Spice Up Your Life
Dining in Durango

So, you like a little spice in your food? Come out dining in Durango at an authentic Mexican "restaurante"! One of our absolutely die-hard favorites is just such a place.

If we don’t get to Fransisco’s Restaurante Y Cantina while we’re in town, we must be sick. I don’t think we’ve missed a visit in five or more years (since my kids learned to like Mexican food).

The other Durango Colorado restaurante is one we have not personally tried in Durango, but we have been to the nearby town of Cortez to the same place there. Another fun choice for a taste of “south of the border”!

So come check one out!

Fransisco's Restaurante Y Cantina
619 Main Avenue
Durango CO 81301
970-247-4098

For Mexican fare, and a friendly Spanish atmosphere, nothing beats Fransisco's. This is our favorite place for dining in Durango, uh...taste buds down. Fransisco's has been in operation since the '60s. Quite a feat where restaurants come and go like the seasons!

So far, we've never missed a visit to Fransisco's during one of our trips to Durango. The food is an excellent taste of Mexican cuisine, and you can request milder chili sauce if you don't have the taste-bud fortitude for their hotter style – like me. (Or is that numbness to the "heat"?)

The décor is lots of fun, too, with bright Hispanic colors, Mexican plates and figurines, adobe style walls and log support posts. Plenty to look at while you enjoy an authentic Mexican meal.

If you like Mexican food at all, you’ve got to give this place a try. And if only some of you in your group likes Hispanic-style foods, they do have "American" fare for those weak at the tongue.

Say hi to Francis Garcia (the owner) when you stop in! My mom, who works at one of the banks in town (part-time, now she's "retired") knows him personally. She always stops to chat when she sees him. And lets him know we'll be by soon for another wonderful meal.

Enjoy!








Tequila's
948 Main Avenue
Durango CO 81301
970-259-7655


While we haven't eaten at the local Tequila's in Durango, we have eaten at the one in Cortez. (It's become a small franchise.) The food was good Mexican fare, the wait staff very cheerful. When we arrived, they asked in both Spanish and English if we wished to have a "mesa" (table) for "quatro" (four) guests.

They sprinkled other simple Spanish words in during our meal there (we had lunch after horseback riding at a friend's, before returning to Durango for the evening). We did our best to thank them ("gracias") in Spanish for their good service and yummy food.

A nice place to get a taste of the Hispanic influences so prevalent in the area. Another place for dining in Durango that we can definitely recommend to you!

Bueno apetito!



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