El Chico Cafe in Lubbock

I am very sad to post this review. For the past several decades El Chico has been our "Go To" restaurant. We would go when we had grandparents in the hospital and we gathered at El Chicos as a family. Good times. Unfortunately, a year ago the owners passed away and someone else (the son, I thinkis running the show. We came here on a Saturday night and half the restaurant was closed due to a lack of staff. The guy who was working the front acted like he didnt want us there. In the bathroom only one toilet was working in the mens room and the womens bathroom stunk. We were very sad to see the decline of this place we have enjoyed for many years.

The food was good but the waitress we had was rude and was rushing us to eat. We had just gotten our food and not even 5min after she asked if we wanted desert. She wouldnt say your welcome after we told her thank you. All they need is nicer waitress.

Great food, they always treat us right. Great friendly staff, they get the food out real quick too. Been going here for years and not going to stop anytime soon. God bless.

Really quiet and boring atmosphere. Doesn’t have any music playing. Service was decent, but it doesn’t make up for what’s lacking.Had the Apple Pie and it moved it from 1 to 2 stars.

Chimichangas were great, rice didn’t care for, tea was not so good, beef fajitas loved them! Chips and salsa just the way I remembered them, the seat cushions were torn, needs improvement in the atmosphere, and didn’t see team work, even from the manager.

Went in spontaneously for lunch. I needed quick food to go. They were very quick, nice and accommodating. The food was good too! And they gave me chips and salsa for free!

IT took a while to get food. However, they only had one waitress working floor. Three others were sitting at a table on break. (5 PMA group of 10 walked in...were told it would be a while as only 1 waitress working. They left. Another couple walked in and they left. Our food was horrible when arrived. Tacos too hard to eat...it takes a lot to ruin queso but this was bad. Our 4th time to come here but it is last.

The service was in time, the food was as it should be and the price was spot on.

The food was amazing but the waitress did not seem to be happy to be at work at all. We felt rushed to eat and leave and her attentiveness was lacking. If the waitress had been better this would have been a five star experience.

UPDATED REVIEW June 21, 2019 - we had a horrible waitress this time!! We had to repeat out orders 3 - 4 times each and she still got them wrong!! She did the same thing to the table sitting behind us. They tried order the pickled relish dish and she finally told them that she would bring them onions. One person in our party tried to order tostadas with guacamole and she brought puffy tacos instead. She only came to the table twice with water and we asked twice to get the ticket. Not excited to be coming back after this visit.This is a restaurant that has been in Lubbock for many, many years. Ownership has changed recently due to the passing of the long time owner Mr. Carter. The menu has changed some as has the quality of the food. The tamale was very small and dry, the enchilada sauce was spicier than normal, but overall, it was pretty good. You can ask for corn or flour tortillas on the side and they used to have a relish dish of pickled vegetables in jalapeno juice. Too hot for me, so I dont know if they still have it. Service was OK. I am a big water drinker during meals and my glass was empty twice and had to ask both times to get it refilled. The most common problem I have in restaurants is that they put too much ice in the glass, then put more ice when they refill from a pitcher. I often ask for very little ice because I know there will be more ice than water by the end of the meal. Good place to go for Mexican food.

Old school Tex-Mex place with very friendly, prompt service and pretty good food. I have been to other El Chico locations and did not enjoy my food. That was not the case here. I had the Juarez plate and really enjoyed it. The cheese enchilada was especially tasty. Good stuff.

We hadnt been there in a long time, but we were welcomed as if wed been there the previous week! We miss the previous owner since he always stopped to chat. His son is in charge now and the meals and the service are still excellent.

I and My Family Just Came Here For the First Time Our Server Whom Had Way To Much Make on Tring To Hard Has A Very Bad attitude Ugly Sense Of Humor Like If She Didnt Want To Do Her Job I Am All About The Reviews And Surveys On Every thing And I Give The Server A Zero She Ruined Every thing For That BuisnessShe Helped The People Whom Had Just Came in After Us She Got There Drinks And Order There Food Fast And She Totally Ignore UsShe Came Off As Being Racist You Can Tell By Her AttitudeWill Never Come Back There Again Nor I Will Never Reccomed It To Nobody This Just Happen Not Even 5 Mins Ago During Lunch.Just Horrible

Honestly Mexican food is usually never a fail in my book, it’s hard to screw up Mexican food and the experience. But after walking into a completely quiet establishment, (you could literally hear a pin drop from anywhere in this place), waiting 20 minutes to get a water, and another 20 minutes for anyone to even approach us to get our order, I was already out 40 minutes and just wanted to leave at that point. Then my food came out wrong, 30 minutes after we ordered. When I asked my waitress about the order she rolled her eyes and didn’t offer to fix it. Only thing that tasted good was the onions.

Ordered The Juarez plate and it was very good. We had also ordered the quesadillas and those were very good!

Dont get me wrong the food isnt bad, its just not differnt. The place is odd in a way that makes you wonder if the salsa is even gonna be spicy (sadly it was not). The food isnt bad, and the service is good, but the experience is quite forgettable.

We got it to-go tonight. When my hubby got home, everything was in the bag - this may not sound impressive but nobody else seems to be able to do it! As for the food, I got the Cinco Enchiladas and they were really good. Particularly the avocado and sour cream chicken. My 2 yr old cant get enough of their queso.

Service was quick and server was excellent. Our food was flavorful and fresh. I normally prefer small , local joints but, for a franchise, it was surprisingly good.

We have ate here for years and have always enjoyed the food. Last night was different. Ordered cheese enchiladas but got chicken. The only warm about the food was the plates. Service was completely off. So disappointing when it is cold outside and you are expecting some good hot Mexican food. Other customers was complaining

Good tasting Mexican food. Large complimentary bowl of chips and salsa. Plentiful choices of entrees. Prices are reasonable any way, but they have several value priced lunch specials from 11am to 5pm. Fresh guacamole is made tableside, and is arguably the best i have ever had. The hot food arrives hot like it should. It is beautifully plated and the first bite will make you smile. Finish the meal with Mexican apple pie, a large portion of apple pie topped with a honey glaze and cinnamon ice cream. Blue jean casual dress, but 5 star cuisine!

This has been my favorite restaurant since I was a kid! The white queso and relish could stand alone, but their fajitas, enchiladas, rice, fried ice cream, sopapillas, everything is so good! The staff is awesome too and they treat you like family.

El Chico has been one of our "go to" places for years. Yesterday we were a party of three for lunch with over an hour and 15 minutes to spare and arrived after the lunch rush, I add this because I assume people that are on lunch from work have 40-45 minutes to spend in a restaurant. I will preface this review with the fact they told us they were short handed, an issue that seems to be common nowadays in Lubbock. First we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated when there was an abundance of empty tables. The host took the drink order and brought the drinks, one member of our party asked for a cup of coffee and after requesting it several more times, a luke warm cup was brought out. I would estimate the time from drink order arriving to the time our order was taken was at least 10 minutes. The food came out in a reasonable time after ordering but not as one expects from Mexican food that only has to be plated and slide through an oven. The quality was adequate but not the quality we are accustomed to from El Chico. I doubt we will be back anytime soon. Over an hour for lunch from arrival to leaving is unacceptable when the place is half full and the food is just okay.

El Chico Cafe is a very relaxing place to eat. We have been eating here for years and the food is always top notch. They do have a daily lunch special. There is plenty of parking in the parking lot. They also serve many excelent adult beverages. We will be returning here again and again.

We had family visiting that we dont see but every 3 to 4 years & we picked our favorite restaurant not just for the awesome food they serve but for the relaxing atmosphere that El Chicos has & provides. Thank you El Chico for making the end of our family time a memory we all wont soon forget.

We are longtime patrons of El Chicos in Lubbock Texas. Have always had a good experience until tonight. My wife and I ordered an appetizer of bean nachos and two dinner plates. Our server brought out our food which consisted of meat nachos and my wifes dinner plate. We advised her that we had ordered bean nachos and ask where my plate was. She stated that these were meant and bean nachos and we again told her that we ordered plain bean nachos. We also inquired as to where my plate was. She didnt stated that she was going to get it. We waited for several minutes and server came back and told us that they were working on the nachos, that she had forgotten to put in my order and that another server would be taking over our table as her blood sugar had dropped and she needed to eat. We continued to wait patiently and our new server finally brought out the correct appetizer order and my plate. (My wife almost through with her plate). Our original server continued to bustle around the back and wait on other tables. She was also able to bring us our ticket and state that she had told the manager that she had forgot to place all of the order. I thought that was interesting and surely the manager would come by our table and apologize. No, that didnt happen. This was a really bad example of customer service in every aspect and the food wasnt even up to par. Must say I will think long and hard before I will visit again.

Service was not to good. Slow on seating us even though there were only 2 other people that were already seated. Took awhile to get food. We eat here fairly regularly. I hope its not how the restuarant is turning out to be like

El Chico is a little Mexican Food place to stop by and enjoy. Their chips are thin and crispy. A must have to complete your meal. They have a wide variety of choices and combinations to choose from. Everything I have eaten there has been delicious. The staff is very friendly and hospitable. It is a must visit for something different from the same old same old.

Great food & service. I ordered the avacado enchiladas and I must say I wasnt disappointed! Our waiter Shane did an amazing job of checking on us and has great customer service! I will be looking forward to our next visit.

One of our favorite Mexican food places. Food is consistent and very good, every time! Just sorry that Mr Carter passed away. Miss his presence there. He was the owner.

Food was very good. Price is normal for Mexican restaurant. Staff is what stood out to me. Owner seemed like great guy opening blinds for more light and chatting with me. Servers were great. One guy really likes to chat with you and i think thats awesome.

Great food and atmosphere. Wait staff friendly and knowledgeable. Plenty of parking with easy access right off the highway. Food piping hot with fresh melt in your mouth tortillas chips. Salsa tasty without being too hot. No visit would be complete without a praline pecan.

So I ate here with a friend for lunch..To begin I dont know if the man with the yellow shirt is the manager or what but his customer service is terrible. Our server was nice and attentive.The food was 90% terrible. The enchilada sauce tasted like a can of chili was just dumped and mixed with Alpo food. The rice was awful and very bland... the chicken chalupa was decent. The To-Go cup was a childrens cup... I mean come on at least give a regular sized cup...

Horrible service. We waited about 10 minuets after being seated to be acknowledged by a server. Then the table next to us left after waiting 20 minuets with no drinks. We promptly left after putting our water water and still waited another 10 minuets with no drinks. As we walked out, the manager didn’t say a word to us

Stopped in for a quick bite to eat and ended up taking time to savor my chicken fajitas, they were really good and moist. Big serving size, had lots to take home for later and still left really full. Service was fast and friendly and food was reasonably priced.

This place was great! Loved the Guadalajara Taco plate. You have to try the white queso!The brownie dessert is the best in town!

Server was rude, Atmosphere was loud and music was playing from two different sources. Quite the unpleasant experience. We ordered fajitas and if I hadnt been there as a date/guest with someone else paying, I would have sent them back and probably left. Wont be back unless forced. And will probably stick with tortillas and avocados.

Meh. The gentleman running the host station appeared to be busy with other restaurant business and trying to run his station, and several families had to wait to be seated with no obvious reason why. The restaurant did not appear overly busy, even for a Sunday. When my family was greeted it was not clear that he was speaking to us and he was calling to us from another area of the restaurant to come be seated. Waitress was friendly but super slow as well, with no attempt to offer any explanation or apology. Just a quick "Im sorry, Im running behind but I am coming" goes a long way with me, as I have been a waitress as well. On top of that she didnt really up here to be too concerned about it at all. The jelly belly sodas were no longer available and after placing our drink orders we went ahead and placed our meal orders as well. It took forever to get our drinks back and the order was not correct and we did not get enough straws for all the cups and my cup had something dirty all down the side of it. Our silverware seemed splotchy as well. She did well with coming by to refill our chips a few times. The meals were okay, however, the flavor on the enchiladas was not comprable to others in town, and both of my kids thought two of the five different flavored enchiladas were disgusting. Maybe this was just due to this restaurant having their own spin on flavors? We waited a very long time for our ticket. And I felt it was pretty obvious with empty plates and the four of us who were obviously waiting that would have been sitting there awhile. Again, no apology or attempt to explain. Last, but definitely not least, our table was sitting Within two to three feet of the emergency exit and we were completely blocking it and I have noticed this table there for quite some time. A bar shelf was also built in the same area as the emergency exit and the bar sticks out end blocks off approximately 6 in of the emergency exit. I dont know how after seeing this issue present for over a year that it hasnt been corrected yet. I have been in this restaurant four times, over the past couple of years and every time service has been slow and the food has been meh. Maybe our family just keeps hitting on a bad day? Too bad, we wont be going back any further.

The food at El Chicos is always very fresh and prepared the same every time, very good! And Suzy is one of the best waitresses anywhere, and when she sees us come in, she gets our drinks right over to us, and asks if we want our usual orders!

So we have been going to El Chicos for the past 20 years or so . And NEVER have we EVER experienced what we experienced today. Employees arguing and getting physical in a work place a place of business. And what is being done about it thats what we would like to know !? So we will be going back to make sure that those i cant even call them young ladys because thats not what they were acting like . You could hear cursing, yelling these little girls getting physical with the young gentlemen that was waiting on us . We heard him talking to the Manager and telling him that those girls had put there hands on him . I want to know whats going to be done something needs to be done to those girls .

The worst food Ive ever had! Enchiladas looked like they were filled with easy cheese (cheese from the canbut the cheese looked like orange cottage cheese. It was horrible service and even more horrible food. Husbands birthday lunch went to hell in a hand basket here at this restaurant!! Never going back!!

My husband had the beef enchiladas and it was nasty.. It tasted like they opened a can of hot dog chili and slapped it on top of it.. Nasty!! Me and my daughter shared the avacado enchiladas.. Not bad but not good either.. Stuffed with very little avacado and too many big slices of jalapenos..will not ever come back

The food was amazing .We love going there .But The Manager (didnt get his name a Hispanic man with no hair lolwas very RUDE and SARCASTIC .He really needs to work on customer service. Other than that we were pleased with our waitress and food .

How is this place still open comes to mind. The food is horrible, tortilla soup is more like chips and brown gravy. The enchilada sauce is terrible. Even my kids that will eat any fried chicken and think its great complained about it tasting strange and wouldnt finish their food and neither did I. Taco Bell is more authentic than this place with better tasting food. Oh and the drab music they pipe in sounds like it should be played at the old folks home across the way and the restaurant smelled similar too. This place was just depressing all the way around. Do yourself a favor if you read this go to a chain Mexican food joint or Jaliscos or literally anywhere else if you want tex mex.

Ive been eating here for over 40 years. Youll find fancier places and maybe better food BUT, personally, I love the fact that El chicos is still here. I can still get my chicken fajitas and that makes me happy. Its kind of like being able to go home.

The food was great, it was like texmex. Loved the queso and desert has got to be the best Ive had. The only problem i had was the waiter didnt give me a chance to speak would talk really quickly and walk off before i was done talking. Other then that everything was clean and food tasted amazing. Will be back soon!

I love this place and Mr. Ken. I have been eating here for over 35 years. We celebrate birthdays here because everyone in the family loves the food. The relish is yummy. Wonderful quick place to get in and out of even on a busy day.

Friday 29th: to start with, ordered tea, my husband asked for sweet tea the waitress told him hes getting regular tea. He then told her water. She seemed not too happy to be here. We ordered our food. Just a few things missing. She didnt ask my husband if he wanted fries or mashed potatoes. He ordered chicken fried steak. He didnt want Mexican food. No salad, no choices. My meal was okay, not great. Oh and the music was Dean Martin played over and over. Wont be back. The waitress kind of ruined our evening. Tip was small.

Nasty frozen food. They do not have any Salsa!!! For an authentic Mexican restaurant to not have any hot sauce is ridiculous! Not worth a penny. Never going back! $50 for 2 people and we didnt even stay for dessert. I guess if you have never had authentic Mexican food in your life it is ok. Or if you have absolutely no taste buds and like to eat crap it would be ok. But judge for yourself. In my personal opinion it is disgusting.

Im not a foodie, and Ive never written a review before. But its just that important to me that people know how awful this restaurant is. The service was good, and we liked our waiter, but my enchilada was literally unseasoned ground beef in a store-bought tortilla covered in *WOLF BRAND CHILI FROM A CAN*. I literally have never paid for a worse meal at a restaurant. Food is inedible, and I, a college student, could make better at home.

Never have I stepped foot in a restaurant worse than El Chico in Lubbock. They claim to have been open for decades, but I have no idea how that is even possible. Their famous apple pie dessert is made out of store bought apple pie. One slice is almost $10.Their queso that costs almost $10 is Velveeta you can get at the grocery store. Their food is not even close to fresh. Everything has a distinct preservative feel. Canned or frozen for sure.And their restaurant? I drive by and see the lights on the signs out constantly. The inside is deplorable. Looks like no one has put any effort into the building since the day it opened. So no wonder it stays open, with their high prices for unauthentic food and failure to put money into the atmosphere. This establishment is on its death bed and they are barely keeping it standing.They say they are kid friendly on food review sites, so I thought to bring my kids here for a good dinner. When they say that they mean giving your child one crappy, used yellow crayon to color a sheet I could have printed out at home. It would have been better to not give anything out at all.They play creepy 50s music in the restaurant, and I could hardly hear myself think over the sound of it.Dont waste your time walking in here like I did. This place needs to go out of business. Either that or end up on Kitchen Nightmares. The only reason this place is still standing must be because people living here have no idea what good food tastes like, and no money is obviously put into improving the establishment. Its absolutely disgusting.