This is great place to eat. Starts with a heaping basket of chips and ample salsa to start. Order drinks in tall glasses. If it's Friday try a wonderful $1 margarita or two or three. Delicious food served piping hot on hot plates. Great menu whether it's lunch orders, dinners, Combination plates, or al la Carte. Delightful desserts too. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The ambience and finishes are truly Mexican decor.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]Fresh and the place is kept clean by a well dressed staff that are always checking on you and updating any drinks, salsas, or any of your needs.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] A definite visit for dates, dinners, or family. The owner Is Rene Santana and he is normally around to visit with check your satisfaction. One more time for Ice Cold $1 Margaritas! Yay! read more

See all

Sorry to other restaurants but this is the best Mexican food in Emporia. I live in Florida and have family in Emporia and this is a go to place every time I visit. Love the food, especially the enchiladas. The margaritas are reasonable and good sized. Service is always good and most of the staff are friendly and fun! [[HIGHLIGHT]]Decor is a bit dated but interesting to look at it.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I'm craving for a margarita and enchilada just talking about it. Guess I will have to wait until my next visit!! read more

The California burrito is my favorite, been going here for years, clean environment and friendly staff.

Was in town for Junior World's and this place was so good we had to come twice. Some of the locals were telling us to go to Casa Ramos, which we did, but we were highly disappointed in Casa Ramos and it did not compare to El Lorito. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The only thing better about Casa Ramos was the ambiance.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] El Lorito is so good that if we are ever back in Emporia we will be eating here more than once! The food is amazing and the price is unbeatable. Service is incredible too, they will refill your drinks before you even ask. The chili relleno was the best I ever had, a bit different than the traditional way but so amazing. The seafood enchiladas were spectacular as well. read more

Still think this is the best Mexican restaurant in Emporia! Guac is awesome! Service is good and quick. Our go to when we are in town!

It's always a good place to eat. Love the food and drinks, one of the best chips and salsa in town.

I was in town for work and was not familiar with any options for Mexican Food. When Google said it was the closest to me I headed there. Chips & Salsa were amazing starting off and the enchilada, tamale, and taco that I had were excellent as well Recommend! read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Good food, good service, the ambiance is great very kind staff too.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Never had to ask for a refill once which is honestly a rare occasion in most restaurants in town, but not here the servers are always on it. read more

Was pretty good. Was a big plate but not best flavor I've had. Drink was average. Was there was no wait on a Saturday night so was fun. read more

El Lorito - a plate of mexican food - Mexican Near Me - Emporia, Kansas

My wife and I go in on weekdays and get lunch specials. We usually always have enough food to take home leftovers. We haven't ever had to wait for a table or our food. read more

Here from out of town, read some reviews, was unsure about it. Drove by, [[HIGHLIGHT]]parking lot was full[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]], I decided to try it. Wow! food was perfect! As good as South Texas. Service was great. read more

Not t as much choice, the food is dry and uninteresting. Small helpings, poor service, not enough servers. Beautiful ambience, have really beautiful bright Mexican painted chairs and tables. Reasonable price. read more

Margaritas are very weak, tasted no tequila and felt no tequila :-( but the chips and salsa are fine. Thought the cheese sauce was very bland. Had a steak quesadilla and it had a ton of meat on it but very little cheese. Honestly Casa Ramos is so much better. read more

This is one of my very favorite spots in Emporia, and I've been a customer since they were at a different location many years ago! The prices are really great and worthwhile for the amount of food you get. I've tried a lot on the menu, but my favorite is always a pulled chicken quesadilla, and beef taco with rice. They put a great quantity of meat in the quesadilla and their taco meat is really good. I always have to get queso as well, it's delicious! Their margaritas are usually a miss for me, so I prefer just to get a coke. Their salsa is great! The only thing I've tried that I didn't particularly enjoy was the sopapillas, just because they cover them with a chocolate sauce I don't enjoy. Otherwise all their food is amazing and the quality is still great with carry out. Service is always good and the food is better. read more

Good food. Nothing fancy. Very inexpensive. Good portion sizes. Not much more to say. Staff was very attentive, however, we were there after 1 pm. Would definitely do this again the next time I'm in Emporia read more

WORST PLACE EVER. Ordered a $90 order for it to all be cold, tortillas were not even heated, flavor was not tasteful, burrito was cold and cheese was hard & rude customer service. Never coming back here again. Save your money! read more

Rat infested, food was cold, worst customer service & food was not tasteful. NEVER coming back here again.

So we were in town visiting family ( we are from Austin )so I think it can go without saying we've had some pretty darn good Mexican/Tex mex. Unfortunately, this place fell way short of what we're used to. I ordered a chicken dish that literally tasted like watered down sauce with some chili powder and Cheyenne thrown in.. not very good. It was super bland. The rice tasted instant .. I can't say anything about the tortilla that came with the dish bc I didn't eat it. Our waitress was very sweet and efficient, which was one of the only bright spots. We had 20 in our party and she split the checks quickly and without issue. The salsa for the chips and the margarita was the highlight for me. Not amazing by any stretch, but they weren't as lack luster as the meal. At least it wasn't over priced, going to be a hard pass from us next time we are in town. read more

For some reason I think I've been here years ago. Heard from a coworker this place was good. I'm here in town for work and there are a fair amount of Mexican places in emporia. My meal was a poblano relleno. This is a pepper stuffed with chicken and then dipped in batter and fried. I base the quality of the restaurant on whether this dish is good. My pepper was humongous. I asked for it to be covered in cheese instead of the red sauce it normally comes with. Their cheese sauce is pretty good. Not spicy but very creamy and queso Blanco like. The rest of my meal was meh. Service was adequate but not over the top. I'd come back again if just for the less than $2 margaritas. read more

El Lorito - My poblano before - Mexican Near Me - Emporia, Kansas

See all

Very colorful interior. Person at work said it was her favorite. Chips were good and salsa as well. However, my Chile releno looked like it was cooked at lunch and covered in white cheese. Spanish rice was dry, and hamburger meat was t good. Place is great for a gut bomb this is the place. Personally I think Taco Bell would have been a better choice read more

Love this place. Friendly servers. Good food. Carne Adams is my favorite.... and it is under $10. Cheese dip is good. Get here fast as you will be happy you did!!!! read more

Local Mexican establishment with great atmosphere. The food was good I had Chicken Fajitas and they were very good. This was not to spicy of bland. The vegetables gave the food the needed flavor. Several TVs with the days sports on and a bar which I couldn't try since I was driving. read more

My favorite Mexican restaurant in Emporia, and I've been to all of them! The portion sizes is good, and the staff is very friendly. They recently renovated most of it so it's very updated. I've had their chicken, beef, and vegetarian entrees and I loved them all. Definitely recommend over any other place in town! read more

This is my favorite Mexican places in Emporia! Went for lunch today with my mom and the service was friendly and took our order quickly, and the food was brought out quickly as well. I had the lunch combo with a chicken quesadilla, rice and beans and my mom ordered a beef burrito with rice and beans. We love their salsa, it's fresh made and the option on the table has a little spice but not much, of course you can get a hotter one if you prefer that as well. We always order the cheese dip with the chips as well. As usual all of our food was delicious as well! We had extra cheese dip left and our waitress brought us a container to take the rest of it home and a bag of fresh tortilla chips to take home as well. There are several Mexican places in Emporia and this one is my personal favorite! read more

Previously I had only ordered queso to go, it is over priced for what you are getting. Recently I went in for a sit down and was pleasantly surprised with the visit. The staff doesn't seem to completely be interested but they smile nonetheless, service was prompt up until I received my food. I was ready to leave but had to sit and wait 30 minutes for the waitress to return so I could ask for a box, overall I was happy. It is cheaper and the food competes with other local Mexican food places. read more

Fantastic original homemade Mexican food. The service is great, the restaurant is very clean, and everybody is friendly, And they've got a great bar. read more

The food was good as always but our waitress was argumentive and rude. She didn't even try to help remedy the price situation. She defineately should not be in customer service as rude as she was. Watch out folks if you get the girl with dark hair and she is caucasion. She should look into a different occupation. So sorry for the rest of the people there are really nice. read more

Wasn't really impressed here... service is friendly as others have stated but not very attentive.. The food wasn't even average. I had a steak quesadilla the texture of beef was not pleasant. My daughter had a cheeseburger and fries ( I know why order that in a Mexican restaurant) the burger and bun was so thought that you couldn't cut it with a knife. The chips and salsa were good. Beats starving but barely... read more

This is the second time I have eaten here. The service was very slow both times. The first time, the waiter set our food down and immediately walked off. We wanted another drink and some cheese sauce. He never returned until long after we finished our meal. My second trip, the waitress got our drinks, but did not return to take our order. We had to get up and ask another waitstaff where our waitress was. There were five of us at the table. Only one person got their food. It was another five minutes before the next three of us got our food. And another five minutes before the last person rec'd their food, so 10 minutes total time span for all of us to get our food. The rice was bland and cold. Other food was OK. read more

My husband and I eat here often. The service is always fast even when they are busy. Food is also really good. Absolutely love the cheese sauce they have and they have the best prices compared to the other local mexican restaurants. Service is quick but could be a little friendlier. read more