Dos Amigos Mexican Restaurant on Wadley Avenue has been feeding Midland’s west side for years, and on a slow Tuesday evening it still draws a parking lot fuller than you’d expect from the outside.
You walk in and the room is exactly what it should be: a little loud from the ceiling fans, vinyl booths worn soft at the edges, walls holding framed artwork and the kind of decor that accumulated over time rather than being installed all at once. The hostess knows half the tables by name. That detail alone tells you something.
The menu runs long — enchiladas, fajitas, combination plates, chile rellenos — but the people who come here regularly tend to order the same two or three things on repeat. The cheese enchiladas with chili gravy are the move if you want something that anchors you to this part of Texas. The chili gravy is dark and savory without being overwhelming, draped over corn tortillas that hold together the way they’re supposed to. Order a side of rice and refried beans and you have a plate that will carry you through a West Texas night with nothing left to want.
The fajitas are worth ordering if you’re with someone who insists. They arrive on a cast-iron skillet still spitting, with flour tortillas that are fresh enough to tear easily. The chicken version is solid; the beef cuts a little better if you’re splitting it across the table.
Dos Amigos does a strong margarita — on the rocks, lime-forward, not oversweetened. On a weeknight you can get through the drink and your chips before the entree arrives, which is a pace most places in town don’t manage. The chips come out warm and salted right, and the salsa has enough heat to register without shutting anyone down. It’s refillable and they actually refill it.
Lunch is a different rhythm entirely. The weekday lunch specials run under ten dollars and keep a rotation of office workers and contractors cycling through from about eleven-thirty to one. If you go on a Friday, plan on waiting for a table. The combination plate with two items is the practical choice — enchilada and taco, or enchilada and tamale — and the portions mean you probably won’t eat again until dinner.
The service is attentive without hovering. Drinks stay filled. The check comes when you ask, not before. These are small things, but restaurants that get all three right at once are rarer than they should be.
Prices sit in a comfortable range: lunch specials from around eight to ten dollars, dinner plates mostly between twelve and sixteen. A margarita adds another seven or eight. You can feed two people a full dinner with drinks and come out under forty-five dollars without squeezing.
If you want to time your visit well, a Tuesday or Wednesday evening around six gives you the best balance — the kitchen is warmed up, the dining room is busy enough to feel alive but not so packed that service slips. Saturday nights are crowded and the wait can push past twenty minutes.
Dos Amigos isn’t trying to be anything other than what it is: a neighborhood Mexican restaurant doing consistent, honest work. Midland has enough of those on paper, but fewer than you’d think that hold up over a decade. This one holds up.
