Spring Branch outlet of this local Mexican chain dishes up heaping plates of tasty Monterrey-style Mexican food at bargain prices.

10066 Long Point Rd., Houston, TX 77055
(713) 636-3914
Website | Menu

7:30am–10pm Mon–Thu; 7:30am–11pm Fri–Sat; 8am–10pm Sun

This week we visit the Spring Branch location of Tostada Regia, a Houston-area chain with eight locations. Operated by natives of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Tostada Regio offers a wide variety of northern Mexican specialties in addition to their namesake tostadas. We stroll in from the strip-mall parking lot on the cusp of a late lunch or early dinner. The interior is inviting in a well-lit diner kind of way, with bright-yellow walls and a wood-paneled bar at the back. Family groups happily sip from big red plastic cups of soda and aguas frescas. Warmly greeted in Spanish and seated at a table, we are soon presented with extensive, well-illustrated menus with prices that happily seem a decade out-of-date. Next, a basket of chips and two spicy, warm salsas make their appearance. We order two plates of food and a couple of aguas frescas from our friendly waitress. It feels like a nice place to hang out for an hour or so.

Enchiladas Norteñas ($7.99): This platter heaves under the weight of five corn tortillas soaked in red chile sauce and wrapped around generous flurries of queso fresco and chopped onion, topped with more cheese, and served with spicy home fries, a nominal side salad of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and onion, and a raging-hot chile toreado (an entire jalapeño fried in hot oil until blistering). These enchiladas are delicious, but unless you truly desire eating all five on your own, you might consider sharing them with a friend. Although well-spiced, nothing on this plate is overly picoso on its own, aside from the chile toreado, which, at least on our visit, was the stuff of dares and digestion-induced nightmares (we ate most of it anyways).

Asado de Puerco ($8.99): This platter boasts lean pork cubes stewed in a savory red chile gravy, and served with rice, refried beans, the same mini-salad, and a lime wedge. A warmer with three flexible, house-made corn tortillas accompany the plate (you can also choose flour, but we usually go with the hand-made maiz ones when available). The pork has a distinct, dark flavor that benefits from receiving a squeeze of the lime and sharing the inside of a tortilla with spoonfuls of the beans, rice, and table salsas. Like the enchiladas, this plate offers great value for money.

Aside from being flavorful and a bargain, the cuisine at Tostada Regia stood out for its consistency. Everything brought to the table was spot-on: the corn chips were fresh, hot, and crunchy; our aguas frescas (jamaica and piña, $3 each) were ample, cold, and not too sweet; the lime wedge with the asado de puerco was juicy; and even the tomato slices on the airline-style mini-salads were ripe and reasonably tasty. We imagine this combination of attributes is the major draw for the many families we saw dining there, as well as the party of stocky policemen next to us. It’s a consummately professional operation; plates of food come out of the kitchen quickly, looking exactly like they do in the menu photos. In our perfect universe every Chili’s would be replaced with a Tostada Regia. It’s not the most spectacular Mexican food of all time, but it is dependable, tasty, comforting, and the prices are spot-on. Everything we saw other patrons ordering looked appealing too, so order with confidence.