2025 Centurion Award winner
L&J Cafe
Best Mexican Restaurant in El Paso · El Paso, TX
Best Mexican Restaurant in El Paso · El Paso, TX
L&J Cafe has poured margaritas and plated border-Mexican classics since 1927, making it El Paso's oldest continuously family-run restaurant and bar. Long known as 'the old place by the graveyard' for its perch beside Concordia Cemetery, it's famous for enchiladas, chile con queso, and a fiercely loyal following.
Four generations of the Duran-Bonart family have kept the room going for nearly a century — a genuine El Paso institution where the recipes, and many of the regulars, span decades.
Each Centurion Award is a dated record tied to one year’s evaluation — earned annually, never carried over. Open a year for the full citation and verification details.
Awards run one calendar year and renew only if the business clears the bar again. Selection is by published criteria, never for sale.
Visit L&J Cafe
This page is the standing record for L&J Cafe (2025). It was not bought, voted on, or sponsored — only winners are published, and an award that stops holding up is revoked, not quietly removed. For hours, bookings, and live reviews, go straight to the business itself.
If you’ve put in the years, you may already clear the bar. Evaluation is free, private, and never for sale.