El Bronco – Open During Construction!
301 Old Coors Dr SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
Overall Bites:
Value: $8.25 for 4 well seasoned, tender meat tacos and a small bowl of frijoles (beans). Comes with limes, side of salsa, some cilantro and a couple whole cebollitas (scallions).
Taste: Excellent. You get some cilantro but it’s not chopped up so there is some assembly required. The avocado and lime makes the seasoning pop.
Presentation: The food looked good. You can tell the kitchen takes pride in how the plates come out.
Vibe: Went after church and the dining room was somewhat full. The wait staff did a good job of ensuring every table received the right amount of attention. The building is older as well as the furniture and the decor. Don’t let that take away from the taste though.
Accessibility: Normally this place is extremely easy to get to. With all the construction on Old Coors and Central it’s made it a little harder since it looks like it could be closed. You can still enter their parking through the south entrance.
I know what you’re thinking, “another carne asada taco review!?!” Yes! I can’t get enough of them. I love carne asada and it’s my go to plate. I will start off by saying that out of the three carne asada plates I’ve had/reviewed, I liked these the best.
I arrived after church on a Sunday at roughly 1pm. The dining room was somewhat full but there was plenty of staff to handle the crowd. Seat yourself and someone will arrive shortly to take your order. It was only a few minutes for us. They offer various types of plates or a la carte burritos. Menudo is also on the menu and it can be hit or miss with the Tamales.
As I mentioned before, I had the Carne Asada tacos. The meat was tender, juicy and well seasoned. The side of frijoles was also very tasty. I prefer to have chopped onion and cilantro but El Bronco serves a few small sprigs of cilantro and whole cebollitas (scallions) and a raddish. The sides of lime and the salsa to poor over the top made the flavors pop. It’s a simple plate and the amount of food was filling.
You get chips and salsa here too! This red salsa is some of the best I’ve had. It’s not burn your mouth spicy like other places. It’s hot enough to let you know it’s there and mild enough where you can still taste the chips. I had to ask for a second serving because it was that tasty.
El Bronco has been around for years. The building hasn’t received much improvements and neither have the tables, chairs or the decor. Don’t let that distract you from the quality of the food and the reasonable prices. The wait staff was attentive and they’re also happy to accommodate you in English or Spanish.
There is some construction on Old Coors and Central and some other improvements on the street just to the north of the restaurant. At the time of my visit I couldn’t exit through the north. You’ll have to enter through the south and then find a way to turn yourself around so you can go out the same way you entered.
All in all, these were the best of the three establishments I’ve reviewed. 4.5 Bites since the decor is still dated but everything else about El Bronco makes it worth a visit.
Go try them for yourselves and check them out on Facebook.