Azteca serves excellent home-cooked food such as burritos, tacos, nachos, ceviche, and queso, you get the idea. Everything you love about Mexican food is well represented on their menu. And, so are the Texan twists, like their Mexican Pizzas and their steaks. You may be eating at a restaurant chain, but it will feel like you're eating at a friend's home.
Azteca Mexican Restaurant is open every day from 11 am until 9 pm (10 pm on Friday and Saturday) for lunch, dinner, and drinks.
Azteca was opened by Jose "Pepe" Ramos, who grew up south of the border deep in the Mexican countryside in a village named Cuautla. Jose grew up totally immersed in the Mexican culture and cousins, so when he moved up north to Seattle in 1973 it was no wonder that he became drawn to the idea of being a chef and owning a restaurant. Jose scraped and saved and finally managed to afford to open a tiny little 24-seat Mexican restaurant in Burien, Washington. And, well, you get the picture. The restaurant was a hit! Jose brought his family up north to live with him, and they expanded the restaurant and slowly began opening new establishments around the state.
You can find out more about Jose and his story by clicking on the following link to the Azteca Mexican Restaurant website.
Where can I find Azteca Mexican Restaurants?
Azteca has managed to carve out a sizeable market for themselves in the state of Washington. There are now 16 unique Azteca Mexican Restaurant locations all across the state, though the majority of them are in major cities. Washington only has about 7.6 million people in it, so it only makes sense that they focus their attention on the population centers. Fun fact! Azteca has one restaurant per 500k people (or near about). Not bad for one man and a dream! There is interestingly only one Azteca Mexican Restaurant location that is outside the state and that is found in Portland, Oregon. If you are living on the East Coast and were hoping to check Azteca out, well, it's a heck of a long drive! But, who knows, maybe it'll be worth it.
You can find an interactive map of all the Azteca restaurants on the locations page of their website by clicking here.
What made Azteca so popular in the beginning?
From the very first day, Jose had a clear picture of what a successful restaurant should be. The food should be good, fulfilling, authentic, and affordable. The staff should be exceptionally well paid, so they are exceptionally kind to the customers, and customer service should be made a priority. An individual that prioritizes customer service and authenticity will rarely fail. The problem is, that people tend to be greedy, better service means higher wages which will mean lower profits for the owner. Jose didn't mind about this, he was making plenty of money, he invited his family to live with him, and he could afford to pay his staff a little more and cut back in other areas. For example, hiring staff who really truly care about providing excellent food and even better service, his family!
What makes Azteca's food stand out?
Azteca's food didn't try to appease the masses by Americanizing the menu too much. They didn't try to include burgers and hot dogs, they didn't go overboard with too many choices of soda, they stuck to the classics and learned to perfect them. Tex Mex in general is its cuisine, it's not Mexican, it's not Texan, but it is a nice sweet spot in between the two. In terms of Tex-Mex, Azteca provided authenticity that was otherwise lacking in the area. The further you start to drift from the Texas/Mexico border, the looser the term Tex-Mex truly applies to Mexican restaurants. Jose was there to swoop in and provide real, genuine, Mexican food to a market that beforehand hadn't known much better. Azteca is by no means pretentious about their cuisine, they are home-cooking style food, but they do clearly differentiate between what is great Mexican food and what is not.
Is Azteca's food very spicy?
Spice is always a question that people tend to question when it comes to Mexican food. It's only natural! Mexican food can be pretty darn spicy, and super spicy food is not for everyone. It can especially make eating out difficult for children who may not be accustomed to eating much chili in their food. However, since Azteca is meant to be a family restaurant and everything is prepared in-house, there are plenty of not-so-spicy items on the menu just as there are some very hot ones! Dishes can be customized to suit you and your needs if needs be. If you are worried about spiciness, feel free to ask your server for recommendations based on your taste preferences. Remember, most dishes come with guac or sour cream, so you may impress yourself with how well you do with the slightly hotter dishes. You never know, you could turn into a hot sauce fiend in no time at all.
Does Azteca have good vegetarian options?
Azteca has some great vegetarian options. They have soups, chowders, salads, burritos, tacos, and nachos that all come as vegetarian options and of course, all the drinks are also suitable. However, one of the great things about Aztecas is that since they make everything in-house with their recipes, there is a quite high chance that you can pick a dish on their menu and ask them to sub out meat for beans, rice, or even just leave it as is without the meat. For example, the Burrito Blanco is often a popular choice for veggies who simply ask for the dish to be done without chicken.