El Agave Grill & Bar

Along US Highway 78 in the Coldwater area of Oxford, Alabama, El Agave Grill & Bar serves a full menu of Mexican grill classics in a dedicated dining room and bar setup. The restaurant is an independently run, single-location operation rather than part of a larger regional chain, occupying a suite along the highway corridor that runs through this stretch of Oxford.

The menu opens with appetizers like guacamole dip and a cheese dip served plain or loaded with beans, beef, or chorizo, each priced between $4.73 and $6.25, along with sopes, thick masa tortillas topped with chicken, ground beef, al pastor pork, steak, chorizo, or carnitas for $6.25, with a loaded sopes campechanos version at $7.30. Tortas, Mexican-style sandwiches, run about $12.60 for most fillings and climb to $13.65 for a milanesa or ranchero version, and a dedicated lunch special menu, served Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., keeps plates in the $10.45 to $12.60 range. The kitchen’s sizzling fajitas cover chicken, steak, and shrimp individually or combined into a Texas fajita or a parrillada platter for two, with prices climbing from $15.75 for a single chicken order up to $42 for the largest shared parrillada.

Beyond fajitas, the menu covers quesadillas from a $9.45 cheese-only version up to a $17.33 Texas quesadilla loaded with extra fillings, California-style burritos priced between $12.60 and $17.85, chimichangas, enchiladas running $13.65 to $15.75, and a Mexican Favorites section built around specialty plates like carnitas, mojarra (whole fried tilapia), carne asada, and a handful of seafood dishes priced up to $22.05. Nachos scale from a smaller order at $13.65 up to a fully loaded $25.20 version built for sharing, and tacos are priced individually between $3.94 and $4.46, with a shrimp taco plate at $9.98. A tossed salad and a guacamole salad round out the lighter options, and a kids menu for guests twelve and under keeps prices between $6.30 and $7.35. Dessert stays simple with a cinnamon-sugar sopapilla at $3.68, or the same sopapilla topped with fried ice cream for $6.30, backed by a full bar that includes margaritas and other cocktails alongside beer and wine.

El Agave keeps a fairly generous weekly schedule, open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and extending into the evening on Friday and Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. That range covers both lunch traffic and a full dinner service, and the restaurant’s bar component means it tends to stay lively later into the evening than some of the other casual Mexican restaurants along the same corridor. The restaurant’s suite address places it in the section of Oxford sometimes still referred to locally as Coldwater, a longstanding community name for this part of the city along the US-78 corridor.

The kitchen also turns out a handful of specialties not typically found on a standard combo platter, including caldo de camarón, a Mexican shrimp soup, at $19.95, a large shrimp cocktail at $22.05, and ceviche made with shrimp or a mixed seafood blend at $17.85. Vegetarian diners have their own dedicated section, with a vegetarian quesadilla, non-sizzling vegetarian fajitas, a vegetarian California burrito, and a vegetarian fajita salad each priced at $11.55. Non-alcoholic drink options include iced tea, a full lineup of fountain sodas, bottled Jarritos and Topo Chico, and aguas frescas in 20-ounce and 32-ounce sizes, alongside the restaurant’s bar service for guests who want a margarita or a beer with dinner.

As one of several independently owned Mexican restaurants serving Oxford, El Agave distinguishes itself with its bar program, its lunch special menu geared toward weekday visitors, and its position directly on the well-traveled US-78 corridor, making it an easy stop for both locals and travelers passing through on the highway. For anyone looking for a sit-down Mexican dinner with a full bar in Oxford, El Agave Grill & Bar offers a dependable, independently owned option along one of the city’s main commercial corridors, distinct from the handful of national chain restaurants that dominate much of the retail strip closer to Quintard Mall.