Steakhaus El Chico — Restaurant in Mainz

Just ate there this evening. I ordered the 300g Filet cooked to medium as recommended by our server when I described how I wanted it. It was cooked as a true medium rare is in the United States - a thick stripe of red through the center. This piece of meat was the size of a baseball and tasted amazing. In my 61 years of life, I will say that this was in the top 2% of all steaks I’ve ever had. My wife, who likes the occasional steak, who, over the last 25 years I have coached down from hard medium well (ruined) steaks to medium-medium rare steaks ordered a 200g filet cooked medium well upon the servers advice. She described it as unbelievable and it was cooked to a perfect juicy pink. The salad that comes with the steak is offered with a yogurt or other type of dressing… I don’t eat dressing so I chose neither and they brought out a vial of olive oil and another of balsamic vinegar in case I wanted something different. I didn’t but my wife wished she could have had that. We ordered a baked potato to share… it was cooked just right. Each meal also came with two slices of garlic toast. The service was exceptional and the price was incredibly low. I had tap water to drink, my wife had sparkling water and a glass of wine - the tab was 78 Euros I believe. This photo is of my 300g steak. ...

Rushed and Disappointing Experience at El Chico

We arrived at El Chico at around 9:00 PM, expecting a relaxed dinner as their stated closing time on Google was 11:00 PM. The restaurant was almost empty, and we ordered a substantial meal, including a large entrecôte, lamb fillet, a carafe of wine, and a large bottle of water.

However, at around 9:39 PM, while we were still enjoying our meal, the staff informed us that the restaurant would be closing in 15 minutes. This was incredibly frustrating as we were enjoying our wine and food at that point. It felt like we were being rushed out without any concern for our dining experience. In fact, the waiter came to take our plates just minutes later, forcing us to finish everything quickly and leave.

If we had been informed about the early closing when we arrived, we would never have ordered such a large meal. To pay €98 for a rushed and uncomfortable dining experience is simply unacceptable. While unforeseen issues may arise, the lack of communication and care for the customer was very disappointing.

Not...

Wonderful and warm hosts. We visited over a weekend. The place can get crowded during weekends. However, they accommodated us and served us with drinks and the food wasn't too late either (earlier than the waiting time we were told) The pricing is just about right. Can't complain. We ordered the lamb and beef steak with pepper sauce. Also the dark beer and Shiraz wine. The food was delicious. The dark beer had a hint of caramel after taste, if that is what you like. Else, you can avoid it. The Thomson Shiraz was wonderful (as usual). Our host spoke good English as well. Music was...