El Columpio — Restaurant in Mitchell

Ah, the classic Google folly. I read the reviews and figured I’d be in for better Mexican food than I’d bargained for before heading to the Southwest. But alas, it was not to be.

Chips were excellent, warm and crisp. Salsa was a pretty decent. Myself and the lady both got enchiladas, one poblanos, one verdes. The poblanos was okay-ish; kind of bland and nothing special. The verdes was unfortunately, terrible. Our main gripe? The sauce. Tasted like sauce from a can. The food itself was a 2-2.5, the rice and beans didn’t really help, but weren’t bad - just average. Overall, the quality of the food didn’t match the price tag; El Columpio’s menu seemed pricier than the other Mexican food on I-90 and we’re glad we didn’t splurge for a price item like the El Planza platter or Mexican Combo.

What El Columpio could do to get a better review - it comes down to attentiveness. So, elephant in the room… the floors were disgusting. I thought it might’ve been the dinner rush and probably a good amount of dried, muddy boots entered and shook off at their tables but it seemed really unlikely that nearly the entire restaurant had this issue by happenstance, rather than sheer neglect. The area I was in, directly next to the window, on the floor had a build up filth. Food finished, plates cleared, about 10 min goes by while every employee not cooking seems to be doing nightly chores… well, everything but doing a quick once over on the floors. Just seems unlikely that a restaurant that’s normally clean would let things get that dirty and not just be like, excuse me real quick while I get that when there’s just the 4 people inside. It’s now 50 mins from closing and the crew seems very focused on their nightly tasks when 3 separate parties walk in within 5 minutes. (Hotel next door). Another couple minutes for the check and we’re outta there.

I guess it might be a 3 if you’re staying in the hotel next door and you’ve never had great Mexican food, but even after driving since 7am and craving Mexican for 4 hours it just didn’t give me 3 star vibes at all. Overall, El Columpio could be good, but if it really IS one of the best restaurants in South Dakota… then I guess I’m just wrong and probably will pack a cooler of food next time I...

The food was really good, but the service was terrible. Between waiting for the server to get Us drinks and getting the food we waited for a over an hour. We were asked what we wanted to drink after waiting a good 20 minutes for menu's. We didn't get time to look and see what there was to drink. I get that they were busy, I've worked in the restaurant industry for 7 1/2 years, but at least say sorry for the wait or something. The female server was pretty rude. To go on top of everything the people standing up in the togo line were being helped before tables that were sitting there for a long time. A few tables walked out. Honestly if it weren't for the bus boy we would have walked out too. One person we were with (she's pregnant) only left a few dollars as a tip. I figured everyone split tips so I gave more because I felt bad. I understand having rough nights, but you can make up for that by telling your tables what's going on and being honest on how long wait times will be. All together it was a 2 hour ordeal. They need to decide if they are fast food or a restaurant. Servers were both cooking and trying to balance taking tables. There was a guy that got up and took menu's from another table and he split them between 2 other tables. They honestly need servers doing server work and have set cooks. What was going on obviously wasn't...

If you are traveling with anyone who has severe food allergies, please do yourself a favor and stop in here! We were delighted and relieved to find this very good restaurant. The staff and at least one of the owners were very accommodating, listened and assured us that our order for our three year old who has severe dairy, but, egg, and wheat/gluten allergies would be safe. Not only was he safe, we all enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Thank you El Columpia!!! It's hard to find such a gem on the road and those dealing with food allergies know- but even if you just want a fun, delicious, affordable, special treat you should consider El Columpia. We sure are glad we did - oh, and spoiler alert, they have swings IN the restaurant- they are for adults but you know anyone who is creative and fun enough to think of that in their design will be creative and fun with food as well....