The Journey of El Gringo

El Gringo has been on a journey throughout Topeka since the late 1970s. It’s been a long road, and one that has led to its newest location in a sparkling new shopping center at 29th and Croco.

The Mexican eatery, owned by Mary and Joe Knernschield, has had locations in nearly every corner of Topeka since its first location opened at 2025 SE California. For a while, the pair operated five restaurants all at the same time – three of the m were El Gringos (downtown, North Topeka and the original location on California Ave.).

“The restaurant business is always unpredictable,” Mary Knernschield said, and attributes the many moves of the restaurant to that unpredictable nature.

The North Topeka location, for example, had to close in the early 1980s when the Sardou Ave. bridge was closed for construction and cut their business volume in half. While Joe managed their little restaurant empire, Mary owned a children’s clothing store called Little Folks Shop at White Lakes Mall. Managing over fifty people, multiple locations, and trying to have a life outside of work with their children, eventually took its toll and Joe closed his other locations.
Yet the El Gringo bug kept biting, and other locations opened during the 1990s – with the very successful location at 10th and Oakley closing when Church’s Fried Chicken gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Years past. Joe sold cars while Mary worked at Dillons. Then, once again, the Knernschields felt compelled to return to the restaurant business. In 2005, they opened Lil El Gringo, a 400 square foot take-out location at 623 SW 6th St. With no indoor seating and such limited space, the Knernschield’ new El Gringo was a far cry from the complicated and harried days of managing multiple locations. But they were enjoying it again, and found success in the simple concept of delivering quality food and friendly service in a facility with such low overhead.
But that’s not the end of El Gringo’s journey. There was one more move ahead, and it came with the opening of the new Thunderbird Square shopping center that sits at the corner of 29th and Croco – minutes from their home in the Shawnee Heights area. Lil El Gringo was closed in April, and the bright new location on the end of the shopping center strip opened its doors on July 1.

The new location, which also offers drive-through service, offers something new to an area that has never had many choices when it comes to dining out, and the Knernschields hope to tap into the hunger among residents in the area for a nice, nearby place to eat.