El Charro — Restaurant in Fort Scott

I want to be very clear from the beginning that my server was amazing and attentive and has NOTHING to do with this review. This review is specifically for the food! The enchilada was made with a preservative style Fiesta blend. A.k.a already bagged cheddar cheese with monterrey blend. This is NOT what one is to expect at a Mexican restaurant. This can be made at home for way way cheaper! The beans tasted like canned beans with maybe some salsa added to them. And the ground beef in my taco was flavorless and dry as it could be! Again, this can be made at home for way less! The salsa tasted like canned tomato sauce with seeds from a pepper thrown in. Also, can be made at home for way less. The point of eating out is to get an experience you can't get at home. This was not my experience AT ALL! I travel a lot for work. I grew up, practically lived, off eating El Charro in Joplin Missouri. I still to this day randomly wake up craving their beans. They are 100% made fresh daily. I just had it last week and it was amazing! They also still use fresh shredded white cheese. It's so unique and so delicious! It's makes at least 75% of their food what it is, which is absolutely the best and most amazing around! Yes, there's more prep work involved, I understand it costs more for labor. If you have to, increase the price of every meal a $1. But don't do what you're doing now! My husband and I ate at the Carthage El Charro 2-3 weeks ago and it wasn't even edible. So I will give you that yours was edible. But that's all it was. There was NOTHING SPECIAL about your food. You need to bring the "special and uniqueness " back to your food. I highly recommend sending the one's who run the Joplin El Charro around to train your staff. The point of a franchise is to be consistent in quality and taste. So no matter where someone goes, they know their getting the same, great food the Joplin location offers. It is honestly a disservice to the people who live in these other towns, including Fort Scott, that have never tasted the REAL El Charro! I guarantee you will get more business if you do this! I am not saying this to bash anyone, but to inform you. I really believe it will make a difference in the business you get! I will try again in 6 months or so, if it's changed I will...

I was very surprised at how good the food was here. I ordered the spinach enchiladas and they were the best spinach enchiladas I've ever had!!! I had thought because it's a Mexican restaurant not nowhere even near Mexico that it probably wouldn't be as good due to past experiences but I must say this place has got it going on with Mexican food everything's homemade and delicious. This is real Mexican food here at this place!!!! If you haven't ate here before you must try it you will not regret it by no means!!!😀 Ok editing this post because I wanted to add a few things now that I have ate here multiple times since my first posted review.... I want to give 5 stars to Maria that works the cash register as a cashier she is very friendly very informative on the plates and specials. She is super great at customer service. Last time I spoke to her they were kind of slow at the moment so me and her sat up front and talk while I was waiting on my food because I was picking it up to go. she amazes me on just how sweet and friendly she was. She definitely deserves a raise! So I hope that the manager is reading this because I go to a lot of restaurants because I travel a lot and I just do not meet people that are as friendly as herself too often. I wish I could give her a raise because I definitely would she so much deserves it. Also I want to give five stars to the waiter that usually serves me.... My mind is drawing a blank right now but I'm wanting to say that is named is Juan. I'm going to find out and if it isn't one I will come back and edit this post just where the name is. One more thing is the spinach and chicken enchiladas w/ the spinach sauce on top is actually better than...

My wife and I dropped into El Charro with appetites ready for comfort and flavor. I ordered the birria tacos—something that should arrive rich, savory, and dripping with character. She went with a beef enchilada and a chile relleno. Unfortunately, the food landed with more of a thud than a flourish.

The birria tacos had all the appearance of the real deal, but the flavor never quite showed up. Her enchilada and relleno were equally underwhelming—textbook Mexican fare, but with the personality dialed down to zero. The salsa was bland, more of an afterthought than an opener, and the “hot sauce” was basically a puree of chili peppers: painfully hot, but hollow, like fire without smoke.

Then came the beans. A humble side dish turned into a head-scratcher, with what looked suspiciously like hot dog slices mixed in. Maybe it’s tradition somewhere, but for us, it was more confusing than comforting. The chips, though? Crisp and satisfying, easily the best bite outside of the drinks.

To their credit, the service was solid—polite, attentive, no issues there. And just when the night felt like a complete miss, the margaritas came in to save the day. Balanced, refreshing, and priced right, they were the one thing that lived up to expectation. Even better, they’ll hand them to you to-go, which felt like the truest victory of the evening.

In short: El Charro is a place where the margaritas wear the crown while the food limps along in their shadow. Come for the drinks and chips, stay for the friendly service, but don’t expect fireworks...