Located on Greenville Avenue and University Boulevard, just a short distance from campus, Desperados offers reasonably priced Mexican food with the feel of a small Mexican pueblo.

The restaurant is broken up into many small rooms, so you feel as if you are in a home rather than a large, overwhelming restaurant.

The walls are adorned with antique mirrors, pottery, paintings and various other Mexican artworks, making it bright with a true Latin feel. In one room there’s a cozy feeling with a fireplace and only a few tables. In another are authentic clothing and firearms on the wall.

If you want more than the low-key family atmosphere, there is a bar at the front of the restaurant with traditional Mexican photographs on the counter.

But it also has televisions and signed pictures of celebrities, including the Dixie Chicks, who have visited the restaurant, as well as a large outdoor patio.

We used a “buy one entrée get one free” coupon from a local magazine, and the service didn’t change. He was still willing to help make our meal as enjoyable as possible.

We started with water, but there are happy-hour specials. From what we could see, it looked like the restaurant had great margaritas from the “best margarita” award it won. So we will leave those up to you to try.

Waiters bring out complimentary chips and salsa to start and give you time to relax and listen to the Spanish music.

We tried many dishes, including the tortilla soup, which was made with fresh celery, carrots, avocado, and potatoes. The bowl of soup is a very generous portion, and can easily be a whole meal.

We tried the combo plate that offers many different traditional items such as cheese, beef and chicken enchiladas, soft tacos, puffed beef tacos, guacamole tostada and tamales. You can chose up to four items and put them together with rice and beans to make the “texican” dish of your choice.

We also tried the Desperados tacos, the most-ordered dinner item since 1976.

It consists of two crispy flour tortilla tacos, melted jack cheese, your choice of beef or chicken fajita meat (we chose chicken) topped with fresh pico and an avocado. They call it the “Juan and only,” and it is served with refried beans and a side salad. It was probably the best Mexican dish we have had, and it’s unique to Desperados.

On other trips we have taken to Desperados, we have tried the combination beef and chicken fajitas for two, which were good but typical tex-mex fajitas. They just don’t compare to how great the Desperados tacos are.

They offer many other dishes on the menu including appetizers, salads, specialty items, meat, chicken and seafood dishes and desserts.

There are daily specials along with lunch specials and a great Mexican breakfast menu served every weekend from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Since opening in 1976, Desperado’s has opened two locations: the original Greenville location, and a second on West Campbell and Jupiter. The motto is “as things change, it’s good to know what’s important never does.”

It is clear that good food, traditional atmosphere and a pleasant staff are what the restaurant prides itself on, and rightfully so.