When all you’ve ever wanted in this life is to travel the world and taste life quite literally, but can’t due to local restrictions and the fear of pandemic, you have to be resourceful.

It’s not the right time for me to start traveling just yet, although I am not saying no to small escapes (like Arachova). However, I still am the kind of person who wishes to see everything this world has to offer no matter how much time it takes me, but since that’s a little hard to do right now I decided that I can always ‘taste’ it from a distance.

The world lives within the world these days, meaning you can find little pieces of other country’s culture in your own area and mentally take a short trip to another place far from your location without the airplane tickets for example. I like being able to taste a country’s flavor and that’s exactly what I did when visited El Nacho Taqueria-Bar, a small Mexican place in Palaio Faliro, Athens.

You will find it in Ag. Alexandrou 32, 17561 Palaio Faliro and you will, for sure, be intrigued by the large counter with the pebbles and small trees in the middle inside the counter. To be honest, their decoration makes you feel like you are on another place and certainly not Athens. There is a different vibe there from the place’s decoration to the music. It’s painted with vibrant colors and decorated with class and poise of a Mexican inspired restaurant, but the vibe is making you feel like home. Like your mexican home. Is it too much for a description? Maybe, but I really felt very comfortable and like I could stop by after work to grab a bite for example. Nothing too fancy.

Its entire philosophy is based on take away, there are not many seats that’s why you should make a reservation before visiting. We certainly did and also asked for confirmation later on the same day, so you can understand that this place takes your plans seriously. I like that, it makes me feel safe that my plans are not going to go to waste or that I will have some unwanted change of them.

The kitchen is visible to the public, you can easily see the chefs there cooking your meal. The lights inside the building are decorated with large sombreros, thus making you feel that this place is honoring its cuisine and theme.

The service there is admirable. Quick, kind, helpful, willing to explain every bit of the menu you have in front of you, while also helping you pronounce the dishes correctly.

I visited the place a Saturday night and to be honest with you I believe I had dressed a bit more elegant than I should. Maybe when you visit you can wear sneakers and a casual outfit, but for your convenience definitely not heels. The chairs there don’t have a back, it’s more of a stool kind of vibe, so you will supporting your weight at your feet half the time.

It wasn’t too crowded, which is a good sign. Our reservation was shown to us by the host and our order was taken within minutes. If you are a single person then the fajitas are the obvious choice, but if you are a couple (like we were) then you can go for more than one basic choice.

For us the menu included: fajitas, a plate of 4 different kinds of burritos and a dish that had 4 crispy Parmesan cheese sticks with yogurt dip. I am telling you each bite of these dishes was absolute heaven for my taste buds. I am not a particularly demanding type of person when it comes to food, but I appreciate good food when I have it in front of me and at El Nacho I did!

The spices were just enough to make the dish’s smell and taste more prominent, more easily pleasing to the tongue. I enjoyed how I could really taste the ingredients to the point that enticed me and did not confuse me as to what I was tasting. There was a lot of onion in most of the food, but the good thing is that it wasn’t so much as to make you feel uncomfortable or make the dish feel heavy and hard to digest.

The colors in combination with the spices and the taste were phenomenal, as proven by the pictures. With every bite I felt like I was taking a trip to Mexico. Surely, it’s not the same with the food in the actual place, but let me tell you this, when you feel like trying out good mexican cuisine then El Nacho should be on your list.

Another thing that should be mentioned is the music. Light, playful, themed oriented, it really completed the foreign vibe in the middle of the city. It’s a place I definitely want to visit again!

Don’t say no when it comes to good food, it’s really one of the few joys in this life that should be invested in. Good food with good company is how our lives should be!

Thanks for reading!

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