Andele Restaurant

1950 Calle del Norte
Mesilla, NM
(575) 526-9631

Andele Restaurant

Andele Restaurant is one of the places that has been around long enough that I was able to try it in the “old days” (my first visit was in 2005). On my initial visit I did find Andele to be an authentic local restaurant, but in a way that is different from other restaurants. While many restaurants in the Las Cruces area specialize in ways to serve the local red and green chiles, Andele is focused more on food from south of the border, with its specialty being tacos al carbon.

The original Andele

On my first visit Andele was at 2184 Avenida de Mesilla, which is now home to Thai Delight. It has since moved to a larger building across the street and is the sister restaurant to Andele’s Dog House which is at 1983 Calle del Norte, next door to Thai Delight. The two Andele restaurants have the same menu, with the food being cooked in the larger Andele Restaurant. The Dog House, though, supplements the regular menu by serving Mexican style hot dogs, and these are not available at Andele. My experience on a 2025 visit was that the Dog House is less crowded but the whole restaurant is an outdoor patio, heated in January when I visited, but still maybe less comfortable than at the big restaurant.

A bigger issue than the dining room, though, is that I have found the New Mexican food to be somewhat inconsistent. In 2005 I found the red enchiladas to not be very memorable, in 2021 to have an excessive amount of cumin, and in 2025 to be very good. At least the trend is in the right direction.

Chips and Salsa
The two Andele restaurants have salsa bars where you fill cups with as many of the salsa varieties as you wish. The chips were as good as anywhere around this area. None of the salsas were super spicy like the ones at some restaurants in the area.

Mexican Food
Andele is focused on food from south of the border. Its specialty is Tacos al Carbon— I was told these are made with meat that is put on a stick and cooked in a rotisserie. I tried the chicken tacos, and they were delicious– almost to the point that I had never experienced before. The extremely tender white meat can be topped with some lettuce and tomato served with the tacos, lime, and any of the Mexican style salsa served at the salsa bar.

New Mexican Food

Enchiladas Christmas style

The stacked enchiladas with both red and green sauce on top (“Christmas style”) had quite a few good points. First, the chile tasted like it was bona fide locally grown chile with the flavor that makes New Mexico chile so special. I especially liked the deep red chile flavor of that side. Although I am generally not as excited about green chile, Las Cruces restaurants have provided an exception because almost all of them (including here) seem to have very good connections with the local farms to get the freshest and the best varieties. One of the best points of the enchiladas was a soft melted cheese they used in between the tortillas that was a little bit like chile con queso except that the cheese was white and the “chile” was on top in the form of the red and green sauces.

The Red Enchilada side of the stack has had a deep red chile that had the classic New Mexico flavor that I like. The yellow cheese also played an integral part in giving me a good experience. These were not the best or spiciest enchiladas I have had in Las Cruces, but I (usually) thought they were excellent.

The Green Enchilada, while being one of my favorites of the green version in 2021, seemed a little too cheesy and not spicy enough in 2025. I still think it is a five-star dish, however.

The Spanish style Rice was very good, as were the non-greasy Beans.

Sopapillas are not on the menu here.

This Chile Relleno I tried at the Dog House were just not as spicy as they could be. I did notice also an absence of seeds inside (another reason these are some of the best in town).

Other Notes
Two of the best choices at Andele are the tacos al carbon or Mexican dog because there are not that many alternatives in the city for south of the border style food. The tacos al carbon I had at Andele were as good as the ones I have had in El Paso. The hot dogs are only available at Andele’s Dog House.

On an earlier review of Andele I had given the red and green enchiladas four stars, and I do think they are better at some other restaurants. However, the melted cheese here is very unique and I did like the chile flavor, so the enchiladas are now on my rotation of Las Cruces restaurants.

RATING: 24

Mexican Food Details

Chile Index:
Cooking Oil:	N/A

 

Special Ratings

	Green Enchilada
	Red Enchilada
	Tacos al Carbon
	Chile Relleno
	Rice
	Beans
	Chips
	Salsa