El Chaparro

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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO

Fortunato Sanchez and his family opened El Chaparro at 13th and F streets in February 2000.

Since then, the hole-in-the-wall eatery has become one of the city’s top Mexican restaurants.

El Chaparro’s food is known for its authenticity and reasonable prices. The fare is representative of Sanchez’s  home in Guerrero, Mexico.

View Slideshow

El Chaparro, 2100 N. 48th St., is known for its Mexican fare including tacos (left) and the "Mixed Plate." The restaurant was one of the first places in town to start offering other meats besides just steak, pork and chicken. (Michael Paulsen)

Sanchez opened a second location in 2005 in southeast Lincoln near the state penitentiary, but it didn’t fly. (Many restaurants have come and gone from the location.)

He’s giving it another go at 2100 N. 48th St., where Sanchez opened the second El Chaparro (“The Little Man”) a few months ago in the building once occupied by El Rincon.

 The new place is similar to the El Chaparro on 13th Street. There’s not much to it in terms of atmosphere. It’s basically just a room with tables and chairs. The restaurant can seat about 40.

And cleanliness …

Well, on my recent lunch visit it wasn’t much of a priority, with a handful of tables in need of busing.

The food, however, is still top-notch and still quite affordable.

El Chaparro features the usual fare of burritos, tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, quesadillas and tortas (Mexican sandwiches), with prices hovering around $5.

Items are made with choice of meat: steak, chicken, seasoned pork, beef tongue, spicy sausage, tripe, pork tips and chicharron (fried pork rind). Cheese is an option for vegetarians.

The menu also includes several house specialities and seafood entrees, ranging from $8 to $11. Among those is the carne asada, a grilled steak dish for $10 that sells extremely well, according to manager Luis Cabieles.

I ordered a large burrito with beef tongue ($5.99). My co-worker went with chicken quesadillas ($5.50 small, $6.50 large). The burrito was stuffed with brown rice in addition to the meat and topped with cheese, sour cream and guacamole. The quesadillas were quite cheesy.

For dine-in customers, El Chaparro provides free chips with a homemade salsa. The practice is pretty much expected anymore.

I’ve always been a fan of El Chaparro. The small, family-owned restaurant was one of the first Mexican places in town to offer meat choices beyond steak, pork and chicken. Since then, several other places have started to do the same.

The new restaurant could use some TLC. One large, flat-screen TV just doesn’t cut it for ambiance, and dirty dishes at vacant tables are never appealing. The food, however, is tasty and makes up for some of the shortfalls.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.