< Guide to Athens

A mix of Americanized Mexican and more authentic stuff in a family atmosphere. Normaltown location has a gorgeous rooftop bar with a mural and nice views, plus breakfast Thursday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m.

Locally owned burrito chain has expanded throughout the Southeast but remains Athens-y. Serves health-oriented Mexican-ish fare, highlighting low-fat options. Everything is customizable to your taste/dietary needs: burritos, quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, nachos and salads, lots of veggies; vegetarian and vegan options.

Both locations of this Athens original do Latin American food with a Peruvian influence: lomo saltado, big sandwiches, plantains (sweet and savory), yuca, tacu tacu (rice and beans topped with eggs) and much more. Lots of veggie choices. Eastside location is bigger with an eclectic atmosphere fun for adults and full of quarter-operated rides for kids. Lumpkin has a small fee to BYOB.

Family-run spot gives you free soup instead of chips and salsa and has a menu that ranges all over Latin America: quesabirria, bandeja paisa, lomo saltado, pupusas, sweet and savory empanadas, arepas. Delightful breakfast, kids meals and an array of coffee drinks.

Donuts, tamales and an absolute rainbow of Mexican sweet breads (conchas that resemble jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween and much, much more), all well priced and nicely made.

Cheery spot in Watkinsville decorated with bright colors and ocean theme does a lot of seafood: shrimp, oysters, fish, octopus, ceviche, aguachile. Land animals, too, if you prefer. Also: margaritas, buckets of beers, palomas.

Americanized Mexican staples: tacos, burritos, nachos, fajitas, quesadillas, big burritos, enchiladas, queso, fish tacos, fried ice cream. Margaritas, lots of tequilas.

You can get Tex Mex or Americanized Mexican stuff here, but the better bet is to dig into the seafood section of the menu. The siete mares soup is particularly good.

Most of the restaurant is outside, and the lawn is often busy with a Five Points crowd. Tacos (including veggie and vegan choices) that change out regularly, plus other Mexican-ish standards, kids menu and a serious bar with lots of tequilas, a selection of mezcals, beer buckets and build-your-own margs.

Large regional chain Tex-Mex restaurant features murals and elaborate hanging lights, plus a big bar in the middle. You can find some gems among the standard burritos and taco salads: tableside guacamole, chile colorado, large selection of tequilas and margaritas in over a dozen flavors.

Brazilian steakhouse offers an all-you-can-eat model. Pay once, then go up to the meat window and/or the salad bar (which also has mashed potatoes, empanadas, etc.) as many times as you like. Vegetarians can do the buffet and grilled pineapple and still be happy. Lower prices for kids. Drinks and dessert are separate.

Mexican place in Winterville has a big menu (with a section for kids) that includes your standard dips and quesadillas, fried and grilled fish, seafood soup, "tacos gringos" (hardshell with ground beef or chicken, lettuce and cheese), churros and lunch combos. Margs, aguas and horchata to drink.

Open Friday through Sunday. Wander around the flea market inside and outside and find some eats while you’re there, especially Mexican and Latin American foods. Look out for La Michoacana es Natural's ice cream/paleta truck. Don't forget to cruise through the produce vendors for treats and supplies.

Birria-focused, adorable, family-run restaurant does quesatacos, ramen, burgers, ceviche, plus the hearty meat stew that forms the basis of most of its menu. Kids menu. Aguas frescas made in house.

Americanized Mexican in a stone-walled interior (both locations). Queso, burritos, combo plates, fajitas, quesadillas and lots of lunch specials. Yes, you can get a margarita or a Mexican beer, as well as a pineapple topped with chicken, chorizo and cheese. Kids menu.

Popular Americanized Mexican fare: burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, taquitos, nachos, tacos and quesadillas. Special entrees and combo plates. Margaritas, Mexican beers, domestics and house wines.

Fast-casual Mexican, both drive-thru and dine-in, offers birria, quesabirrias, burritos, tortas, tacos and a few surprising options, like quinoa.

Hundreds of flavors of popsicles and ice cream in this shop attached to La Jalisco grocery store and taqueria. Also: street-food snacks like a grilled ear of corn encrusted with Hot Cheetos, agua fresca with ice cream, sliced mango with chile powder and a fruit cup topped with spicy gummy worms.

Astonishingly good Mexican ice cream shop that makes flavors fresh in-store daily (including queso, tequila, eggnog and more), as well as gorgeous paletas full of fruit, smoothies, aguas frescas and street-food snacks like Dorilocos and loaded potato chips. Its food truck shows up at the J&J on weekends with ice cream and savory stuff.

Big Americanized Mexican restaurant has a multi-page menu with all kinds of fajitas, quesadillas, burritos, lots of seafood. Grilled stuff is a highlight. Kids menu. Mariachi music sometimes.

Not to be confused with the locally-owned Taqueria La Parrilla, this new place in Beechwood Shopping Center is a Georgia-based chain. Tex-Mex, burritos, plenty of vegetarian options. Also: aguas frescas and margs. Kids menu and balloons.

Walk inside the grocery store to find this taco counter next to the butcher counter. Weekends usually find the tortilla press working hard. Tacos (including "American" style with lettuce, tomato and cheese), tortas, burritos and specials like shrimp cocktail and chiles rellenos. Horchata and aguas frescas to drink, or snag a Jarritos from the store.

Atlanta vibe at this Wire Park restaurant that brings you three salsas instead of one, and offers lamb and octopus in its tacos as well as chicken and steak. Order something interesting, and you'll be happier. Good vegetarian and pescatarian options. Mezcal in addition to tequila. Swanky cocktails. Kids menu.

One of the best Mexican restaurants around, with excellent tacos (filled with cilantro, onions and fish, al pastor, barbacoa or lengua), big tortas, menudo, tostadas de ceviche, caldo de siete mares, gorditas, sopes and more, plus a mangonada margarita. Oak Grove location is a little less atmospheric, but otherwise similar.

Huge bar with DJs, live music, gigantic TV for football games also serves a creative, fun Tex-Mex menu: elote street corn "ribs," excellent smoke-fried wings, tacos with fresh corn tortillas, and more. Brunch involves fried egg tacos and "brunchos" and is a bit quieter. Craft cocktails, palomas and margaritas on draft, and lots of specials.

New Mexican restaurant by the tracks offers discounts on drinks when the train passes by, plus a large menu that features both Americanized stuff and things like lengua and birria. Taco Tuesdays. Dog-friendly on the patio.

Get an elaborate michelada preparada, a pambazo (a torta soaked in red sauce) and some wet wipes, and you'll be thrilled. Lots of taco fillings, including an array of vegetarian choices that go beyond beans. Good, cold tres leches cake. Beer buckets and margaritas.

Darling Dominican resto serves typical rib-sticking fare featuring a lot of rice and meat, including mofongo (plantains mashed with tons of garlic and broth), tostones, seafood, empanadas and churros.

Humble gas station houses a fantastic Latin American restaurant in the back, with a few tables. Specials are posted on a whiteboard outside: wonderful pupusas with a wide variety of fillings, fried chicken, plastic baggies of excellent salsa, yuca, soups. Follow your instincts and enjoy.

Fancy-ish Mexican spot has a huge menu, a rooftop bar and will flambé your cheese dip at your table with tequila. Lunch features some breakfast tacos and a patty melt with an egg. Signature sangria and cocktails.

One location (the original) next to a gas station and the other in a much bigger space on Broad Street. Both serve reliably very tasty Americanized Mexican standards but also lengua and tripe tacos. Chilaquiles and surprisingly good hamburguesas.

Taco bar franchise based in Alabama appeals to college kids, with not very spicy tacos, burritos, quesadillas and nachos, plus lots of drinks. Loads and loads of free toppings. Also: kids menu, family-pack take-out meals.

An Athens original. Not authentically Mexican but authentically us. Milledge location has been open since the 1970s, with very little in the way of change, as it should be. Burritos, veggie chili, quesadillas (nuked or grilled), gigantic nachos. Eastside has some different options.

Excellent traditional Mexican inside a former Huddle House (with a second location also opening in what was once a Huddle House) offers amazing values and delicious food: pollo, lengua, cabeza, al pastor, chorizo, carnitas, barbacoa, asada and tripa. Menudo on weekends, horchata and great sopes.

Texas-style barbecue with a chef pedigree. Breakfast burritos in the a.m. on unbelievable housemade tortillas, pork and other meats in the p.m. (they're known for brisket), plus cornbread, beans, collards. Meats smoked daily. Watkinsville location has bingo night and soccer on TV as well as indoor dining with a/c.

Chef-crafted taqueria with a focused menu. Pork, brisket, fried chicken, carnitas, fish and veggie tacos, plus weekly specials and a blue-plate special. Great selection of premium tequilas, build-your-own margaritas and bottled beers.

Great taqueria inside the Petro Express does tacos, sopes, gorditas and burritos with fillings including asada, chicken, al pastor, barbacoa, carnitas, desebrada (shredded beef), tongue, tripe, chorizo and buche (stomach), plus hot wings and really good soups. Excellent condiment bar.

Taqueria inside a full-service grocery store with a butcher counter. Menudo, carnitas, chorizo, tortas, al pastor and a few freshly made salsas. Great baked goods in the grocery section and paletas/helados next door.

Locally owned small chain Mexican restaurant has chips-and-salsa-type standards and will give you fried ice cream on your birthday, but also serves Mexican-style tacos and good tortas. Kids menu. Margaritas, Mexican beers, regular bottled stuff and pitchers.

Small Atlanta-based chain does Asian/Latin fusion tacos: bulgogi and shiitake, teriyaki chicken with pineapple pico de gallo, tofu with sesame-soy vinaigrette and more. Apps, bowls and salads. Margaritas, cocktails, sangria and craft beers.

Central American and Mexican food at this cult favorite. Pupusas, massive tortas, regular specials and fantastic mole; lots of seafood options. Breakfast, which includes chilaquiles, starts at 10 a.m. and is served all day. Margaritas, beer and aguas frescas.

Not a downhome Southern restaurant, despite its name. Instead, it's a sweet Venezuelan restaurant and coffee shop that also sells crocheted clogging-style dresses. Arepas, empanadas, sandwiches, sweet Cuban coffee, bowls of rice plus beans and protein. Awesome deck and greenspace for kids to play.

Downtown Mexican restaurant open late on weekends. Lots of specials that combine drinks and food, plus street tacos with lengua, tortas, cucumbers with Taijin and more.