Chapala Mexican Bistro

Closed! Bummed to see it after all the good reviews but definitely not there anymore. Sad!

Went four times and they were closed. Booooooo!!! I purchased 2
certificates for this place.
Is this place permanently closed?

Summary:
– Understaffed. I think the waiter was also the cook and bartender.
– Out of sangria. On a Saturday night.
– Food took at least 30 minutes to come out after ordering. The plates came out in two phases, ~10 minutes apart, and all were cold except the burritos.
– Shrimp was undercooked, still grey. The rest of the dishes were okay. Not great. Maybe they would taste better hot.
–The pictures of the place online are not the same restaurant. I don’t know if they moved or what, but the real place is more of a dump than what’s shown when you do a web search for the place. It’s in an old litte strip mall, next to a massage parlor with shaded windows.
The long form:
We went there for dinner on a recent Saturday night. There were 8 of us, but only one other party in the restaurant, so that shouldn’t have been an issue. We were looking forward to having some sangria, but they were out. Out of sangria on a Saturday night? When I worked in a restaurant, if we ran out of something that basic, someone would go the supermarket to buy more. Anyway, we ordered pitchers of beer and 6 glasses. The waiter delivered 5 glasses and the beer 10 minutes later.
Next dissapointment was no guacamole. They have avocado on many dishes, so we assumed they would mash some up, but no. We had chips (very greasy) and salsa (salsa fresca, somewhat bland) for appetizer instead.
Next problem was how long it took the waiter, who was very nice by the way, to take our orders. I don’t know what he was doing. The one other table had left by this time. I think he was the only employee there, so had to tend to all kitchen stuff, bar work, cleaning, and waiting.
One person ordered the shrimp kabobs, another ordered the chicken kabobs. The next person ordered the kabobs, and asked for one of each. The waiter said that would take longer. Eh? Not a good sign. Many menu items had an option for vegitarian, but they were all just «leave the meat off» type things, no additional veggie option. I ordered a basic burrito, wet (with sauce, melted cheese). It came dry, wrapped in tinfoil like any taquaria, and nothing else on the plate. It tasted fine, but the presentation left something to be desired. I didn’t complain that it wasn’t served wet as I asked, because we had already been there for an hour before the food showed up.
Several people ordered flan for dessert. It was the worst I’d ever had, and no one finished them.

Solid!!!
Looks like a regular ethnic Mexican restaurant from the outside.
Once you come in, you’ll notice it’s not:
–Menu includes wraps, steaks, seafood in fun and interesting presentations (not the typical Mexican dishes)
–Table clothes and napkins
–Super nice personal service (not rushed either)
We went for the shrimp fajitas and salmon super burrito (yes, it was a Friday during Lent… so no meat for us), and they were DELICIOUS.
Kinda sad the place was empty on a Friday night. Maybe it’s a location issue… or could be the Greek restaurant next door had half naked women dancing with swords?
Hope they don’t close. We’ll be back.

Chapala gets a veeery rare 5 stars from me. Expertly-​prepared food (like, by a chef, not just some dude working in the kitchen) with great ingredients including fresh/​local/​organic produce. Thoughtful and surprisingly large menu — throw a dart at it and you’ll pick something good. Lots of vegetarian options. Great selection of draft beers including Negra Modelo amber. Lunch counter (seriously, who has a lunch counter these days??). Really cool staff. And did I mention ridiculously inexpensive?
These guys are welcome to lots more of my money.

This place makes excellent refried beans. Its hard to find a Mexican place that cooks the basics well. Based on the fact that they make their chips, their tortillas and make really good beans you can’t go wrong. My husband and I often get just plain bean burittos because it tastes that good.

Chapala is once again a destination restaurant. I am so glad the new owners decided to toss the old menu and strike out with new dishes and a new look.
You know how chefs say that the key to an outstanding meal are outstanding ingredients? These guys don’t skimp. Today I’ve had a perfect Cubano, the best I’ve ever had and I had a few. If they don’t make their own torta bread, they buy it that morning. The ham is actually roasted ham, not cold cuts. The sauce is spicy but not overwhelming and they do a good job balancing all the ingredients.
If there is one suggestion I could make is to change the name from Mexican Bistro to Latin Bistro. They have a lot of non-​Mexican dishes on the menu and it would be a better description plus a point of interest.
Prices are really good for the type of food this is. I wish I had more of that Cubano left.

This place has new ownership and it is OUTSTANDING. Unerstand that this is a bistro and not a tacqueria and thy have such bold creations as Mexican Paella, chicken kabobs and a variety of salads and entres. If you want tasty tacos and burritos they have those too. The thing you have to understand about this place is that they use TOP QUALITY ingredients that are fresh and tasty. You have to try this place! I will add that I can be one picky bastard so for me to give this place 5 stars it has to be good.

I went here for dinner around 8:30 wednesday night. I was the only one in the restaurant besides people who knew the waiter that were sitting at the bar. It was close to closing time, but thats never good to show up and no one else is eating.
I would say this is an «upscale» taqueria. it has white tablecloths, cloth napkins, and fresh flowers on the table. maybe a great date spot?
Maybe it was my quick glance at the menu (since i knew what i wanted already), but the food did not seem very authentic. i think there was american options…
the waiter was beyond nice, and i felt silly for being the only one in the restaurant.
of course, i ordered a veggie burrito. the quality was good and I would come back here again. also theres beer on tap and a tv– so i will come back with friends next time :)

Great and fresh food! Love it there, new owner and boy it makes a big difference. Adrian is the owner and chef and makes great food, Juan as quiet as he is, is a pretty nice waiter. Check them out, its worth it.

Really good Chili Relleno — crispy, not greasy. Portions are average yet filling. Enchiladas were nothing to write home about and I heard beep beep and a microwave door in the back (had to be the enchiladas they were heating up). Also the enchiladas were dry, lacking red sauce.
I am curious to see what this place can serve off the menu. Being a bistro, I didn’t see anything too far off of a normal Mexican restaurant. I spoke to the owner and the person working there and they seem to have heart with what they are doing.
I’ll give it another shot. They do have a great selection of beers on tap as well.

Walking into this place you would think that you were at a pirates bar. Tipssssssssy old men drinking is the frist thing you notice as you walk in.
Staff was friendly and the tacos were good. My burrito was ok. Fresh produce was a plus.
Other than them running out of rice… But then again that gives me a reason to try this place again.

Who arrives 3 hours late to a farewell party? This girl.
I think it was already past their closing time when I got there, but luckily one of the girls in our party knew the owners. And they were nice enough to let me order some food when they were already closed. They even warmed it up again for me when I finally arrived. I wanted something small, so I was able to order 3 carnitas tacos (not sure if it’s on the menu since someone ordered them for me) and they were absolutely delicious! The pork was tender and flavorful. Mmm…
I’m just so thankful I made it so I could say good-​bye to a dear friend. Thanks to Taqueria Chapala for letting us stay late and making it that much better!

I liked my mango chicken and the other thing we had, but aside from HOT (spicy) that was the only flavor I detected.
Since I don’t like «hot», I scraped the flavor/​hot off the kebab. I know I am a salt-​a-​holic, so I think it is great that the food was not salty, but salt also DOES help bring out flavor so if the kitchen is going to be healthy and not salt the food, I would suggest they put salt shakers on the tables.
As of the time we went, the items that you could actually order were not on the menu. It’s been over a month maybe they fixed that now.
I would recommend it to people in the area if they want to try a different twist on Mexican — Tex-​Mexy kind of food. Just ASK what they can make you and don’t rely on the menu board.

I just ate at this place like two hours ago and my stomach is STILL thanking me! For the longest time I was disappointed in the lack of good taquerias in Campbell. I hadn’t eaten here in a while because I remembered the food was kinda bland but I broke down and really wanted some good burrito without having to drive real far.
So I showed up and ordered my standard burrito, Pollo Asado with everything but guac and sour cream, and sat down with my Pacifico and chips and watched the Lakers game on the flatscreen. After scarfing down some bomb-​ass homemade chips, my food arrived at my table. A few minutes after eating I realized the guy at the counter totally BOTCHED my order, by substituting my pollo asado with BETTER HOME-​MARINATED CHICKEN. He let on that he slipped me this homebrew marinated stuff just to see what would happen. What happened was my taste buds stood up and danced a traditional Aztec worship dance to the burrito gods, it was OFF-​The-​HOOK!
The guy who slipped me this super-​chicken lets on he’s the new owner, and has been for a few months, and is now mixing up the menu and completely remaking the establishment. Marinating the meats, making fresh tortillas, new salsas, new plumbing, flooring, bathrooms, the works! Planning on staying open later and holding events like beer-​pong Thursdays and all kinds of stuff. The dude has me try this «orange-​sauce» next and this stuff was good. I know what your thinking: No one can top La Vics orange sauce! Why even try?!
Well guess what: They did try, and they succeeded. La Vic sauce is so processed and bland the only way it tastes good is if your drunk and starving and so out of it you’d eat crap if it came on a bun. Seriously, this Chapala orange sauce, La Vics sucks so hard by comparison they’ll have to change their name to La Dicks. Once this place is fully renovated and the hours move up a little later, I can easily see this place becoming the new king of late night taquerias. Plus it’s only a 5 minute drive from downtown Campbell and the bars. Finally an affordable, flavorful taqueria that I dont have to drive downtown or get smashed to eat!

Went here recently and the food has gone way down in quality.
I was craving their shrimp cocktail which used to have large, fresh shrimp with nice sliced of avocado in their coctail sauce. What I got were smaller shrimp that had a slimey texture that had obviously been frozen. Think of the shrimp you get with your pasta dish when you go to Maccaroni bar and grill or at Olive Garden. I ordered a carne asada burrito was sad to see that the rice had a funny flavor and the burrito itself was not as big as they had been in the past. I will not be going back here. Next time I want a good shrimp cocktail I will go up the street to Los Dos Hermanos.

Tried this place out for lunch. Regular chicken burrito was good sized and had the proper portions of ingredients. My only complaint would be that it was slightly to spicy. The price was right in line with other taquerias in the area.
Not much ambiance, but the girl that took my order was friendly.
All in all nothing special. Average food, average prices.

This place deserves 5 stars. I couldn’t believe how fresh their food when I first tried it. Everything is cooked to perfection and I’m all for that. If you get a chance to go in early, DEFINITELY order their breakfast burrito… everything is genuinely cooked meaning NO carton eggs, potatoes are fresh, and their bacon is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
I’ve tried just about everything on the menu and let me tell you, everything is remarkably delicious. If you’re hungry, do not miss out on this place as their super burritos will most certainly do the filling :)

The person behind the counter didn’t speak any english, but thank goodness all the items for sale in an authentic mexican restaurant are all words we know :). Burritto with Carne Asada and Mexican Coke. She held up the bottle to verify I wanted ‘the good stuff’. Took about five minutes for my food to be ready and I believe there were two people in front of me. The place is smaller than a Taco Bell, but large enough for a small group to have a great time. The ambiance is nice and clean and other than being hidden behind a payless shoe store, I think this place would be the landmark Taqueria in the area (there are at least five in a couple of mile radius).

my brothers had been raving about this hole in the wall near their apartment. I finally decided to try it out with them one evening and I’ve been eating here for most of my mexican cravings.
My favorite thing to eat are their super nachos with carnitas. The carnitas has never let me down; always full of flavor and fresh.
If you dine in, they actually have horchata that you can refill yourself! and it’s not that bad tasting either.. .not too sweet but it does get gritty as you near the bottom of your cup.
my brothers swear by their quesadillas and burritos; i have yet to try them out.