Farolito Restaurant has been in business since 1936 in Abilene--they must be doing something right!

Exterior of the building

For a true "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican food experience, you need to go to Farolito Restaurant. It is family-owned, super kitschy (orange booths, sombreros on the wall, reruns of the Price is Right on the television), difficult to find, and generally only open for lunch on weekdays. Check their Facebook to be sure they are open before you venture over since there could be a staff shortage or other issue that keeps them from opening. Farolito's is the oldest restaurant in Abilene, coming up on 90 years old. It recently reopened after having to close for a while as the owner had to recover from a serious traffic accident.  

Chips and salsa

Some things you should know...it is located on a dead end street by a bridge and the parking lot is small. You may need to be creative with your parking if the place is packed. The building is old but personally, I have never had an issue with things not being clean. There may be some dust on the decor but that generally does not bother me as long as it stays on the decor. It is also not wheelchair accessible as you have to go down two steps to get into the dining room. They do offer "take out" service as well as dine in. Remember that it is a "hole-in-the-wall" so adjust expectations accordingly. The place is vintage. 

Enchilada Salad on the lunch special

The current price on the daily specials is $9.50 and that includes the chips and hot sauce. There is a note on the menu that you cannot do substitutions on the lunch specials such as requesting a different sauce.

On to the food. I really enjoy their salsa. It has heat without being overwhelming, and it does not taste like canned tomato sauce. You can tell that is made fresh in-house. The chips are not made there but I am okay with that. They were crispy which is what matters.

There are seven options on the daily special menu but they have a large selection of other items on their regular menu if you want to venture beyond the specials. Today I ordered the #7 which is an enchilada "salad". The salad is two flat beef enchiladas with sauce, lettuce, tomato, and you get your choice of sour cream or guacamole. It is served with rice and beans. 

Interior

An aspect of what I appreciate about Farolito's is that the enchilada sauce tastes homemade. It has a very nice beefy flavor. The rice and beans were also good. The rice was not dry and I would bet they use lard in the refried beans. None of my lunch today would qualify as health food but it certainly filled me up. My only criticism is that the enchiladas did not have a whole lot of meat in them. If you have a larger appetite, you may want to go for a meal on the regular menu.

The servers were friendly and quick. Everyone I saw was enjoying their meal. As they were paying up front, I heard more then one person comment that they were pleased that the restaurant was open again.

If you are lucky you might catch actor Robert Duvall having lunch there if he happens to be in Abilene. No joke. 

Hours:
Monday-Friday 11:00 AM - 1:45 PM

Saturday-Sunday CLOSED

209 Cottonwood St. 

Abilene, TX

325-672-0002

https://www.facebook.com/Farolito.Restaurant1936/