Textbook evaluation serves as a practical tool for teachers, guiding their selection of suitable materials. The present study adopted a mixed-methods approach and aimed at comparing and evaluating two ESP textbooks: English for Students of Civil Engineering published by SAMT, along with English in Civil Engineering from Oxford University Press. To do so, the Textbook Evaluation Checklist (Miekley, 2005) was employed. A total number of 40 ESP instructors of Civil engineering from the two cities of Rasht and Tehran participated in the study. Although the questions of the checklist revealed existing weaknesses in these textbooks, it was found that, in the eyes of the teachers who filled out the checklists, the Oxford book came out as the better one of the pair with higher rankings (87% syllabus compatibility). Findings indicated while SAMT textbook prioritized authentic civil engineering content focused on translation and comprehension directed towards traditional formats, the Oxford textbook offered a more visually engaging experience with a wider variety of interactive and task-based activities (91%), which encouraged critical thinking and student cooperation through diverse tasks (81%). Ultimately, SAMT partially aligned with specific vocab goals (48%) despite its lack of aesthetic appeal (54%), whereas Oxford provided a more dynamic and engaging learning environment (85%). Based on the findings, the study concludes with some insightful comments for authors, instructors, and curriculum-developers to choose between the textbooks which meet both their academic needs as well as their interactive and higher-order objectives through more engaging and varied content.