Mexican Restaurants in Apache Junction

The culinary team at Los Gringos Locos designs intricate hunger-conquering strategies on a menu brimming with savory Mexican cuisine. Ameliorate food deficits with a house specialty dish, such as the slowly grilled pork carnitas ($11.48) or the steak ranchero ($11.93), a collection of cubed sirloin sautéed with tomatoes, jalapenos, red and green peppers, and onions. A duo of green chile peppers ($10.56) ensconced in cheese, grilled egg batter, and sauce precludes spells of cuisine boredom and can be paired with a margarita or Mexican beer. Los Gringos Locos also serves up an appetite-revving roster of soups, salads, and ala carte items.

Following Baja Fresh’s ethos set in 1990 as a healthy take on fast food, never-frozen meats sizzle atop the grill before they're tucked into made-to-order tacos and burritos. Grilled corn and flour tortillas embrace fish, carnitas, chicken, and steak, and smoky queso fundido sidles onto nachos and into burritos. Between bites, chips scoop up salsa made from farm-fresh produce rather than poured out of a can or fabricated in a space-age replicator. A complimentary salsa bar ensures no mouthful goes unspiced, and guests can scoop up their favorites as they await their dine-in, takeout, or catering orders.

El Rico's transformed from a humble taco shack into a full-fledged Mexican restaurant that boasts a menu jam-packed with homestyle eats. Mountains of nachos lurk beneath grilled carne asada or pollo asada capped with guacamole, sour cream, and lime ($9.79 for full order; $6.99 for half order). Crispy flautas ($8.99), which come in threes to symbolize each of the hemispheres, conceal shredded beef or chicken, and the grilled-shrimp taco plate hosts its seaworthy morsels atop soft tortillas accessorized with pillows of rice and beans ($11.99).

Serrano’s extensive menu features a full spread of authentic Mexican appetizers, enchiladas, fajitas, sandwiches, and more. Make the flavorful most of the preprandial course with a combo mini appetizer platter, a delectable spread of beef flautas, chicken and cheese rollups, and stuffed jalapeños ($9.50). For the prand itself, diners can avail their faces of house specialties such as the machaca, shredded beef or chicken with chili, tomatoes, onions, rice, and beans saddled up next to a posse of flour tortillas ($9.75). Seafood lovers, and people who once dropped an engagement ring into the ocean and are searching for it one fish at a time, can explore the seafood favorites, such as the diverse Del Mar Sampler, featuring a shrimp enchilada, halibut steak, and garlic shrimp served with rice and Mexican-style veggies ($14.95).

When you spend 25 years doing one job, you'd better love it. Luckily for LuLu's Taco Shop owners Lulu and Israel Aviles, making the traditional Guadalajaran cuisine of their homeland has always been a labor of love. The duo begins with Mexican recipes passed down through generations and then incorporates Arizona's Tex-Mex influence to create a menu that mixes old with new for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Tacos begin with hand-crafted flour and corn tortillas. Once the tortillas are hot and pressed, staff then fill them with meat or seafood cooked in house-made marinades. Dishes can be prepared in the Mexican fashion—topped with cilantro and onions—or Arizona-style with fire sauce, cheese, and guacamole. Either way, the flavors stay true to the Guadalajara region, as the shop sources its spices and seasonings directly from Mexico. LuLu's even imports Mexican beers to round out the taqueria experience, with margaritas available to get parties started or put out party-related fires.

Heaping portions of Sonoran-style Mexican food whisk palates away to the plains of Northern Mexico at Someburros, a quick-service restaurant renowned for its authentic family recipes and from-scratch preparations. The menu's house specialties exemplify the care and culinary ingenuity honed over three generations of Vasquez family cooking, as the restaurant has evolved from its early days as a small South Phoenix takeout. The house-made salsa adds a piquant accoutrement to the pollo fundido’s jalapeño cream cheese–topped tortilla, coaxing out its marinated chunks of chicken breast with the toasty warmth of fiery spice. The restaurant’s eponymous burros pack soft tortillas with beans, melty cheese, and meats such as green chili beef or grilled carne asada. Cascades of 32-ounce soda, lemonade, or iced tea capably relieve tongues tingling from spices or licking lightning-flavored stamps.