I'd only go to el Chico if I was already at the mall and craving mexican food. It's always hit or miss here but I do like the "patio" they have to sit and watch the mall people of abilene. Watch out tho: they charge for every little thing!!!! And the queso is pretty expensive. read more

Ugh! Went tonight for enchilada Wednesday. Brought out the food and it looked like pig slop on a plate. Taste was ok but 2 hours later and I am feeling nauseous. Hubby ordered beef fajitas. It wasn't skirt steak. Instead it was unseasoned roast. Definitely won't be back! read more

It the best Authentic Mexican food. The best service and food. The atmosphere is superb. I can take the whole family and enjoy our quality time. read more

We have been going for 38 years and enjoy the people and food! I always look forward to a good meal

I thought this El Chicos was good it did not disappoint. the waitress was very attentive and I forgot they had FREE queso. I'd definitely go back if we were in the area read more

Take my advice and don't order to go. Waited 20 mins to pick up , then waited another 20 mins inside for two breakfast tacos. Took them another 5 mins to run my card and get salsa. Food was cold by the time I got in the car . read more

Drinks were decent, food was horrible. Tacos had a bitter taste, steak was nothing but fat, YUCK!!! What a waste of a date night.

save your money don't go to this place. I and my husband and 2 of our children went for mothers day food was OK not worth the wait there was a group of 6 or 7 people that came in after us and were seated before us there was a lot of empty tables and still took forever. read more

The staff was amazing, the food was great, and we had a wonderful time! We come here quite often, it is our go to date spot or for family dinner outing! read more

Man our server and bartender, Jesse, is awesome. Drinks were cold and on time. Was super busy due to Christmas shopping he was running all over the place but kept a smile and apologizing even though service was awesome. AAA+++ Food was good my wife luvs the Fajitas. read more

Great service, excellent food, clean place. The tortilla soup just how I like it. I WILL BE BACK FOR MORE.

I've given this place several chances because I like other El Chico's restaurants. Food has been okay a few of the times I've been but usually it's not great. Service isn't very good. read more

Me and my bf and our daughter ate here on 2/17/18 and we had the best experience. The food was great and my bf being in the navy he has traveled all over the world and he said this was by far some of the best Mexican food he has ever had. thank you El Chico staff y'all are amazing! read more

Had an excellent experience this weekend! The food was great!! Had the top shelf quesadilla and it was prepared perfectly! The wait staff was attentive and engaging and I didn't need for anything. The kitchen manager was awesome! She came out and talked to me about the service and food to make sure everything was taken care and up to my expectations. Honestly one of my best experiences at a restaurant in a long time. Food was great and service was spot on. read more

Don't let the "facelift" fool you. They painted the front, added some windows. The problem is- it's the same old problems. We came in at 12:30 on Labor Day. The mall was moderately busy. The patio seating area had open tables, and many tables inside available. We wondered why people were sitting out front. Got inside, and there was no one at the greeting stand. No. One. (??) Waited about three mins until a young boy dashed up. Took our name and said it would be FIVE mins on the table. Ok. Five mins and no one previously waiting has been seated. At least four couples have left the dining area, so tables are obviously available. Five more mins and one couple goes in. Five MORE mins and I'm like "you want to go somewhere else??" Think of how this could have been avoided...just seat us and bring us a drink and chips and we probably wouldn't have noticed 20 mins going by! The greeter only came out once to get the one couple. We saw two waitpersons serving tables- a middle aged woman in the bar area and an older man on the patio. Figuring almost 20 mins was far too long a wait- we left. We looked at the menu while we waited, and it's the same El Chico menu from the last 20 yrs. So they do "tableside guacamole" now. Do I really want a harried waitress doing my guac, instead of a chef in the kitchen? Hmm. El Chico has always been a "ground beef" and "velveeta" experience. Save your money and a whole lot of aggravation and go to one of the MANY other Mexican joints. Places in the mall are for tourists who don't know any better. read more

I don't normally review places but I must protect the public from this restaurant that needs to go out of business. The food is overpriced, bland, with the cheapest ingredients they can find. The tortillas tasted like a low brand off brand tortilla. The rice was instant rice but worse. The queso looks like it sits in a warmer for 6+ hours and tasted older than even that. The charro beans did not look or taste anything near what charro beans are supposed to be. I realize that chains like to have uniqueness to them but they aren't doing it right. The server was kind and the orders were correct so theres that. Avocados some how were tasteless. Go somewhere else. read more

In town for a few weeks. Looked up Mexican food in the area and the only joint playing the Rangers game on tv was El Chico. We headed over to the mall and sat at the bar. Happy hour was just ending but the bartender/our server suggested the house margarita for $6. I was very pleased with the taste! Fresh lime squeezed right in front of me, and the glass didn't look that big but it sure took some time to finish. Now I've had my share of real Mexican fare. Living in southern Arizona and visiting several areas in Mexico I have been spoiled with the best, so I know what I should be tasting from a decent restaurant. Fresh tortilla chips, salsa, and melted queso were set out for us while we decided what to order. I don't expect good quality chips and salsa at most places like this, but again I was in for a treat. The chips were perfectly crunchy and the right balance of thick & thin, salsa was zesty but not overpowering, and I never was a fan of cheese dip but this one may have changed my mind! I ordered the tamales with rice and beans and a side of guacamole. Everything tasted wonderful. I have no complaints except my water got empty and our girl was a bit busy with the Halloween kids and their parents, but a friendly waiter passed by with the pitcher of iced tea and I asked if he would be so kind to fill my glass. I took a sip only to find out it was the most delicious sweet (but not too sweet) iced tea. After all that amazing food I was craving dessert, but decided it should wait until next time. 4.5 stars for El Chico! read more

Let me just say if I could give 0 stars I would. We come in to a half empty restaurant, and have a 30 minute wait because we are told it is shift change, yet we never saw anyone changing out a shift. Everyone was walking around giving ugly looks. Piss poor but not even surprised. read more

This is the best Mexican food n town!!! The Fajitas r the best and has great service! The manager is very friendly and always making it a point to visit every table! Recommend this place if u have not been, u must go check them out!!! read more

Service was ok. food and price though were amazing the unlimited chips and caso was out of this world great I got the toquitos and they were fantastic overall definitely recommend read more

I havent found one thing thats good about this place, and i think its pricey. I love the location though.

We love this place! My wife and I used to frequent El Chico all the time when we were first married, and living in Abilene. While driving through town, we often stop here for lunch or dinner. Never disappoints! Great tasting food, great salsa, and free sopaipillas... what's not to like? read more

There was a day when El Chico was the only chain Tex Mex restaurant in town and they were pretty good. Those days are gone. The food comes out so fast that you know that there are just vats of meat, sauces, etc... in the back that they throw together. The service was fine but in the end it just isn't very good, except the table side guacamole which is made fresh in front of you. read more

Food was pretty solid, service was extremely slow. Don't come here if you don't like waiting....

This place is awful. Do not eat here! The chips and salsa are Taco Bell quality at best. The service is comparable to what you would expect at a cheap motel and the food is on par with your average TV dinner. Seriously, go to Chick-Fil-A or Costal Cookies. The best use for this facility would be to close and have Bucketheads open a second location in its place. read more

I give this minus stars. Horrible, awful, disgusting, the service was really bad the food and drinks worse. The queso was cold and like jello, the drinks were awful. I will never go back . Dirty there was a hair in the salsa and server scraped food off my water glass and still served it to me. I feel sick just thinking about how bad it was. The drinks from the bar were even horrible. It's sad because I use to love this place and it has really really gone to crap. And I think the staff just doesn't care. read more

I usually like el chicos and their food that they serve. This one is hands down the worst one I have ever visited. The food was horribly over cooked and had little to no seasoning. I will never eat here again. read more

Ok worst service I have ever received I work at the mall and went to get guacamole on my lunch break. I waited for 30 mins FOR GUACAMOLE THAT IS RIDICULOUS. I was not able to eat lunch that day I will never go there again. Plus they where not even busy that day. Wish I could post negotiate stars. read more

Okay, two stars for this place. One for our nice waitress, and one for crispy chips. Everything else was less than mediocre... The food tasted bland, like it was only seasoned with a dash of cayenne pepper. Our waitress gave our order of guacamole to the table next to us, which we reminded her of when she brought our entrees. She immediately apologized, & assured us that it would be on the house. We came to El Chico because of convenience (we were shopping at the mall & were hungry). I don't think we will be back anytime soon. read more

Don't even waste your money. My husband and I were in the mall and I love Mexican, so we decided to try it out. I look forward to the chips and salsa. I was stoked that they offered FREE queso until we realized it was watered down. The food was blah and I won't be going back. read more

Been good so lately wanted a Brownie Skillet. It was ok just because it was a brownie .... The butter sauce that should caramelize still had cold lumps of butter so it just got the brownie wet. Not their best day. read more

The "Mama's Favorite Mexican Apple Pie" is my favorite dessert in Abilene! All the Mexican food is sub par for me....but I would go here for dessert any day! Definitely a must have, the brandy butter sauce, the warm apple pie, the cinnamon ice cream....it's a something I've had dreams about. read more

Went in for lunch since while we were waiting for our movie to begin, and the wait was only a few minutes. Our waiter arrived promptly and took our order. I was pleasantly surprised with their beef fajita tacos. I've been searching for good tacos here, and I finally found them. They're now my favorite tacos in town. I'm not fond, though, of sour cream, so I'll have to remember to ask them to put it on the side--luckily, they don't overload on the sour cream, so the tacos still tasted good. read more

Below average on the food. It's pretty hard to mess up Mexican food but this place just didn't taste good at all. Even the chips and salsa were below par. Not to mention the beer in a bottle is basically close to room temp. Only plus was that our waitress and hostess were both friendly. read more

It's just ok. It's cheap mexican food so you get what you pay for.

I sat at the bar and was happy with the friendliness and asking if I wanted my beer dressed but that's where it stopped. After my food came out the bartender never came back to me until my plates were stacked and I was checking the time. They were not busy. read more

Food is absolutely horrible. Wouldn't feed it to my dog....well actually yes I did seeing as is wasn't fit to eat. Overpriced And understaffed. Won't be going there again! read more

My husband and I were wandering through the mall and decided to try out the restaurant we were seated promptly we were greeted promptly our server Andre was amazing and I was very impressed . we had a trio included an appetizer and main entrees which we get to pick to eat and a dessert for 18.99 I was so impressed we left full happy and will definitely return read more

I like the fact that they give free queso with the chips upon request, although it tastes "watered down". I have a small child and they only have one infant seat in the whole restaurant that the straps work on so my 1 year old was climbing out of the seat every 5 seconds. I wanted to go eat there today then remembered that their one and only good high chair probably isn't available so I went to a more family friendly place. Foods not too bad though. read more

My visits to El Chico's was disgusting. The food was okay at first but the avocado enchilada when I bit into it had something hard and round. I'm not sure what it was but I gagged and spit my food out. The cups and plates were not clean. The beans were not flavorful at all. The rice was okay. The chips tasted and felt stale. The waiter was great she was new and did a fine job. The food was awful and I don't think I will be back anytime soon. read more