnut Street and Eldridge Parkway in west Alief. It makes breakfast tacos to order and leans hard into birria: quesabirrias, birria tacos and what it calls its signature birria ramen. There are burritos and loaded nachos too. Hours are listed on the official site; check before a weekend visit.

What to order: the birria ramen, then a quesabirria for the consomé.

Why go: it’s the most shareable bowl in this guide.

Tacos de Birria La Güerita

12641 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX 77099 · food truck

Tacos de Birria La Güerita is a birria taco truck on Bissonnet Street in Alief with dine-in, takeout and drive-through. The menu is short and focused: quesabirria and birria tacos. It typically opens mid-morning Tuesday through Sunday and runs late; the official site has current hours. For more trucks across the city, see our taco truck guide.

What to order: quesabirria with a cup of consomé for dipping.

Why go: a drive-through birria truck is about as Houston as lunch gets.

Where to find regional Mexican cooking in Alief

For cooking that tastes like a specific part of Mexico, start on Bissonnet and W Bellfort.

Mariscos Mar Azul

10712 W Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77099 · Mexican seafood · Tierra Caliente style

Mariscos Mar Azul on W Bellfort in Alief calls its house specialty molcajetes in the Tierra Caliente style, named for the hot lowlands of southwestern Mexico. Molcajetes come in several versions, including Azteca, Michoacán and mar y tierra, and the seafood list includes pescado and pulpo zarandeado, Caldo 7 Vidas, a Vuelve a la Vida cocktail and a mango-habanero ceviche. It typically stays open late on Friday and Saturday; confirm on the official site. If seafood is your thing, our ceviche guide has more.

What to order: a molcajete for two, or pulpo zarandeado.

Why go: a sizzling stone bowl at the table is the photo of the night.

La Catrina Restaurant

11300 Bissonnet St, Houston, TX 77099 · Mexican home cooking

La Catrina Restaurant on Bissonnet Street in Alief is a small, owner-run Mexican kitchen; its site describes the owners as Mexicans determined to do things well. It is typically open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday until 2 p.m. The menu changes, so check the official site or ask what’s cooking that day.

What to order: ask for the day’s specials.

Why go: this is the neighborhood-kitchen side of Alief, not a chain in sight.

Where to buy pan dulce in Alief

For conchas and bolillos in Alief, go to Panificadora La Michoacana on W Bellfort.

Panificadora La Michoacana

10822 W Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77099 · Mexican bakery

Panificadora La Michoacana in Alief bakes conchas, bolillos and pan dulce, with seasonal pan de muerto around Día de los Muertos and rosca de reyes in early January. The bakery describes itself as continuing a Houston family legacy that began in the 1980s. It is typically open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; check the official site.

What to order: a concha and a coffee, plus a bag of bolillos for home.

Why go: grab-a-tray-and-tongs bakeries are one of Houston’s small joys.

Save this: an Alief Mexican food day

This route keeps you inside Alief from breakfast to dinner, all on Beechnut, Bissonnet, W Bellfort and Wilcrest.

1. Morning: concha and coffee at Panificadora La Michoacana, 10822 W Bellfort Ave.
2. Breakfast tacos: Taqueria El Charro #3, 10860 Beechnut St, from 7 a.m.
3. Lunch: quesabirria at Tacos de Birria La Güerita, 12641 Bissonnet St.
4. Afternoon snack: birria ramen at Mi Taco Taqueria, 13548 Beechnut St.
5. Dinner: a molcajete at Mariscos Mar Azul, 10712 W Bellfort Ave, or Tex-Mex and a margarita at Lopez, 11606 S Wilcrest Dr.

Tips for eating in Alief

Alief is a driving neighborhood: plan on parking in strip-center lots rather than street parking.

• Go early or late. Taquerias here open early and some close late, so you can skip the lunch rush.
• Bring an appetite for more than one cuisine. Alief’s Bellaire Boulevard corridor is one of Houston’s great Asian dining streets; see our Chinatown and Asiatown guide.
• Check hours on the day. Small, family-run places adjust hours around holidays.
• Nearby: our Westchase restaurant guide covers the area just north of the Westpark Tollway, and our Sugar Land Mexican guide picks up across the county line.

Want more? Compare these with our citywide best tacos in Houston and best Tex-Mex in Houston guides.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Mexican restaurants in Alief, Houston?

Our picks include Lopez Mexican Restaurant on S Wilcrest Drive, Tequila Lopez on Highway 6, Taqueria El Charro #3 and Mi Taco Taqueria on Beechnut Street, and Mariscos Mar Azul on W Bellfort Avenue. Each was confirmed open on its official website in October 2026.

How long has Lopez Mexican Restaurant been open in Alief?

Lopez Mexican Restaurant at 11606 S Wilcrest Drive in Alief opened in 1978, according to the restaurant’s own history. Tequila Lopez on Highway 6, a separate business, says it has served Houston since 1979.

What are the boundaries of Alief in Houston?

The City of Houston defines the Alief Super Neighborhood as bounded by the Westpark Tollway to the north, the Sam Houston Tollway to the east, State Highway 6 to the west and the Fort Bend County line to the south.

Where can I get birria in Alief?

Tacos de Birria La Güerita, a food truck at 12641 Bissonnet Street, specializes in quesabirria and birria tacos. Mi Taco Taqueria at 13548 Beechnut Street also serves birria tacos, quesabirrias and a birria ramen.

Why is Alief called Alief?

According to the Handbook of Texas, the community was first called Dairy and was renamed in honor of its first postmistress, Alief Ozella Magee, when it applied for a post office in the 1890s.