El Chico Cafe — Restaurant in Shreveport

I've lived in the area for a long time and El Chicos is the big fish in the Mexican cuisine area here. I haven't been back in years and I seem to recall it just wasnt great.

Well, we tried it instead of going to our normal place Tamolys. Overall I'm just not impressed with anything.

Sweet tea was afflicted with the cursed unfiltered Shreveport dirt water flavor that is so prominent in that area. Absolutely nasty, El Chicos is just one of many businesses who haven't figured out they need to filter their water.

Chips and Salsa is a standard. They have a little spicy sauce which I liked but they paired it with very thick chips. They are flat out unpleasant to consume honestly. Chicken Fajita Nacho appetizer was good. It's a half taco shell with beans then cheese and a flavorful chicken on it.

Beef and Chili enchiladas were pretty good. Pretty much what you would expect. Chicken and sour cream enchiladas was what my wife ordered but what she got chicken and cheese sauce. She really wasn't a fan.

The server was overloaded with people by the time we got our food. Drink replacements were kind of hard to come by but she was trying.

For desert we picked a brownie sundae for dessert. My wife literally said "how can they screw a brownie and ice cream". El Chico said old my beer. The small home styled bowel had a big dense brownie who's rear exterior was unpleasant to saw into and eat. The ice cream was barely there. What was there was a nice pile of whipped cream hiding the fact there was very little ice cream. What set it all off was a strongly flavored strawberry drizzle, which if on anything different might have been good. It does not pair well with a brownie and vanilla ice cream.

Overall they are here. I understand they have good margaritas. If you are coming for anything else, go...

I went there for the 1st time with others. It was ok. The place looks like a stereotypical chane mexican restaurant. The are was clean and tidy. It was empty at that time, and although the server was nice, not the most attentive. This Tex-Mex is definitely Dallas based Tex-Mex. Everything was covered with sauce. If you like that, great, but it's not the type of Tex-mex I'm used to. The food was ok. The salsa wasn't the most flavorful. The yellow queso would benefit from adding some pico to give it flavor. I ate the chicken fajita nachos and enjoyed it for what it was. The shredded cheese was microwave melted, but the rest was enjoyable. Churros were crunchy, more like having a dry cookie. The tea was sweet, but the cups were in rough shape that they looked dirty. We laughed, had a margarita, and there was enough table space for the multiple plates. It was a pleasant moment, and the manager came by to make sure we were enjoying the meal as well as thanked us by the door when we left. I would go back with my friends because they like the place, but i would not go out of my way to...

We had forgotten how very, very good El Chico was and still is! The best hot sauce and ships in the city! They don't require that I cham them done with something to kill nasty so hot you can't breathe sauce! It is perfect! A nice kick but not a blazing inverno.Their taco soup was huge! Could have fed 4 people ! Delicious finally enough chips to be a real taco soup. I had the beef and shrimp fajitas. Excellent! Hubby had beef tamales also very good. Our waitress was excellent there when needed and not clingy.Shirley deserved a good tip and we didn't disappoint. Can't wait to come back and try some more of my favorites. One thing did need attention. Their rice and beans needed some kind of seasoning. Maybe a touch of tomato for rice. And a little onion for beans. I. Would of settled for some garlic salt for each. So when you are seeking great Yex- Mex, try El Chico They have been around and know how Mexican food...