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El Hidalguense Restaurant

MY REVIEW: This place is famous for it's lamb and goat "barbacoa"...it would be unfair for me to say something about those dishes, since i don't like goat or lamb...But them fajita quesadillas are the among best in houston. Along with the salsa. Very nice athmosphere. The live music on saturdays it's real good.

NAME: kurt allen
SUBMITTED: 1/24/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/21/ 2012
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: this was a real good authentic mexican restaurant the mole, cabrito and barbacoa was to die for...but they have cut so many corners that its a 4 from 1-10 the mole was frozen and the barbacoa was nothing but fat

NAME: rolandomotadelcampo
SUBMITTED: 2/19/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: 1 month
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: well the food was fair and the service too, the free tequila was 3/4 water and 1/4 tequila!

NAME: piriflix
SUBMITTED: 4/5/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 03/2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: My wife and I went to this restaurant and we could not get out fast enough. The food was nowhere near being fresh. The cabrito was extremely tough just like the chicken and the beef. The only thing that was acceptable were the beans. The noise level was very high and you could not carry on with a normal conversation. We will not return to this location.

NAME: FS
SUBMITTED: 7/29/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: July 2007
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Well the décor reminds me a little of Tijuana but the main event, which is what you went there for after all, is excellent in every respect. I personally have had the all the cabrito and the lamb barbacoa and never been disappointed in anything.

NAME: El Guapo
SUBMITTED: 5/7/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 3/07
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: This review reflects a turn-around in my opinion of El Hidalguense. A friend asked me to pick up some cabrito for him to try on a recent Saturday morning. I took it to his restaurant and when we opened up the carry-out containers, what we had was the rib section and some indeterminate cuts, with hardly any meat to speak of. Certainly none of the leg section. The cabrito had an off smell. And the kicker was, this 'order for one' cost $27. Now, I need to qualify that I am not a newbie to cabrito. My forays into northern Mexico date back to my college years in the 60's. A few years back, I found myself in Monterrey for Thanksgiving week-end and ended up at El R*ey de Cabrito each night.

The problems at Hidalguense are two-fold ( I won't complain about the cost because cabrito is about $6 per pound wholesale and most of that is bone). No, the problem with Hidalguense is quality control and flavor. The person assembling the to-go container should have been more diligent in making sure that a fair amount of each portion of the baby goat was provided. And, something was definitely off with the flavor. Maybe it had sat in storage and steam-cooked too long.

NAME: Jay Francis
SUBMITTED: 4/14/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2007
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: Excellent food!! I really like the barbacoa. You really get a good taste of what Mexican food should taste like in this restaurant. I guess many people who are not satisfied with this place expect to see the same tex-mex garbage you will find everywhere. If you are looking for good and authentic mexican food this a good place to go to.

NAME: Juliette
SUBMITTED: 4/15/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 04/2006
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Our experience was so bad, I felt like crying. I had only read great reviews about this place including the fact that they have won "Best Cabrito" awards from the Houston Press, including 2005. Everything was very old-tasting, as if it had been in the frig for days on end. The cabrito was the worst I've ever had in my life. It had way too much chili powder. My husbands dish was alful too. We were the only ones dining, so maybe they have gone downhill and their reputation is not what it once was. We ordered margaritas and they tasted just like the mix you buy at the grocery store without any booze at all. To top it off, we left hungry and paid over $50 for the terrible food.

NAME: Food lover
SUBMITTED: 10/17/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: Oct/2005
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Muy autentico! The signature dishes are the lamb and kid (cabrito). The prices ain't cheap, but who wants cheap goat. The cabrito is outstanding, served with soupy beans. The lamb is awfully good as well, and is served with a consomme which comes close to defying description (this is probably the only time in my life I've been excited by clear broth; wonderful meaty flavor, and surprisingly hot). The neighborhood (and, for that matter, the restaurant) are a little 'borderline' for my wife; no problem, I just do it solo. For authentic taste from the interior of Mexico, you can not do any better than La Hidalguense!

NAME: Chris Pando
SUBMITTED: 9/27/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 07/2005
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I just want to say that we love to buy barbacoa from el hidalguense! Its the best Mexican restaurant! The Consome its great, also the hand made tortillas. I like the service that they offer, and just as I am typing I am hungry, hahahaha! I just love it! We are clients. My family and I like to order the to go lunch.

El Hidalguense is unique.

NAME: Nohemi Sanchez
SUBMITTED: 4/13/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: February
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: The Hidalguense Borrego(lamb) Barbacoa is awesome!

I was there with one of my cousins who used to tell me how good the food is because of our Mexican descent.

Our parents came from Central Mexico where they cook this kind of food, such as Borrego & Cabrito(goat) Barbacoa. The Barbacoa is cooked as a beef roast, but we were told that they cook it in a hole in the ground just like in Mexico, the original way. Cooked with aloe plant big leaves that add up the special flavor to it. Well, they did taste just like it because I've been to a party in Mexico where they cooked it this way.

Anyways, it was my kids, me and my husband, a white guy from Pennsylvania who had only had cabrito asado(grilled) at my dad's at a party, so, he was delighted with the lamb barbacoa. We finished the whole tray of barbacoa that we order or a "barbacoa de borrego order" that came with a soup. I could not believe it!

We finished the whole order by ourselves, me and my husband!

So, they later brought tequila shots and then offered some desserts, and we ordered flan, which was good too..

Everything is made right there at the restaurant, not just the food but also the corn tortillas, the salsas, etc

The ambience is pretty nice. That day they had a trio band with regional music from the North & central part of Mexico, like huapangos & ranchero songs.

And like the previous review states that the food was a little expensive, all I can say is that it's worth the trip & the money you spend there because they save you the trip to Mexico and the food it's just great!! just like in Mexico.

NAME: Margarita
SUBMITTED: 4/21/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: April/2004
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: My wife and kids wouldn't go with me. It looked too rough. Forcing me to enlist an old college friend that I knew was up for the task. We went for lunch with the sole purpose of one thing: Cabrito. And like an earlier reviewer of this joint indicated, its the best you can find north of the border. Not the best, but a solid offering. Service was fast and pleasant. I will be back to try some of their other entrees.

NAME: rdptexas
SUBMITTED: 8/29/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/03
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: The parking lot was packed with pickup trucks. For Mexican places this is always a good sign. The hostess asked the usual "Smoking or not" but also asked if we spoke Spanish. We answered in Spanish that we could get by and were seated right away. Apparently some of the servers don't speak much English (ours didn't) so you'll want to be specific if you "no hable' ". Our first impression was that the place is a bit loud. They had a guy playing keyboard / singing and there were lots of family groups talking. I'm hearing impaired and hearing aids don't help in noise. By moving to a table in the back things were a lot better.

The menu was several pages but we had come for cabrito so we didn't read all of it. The brought a couple of taquitos and some dark red salsa right away and took our drink orders. Then someone came by and offered us small (1/2 ounce) shots of tequila. Not only were they complementary, it was one of the smoothest tequilas I've ever tasted. Even Peg, who never drinks tequila, liked it. We placed our dinner orders and sipped our drinks.

Next came bowls of frijoles charro (cowboy beans) and fresh hand made tortillas. If you're thinking of frijoles as "just a bowl of beans" you're in for a surprise. This was more of a soup with lots of spicy, flavorful broth. It was probably the best frijoles charro we've had in Houston. With a spoon in one hand and a soft, warm tortilla in the other and sips of tequila in between we were both having a good time.

After a bit a plate arrived with some guacamole, lettuce, and a mild salsa with nopalitos (cactus chunks).

This was followed by a sizzling hot comal (cast iron plate) with steaming portions of meat and onions. We proceeded to fill fresh tortillas with chunks of meat, top them with salsa, onions, etc., and wade right in.

Swallows of real Mexican Coca-Cola (it really is better) kept our tongues cooled at appropriate points.

Later in the meal they brought another round of tequila and our server left us a valentines card thanking us for coming in. Nice touches.

We've had even better cabrito but we had to travel to Mexico to get it. Short of buying airline tickets, this is probably the most authentic cabrito you'll find in Houston

The dinners were $18 each which was reasonable considering what it included.

They charged extra for a second order of four tortillas and the cokes were a couple of bucks each. Dinner for two was just over $50.

A few items that were not quite up to the rest of the experience:

The noise level is high although that was partially due to the music which is only on Friday and Saturday nights. Other nights might not be the same and/or you may enjoy the music over dinner conversation.

Parking was problematic. Again that may be a weekend night situation. We found a spot a few doors away.

Peg noted that her serving of meat was markedly smaller than mine. It was a rib section with lots of crispy bits of roasted meat to pick though. Mine was a back section with large moist chunks of tender meat. We just traded back and forth to achieve a balance and were delighted with the result.

We will definitely be returning, probably on a quieter weeknight.

NAME: Pete & Peg
SUBMITTED: 2/16/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/03
FREQUENCY: Visited once

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