Caretta Vieja

I forgot to take photos of our food. Too hungry. Excellent service excellent food. Amazing tequila! Tacos al carbon carne asada! Bombtastic. My daughter had the green chili. Very good. Best Mexican in Conifer for sure. Puts 3 margaritas to shame. cannot wait to go back. Reasonable prices. Four of us ate for around eighty bucks but that includes a Margarita, a shot of hurradura, and a beer. Gracias !!!

We throughly enjoyed our top shelf marks and our shared course of mocajete. We will be back!

Some of our friends recommended this joint, so after church on Sunday we thought we’d check it out. We don’t have many options up here in the mountains (3 Margaritas is alright, but there is this one waiter-​geez-​what is his problem and as luck would have it we always get him-​the food is not good enough to keep me going) and the other one up here 3 Garcias, is ok.) Ok, back to this place. They only had one waitress working but she actually did really good. We got everything in a timely manner, but most importantly was her attitude. She didn’t look frazzled at all and did her best to accommodate us picky eaters. The guy who brings out your food does not speak English so don’t talk to him, because he’ll leave your food and run away. Typical of non-​English speakers. We didn’t mind, because he told the waitress that we had questions. It was just kind of funny, his reaction. Specially, if he had told me he doesn’t speak English, I would’ve spoke to him in Spanish (because I’m fluent). The food was excellent. The green chili wasn’t spicy but had good flavor like sun-​dried chili. Yum. The beans and rice were good and the tortillas tasted home-​made (although I doubt it — too much work). Absolutely going back to try other dishes. I think we may have found our go-​to Mexican restaurant in the mountains. Now if we could just find an Ethiopian, Greek, and Thai restaurant… we’d never move.

We (I) were starving and this is the first place we saw so we stopped. It took awhile to be seated and the place was empty except for 1 other party so I was slightly hesitant about what we were getting into. The hostess was the waitress and she was friendly and efficient.
I had a burrito with ground beef and my little one had a chicken quesadilla — we both liked our meals but my husband wasn’t a fan of the carne asada burrito — he wasn’t sure if it was the seasoning or meat but he couldn’t eat it. Our waitress offered him an alternative and he went with the chicken quesadilla which was good. Salsa was ok. This is definitely not the best Mexican we’ve had but it fits the bill for road food. Next time I would consider driving further up the road and trying another Mexican place or even Wendy’s.

Good food. The atmosphere is not bad. Service is ok i guess. Its a little weird location. I am going to try their breakfast burrito stand in the morning.

My wife had the shrimp fajitas and I had the steak burrito and both were very fresh and flavorful, not too mention the excellent service from our waitress…

I agree with the recent reviews that this place is poor at best. If you look at the recent reviews this place isn’t what it used to be, which is sad because at one time it was pretty good. The owner is a bonafide nut job as well. Maybe that explains the lack of good help and deteriorating quality of food and service.

Our waitress couldn’t have been any nicer. The food couldn’t have been any worse. My son and I shared a plate of tacos and they were literally (and I do mean literally) inedible. Chips and salsa were great though. Plate of 5 ala carte tacos– $ 17. Should’ve gone next door to the gas station and bought a sandwich instead.

It’s been a real long time since my friend and I had a real good mean and this place did not disappoint. We could literally find nothing wrong any of the food everything came out perfect. We came here on a whim and I glad we did. Next time I’m up here I will most definitely stop by again. The only bad thing I have to say was service is a little slow but I could easily over look that cause the food was great and it came out hot and fast. Stop by if you’re in town.

Not impressed. Green chili on my shredded beef chimi tasted like tomato sauce and the chicken mole is the worst I’ve ever had. Usually I like rice and beans but these were nothing special. Two stars for the Cadillac margarita.

Margaritas rock. And the food is awesome. Carne asada and quesadillas are our favorites. Once u get past the «gas station» locale, u will see it’s the best among the others in this area. We just love it!

Came here on a Saturday night and there was a good crowd, but still easy to get a table. There is a cute bar up front, but no one was sitting there that night. The food was better than I expected for the area. I had the combination plate with a chicken enchilada and a tamale. It came with rice and beans and it was delicious. My boyfriend had the Carne Asada which was really really delicious and flavorful. We had lime margaritas which were great and then sopapillas for dessert — you get 4 large ones flavored with brown sugar and cinnamon. Would definitely come again! I would probably give it 5 stars if I hadn’t grown up in So Cal eating Mexican almost daily.

Pros: Chips came out warm and fresh, salsa was flavorful and had a decent kick to it. There was a definite taste of cilantro without it being overwhelming. The green chile was very mild but also had good flavor, and the same can be said about the enchilada sauce. The tamale was moist and had a good ratio of corn meal to meat, though it was a bit on the bland side. The refried beans were pretty standard but their rice was very, very good!
Cons: Service was an issue throughout the meal. Drinks were slow to be refilled and our server was gone for long stretches of time. I ordered a soft relleno and was served a crispy one. Thanks to the aforementioned server it was a good 10 – 15 minutes after the food was served before anyone asked if everything was okay, but I will say that one the manager/​owner got involved, the mix-​up was quickly fixed. Unfortunately the replacement relleno, while soft, was not covered with green chile like the rest of my meal but instead with some kind of mild red sauce that can best be described as a medium-​spicy marinara sauce.
Overall, Caretta is worth stopping by if you’re hungry and in the area (there’s not much else in the way of food for many miles in either direction), but if you’re craving something a bit more above average, make the trip to town or to Morrison.

Brought the whole family tonight and had a wonderful experience. The Tacos al Carbon and Chile Colorado are my new favorite Mexican dishes in Conifer. Kids loved the Mexican Pizza. The staff was very pleasant!

Better than any other Mexican in conifer.

New Ownership! Had my first trip to Caretta Vieja and just ***LOVED IT***!!! Met by the new owner at the door & shown to our table. He offered to make us one of their most-​popular TOP shelf margaritas himself… its was actually made with fresh squeezed limes, no artificial sweet & sour crap. Smooth & fresh & went down too quickly… everything I love in a marg. I only ordered a small plate, the Avocado Tostada & was very impressed with how fresh everything was. Great flavors, great ingredients & (*In case you couldn’t tell…) I am over the moon about having a new local business to patronize. The location shares a space with a gas station, but that didn’t stop the service & food from being awesome. Can’t wait to take some friends back. Was not surprised to see the bad reviews were over a year old, this new spot is one of my fresh favorites. Yesssssss.

Been here three time and the food quality seems inconsistent for me between a 2 and 3.5 stars. Service was good, but the price seemed high compared to other options in the Conifer area. If you need gas and dinner stop here. If you just want good Mexican there are better choices in the area.

I stopped by this place after a long day of hiking. The thought of chips, salsa and good Mexican food was calling. Unfortunately, I regretted my choice the minute I walked in the door. This place is not the most inviting, and shares a building with a convenience store and gas station. Like most Mexican restaurants, the menu is way to large, which too me always indicates poor quality (do a few things well, not everything poorly). I tried the pork green chili burrito. I absolutely hate smothered burritos, and this one reinforced my feelings. The tortilla was super soggy and tasted like wet paper. The pork filling was cooked well, but there was nothing else to this burrito. I guess garnishes are extra.
My wife ordered the arroz con pollo. I felt sorry for her as it looked terrible. Basically, they took plate of rice, smothered it with cheddar cheese (I guess Monterrey wasn’t available), and then topped it with chicken fajitas doused in a slimy tomato sauce. Sorry, but it’s nothing like the dish my mother used to make. Ill save my money next time and eat off Federal.

As a local I come here for lunch or early dinner once in a while. Overall at times it’s really good — but not consistent. Sure friendly, clean and great we have a local in the foothills, but overall it comes down to food.
So I tried several dishes, always coming back for the Tacos… which are still my favorits. Tried others but I didnt like them that much — especially the shrimp dish for 2 was somewhat a disaster…
But still will return here and there for convenient lunch and mexican cravings.

Love this mexican restaurant — authentic mexican food; wonderful, pleasant, smiling, knowledgeable staff; efficient. fast service, and reasonably priced.
Can’t think of anything negative to say! Any dish I’ve ordered I’ve liked and if I didn’t eat all of it that was only because there was so much of it!