Santa Cecilia

Want some REAL street tacos without having to cross the border? Tacos al Carbon prides itself on «Real Mexican Street Tacos» experience! Tacos al Carbon and Carne Asada entrée is sure to please your taco pallet, topped with lime, avocado and cilantro and don’t forget their hot salsa will have your tastebuds wanting more! Best of all, it’s all homemade and fresh. OVERALL: AWESOME MEXICAN TACOS AT AN AWESOME PRICE, AS CLOSE TO HOMEMADE AS IT WILL GET IN EL PASO!

Hey, this place was pretty good. We had the platter for two with a side of tacos. Nothing fancy, just an old building behind Fox Plaza. Usually these hole in the wall places tend to have better food and the atmosphere is always inviting. My chelada was awesome, and humongous. The food was good except that they give you what seems like an entire stick of butter on your potato. I seriously doubt anyone actually eats it all because I didn’t. Anyway, who cares about the butter… lets talk about the food. Yum yum yum. I ate every bit of it and I’m sure I’ll miss it when I leave. I appreciate little places like this that don’t skimp on portions and you never leave hungry or feeling like you wasted your money. Let’s be honest… if you want to get your grub on, this is the place. We’ll be back next time we’re in EP. I can’t wait!

Sunday evening, not too busy, the server acted more like he wants to sleep than anything else that he was careless of us. But service aside, we ordered the parrillada for four since we had four. A gigantic plate of greasy meat came.
I do enjoy a juicy meats, but the steak and pastor was old and dried, as if they just heat up some meat to serve. Maybe it was all bad timing, so the food wasn’t as fresh as it should be.
Our experience is not the best. There are many places locally that serves parrillada so we won’t be back for sure.
Hopefully the server catch up on his Zs so he came make some deserving tips.

Authentic, delicious and in expensive. I bought a plate of enchiladas with two sides for under $ 5! The staff was friendly and courteous!

First time in El Paso, and I wanted to grab something on the way from the airport to the highway (heading up to New Mexico). Of course, Mexican was the way to go. I mean, you can practically see the border from here. And in fact, you CAN see Mexico from here. Without that whole pesky going to Juarez thing.
It was lunchtime on a Sunday, and it was fairly quiet. The young lady who would be my server was absolutely wonderful. She recommended the tacos al pastor, which says it comes with six (!!), but said I could pretty much get any number I wanted. Four sounded good. Beef or pork? Why not two of each. No problem.
A few minutes later and my food was up. Nothing fancy, but sure authentic (which is what I love). The beef ones were okay, nothing great. The pork was, as expected, the winner. Great flavor, minimal fat. Plenty of cilantro and avocado to enhance. The lime wedges were not great — dry and barely anything came out. I also got a real Coke from across the border. All of this was, I believe $ 10.50. I was satisfied and full, at a good price with great service.

Had the tacos Al Pastor, they were delicious! A buddy had the chicken enchiladas, tasted awesome. Food came out quickly! Great local spot!

Delicious! I went here for lunch with a colleague today. We both ordered the tacos al pastor and the pork had a great seasoning. Probably because they wood-​grill it.
My only complaint is the in inattentive server. I could’ve really used a refill on my iced tea. But she disappeared after bringing the food.

Legit, legit, legit! If you need a taco fix, hit up this lil place. Its small, and definately nothing fancy. But who cares! The food is worth it! Id seriously buy their tacos from the back of a pick up truck if I had to… kinda like the tamale guy in the grocery store parking lot across the street…

The ghost of Ay Cocula has resurrected…
This place used to be «Ay Cocula #1» — the other being the one on Lee Trevino. Now that Ay Cocula is no more, this place is EXACTLY what it was like when it was Ay Cocula. Even the menus are EXACTLY the same… and they still say «Ay Cocula» on them!
Of course, the six-​pack of tacos is the preferred meal. They didn’t serve them with the grilled unions, but they’re still outstanding. Santa Cecilia looks like a converted fast food restaurant — perhaps an old McDonalds or something similar. Anyway, go in and sit down and face away from the kitchen — you don’t really want to count the numerous apparent health code violations. It’s as close as you can come to eating off of a cart in Juarez … and they must have had a VERY sight impaired health inspector when they checked this place. HOWEVER… these are a very worthy and excellent successor to the six-​pack of tacos at the old Cocula on Trevino. Order your six-​pack with some queso fundido (plain, no chorizo). A little queso and some of the freshly sliced avocado in your taco and you’ll swear you’ve gone to taco-heaven…albeit a ramshackled, unkempt heaven…
Five stars? You bet. Good service, great food. Second time I’ve been back there in as many trips to El Paso, but I’ll still keep going there as long as they’re open and I’m in El Paso…