All mediocre Mexican restaurants in Austin are alike; each terrible one is terrible in its own way. Much of the time, El Caribe falls into the former category—you could certainly do worse, but you could do much better. But there are some things we can’t be so charitable about here—al pastor comes ground up into a spongy, stinky mass with notes of intestine or spoilage. Also avoid fish dishes, like a blackened-to-death tilapia or a red snapper smothered in a ketchupy “Caribe” sauce.

But the true-blue Mexican dishes aren’t the point here, anyway. El Caribe, with its animated neon sign and decades-old situation in a tiny, tucked-away strip mall for two (the other occupant being DK Sushi Market), strikes an adorably familiar Tex-Mex chord. The blue inside’s decorated with fish and a few seaweed-like plants, and the two-foot-long bar stocks a serviceable selection of tequilas (you must specify no sweet and sour in your margarita, unless you go for that soapy flavor). Come for one of these and an enchilada: chicken is succulent in an almost-zippy tomatillo sauce, and serviceable potosinas are presented on appropriately small tortillas reddened from the chilies mixed into the masa. Refried beans are bland, but the salsa’s got kick. Keep it to the beefy-cheesy sauces, burritos, and Americano breakfasts. Or go just about anywhere else, really.