El Chaparral Grille

I had never been here before. A friend of mine took me there for breakfast. The menu was abundant and they serve the full menu all day. Which is a plus as I don’t always want breakfast. Today I did.
Upon enter the place it is more than what I would have expected based on the outside. It was very clean including the restrooms. Staff was really nice and we were greeted immediately upon entering. We chose a table and the owners wife came out and greeted my friend by first name as he is in their often. We ordered and everything came out pretty quick. We both had omelets and they were good. Not really thrilled with the Kraft cheese product they put on it versus regular cheese, and no Salsa! NO SALSA this is Texas! By the time they came back I was pretty much done. Not a big deal.
Overall the place was okay. Not as good as Old West Café on Dallas Drive. I gave it 4 stars because the food seemed fresh, used real eggs, pleasing environment, family oriented and family owned and run!
If your over by the civic center or downtown stop in and give them a try!

I am going to start this with, I have never left a review before and my experience here compelled me to do so, for the first time in my 42 years.
I happened upon some
gift certificates. When deciding where to go using the certificates, I wanted to try somewhere that we had never been. After looking over a few different places, I settled on the El Chapparal off McKinney, in Denton.
After reading all the fine print, certificate in hand, we headed to the resteraunt only to discover they are open only for breakfast and lunch, despite what the advertising on the windows said. We tried again, this time to find it closed on Mondays. The next time we tried we did finally make it inside. We were seated immediately and started looking at the menu. When the waitress came to take our order, she informed us that they didn’t have everything to make that particular item that we wanted. We chose something else. Thinking it was a fluke, the next person choosing something different was also told they didn’t have the ingredients to make that item. This happened three times, three different things. We finally did get our food. The food wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. The food and drinks were overpriced. Our plates piled up on the table and our drinks went without being refilled for quite sometime. During our meal, we noticed someone coming in the door. We noticed because the waitress, whom I believe may also be the owner, told that person, from across the room, that they were closed. The other person asked what time they closed and was told 2 o clock. It wasn’t even 2 yet. That person left.
As if our experience at that point wasn’t bad enough, as we finished our meal, I asked the waitress if we could order a burger to go. She informed me that they wouldn’t do to go orders on that certificate. I need to clarify that it stated no where on the certficate that to go orders were not allowed. Even still, it is still money in their pocket no matter how it’s ordered or where it is eaten, right? Taken aback by that, and the rudeness of the waitress, we determined then we wouldn’t go back. The food isn’t that great, the service sucks! The people are rude and make you feel like you are asking too much when requesting something. Their menu is only on a day to day availability apparently. What’s more is the certicates are designed to bring a business some business. It seems to me they didn’t want the business.

Good food at reasonable prices. Unilocal offered a $ 20 for $ 10 deal which was cool. Service was good and friendly. We had chops and eggs that also came with potatoes and refried beans and chorizo that came with refried beans and hashbrowns we also had a French toast for desert. See pictures we posted. Not a bad little spot. We will come back. Mexican name with a cowboy feel.

My husband and I like trying new restaurants, so we decided to try El Chaparral for lunch one day. I was expecting authentic Mexican food, so I was a little surprised to find that it was more of an American and Tex-​Mex restaurant. As a previous reviewer stated the outside does not reflect the inside. The inside is not a fancy restaurant, but it is much nicer than the outside appearance would lead you to believe. We were promptly greeted by the hostess/​waitress. She was an exceptionally kind woman.
I was looking forward to chequillas since another reviewer mentioned them. I haven’t found them on a menu at any place in Denton. Unfortunately they did not have them. The prices were pretty average for a family restaurant at $ 7-​$ 13 per plate. They do not offer free chips and salsa like most restaurants (it’s $ 3.75 for them if I remember correctly). I ordered the nachos, chips and queso. The food was just as good as other local Tex-​Mex restaurants, but it did not stand out as incredible.
The hostess/​waitress went out of her way to make sure everyone in the restaurant was taken care of and happy. She even took the time to bring her work to a table to work while chatting with an elderly man sitting by himself. He was obviously a regular who needed company. Although I would not necessarily seek this restaurant out for the food, I would definitely go back for the incredible amount of kindness that they offered to not only my family, but everyone in the restaurant. I will choose this restaurant before going to other local Tex-​Mex restaurants in the local area.

Definitely worth it if you purchased a Unilocal deal. I think we got the 20 for 10 special. Only been there for breakfast and after going the first time… we did end up going back, so that says something. The steak and eggs was great both times we went.

Finally tried El Chaparral Grille today. Service was good. Customers seem to be mostly regulars and fewer than we expected. Tostadas were good. Miggas were not quite what we expected (served over chips). Overall good experience with okay food.

As a born and raised Dentonite, I make an effort to try all the local restaurants and think I’ve covered most of the food in the city by now. El Chapparal had slipped through the cracks, though, and had been on my to eat list for a while. When I saw fellow trusted Unilocalers give it 4 stars in multiple reviews, I made it a priority and finally got to go this past Sunday morning.
First off, the sign outside DOES NOT reflect the inside at all. Part of the reason that I’d passed it up for so long was because the curb appeal was a little sketchy. The sign is very generic but makes it look like it’s just going to be a hole in the wall or a meat market or something (I assumed donut shop style seating). Not at all! The dining room was very spacious, clean, and rockin’ a tex-​mex/​southwestern/​cowboy motif. The place is obviously family owned and operated, and we were greeted by warm smiles when we walked in.
There were maybe 2 other tables there when we arrived just after noon, which was a little surprising and always leaves a little room for concern. I feel like this place has a lot of potential but just hasn’t really been discovered by the public yet. The owner told us they hold a lot of banquets and private groups (rotary clubs, etc.), so I’m sure that’s where a lot of their business comes from.
The food was pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad. The waitress (the owner) did mix up some of our plates and delivered each person’s meal at a different time, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Ha– I did start eating, though, before we realized the plates had been switched… and she just picked it up and moved it in front of my friend and manhandled his toast over to him from my plate. Fortunately we’re close, so we didn’t skip a beat in devouring our breakfast. :)
Our table had an assortment of food, from the classic American breakfast combo (bacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, grits) to lunch enchiladas. The flavor was good, although not too spicy and a little bland on the Mexican dishes. The salsa seems fresh but was a little overdone on the pepper. It all came out hot had generous portions. All-​in-​all, pretty good… especially for under $ 8 a plate!
Happy to find another family business in Denton worth eating. I’ll be back!

I always like trying these little restraunts that would for the most part go unoticed. Le Chaparral Grille is small and has a nice n cozy feel to it. The server we had was very nice and the chef came out and brought us our food. I had the ham and cheese omelette with hash browns and an English muffin. The omelette was good and so was the English mufffin, the has Hashbrowns were also surprising good. I also tried the chips and salsa which were unfortunately bland, and managed to get a bite of some refried beans which also tasted pretty plain. However, the food is decently priced, the staff is good, and theres lots of seating.

I like El Chaparral, for the most part. The last couple of times that I have attempted to eat there, I wasn’t allowed to go in becuase of a meeting they were having that was not open to the public. :-(

Very cold in the building nice server food was good but drown in greece loads of seating and they don’t run out of ice don’t they will run out of coke their cause they use so much ice lol

This is a great locally owned Mexican restaurant. All their food is consistently good including breakfast. The breakfast steak and eggs or chequillas are great choices. The service is outstanding, friendly and attentive. The owner walked over to each table during the meal to make sure everyone was happy. If you like Mexican food and are in Denton, this is a great choice. They accept all major credit cards. Food-​4 stars, Service-​4 stars, Mexican Restaurant ambiance-​3 stars, Value-​4 stars.

I heard that El Chaparral was pretty good. We went in to have breakfast but then we noticed that they had a buffet. They said it was all you can eat for 8 bucks. I’m usually skeptical of most buffets. I went and checked out the situation before I made the commitment.
I went with it. Everything was really good. I was happy with their fajitas and tortillas. Service was great. My biggest tip about going to El Chaparral on Sunday, get there before the church crowd! I think they started filing in around noon. I have been meaning to get back here to try to the tamales. This place is family owned so I have high hopes for their tamale recipe.

I went to this place when my parents were in town because it seems to be the only restaurant in Denton that serves breakfast on a weekday (besides the places that just serve breakfast tacos). Their breakfast is good, but not very spicy. The beans are unimpressive.
If you are looking for breakfast, this is a good choice. Likewise if you prefer your Mexican food with little spice. But if you like it spicy, you’ll probably be happier with something else.