El Chico Cafe — Restaurant in Abilene

I have been to El Chico many times in the past. Probably 4 to5 tomes a year for 20 plus years. The service and food has been on a steady decline for several years now, but tonight was the straw that broke the camels back. I will never eat there again. The absolute worst service I've ever had anywhere, the second worst food I've ever been served. It took over 30 minutes to get our drinks. A top shelf margarita my ass made with cheap ass bar grade tequila, my wife's mojito was even worse than mine. We are not complainers but the manager had talked to like 5 tables around us over complaints. So we talked to her also and the comped part of the meal. When she brought the ticket to us and hauled ass. The tortillas that were served with our fajitas were about 3 and a half inches around and a quarter inch thick and doughy and way under cooked. The fajitas were served on raw onions and one sliver of bell pepper thrown on the hot cast iron with the meat resting on top of it only sliced about half way through. By the time they got to the table with them the onions were burning and stinking and the burnt smoking onions ruined what was a decent cooked fajita skirt. Oh and my wife ordered the guacamole that they make at the table, when the waitress came out and said that they were out of onions we said that that was fine and it was decent. The only problem was our fajitas had enough burnt onions for 4-5 fajita orders ( I thought they were out of onions ). To lazy to chop them I guess.

Well after this and a bad review from my wife also the manager contacted her and sent her his card worth 2 free meals. He want us to contact him when we got there.. We decided that we were going to fly under the radar and grade them again. Ordered fajitas again, they were much better. They actually caramelized the onions and peppers. Beans were better. And to top it off we had a outstanding waitress. thank you Donna. On the down side they still can't roll out a tortilla. Thank you Cesar for a better experience. So I'm changing this from one...

Overall 3.5 stars. — I've eaten here many times throughout the years and rarely have I had any issues. Customer Service: Juanita is a very good server. I've had others but she has been the best with service, friendliness and attentiveness. Whenever there’s been an issue with the food, the manager takes care of the situation right then. - 5 stars Food: I've tried different meals and I have my favorites. Since the corona, like most everyone else, they’ve gone to a changed up paper menu. They removed the Lunch Beef Enchiladas. Also, it’s like they changed their ingredients or where they get their products or something. I had ordered the El Caballero for years and now the food was different. The chicken enchilada/taco no longer had the flavorful shredded chicken. Instead it had cubed chicken with not much flavor and the flavor it did have, I didn’t like it. I noticed in the cheese and onion enchilada, it wasn’t shredded cheese with onions. It was a little shredded cheese with cheese sauce. Lastly was the spicy beef burrito. It was also different, the taste and texture reminded me of chili meat. I didn’t like it. I ate half my plate and decided that I would not order it again unless it changes. So, today I’m back and trying to decide what to eat that doesn’t involve the above foods. We got the usual, Top Shelf Guacamole which is always good. I ordered the Lunch Combo Fajitas and mom got 2 beef enchiladas (her usual). We topped everything off with the delicious Mexican Apple Pie with extra brandy butter. Even though I have had other desserts, this on is our favorite. - 2 stars Price: It's averaged...

The place was very clean. Without asking, they automatically brought chips, salsa, and cheese dip; going above and beyond. My enchilada fajita meal could have been better. It came with cheese, corn tortillas, more cheese, and meat sprinkled on the top with some veggies inside. The entire plate tasted like cheese, needs more flavor, or add enchilada sauce, seasoning. The veggies are already precooked so most of the natural flavor isn't present. The apple pie was very well presented, came out on a fajitas plate sizzling as the cook poured a buttery sauce over the top of the ice cream and pie. The skillet was over 400 degrees, burning the pie to it. I recommended using a skillet of 220-300 degrees performing the objective without burning the desert. Although the dinner tasted like 1500 calories with all the cheese, and the bottom of the pie grilled to the plate, the staff followed their training. Their beverages were the largest I've seen. I enjoyed my visit and left my advice to the staff. Hopefully, they can make some adjustments to crank out a 5 star. That dessert presentation was awesome, I haven't seen anything like that in Abilene. And to be honest, I can't wait to return, to either try new plates, offer advice, or see what...