Restaurante Y Taqueria Doña Carmelita

No desayuno!Looking for a Huevos Rancheros this morning at any Mexican restaurant we have not tried in Tulsa. Restaurante & Taqueria Doña Carmelita was on the list. Unfortunately, a strike out. We walked in when the doors opened at 10AM. The cooks were busy behind the counter preparing today's lunch buffet line up. The food smelled magnificent and it looked as good.... But no breakfast is served. A spacious restaurant, that can handle a crowd. The food is served up cafeteria style. There is a menu board that shows a few other options not available on the buffet. I don't normally like buffet style Mexican restaurants because I don't know what most of the items in the line up are. Everything looks so delicious here. It is worth a trip back for lunch. But I am looking for breakfast this morning. On to plan B, Los Primos.

Very good food and a lot of different options, ambience is casual. The staff is very friendly and helpful.

Found the food here to be very authentic and very reasonably priced. The owner was friendly and welcoming. They don't have website that I could find but a commerce page in Spanish. It appears they have a buffet during lunch with homemade stews and salsas which is kind of rarity for places like this. Not fancy decor and a very basic sit down area. There is a small grocery area and cooler on one side of the restaurant. Definitely worth a visit for lunch at the least. 4.5 stars.

******* mostly Covid compliant *******Interesting history. Required me to delve into research. And I don't speak Spanish. First of all I found 3 different names for this little gem. Las Americanas being one, and El Zocalo being another, which didn't last long. It would seem Las Americanas is the iteration for those avoiding the actual, longer, official name of the restaurant. I found no website for these. However, Restaurante y Taqueria Doña Carmelita has a prolific presence on FaceBook. So, to be brief, the restaurant first opened in 2003 as a part of the first Supermercados Las Américas, of which there are now three. As the new stores opened, business at the original super market declined and the restaurant closed in 2014, but has resurrected itself as a buffet. My husband was on business errands recently and stopped by, remembering it from its earliest days. He got some carry out and was impressed by Hector's (I heard someone call him) eagerness to please. Carry out isn't at the top of their list. As fate would have it, we were out a couple days later running errands and he said, "Let's get tacos." It was after buffet hours with just a couple patrons remaining. Hector remembered my husband and they put together carry out for us. It took a while so we wandered down memory lane, staring at the closed off portion where the market had been. Hector offered to let us try anything we wanted off the buffet. Hubs said no thanks but one dish intrigued me so Hector dished me a portion of chicken and poblanos in a creamy sauce. It was delicious! Earlier he'd offered us chips/ salsa but we declined. The owner casually cruised through, remarking to me about our 2021 frigid weather. Seemed oblivious to the fact that I was taking pictures. The dining room certainly betrayed that they'd had a whirlwind lunch. Scatters of paper bits on the floor, napkins strewn about the table tops. . . It's not that the little place doesn't show some wear. But that's not what people go there for. It's lunch hour and they want fast, hot, tasty food. And our impression is that they certainly want to please. Back at our business we opened our carefully prepared boxes. Looking at my pictures, can you believe the size of that burrito? That's a FAMILY burrito! It was "stuffed" with rice, beans and chicken. I just asked for a chicken quesadilla and look at all those "fixin's"! Total $16. The guacamole is incredible & I don't say that lightly. It's not the top of hubby's list but he inhaled it! Since we both had chicken components I must disclose we were both a tad taken aback as it was stewed. It was perfectly flavorful but not what you expect in those dishes. I didn't take pictures of the buffet as it was too enclosed. But there are tons of photos and info on their Facebook page. Just remember to check the year. They have lots of Google reviews and they are satisfied or better. Hector told me the buffet is from 10:00 to 3:00 but I've read that they open at 10:00 but the buffet doesn't start until 10:30 or 11:00. They are open until 9:00.

Used to eat here back in the day when it was Las Americas. The buffet was good. Now it's Dona Carmelita's. I was in the area around 10:15am and kinda hungry. I'd already researched to see that they open at 10am so I whipped into a parking space. Only one other customer eating. I ordered at the counter and got Huevos Rancheros and a mandarin Jarrito all for $12. Sat at a booth by the front window. Condiments on the table. My food was brought to me about 8 minutes later. It was okay. Three over medium eggs atop a couple of very crisp tortillas. Silverware was a butter knife and a salad fork. Coulda used a regular size fork because the tortillas were very hard to cut. I quit even trying and just finished of the eggs, rice and refried beans. The beans were pretty good. I think they may still do a buffet, but I probably won't try it. Their Facebook page recently posted new breakfast items which look pretty good. Good place to practice up on your Spanish.

Quality authentic food. Fast and friendly service cafeteria style. The food was fresh and delicious. More than I could eat in a setting.

I maps took me here because it takes Apple Pay..1:30pmish on Saturday the parking lot was kinda dead which can be instant deal breaker(when it's busy in theory the food is super fresh)we go in and immediately greeted with hospitality I mean the whole 9 broke down the menu and explained how their combos worked try to reroute us on our table selection because it's hotter where we choose I got 2 screaming yelling creatures (my babies)so me and wife kinda try to corner off we eat out...this food is the real deal tortillas are homemade not factory made I'm talking about real hand made tortillas the food was amazing the food my kids didn't finish I ate because it's that REALgood!!!