Matt's El Rancho

Austin’s Original Tex-Mex Legend Since 1952

Step into South Lamar’s most storied dining room and you’re not just grabbing dinner—you’re stepping into a living piece of Austin history. What began in 1923 with a six-year-old Matt Martinez hustling tamales from a wooden pushcart near the Texas Capitol turned into the city’s first true Tex-Mex institution when Matt and his wife Janie opened the original El Rancho in 1952 (just 10 tables, zero employees, and Janie cooking everything from scratch)