it does seem to come down to the cook for a restaurant to be successful. I grew up in south Texas and ate Mexican or Tex-Mex all the time. As I get older, I find I want Mexican food more often. Ay! Jalisco is my first choice. Naldo's in Southern Trace is my second choice and is very good but more expensive than Ay! Jalisco. Casa Agave is also very good 3rd choice but is the most
expensive of the 3.

Naldo's

There is no great Tex-Mex food in The Villages. There, I said it, just like the Northeasterners claim there is no great pizza in The Villages.

I hope they find a way to damp down the sound level in Brownwood! It can be deafening in the Colony location.

Nos gusta a Brisas del Mar. Es my autentico!

Y la comida es muy deliciosa.

We had dinner at Naldo's Mexican Kitchen yesterday and give this restaurant two thumbs up. The place is adorable.....may not be authentic Mexican decor but it is very welcoming and so colorful.

As for the food.....we started with delicious hot chips and salsa. We also had the white cheso which was delicious.

Beef Fajitas was really good and the portion was very large. I usually can finish an order of Fajitas but had to take some home from Naldo's. Must say, though, the rice at Naldo's was not as flavorful as the rice at Fiesta Grande Mexican Grill in Colony Plaza. I usually like to pass on the rice but can never pass on the rice at Fiesta Grande. I left the rice at Naldo's.

The regular Margarita was delicious as was the Strawberry Margarita. I have always thought Fiestsa Grande has the best Margaritas in The Villages. Naldo's is on par with Fiesta Grande. We will be going back to Naldo's.

Fiesta Grande is wonderful and Brisas del Mar is even more wonderfullerer! They are about equal food wise but the atmosphere at Brisas del Mar is mucho betterer! Ole! :clap2:

Everyone already said some good ones around here, but if you're up in Gainesville, Linda Vista is delicious. Also, in Ocoee, the Ocoee Taco Company is a tiny little place with great tacos. My daughter in Windermere showed me that one.

We went to Naldo's the other evening. I was not impressed. The salsa was from a jar and very mild. The fish taco's were extremely bland. The rice/chicken bowl was poor at best. The margarita's were very good. However they were twice as much as other places. So when I compare it to Las Maguyas in Wildwood, they will continue to be my go to place for Mexican food.

Fiesta Grande at Colony Plaza Speak, cook and serve excellent Mexican food. Very authentic, and friendly.

There will be new Taco Bell opening soon on 466A near the new Lowes. Good tacos. They actually have taco sauce, which most other mexican restaurants have never heard of. They think salsa is taco sauce.

That's because "taco sauce" is an American invention, and isn't part of Mexican cuisine. In Mexican cuisine there's hot sauce, salsa, and pico de gallo. Salsa IS the sauce typically put on tacos, when one chooses to put any sauce on it at all. The word itself, "salsa," is Spanish for "sauce." Only at American fast-food joints is this not true.

For another Mexican-style fast-ish foodery, I have tried Lazy Mac's Taco Shack inside the theatre at Sumter Landing. I had an empanada. It was very tasty, though I think next time I'll try the chicken - I think I'll like that better. They also have fresh pico that you can spoon out into a little paper cup - just enough for three forksfull. For me, one empanada and one little thing of pico is a perfect lunch. Very inexpensive too, under $4.

They have dollar beef tacos on Tuesdays. I haven't tried those but I definitely will next time I'm there on a Tuesday.

There will be an additional Fiesta Grande at Brownwood in 2020. The address will be 3647 Kessel Rd. Pretty much across from 5 Guys. We'll try the new one when the time comes, but we really like the Colony location, food, and staff.

La Palma has the blandest (yep that is a word) and tasteless food I have ever experienced... four of us went there for the first time and all had the same opinion....save your money unless you like eating with zero taste.. odd thing was none of us expressed our opinion until two days later because we did not want to impact the others evening