El Chico

What El Chico does

El Chico is a privately held Tex-Mex full-service restaurant chain headquartered in Dallas, Texas, owned and operated by parent company Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc. (CRO, Inc.). The company operates approximately 11 restaurant locations across five states in the south-central United States: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Its business traces its culinary lineage to Adelaida Cuellar, who began selling tamales in Texas in the 1890s and opened a neighborhood restaurant in 1928, with the modern El Chico brand established in Dallas in 1940.

El Chico generates revenue primarily through dine-in restaurant transactions featuring a traditional Tex-Mex menu (fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, appetizers, full bar) priced individually from approximately $2.59 to $32.99, complemented by full-service and drop-off catering (priced $6.99-$15.99 per person), a cross-brand gift card program redeemable across multiple CRO, Inc. restaurant concepts, and an E-Club email / Mobile VIP SMS marketing program for repeat-visit frequency. The chain also exposes a formal franchise offering for future unit growth. Technology integrations are limited to standard restaurant-tech platforms — Toast Tab, SpotOn, Bento, and SkyTab for online ordering, ezCater for drop-off catering, and ReviewTrackers for customer-review management — with no proprietary technology stack, mobile app, or AI/ML capabilities.

The company serves three primary customer segments: individual consumers and families seeking casual Tex-Mex dining (primary), event hosts and organizations using catering services for corporate and private events, and lunchtime diners seeking value-priced lunch specials. Go-to-market is overwhelmingly direct-to-consumer through physical locations plus digital ordering, with a minor B2B catering motion via ezCater and CaterDallas. El Chico's competitive positioning is anchored on nearly 90 years of brand heritage and authentic family recipes rather than on technology, unit-count scale, or pricing differentiation.

Name

El Chico

Legal name

Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc.

Website

https://elchico.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

El Chico is a privately held, Dallas-based Tex-Mex full-service restaurant chain operating approximately 11 dine-in locations across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas, serving families and casual diners with traditional Mexican cuisine and supplementary catering, gift card, and loyalty programs under parent CRO, Inc.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tex-Mex Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Caterers (722320), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

Keywords

• Tex-Mex restaurants
• Mexican cuisine dining
• Restaurant catering services
• Full-service dining
• Family restaurant chain

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Full-service restaurant dining with Tex-Mex menu items including appetizers, entrees, desserts, and full bar service. Customers pay per item based on menu pricing.
2. Catering Services: Full-service and drop-off catering for events including corporate gatherings, weddings, and family celebrations. Offers customized menus for events.
3. Gift Cards: Gift cards sold at all locations and online, redeemable at El Chico and other CRO Inc. restaurants including Cantina Laredo, Luckys, Silver Fox, III Forks, Good Eats, and Cool River.
4. E-Club/Mobile Club Membership: Email and SMS marketing club offering exclusive deals, special events, and chef's dinners to members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

El Chico operates full-service Tex-Mex restaurants serving traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine (fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, burritos, appetizers) with full bar service at 11 locations across five U.S. states. The company also provides full-service and drop-off catering for events, sells gift cards usable across its CRO Inc. sister-brand portfolio, and operates an E-Club/Mobile VIP loyalty program for repeat customers.

Product overview

El Chico is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain operated by Consolidated Restaurant Operations (CRO, Inc.) that has been serving authentic Mexican food since 1940. The company operates as a single unified restaurant brand offering dine-in service at 12 locations across Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. The product portfolio includes the core restaurant dining experience, catering services (both full-service and drop-off), gift cards, and the E-Club/Mobile VIP loyalty program. The restaurants offer a comprehensive menu of Tex-Mex classics including fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, burritos, and appetizers, along with a dedicated kids menu and family pack meal options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• El Chico Restaurant Dine-In Experience Full-service Tex-Mex restaurant dining featuring traditional Mexican cuisine including fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, burritos, appetizers, a dedicated kids menu, and a full bar with premium margaritas and tequila. Targeted at individual consumers and families seeking casual sit-down dining in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
• El Chico Catering Full-service and drop-off catering for corporate gatherings, weddings, family celebrations, birthdays, baby showers, and community fundraisers with customizable menus including nacho bars and fajita packages priced per person.
• El Chico Gift Cards Gift cards sold at all El Chico locations and online, available in any amount with bulk discounts for gifting occasions; redeemable across El Chico and CRO Inc. sister-brand restaurants.
• E-Club / Mobile VIP Club Loyalty program offering free entrees, exclusive deals, special events, and chef's dinners delivered to members via email and SMS alerts (up to 6 messages per month).

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CaterDallasminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCaterDallas provides catering services for El Chico restaurants, specifically linking to their catering services page at https://caterdallas.com/services/. This is a co-branded catering arrangement for event services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina: Casual full-service Tex-Mex chain (now ~60+ company and franchised units) competing in the same category, same cuisine, and similar family-dining use case as El Chico.
• Rosa's Cafe & Tortilla Factory: Texas/Oklahoma regional Tex-Mex casual chain with a similar made-from-scratch, family-friendly value proposition and overlapping geographic footprint.
• Cantina Laredo: Upscale Tex-Mex full-service concept owned by the same parent (Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc.), sharing gift-card, loyalty and corporate infrastructure with El Chico.
• Chevys Fresh Mex: Tex-Mex casual-dining chain (now under a smaller footprint) with a comparable south-of-the-border menu and family dining target customer.
• Uncle Julio's: Casual upscale Tex-Mex full-service restaurant chain with made-from-scratch positioning comparable to El Chico's traditional recipe heritage.
• Pappasito's Cantina: Houston-based Tex-Mex full-service chain owned by Pappas Restaurants with similar menu breadth, family dining focus, and Southwest regional concentration.

Regional players

• Taco Cabana: Texas-focused Tex-Mex chain with strong Dallas/San Antonio/Austin presence; competes on similar menu at a faster-service price point within El Chico's core market.

Emerging players

• Fuzzy's Taco Shop: Texas-originated casual Tex-Mex taco shop with growing national franchise footprint; competes in the same Southwest/South corridor as El Chico.
• Torchy's Tacos: Fast-growing Tex-Mex taco concept blending fast-casual speed with chef-driven menus; competes for the same Tex-Mex craving occasions from a younger digital-native cohort.

Broad incumbents

• Chili's Grill & Bar (Brinker International): Large casual-dining chain (Brinker International) with a Tex-Mex heavy menu; broader portfolio but directly competitive for Tex-Mex casual-dining occasions and family visits.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ElChicoBertKouns
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/el-chico-mexican-restaurants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about El Chico