When I branched out from the traditional Tex-Mex menu to Tacos al Carbon, I thought the results were a lot better. The years that I purposely tried to avoid eating meat dishes kept me trying the gloppy cheese enchilada dishes around Oklahoma, but this is at best an Americanized version of a dish that had its roots in Mexico (and Pepe's did not do it as well as other restaurants). With the more authentic style meat dishes, though, I think Pepe's does a good job, and in fact better than many other places. The meat here was cooked well and had a good flavor and quality. The guacamole and pico de gallo toppings added good flavor, and a ranchero sauce came in a crispy shell on the side to add (I thought this was better than the restaurants that serve sour cream as a topping). The main disappointment came when I asked for corn tortillas so I could try the tacos the way I have usually found them farther south, but they were not as good as the flour tortillas, and I ended up sticking with the flour. Overall, though, these tacos were very good, and I think suggest that other meat dishes should be explored.

The Guacamole was very good. It seemed to be a relatively unprocessed avocado with some chiles added. Although I did not try the taco salad, I suspect items made with lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream here would be pretty good.

The Chips were surprisingly greasy for ones that are home made. Samples I had from one basket, though, were better than ones from another. The Salsa was surprisingly good for Tex-Mex restaurants. It had a rich flavor and was spicy enough to at least give it more than a tomato base. Small bowls of Queso are complimentary, so it probably does not matter that they were barely worth sampling.

Pepe's serves Mexican Cokes and other soft drinks made with sugar instead of corn syrup. These might be worth a try if you are into such things.

It is worth mentioning that while Pepe's is not as cheap as the average mom and pop Mexican restaurants in Texas and around the country, it is more reasonable than most of the Tex-Mex restaurants in Oklahoma.

While the Mexican style tacos were good, the main drawback to me is that the side dishes are Tex-Mex style that I think are too far from the authentic Mexican style. The chips, salsa, queso, beans, and tortillas all seemed below average to me, and there was little left to supplement the meal except the flour tortillas (that were better than the corn) and the rice (which did not come with the taco plate, but is served on other plates).