Best Mexican Restaurants in the Galleria and Uptown: Tex-Mex to Tacos

Our top Mexican restaurants in Houston's Galleria and Uptown area are The Original Ninfa's Uptown for fajitas, Los Tios on San Felipe for frozen margaritas, Caracol for coastal Mexican seafood and Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen for enchiladas. The full shortlist below has ten picks: five Tex-Mex institutions, two Mexican restaurants from a James Beard Award-winning chef, an all-day Mexican cantina, and two places for tacos after midnight. Every pick was checked on its own official website.

Here's a piece of Houston trivia worth knowing before your next margarita: according to Los Tios, many Houstonians had their first frozen margarita at Los Tios in 1975, when it introduced the city's first. That restaurant's flagship sits on San Felipe, a few minutes from the Galleria. Down Post Oak Boulevard, Ninfa's Uptown serves the dish that, by its own account, introduced the fajita to North America in 1973. So the Galleria area isn't only where Houston shops. It's also a good place to eat your way through Tex-Mex history.

The quick list

• For Tex-Mex history on a plate: Ninfa's Uptown, for Mama Ninfa's original tacos al carbon.
• For the frozen margarita that started it all: Los Tios on San Felipe.
• For coastal Mexican seafood: Caracol on Post Oak, for wood-roasted Gulf oysters.
• For Mexico City street food and a tableside margarita: URBE in Uptown Park.
• For enchiladas, enchiladas and more enchiladas: Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen on Woodway.
• For queso: Escalante's at Woodway and Voss, for its Queso Blanco.
• For weekend brunch with fajitas: El Tiempo Cantina on Westheimer.
• For breakfast at 9 a.m. or dinner at midnight: La Tapatia on Richmond.
• For tacos at 3 a.m.: Chacho's or Velvet Taco.

How we chose (and where the Galleria area starts and stops)

The official Uptown management district is fairly small, but most Houstonians use "the Galleria area" for a bigger patch of town. For this guide we drew a box: Woodway Drive to the north, Loop 610 to the east (we count restaurants on either side of its frontage roads), Richmond Avenue to the south, and Voss Road and Hillcroft Avenue to the west. If a restaurant sits outside that box, even by a block, it isn't on this list. That rule cost us some favorites in Highland Village, Upper Kirby and River Oaks, which you'll find in our best Tex-Mex in Houston guide and our citywide Mexican restaurant guide.

Each pick had to be listed as open on its own official website as of October 2026, at an address inside that box. We looked for places that do one thing especially well: a fajita, an enchilada, a mole, a margarita, a late-night taco. Hours change, so treat every time below as typical and check the restaurant's site before you go.

Tex-Mex institutions

The Original Ninfa's Uptown

1700 Post Oak Blvd · Tex-Mex · open daily, brunch Saturday and Sunday

This is the Uptown sibling of Ninfa's on Navigation, the East End restaurant where, as Ninfa's tells it, Mama Ninfa Laurenzo started grilling skirt steak in 1973 and folding it into handmade flour tortillas. She called the dish tacos al carbon. The rest of the world came to call it fajitas.

What to order: Mama Ninfa's Original Tacos al Carbon, which the menu calls Tacos a la Ninfa: fajitas in a flour tortilla with pico de gallo, guacamole and chile con queso. Add the queso flameado, made tableside with house-made chorizo.

Why it's here: it's the most direct line to Houston's Tex-Mex origin story you can find without driving to the East End. Ninfa's says the restaurant was a James Beard Award semifinalist in 2019. Ninfa's Uptown typically serves weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Los Tios (San Felipe)

5161 San Felipe St · Tex-Mex · open daily, Sunday breakfast

Los Tios was started by the Garbett family in 1970 and bought by the Adair family in 2000, and the San Felipe restaurant is its flagship. It's the kind of place where families have favorite tables and favorite waiters.

I didn't know that: Los Tios says it introduced Houston's first frozen margarita in 1975. Its house margarita is still a creamy frozen blend of fresh-squeezed lime juice and tequila.

What to order: that frozen margarita, plus the Original Puffy Queso. Los Tios says its puffy shells are made by hand every day. Sunday breakfast is typically served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

El Tiempo Cantina (Galleria)

6100 Westheimer Rd · Tex-Mex · open daily, brunch Saturday and Sunday

El Tiempo tells the story of Mama Ninfa Laurenzo as part of its own family history, and says its family made fajitas popular in the United States. It makes everything from scratch, from the tortillas to the salsas, and its margaritas use fresh-squeezed lime juice.

What to order: fajitas, obviously. If you want something you won't find on every Tex-Mex menu, try the mesquite-grilled Texas quail or the grilled veal sweetbreads (mollejas) with chimichurri.

Best for: a weekend brunch. Brunch typically runs 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen (Woodway)

6401 Woodway Dr · Tex-Mex · check the site for hours

Chef Sylvia Casares started out as a food scientist for Uncle Ben's Rice, according to her restaurant, and now runs a menu with 19 different enchiladas. She also wrote The Enchilada Queen Cookbook.

I didn't know that: many of Sylvia's dishes are named after places. Order the Refugio and you get cheese enchiladas with chili gravy; the McAllen is chicken enchiladas with that same signature chili gravy; the Crystal City is spinach enchiladas with tomatillo sauce.

What to order: the Enchilada Culinary Tour, four petite enchiladas. Pick the "North of the Border" plate (Refugio, Sarita, Lubbock and Laguna Madre) or "South of the Border" (Mexico City, Morelia, Hidalgo and Puebla). Happy hour is typically 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and Enchilada Night from 4 p.m.

Escalante's (Woodway @ Voss)

6582 Woodway Dr · Tex-Mex · open daily

Escalante's has honored the recipes of Barbara Escalante for more than thirty years, and the Woodway restaurant is one of its Houston dining rooms. It's a reliable choice for a family dinner or an office lunch.

What to order: the Queso Blanco. Escalante's says it has used the same recipe for 30 years: green peppers and onions simmered in milk, blended with cheeses, with white cheddar shredded in its kitchens. Happy hour typically runs 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Insider tip: Sylvia's and Escalante's sit on the same stretch of Woodway near Voss Road, so you can pick the queso at one and the enchiladas at the other on separate nights and settle the debate yourself.

Regional Mexican cooking

Caracol

2200 Post Oak Blvd · coastal Mexican seafood · lunch and dinner daily, brunch on weekends

Caracol is from Chef Hugo Ortega and restaurateur Tracy Vaught, the team behind Hugo's. Its name is the Spanish word for snail or conch, inspired by the conch ceviche Chef Ortega made with his brother in Playa del Carmen. The menu travels along Mexico's 16 coastal states, from the Pacific to the Caribbean and the Gulf.

What to order: the Ostiones Asados, wood-roasted Gulf oysters with chipotle butter, then a ceviche or the Pescado Zarandeado, a butterflied branzino. Caracol serves a Saturday brunch and a Sunday brunch buffet.

Parking: Caracol is in the PNC Bank building on Post Oak. There's valet at the front, or self-park in the garage, which the restaurant says is free with validation at the host stand.

URBE

1101 Uptown Park Blvd · Mexican street food · closed Mondays

Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught's second Uptown restaurant is a fast-casual mercado, a tribute to the street markets of Mexico City, Oaxaca, Jalisco and Puebla. Tortillas are made by hand, cheeses and salsas are made from scratch, tamales are hand-rolled and conchas are baked in-house.

What to order: tacos al pastor, then churros and café de olla. URBE will also shake a margarita at your table.

Best for: a quick lunch after shopping at the Galleria, or a Sunday brunch.

La Tapatia (Galleria)

5591 Richmond Ave · Mexican restaurant, café and cantina · open daily from 9 a.m.

La Tapatia is a Mexican restaurant, café and cantina with a menu that runs from breakfast to dinner, and the Galleria location keeps unusually long hours: typically 9 a.m. to midnight, and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

What to order: tableside guacamole and tacos on fresh-made tortillas. La Tapatia's happy hour typically runs 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Best for: a group that can't agree on breakfast, lunch or a late dinner.

Late-night tacos

Chacho's

6006 Westheimer Rd at Fountainview · Tex-Mex · 24/7

Chacho's bills itself as "the 24/7 Tex-Mex restaurant." It's self-service: you order at the counter, pick up your food when it's called and dress it at the salsa bar. Chacho's says it makes its Spanish rice and guacamole in small batches many times a day.

I didn't know that: Chacho's says it switched to fresh-squeezed lime margaritas in 1995, after the staff finally tasted the ones they'd been making from mix.

Best for: a 2 a.m. plate of Tex-Mex. Our late-night food guide has more options citywide.

Velvet Taco (Galleria)

2626 W Loop South · creative tacos · open late, until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday

Velvet Taco doesn't try to be Tex-Mex. It calls itself "a temple to the liberated taco," with fillings from around the world. Hours typically run from 10:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday to Wednesday, until 1 a.m. on Thursday and until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

What to order: the spicy tikka chicken taco, then check the weekly "WTF" special and finish with a slice of red velvet cake with cajeta.

For more taquerias across town, see our best tacos in Houston guide.

Save this: a Tex-Mex history route

Three stops, three dishes, and about 50 years of Houston food history, all inside the Galleria area. Do it over a weekend rather than in one sitting, and use a rideshare if you're drinking.

1. Ninfa's Uptown: order the original tacos al carbon, the 1973 dish that Ninfa's credits with introducing the fajita to North America.
2. Los Tios on San Felipe: order the frozen margarita, which Los Tios says was Houston's first in 1975.
3. Sylvia's on Woodway: order the Enchilada Culinary Tour and taste four enchiladas on one plate.

Before you go: a quick checklist

• Check hours on the restaurant's own site the day you go. URBE is closed Mondays, and Caracol closes early on Sundays.
• Want brunch? Ninfa's Uptown, El Tiempo, Caracol and URBE all serve it on weekends. Los Tios does Sunday breakfast.
• Shopping first? Our things to do in Galleria/Uptown guide helps you plan the rest of the day.
• Staying over? See our guide to hotels near the Galleria.
• Want more than Mexican? Our best restaurants in Galleria/Uptown guide covers the rest of the neighborhood, and the Galleria/Uptown area page has everything else.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Mexican restaurant in the Galleria area?

It depends on what you want. For Tex-Mex history, try Ninfa's Uptown on Post Oak. For coastal Mexican seafood, Caracol. For enchiladas, Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen on Woodway. For a frozen margarita, Los Tios on San Felipe.

Where was Houston's first frozen margarita served?

Los Tios says it introduced Houston's first frozen margarita in 1975. Its flagship restaurant is at 5161 San Felipe St, in the Galleria area.

Where can I get Mexican food late at night near the Galleria?

Chacho's on Westheimer at Fountainview bills itself as a 24/7 Tex-Mex restaurant. Velvet Taco on West Loop South is typically open until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and La Tapatia on Richmond until 1 a.m. on weekends. Check hours before you go.

Which Galleria-area Mexican restaurants serve brunch?

Ninfa's Uptown and El Tiempo Cantina serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday, Caracol has a Saturday brunch and a Sunday brunch buffet, URBE serves Sunday brunch, and Los Tios serves Sunday breakfast.

Who invented fajitas in Houston?

The Original Ninfa's says Mama Ninfa Laurenzo created tacos al carbon, the dish now known as fajitas, at her family's tortilla factory in Houston's East End in 1973. You can order it at Ninfa's Uptown on Post Oak Boulevard.