{"id":358571,"date":"2026-07-02T13:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358571\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:12:08","slug":"mr-natural-gueros-el-camino-are-classic-austin-tex-mex-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/358571\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Natural, Guero’s, El Camino are classic Austin Tex-Mex restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since we introduced \u201cJim Duncan\u2019s Austin\u201d on July 6, 2025, among his most popular histories are those recalling the city\u2019s beloved bars<\/a>, clubs <\/a>and eateries<\/a>. This week, we adapt three more of his\u00a0Tex-Mex restaurant chronicles. \u2014 Michael Barnes<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1986: G\u00fcero’s<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People enjoy lunch at G\u00fcero’s Taco Bar in South Austin.<\/p>\n

Ricardo B Brazziell\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n

Located in the heart of SoCo is a rustic structure whose successive occupants have served the farm and food needs of Austinites for four generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Built in 1905 by Henry Crawford Greer at 1412 South Congress Avenue, it opened as a feed and seed store. After Henry was killed in a burglary in 1923, Joseph Morgan Crawford bought and operated it as a grocery and seed store until he died in 1940. Odas V. Jung then owned and operated it for another 50 years as Central Feed and Seed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its current occupant, G\u00fcero\u2019s Taco Bar<\/a>, was founded by Robert Irwin and Cathy Lippincott as a small taqueria on Oltorf Street in 1986. When 1412 South Congress became available in 1993, Irwin relocated G\u00fcero\u2019s to the more prominent and spacious building and transformed it into a funky eatery offering interior Mexican food with more than a hint of Tex-Mex.<\/p>\n

The bar area looks like a classic border town cantina, and the dining room features vaulted ceilings, exposed brick walls and rough-hewn plank floors left over from its feed store days. The front porch and adjacent beer garden allow customers to enjoy al fresco dining. Lyle and Bette, the Lippincott daughters, currently manage the restaurant. Jung died in 1995 and Irwin in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

1988: Mr. Natural<\/p>\n

\"Mr.<\/p>\n

Mr. Natural takes a fresh approach to Mexican cuisine with a vegetarian menu.<\/p>\n

Austin American Statesman file photo<\/p>\n

Looking for the most distinctive Mexican food restaurant in Austin? Try\u00a0Mr. Natural.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Its menu features fajitas without beef, hamburgers without meat, tamales without pork, ceviche without fish, and chorizo without animal content.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a vegetarian restaurant, health food and supplement store, bakery, juice bar, herb bar and deli. In 1988, two new Austinites from Monterrey, Nuevo Le\u00f3n, Jesus and Luisa Mendoza, opened Mr. Natural in a former Honda showroom at Chicon and East Cesar Chavez streets. They later opened a second restaurant at 2414 South Lamar Blvd.<\/p>\n

Jesus describes Mr. Natural as \u201ca family-owned business that firmly believes good nutrition starts at the dining table. Everything is made in-house.\u201d He also shares an old Mexican saying, \u201cIf you want to be strong like the bull, then don\u2019t eat the bull. Eat what the bull eats.\u201d The Statesman welcomed the eatery, saying, \u201cWith its Mexican theme and non-meat cooking, it makes a significant contribution to the diversity of dining in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Actor Ethan Hawke says it is the first place he goes when in Austin. It is also one of filmmaker Rick Linklater’s favorite spots.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the U.S. Small Business Administration recognized the\u00a0Mendozas’ efforts with an award presented by President George W. Bush in Washington, D.C. They closed the South Lamar location in 2023.<\/p>\n

1992: Camino Real\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a city where restaurants come and go, Camino Real is a culinary keeper. Founded by Luciano Henriquez three decades ago, the popular neighborhood cafe\u0301 is located in an aging Northwest Austin suburban center at U.S. 183 and Spicewood Springs Road.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Camino Real offers one of the most extensive and inexpensive Tex-Mex menus in town. From its 17 breakfast items \u2014 plus an assortment of breakfast tacos \u2014 to its seven specialty shrimp selections (fried, grilled or saute\u0301ed), it more than fulfills local dining tastes. The most expensive item on the menu is the $24 El Tejano fajita (shrimp, beef or chicken) plate, and the least expensive is a 25-cent tortilla.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Camino Real also has a full-service cantina that serves margaritas in several flavors. If you want to skip a trip to the grocery store, it even sells select basic grocery items at the checkout counter. While Henriquez attempted to replicate his Camino Real success in four other Central Texas locations \u2014 2200 South Interstate 35, 14735 Bratton Lane, 202 Walton Way in Cedar Park and 907 FM 685 in Pflugerville \u2014 none generated customer traffic like the original.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three more stories in this series:<\/p>\n

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Please send tips and questions to mbarnes@statesman.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since we introduced \u201cJim Duncan\u2019s Austin\u201d on July 6, 2025, among his most popular histories are those recalling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-358571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}