El Chilar Mexican Restaurant

They were a bit short staffed there the cook just had a baby. The fajitas were decent and the taco was ok fell apart though. The enchilada sauce tasted like canned tomato. Knowing it wasn't the normal chef I'll give it another shot after the normal chef comes back. Will update star rating and review when I do. Side note: Owner was nice. He comped the nachos because they forgot to put the meat on them.

My wife and I decided to try El Chilar tonight and we were not disappointed. We were greeted by the owner and he has to rank in the top ten of the nicest guys to run a restaurant and we were quickly seated and brought menus. He asked if this was our first time in and answered our questions about the menu and before we knew it we had fresh chips and Salsa with drinks. He explained the hot and mild salsa and he was visibly pleased by our favorable reactions because both had excellent flavor and the hot (IMO) had just the right amount of heat. There were several items on the menu that I wanted and I was surprised to see that they offered Chili Colorado because not a lot of places offer it. I decided to have the Chili Verde and the wife had the pan fried taco dinner and both were served with beans and rice. Our meals were timed very well and we had just finished our chips and both plates had excellent presentation and the food was hot and very well prepared. The pork in the Chili Verde was perfect and the flavoring was excellent and my wife said that her chicken taco's were excellent also with great flavor and very well prepared. Business was slow tonight and the owner said that with the snow his business had been slower but this is also a sign to me and when business is slow in a small restaurant and the food is perfectly prepared and has excellent taste this says a lot about the establishment. My wife and I highly recommend El Chilar and I will have to try the Chili Colorado the next time we are in.

Truly authentic... Not Tex Mex authentic but your Mexican grandma authentic. Great food and service. I had the menudo and chicken mole. Both were amazing. They have all the Mexican soups. Caldo de res, albóndigas, menudo, pozole. A must try in Topeka. Support the small businesses that believe in Topeka!

This place came highly recommended from multiple friends, so we decided to give it a try tonight. Called in a to-go order, and felt appreciated as a customer right away. Arrived a little early, told him my name and the order, and had a small wait (understandable). I witnessed the owner remembering customers names, and providing excellent customer service all while in the Friday night rush. I received my order very promptly and checked out. Overall impressed by the time I’m walking to my car to head home. The food was okay. The salsa was kind of bland and lacking spiciness, even for mild salsa. Loco Mex Steak and Shrimp,Rice was a little done for my liking, like it was near the bottom of the pan. Shrimp was very good, probably my favorite part. Chicken Chimichanga was good, the chicken had good seasoning. I can tell that the love was put into this restaurant, maybe it was an off night food wise. Customer service goes along way with me, I will definitely give them another chance.