El Charro Mexican Restaurant is a huge eastside hit. With locations in Fraser, Macomb and St. Clair Shores, it is a widely popular establishment. Now, El Charro has a location right here in Oakland County. On April 30, El Charro Mexican Restaurant opened a new location on Rochester Rd. south of Wattles in Troy.

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This new El Charro is not the sit down style like the Fraser and Macomb locations. El Charro in Troy features walk-up ordering (fast food-style like the St. Clair Shores location). It even has a drive thru.

If you're an El Charro fan living on the west side, you'll be happy with this new opening. You can avoid the drive to the east side and the long waits typically associated with El Charro.

That being said, I think El Charro's food has a taste that is either loved by some, or not cared for by others. I happen to fall in the "not cared for" category, which I would think is the smaller group as the newly opened restaurant has been packed and busy every day since opening. For the sake of this review, I am doing the writeup for the "loved by some" group and I won't comment on taste or value of the food.

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Here's the set up... you go to the counter to order your food. I went with a "pick two" order and got a chimichanga and the infamous soft shelled taco. You get a drink with it and it goes for $8.85. There's also a "pick one" and a "pick three," appetizers, quesadillas, desserts and more. It's an interesting set up  - fast food counter style, but with higher end selections and prices.

You then find a seat at a table with your drinks and a side of chips and salsa and wait for the staff to bring out the food. The atmosphere in the restaurant is quite cozy and decorative... definitely not what you would expect from a fast food restaurant. This El Charro Mexican Restaurant is quickly proving not to be about fast food. Aside from the ordering arrangment, there's nothing "fast food" about it.

While I personally prefer the taste of other Mexican restaurants in Oakland County (Rojo, El Patio, Sagebrush, Miguel's Cantina to name a few), you can't beat the convenience of El Charro. Especially if you're a transplanted Macomb County resident looking for the legendary El Charro Mexican food in Oakland County.

El Charro Mexican Restaurant
3651 Rochester Rd
Troy, Michigan
248-688-9642

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