Las Vegas has some pretty good mid and low price Mexican restaurants but does not fare very well at the high end. If you are on a budget, Mexican food in Vegas is a good deal but if you are visiting from Chicago, San Antonio or Houston you might want to stick to buffets, French food and steaks.

The top choice for Mexican on the Las Vegas Strip is Isla at TI. Isla does not reflect owner chef Richard Sandoval’s Mexico City background as much as his other restaurants. A fan of Pampano’s might find the Isla Las Vegas menu slightly surprising.

His 9 other restaurants use ingredients such as Nopal (green bean tasting cactus leaves), Huitlacoche (corn smut akin to truffles), Epazote (pungent cilantro-like herb), etc. The Vegas menu has Maine lobster. This is probably the most Tejano of his restaurants which is not a bad thing at all because most Americans and also the French prefer it to Mexico City cuisine.

Vegas Made Easy.com favorites include roast pork pipian, carne asada and decent guacamole. The tequila goddess is a great Las Vegas style touch. Prices are reasonable at less than $15 for some main courses and cheap for fine dining on the Strip.

Tacqueria Canonita (Venetian) has good chips and salsa and fair tacos. It is the best Mexican with a view because you can see all the Gondolas go by. This is recommended more for snacking, sipping and watching.

Near-Strip, Garduno’s at the Palms and the Fiesta Rancho (North Las Vegas) are equally good with decent adovada and machaca enchiladas and tacos. If you like Garduno’s a lot, join their rewards program where you get a point per dollar and 140 points is $10 credit (about a 7% discount). Points expire unused in a year just like Golden Nugget comps.

Pink Taco (Near Strip) at the Hard Rock is loud and fun with great people watching, especially when the Rehab pool party (late March starts up again) is in full swing. The food is fair with the pink taco not recommended. However, the happy hour (2 for 1 drinks) is highly recommended if you want to get bombed on large margaritas.

El Sombrero is the top Mexican in the Downtown area with very good combination plates. However, it is small and the area is not recommended for dining at night. Early lunch is recommended. Prices are cheap even by Old Vegas standards.

All major buffets feature some Mexican selections that are never very good. Sometimes you can get okay taco fixings that will keep up with the Taco Bells. This assessment applies to the buffets we like such as Wynn, Bellagio, etc.

Texas Station has had a decent chili bar that went away and has come back again but not as strongly as before. Some old reviews on other websites might still be recommending it but not Vegas Made Easy.com unless they come all the way back and then some.

The only Mexican buffet in town is not a pure Mexican buffet. Garduno’s has a $9.99 spread that will work for you if you want to eat a breakfast/fajitas type of meal. They have the standard bacon and eggs but their fajitas are closer to restaurant quality than is typical. Although Vegas Made Easy.com does recommend Garduno’s, their Sunday buffet is not their best.

If you are renting a car while visiting Vegas or are a Local, there are several choices with good food and low prices. Dona Maria (Off-Strip) is great for tamales but they also have good combinations that include tamales as well. Their Las Vegas Blvd. location is preferred over Summerlin.

Lindo Michoacan, Bonito Michoacan and Viva Michoacan (all 3 Off-Strip) are owned by family members. Bonito and Viva share the same menu and owner but Lindo is owned by a different family member with a slightly different menu. They all feature very good handmade tortillas, soups and Carnitas. Lindo or Viva may be the strongest of these 3 related restaurants.

There are several places in town to get birria de chivo (goat stew) but one of the best is Agave (Off-Strip) which has very good stacked enchiladas as well. They are close to Red Rock and a good alternative to the Cabo there.

Frank and Fina’s (both locations Off-Strip) does not have very good beef tacos but Al Pastor, Carnitas and Pibil are good dishes. The Charleston location only serves beer and wine so the margarita drinkers are better off at the Grand Canyon location off Flamingo and Decatur.

Restaurant.com offers discount coupons for over 200 Las Vegas restaurants, sometimes including Viva Michoacan. Although not our top Mexican, it is still very good and with coupon savings becomes a pretty nice value play. Please click below to see what else you might like. If you are on the Vegas Strip, 89109 will be the zip code.