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. The restaurant serves a variety of Tex-Mex dishes.

The restaurant’s origin was Adelaida “Mama” Cuellar’s popular homemade tamales at a county fair in 1926. Her sons opened a cafe in Dallas using her recipes. Today, it is part of Consolidated Restaurant Operations, Inc. (CRO) 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.