El Chico (restaurant)
El Chico is a restaurant chain in the Southern United States. The first restaurant opened in 1940 in Oak Lawn, in Dallas, Texas. There are 78 locations.[1] The restaurant serves a variety of Tex-Mex dishes.
History[]
The restaurant's origin was Adelaida "Mama" Cuellar's popular homemade tamales at a county fair in 1926. Two years later, Cuellar opened Cuellar's Cafe in Kaufman, Texas.[2] Her sons opened a cafe in Dallas using her recipes.[1][3] The 11th Cuellar restaurant was located at Six Flags Over Texas amusement park, which was owned by Adelaida Cuellar's husband's employer, Angus Wynne.[2] Today, it is part of Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc. (CRO)[4] Joe V. Carvajal was an integral part of the success of many of the el Chico restaurants in the 1960s and 70's. He introduced the sopapilla to Tex-Mex and American cuisine.
References[]
- ^ a b Official website
- ^ a b Nichols, Nancy. "The Family Who Sold Tex-Mex to America". D Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
- ^ Mico Rodriguez, co-founder of restaurants (December 2016), Greatest Dallasites: Adelaida "Mama" Cuellar - The woman behind El Chico., D Magazine, retrieved 24 January 2017
- ^ Consolidated Restaurants
External links[]
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- Companies based in Dallas
- Restaurants in Texas
- Economy of the Southeastern United States
- Economy of the Southwestern United States
- Regional restaurant chains in the United States
- Restaurants established in 1940
- Mexican restaurants in the United States
- United States restaurant stubs