El Chaparro

Best Mexican in town! The prices are incredible and the food is amazing! I’ve tried multiple things and they’ve all been good. Service is very good too. I love the number 5. Green chile burrito!

El Chaparro is excellent food for the value! The service & speed that you can grab some authentic Mexican food is fabulous!

The burritos are meaty so that’s a plus. The portion of the food is great. You get your money’s worth here

Outstanding authentic Mexican food. Tried it a few times and never left feeling less than impressed with the the quality of the food, exceptional bang for the buck too!
Great staff, can’t believe it took me 10 years to find out about this gem.
Barbacoa burrito and their fajitas are a must try.

We wanted to try a New Mexican restaurant in Lincoln, we have our favorite places! We went here based on the positive reviews of the best «Mexican food in Lincoln!!!» This is the best Mexican food in town… IF… You are super drunk, have the munchies or its 1:45 am and nothing else is open! My husband had carne asada or at this place Jack Links covered in onions. I had the enchiladas and a tamale… never had a chicken tamale and didn’t care for it, very dry. The enchiladas were decent but nothing special. The beans were super runny. And the rice I could have made better at home with a box of Rice-​A-​Roni! Well now we know El Chapparo is definitely NOT the best Mexican restaurant in town! I could name you 20 others including Taco Bell that I would rather eat at than this place! We will never be back again! And there were a lot of very loud conversations from behind the counter that was very distracting and annoying!

Always wanted to try this place, and finally did. Great food and very friendly staff, with fair prices. You can’t go wrong for authentic Mexican food. And they are always open late.

El Chaparro is the real deal when we are talking Authentic Mexican food!
Which is sometimes a bummer for a vegan! Cause yep they have lard in the beans! Oh well! The chips are great and so is the salsa!
They have great hot sauces, and the flavors hit you with a punch!
It’s a pretty small joint, so it can fill up fast during the dinner hours!
Our waitress was really nice and very attentive to my diatary needs and made sure I had the perfect little meal crafted especially for me!
The really great thing about El Chaparro is that it’s super super super cheap! WOW this is the spot to go if you are on a budget!

Another cheap Lincoln restaurant that serves some great food. I got the two chicken tacos with rice and beans, and they were really solid! I wish I would have gotten the cinco tacos instead, because the portions for the rice and beans were pretty small. However, the tacos had really good flavor, and the tortillas were perfectly soft and warm, not rubbery. Definitely the first place you should go for you Mexican fix!

We stopped in for dinner passing through Lincoln. The three of us got tacos– chicken, steak, and shrimp. The shrimp were the best. They came with onions and cilantro. Rice and refried beans were standard. House made salsa was really tasty. Kind of a hole in the wall place. Service was not super friendly, but very fast.

Love this place! The food is excellent, especially shrimp. The prices are affordable, and enjoy the horchata

had the tortas, they were really good, and they were very reasonably priced. will be coming back to this establishment yo

Favorite Mexican restaurant in Nebraska. This is where the Mexicans eat. Says it all. Always busy. Grand burrito and Cinco tacos. Both excellent.

Usually when I come back to a city I’ve been before I have one or several places I just have to go eat while I’m back there. Aside from people, foods are what I remember best from places I’ve visited. As we were driving into Lincoln my co workers asked where to go, I honestly had no idea, sure Lincoln has a few staples such as Tasties, Misties, deLeons and of course Runza yet nothing that warranted something along ‘they have the best damn [fill in the blank] in 100 miles.
That changed after grabbing a quick bite at El Chaparro with my son last night. Best damn tacos North of Texas, by a long shot.
After having lived in Texas for a few years I have given up on finding great Mexican food somewhere people didn’t speak with a drawl. No more! I’ve found a ‘have to eat here at least once’ spot for when I’m back in Lincoln and reinvigorated my desire to possibly, maybe, find some good Mexican closer to home as well.

Such good food. Tongue tacos are to die for. Very fast friendly service. Very casual and laid back.
If you enjoy authentic Mexican food then certainly give them a try.

Probably one of the best Mexican restaurants I’ve ever been to. But also one of the least Tex-​Mex places. If you want authentic Mexican, with a very kind Hispanic wait staff, Mexican. TV playing, Mexican music playing, etc, it’s the place. If you want Tex-​Mex, maybe not.

Fantastic little restaurant with authentic, cheap food. The staff is friendly and energetic. Everything I have tried is amazing at an amazing price. The atmosphere is not glamorous, but simple and cost efficient which is perfect.

Decided to try this place after reading the reviews, wow wish I wouldn’t have. The food has no flavor, the chips are left sitting out and very stale! I had the cinco tacos al pastor the only flavor came from the cilantro and onions, even the salsas had no flavor. My fiancé had the fajitas and also said they had no flavor.

Best Mexican food to be found in Nebraska, also best Mexican food I’ve had outside if southern California.
Go eat there now!
They also let you do to go
Its not the prettiest ever, but the places with the best food are often not.

It’s the best Mexican place in town, in my humble opinion. And by that I mean it’s not Mayonnaiser Mexican — it’s authentic. I tend to get the five tacos with beef, with a few fried peppers. I tend to go for lunch, though I know it does a brisk after-​hours business.
When I’m sitting in this place, with Liga MX futbol or a classic Univision telenovela on the TVs above, realizing I’m one of the only people speaking English in the joint, I can’t help but feel like I’m back on the West Coast, where these kinds of awesomely basic family-​owned dives were legion.
The atmosphere ain’t much, but I don’t go there to be wowed by the waiter’s wine-​pairing knowledge. It’s lovably divey. The food is superb and the staff are friendly and a joy to have around. What’s not to love?

I’m really waffling between two and three stars here… Words like ‘decent’ and ‘regular’ are springing to mind as I try to write this review.
Even right after leaving the restaurant I was having trouble remembering anything that stood out to me in terms of flavor — aside from the bottles of salsa (with ample cilantro) that were provided.
The chips seemed fresh out of a bag, and weren’t replenished (greedy American want, I know).
After much deliberation I ordered chicken enchiladas — pretty standard fallback item when I can’t decide on anything else (and our server had no recommendations for me besides the generic… ‘everything is good’ resonse). I did consider the taco platter option, but didn’t want to risk it given my love for other tacos in town.
It’s unlikely that I’d return, but if ‘regular’ food where what you see is what you get and there’s not too much confusion or challenge is right up your alley, then this might be the place for you.