El Centenario is pretty decent Mexican food in Topeka. I've been to El Centenario a half-dozen times. It helps that it is just a couple blocks away from work, it's easy to get a consensus among co-workers as a place to go for lunch, and it has had good and consistent food that comes out pretty speedy. I know that the menu is filled with diverse items, but I keep gravitating to the same lunch item over and over -- 1 taco, 1 burrito, and refried beans. It's not an exciting lunch, but it's remarkably affordable (~$6!) and it is very filling. El Centenario also plys you with heaping baskets of tortilla chips and salsa. My recommendation -- request the salsa picante. It's a spicy ranchera-style sauce, it has a rather spicy pepper bite, but I've gotten to the point that I will eat chips with it spooned over the top, while one of my coworkers mixes some of the spicy salsa into her bowl of regular salsa. I won't say that El Centenario is the most authentic Mexican restaurant, but it does fit solidly into the current concepts for TexMex / Mexican that is run and staffed by Latin-Americans. Considering some of the other "Mexican" food in Topeka, it's about as authentic as you are going to get without heading over to the taquerias on the east side. read more

Dropped in for lunch. Service was fast and they checked several times to ensure everything was ok. I had the lunch special Speedy Gonzales with an extra taco. Chips were hot n fresh. The deco is very culture centric and very well done and very clean. I'll be back read more

El Centenario - Lunch specials speedy Gonzales with an extra taco - Mexican Near Me - Topeka, Kansas

Still and excellent place for great Mexican food. My friends know I like it and have scheduled a birthday party for me there. We have had meetings of other retirees there in the past. They always take good care of the group. read more

I've been to this restaurant several times they do have a great atmosphere however to watch a game or soccer AKA football is a bit difficult. There bathroom are clean the service is excellent they do have a margarita that is delicious you also can order a frozen margarita to go. The salsa is somewhat okay they do have great guacamole,white cheese dip is all right. The night I was there they had a enchilada special with three different enchiladas there was a white queso there was a beef and there was a chicken. I must say the chicken enchilada was a bit dry the other two weren't too bad the beef was pretty surprising because I was not expecting it to be that of course the white queso is what it always will be it came with Latino rice and beans. I have to say one thing that I chose was missing on the platter was Mexican cheese authentic Mexican cheese other than that it was an excellent serving and great to go. #cityofthetop read more

El Centenario - 3 enchiladas cheese sauce White green chili beef red chili chicken rice beans. - Mexican Near Me - Topeka, Kansas

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Best Mexican food you can buy in Topeka. The food here always hits and the prices are good. Service is fast and the employees are friendly. I've been here several times and will always return when I'm in the area! read more

Nice place for a casual dinner. The service is fast and the menu has a ton of options. If you like your Mexican fare spicy hot...they can fix you up...though you may regret it. read more

Best Mexican food in Topeka! You get seated quick and everything is very good! The servers are all very friendly.

Excellent food & service! My niece and I stopped in for lunch and had a great time. The enchiladas were great and the quesadilla hit the spot. read more

Good and fast service. Clean, neat atmosphere. The food was great! We will definitely be back!

The food is great. Had a chicken fajita & it couldn't have been better. Have also tried their chicken quesadillas & tacos...all good. Service is quick & friendly. read more

Amazing service Amazing Team Amazing Food From 1-10 we give a 9.5 . Each time we are there the service is top notch. The food comes from the kitchen nice and hot. Everything is delicious and flavorful. We have no complaints read more

Always wonderful and fast service. My favorite is the Chile Rellanos and they have the best in town. I detect a very slight hint of cinnamon in the filling. The margaritas are great and they have a good selections of beers. Try this place! read more

El Centenario - Number 14 aka Chili Rellenos,, Chlaupa and Beef Enchilada. - Mexican Near Me - Topeka, Kansas

Went in purely on Yelp score and we were not disappointed. Pulled up to a full parking lot which is always a good sign. We ordered the queso before the meal and it was great. We ordered a couple of different combination platters and a chimichanga. We had shredded chicken, ground beef, and steak all of which were seasoned excellently. The enchilada sauce is very special. Nothing I've tasted before. Felt the same about their refried beans. Great food. Great prices. Great service. Highly recommend! read more

A Topeka favorite for a reason. Food is always amazing and staff is friendly. Nice atmosphere as well.

Good Mexican restaurant, nothing really stands out but nothing detracts. Service is fast, the margaritas are VERY good and strong (not one from a machine). Food is good, but taco salad was in tortilla bowl that got way too soggy (pretty common at places like this) 3.5/5 read more

The food was outstanding, the atmosphere genuine, the service was superb, and the prices arw exceptionally affordable!!

I went alone, ordered right away (I always get either burrito or chimichangas). I ordered a chimichanga, and I received it very quick!! It was busy too. Very good food, I would highly recommend from what I ordered (chimichanga, salsa, and guac). read more

I've probably ate here 100 times. As usual Hector was awesome today. But everything was stale the chips, taco shells, and tostada shells. I have never posted on Yelp before, but it was that bad. I will give him another chance, but it's gonna be a minute. read more

This is the real deal. If you are looking for GOOD Mexican food then come here. Very pleasant and fast service. read more

Great Service and Food They Treat You Like Family. Highly recommend You Try It Out if You Haven't Yet!

Service was good and food was good, not great. Hot sauce was watery and bland. Food good and fresh, but not overall bland and not well seasoned read more

Yum! Service was pretty fast, given that we needed it fast. Love the environment, and so curious what it's like when it's more lively. The food was delicious! read more

Our go-to Mexican restaurant in Top City. Good food, service and fair prices. Keep up the great work! Gracias!

Found El Centenario by happy accident. Couldn't be happier with our decision to eat here. Came in about 15 minutes after opening on a Saturday. There were already several diners present. The server was extremely pleasant and informative. Chips are crispy and just what you'd expect for a Mexican restaurant. Salsa has a wonderful texture and flavor with just a hint of heat. I had the #2 lunch special with steak and it had amazing flavor. Everyone else in my party was extremely pleased with their food as well. Restaurant is clean and inviting and staff is very attentive and pleasant. Will definitely eat here again! read more

Service at El Centenario is excellent! We enjoyed everything we ordered but were especially happy with the beans, rice, chile relleno, and enchiladas. There is not much to say about the ambiance but when the food, prices, and service are great, the rest doesn't seem to matter! read more

Warm chips. Fresh food. Fast service. A little too much tomato in guacamole. Taco and enchilada had a good portion of beef. Nothing special about rice or refried beans. Brick building, looks questionable from neighborhood but clean inside. read more

El Centenario - Guacamole - Mexican Near Me - Topeka, Kansas

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Server could not understand English, was not big on there food. Nice atmosphere. Clean

We go often for lunch. Excellent food and service every time! The staff are very personable and fun.

Yelpers, you came through on this one! The place is super quaint inside, although I was getting food to go it would be a great place to come sit and eat. And the food didn't dissapoint! I got the chicken tacos and they had amazing flavor. The white cheese sauce and guacamole also passed the test - and I am picky about my guacamole. My friends had the chicken enchiladas and the fajita bowl (the latter was recommended as a favorite/popular dish). Everyone really enjoyed their food. I have eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants over the years, and I was a bit surprised to find such a great little gem hidden away. Forget the chains and check this place out! Highly recommend! P.S. as of the date of this review they are currently in the process of renewing their liquor license. So if you are planning to come specifically for the margaritas you might want to call ahead and see of they're serving again yet. read more

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Came here for the first time last week. What a great little place. Atmosphere is comfy and it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded. The staff is REALLY friendly. I had the chile relleno which I do recommend. The combo plates are the standard that you get at most Mexican places but I feel the quality was a bit better. I also felt that the cost was really affordable. I decided to also order a taco made of pastor and it was really good. Overall, I found my new go-to place for Mexican food. YUM! read more

I've never had a bad meal or service. I recommend this place over and over again. I thought the price was good. You get good size portions. read more

Good Mexican food in Topeka. They have great cheese enchiladas and yummy tortillas. Their guacamole is great. Good service and clean. read more

El Centenario - Mexican Near Me - Topeka, Kansas

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Picked eating here after reading review on NewsBreak app. Wasn't disappointed at all. Friendly and prompt service. Calm and clean atmosphere. True Mexican food, not Tex-Mex. Probably the best tamale I've ever had. Loved their guacamole. Only negative is can't find anywhere that serves true mole sauce here in Topeka. Will make this our number one place for further cravings of Mexican food. read more

The service is wonderful. The food is great. Been here many times and has never disappointed us. The place is clean and all around great atmosphere read more

The service is excellent! I got a takeout order from here and it was a very pleasant experience. The food was good too. I will definitely be coming back to dine in! read more

Excellent Mexican restaurant in Topeka. White cheese dip is out of this world, do yourself a favor and order a large, it won't go to waste. I ordered one of the combos, beef burrito with beef taco and was great. It came with beans and rice. I ate nearly all of it, even after the cheese dip. Two complaints, sitting in a booth near the windows was cold this time of year and our food didn't all come out at the same time (probably within 7 minutes of each other). These two complaints won't dip my 5/5 review though! read more

On a suggestion from a coworker my wife and I tried this little Mexican restaurant downtown Topeka. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Its not fancy dining, but the tastebuds jumped for joy. We had the queso, tried the dinner sampler and had some Mexican tacos (pork and chorozo). Oh my gosh! Kudos to the cook, everything was great. We will be coming back. read more

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The food was amazing. We had our Christmas party in the basement which was a nice space. The service was quick and the drinks were always full. read more

A gem in the rough. Stopped in for a late lunch,1:30, and there was no waiting. Device on the spot and food was priced well. Prepared to our liking. The combo 20 was delicious. The lunch special #6, chicken chimichanga was great as well. read more

After driving 30 miles to visit another highly touted Mexican restaurant nearby where we were turned away because they were closed during business hours "for routine maintenance", we drove to El Centenario. The parking lot was nearly full on a Tuesday night ... normally, a good sign. We were quickly seated because the place is pretty big and chips and salsa soon arrived. They had a 99 Cent margarita special going, so I ordered one ... OLE! We also ordered their famous white cheese dip ($3.50) and, being my birthday, a large guacamole ($6.50). The chips were good and hot, but the salsa was nothing special, so I asked for the "hot" version which was a little better. The cheese dip was good, nothing special and the guacamole was terrible. Beside the tomato, onion, and jalapeños, there was something strange about it, like they added Imo or sour cream to increase yield. Either that or they used inferior (Hass avocados should be used) or unripe avocados. Whatever they did, it was one of the worst guacamoles I have ever had. My wife had the torta (sandwich) Milanesa ($7.50), a thin breaded and pan-fried beef cutlet on a Mexican bread roll with mayo, lettuce, avocado and onion (tomato on the side because my wife is allergic) with French fries. It was pretty good, one of the better tortas I have had and the fries were hot and crispy. I ordered the usual on my first visit, tacos and enchiladas. I ordered one hard shell taco ($1.75) and two traditional Mexican tacos (served on two soft corn tortillas), one with carne asada (they spell it "azada") and one with carnitas, and a side order of cheese and onion enchiladas. The hard taco was not bad, coming on the usual pre-fab shell with nicely flavored ground beef and lettuce and Mexican white cheese. Not bad. The soft shell tacos were excellent, coming on two large corn tortillas each and piled high with meat, some onion, cilantro and accompanied by sliced, fresh lime just as they should. Bueno! Finally, the enchiladas had just the right amount of deliciously seasoned red chili sauce and cheese and were baked to perfection. I have to say, these were the best enchiladas I have had in a very long time ... OLE! It was too bad that the guacamole ruined what would have been an outstanding meal and I told the manager about the guacamole problem when were paying our bill, but all he said was "i'll check it out", not "I'm sorry, let me take that off your check". Otherwise, we were very happy with our meal and will likely return to see if the guacamole problem was a one off deal because it it was not, I will send it back to the kitchen. CombatCritic Gives El Centenario 7 Bombs Out Of 10 (And An "S&G" For You Military Types) ... With A Two Bomb Deduction For The Guac (One For The Guacamole And One For The Manager Who Shrugged His Shoulders) ... More Bombs Are Better! read more

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