Last night we went to Charro Steak to celebrate my birthday. The owners have a restaurant history in this town. They've been in Tucson since 1922, their success being passed down through generations. It's a pretty good story.
In addition to this new steakhouse, they have several other places in town - Sir Veza's, The Stillwell House, and El Charro, the Mexican restaurant we hit often because it's two minutes from our house.
The restaurant is located in downtown Tucson, a place I avoid at all costs because I hate the parking situation. But since we arrived for an early dinner, we got a spot right away. I was looking forward to the meal.
I really liked the restaurant decor. Southwestern, but in a cowboy way. Charro takes its name from the traditional horsemen of Mexico, who are "steeped in chivalry, high ethics, expert horsemanship, and dedication to family and tradition".
Steak is always a favorite for our family so we were looking forward to our meals.
Ed and I started with the Charred Romaine Wedge con Chicharron (local whole leaf romaine, pork belly chicharron, red onion, willcox hot house tomato, mezquite smoked bleu cheese)($11.95)
For dinner, Ed had the 16-ounce Tucson's Favorite T-Bone ($31.95), my mother had the 10-ounce All Natural Carne Asada ($22.95), my friend Kim had the 8-ounce Charro Burger, and I had 14-ounce Boneless Rib Eye ($35.95) pictured below. For sides, we ordered Papas de la Casa (thinly sliced potato, crema, chiles mixta), the ¡El Camote! (sweet potato, piloncillo, citrus, canela, butter) and the Charro Fries (hand cut, with jalapeño sea salt and black pepper).
The steaks are mesquite fired and served with a grilled green onion, grilled half lime, frijoles charros, and your choice of corn or flour tortillas. My mother and Ed were not impressed with their steaks. Ed's was super thin and on the small side for a T-bone, and my mother's was a bit overdone, which may be due to the fact that a skirt steak is thin, to begin with, and she ordered it medium-well. My ribeye, on the other hand, was juicy and delicious. 
When I first saw the menu I was excited to try it out. It was one of the locations I was considering to host my family and friends who would be in town for our wedding, but now that I've been there I can say that I'm not interested in going back.
Nice place, appealing atmosphere, adequate food, but a little pricey for what they offered. Just not phenomenal. We all agreed that it just wasn't good enough for a second visit.
One down, many more to go. Ed and I are on a mission to try lots of new places in Tucson. Hopefully, we'll eventually hit on something that knocks our socks off.
