Chapala Mexican Restaurant

The food was very well prepared and tasty. I had the chili Colorado and it was very nice. Waiters do not check your drinks for refills but otherwise acceptable. Nice place inside and there's no outdoor seating but pretty good sized parking lot.

The wet chicken burrito was excellent. The surprise was eating the soaked tortilla full of flavors and its texture was like drunken noodles.

I had lunch here and I have to give them the 5⭐️, the food was great and their customer service is top notch.

This place is our Sunday delicacy. My wife and I try and not to go here to often because we do not want to get tired of it. Chapala has been consistently authentic and consistently great!!! I recommend everything in the menu!!!

Had eaten here several times in the week and we were the only people. This time we went on Saturday and were seated but no one brought anything or asked what we wanted to drink for 20 minutes. We ended up walking out. Drove an hour to eat here and was grossly disappointed. Some communication would have been nice, chips, a drink, something but even when were leaving, no one bothered to stop us to apologize or anything.

Very good food, the Chapala fajitas were excellent, well cooked chicken and steak, and the shrimp were tasty - both of them. The house margarita and the chill atmosphere were perfect. But the server was rushed and made me nervous just watching him and we didn't dare ask a question and slow down our order. One server is not enough for 20+ tables. Unfortunately no outside seating but inside is fairly spacious and elegant.

The food here is amazing. I haven’t had chili verde this good in a long time. The dining room is beautiful and perfectly decorated. I live 20 miles away but I’ll be making the drive as often as I can. Truly a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ experience.

First time, here Staff was very friendly and attentive the food was amazing I was very impressed would definitely recommend and will definitely come back !

I enjoyed La Chapala. Enjoyed the complementary chips and salsa. Delicious Mexican food, great drinks, and great service! Will definitely be back!

The food is delicious and well served. We couldn't finish the Molcajete. My friend also got Jamaican and I got Cranberry Juice both were so fresh and not that sweet perfect to drink. The service was wonderful, they made sure we were happy with our food, always checking to see if we needed anything. The Ambiance is cozy with two big TV they had sports in it and also has a bar if you only want to have a drink. Lots of parking lot and it restaurant looks super clean. Recommended it.

We happen to be driving home from Morro Bay. This is the halfway point and so convenient off the freeway. Our first time here and the service was fast and the food was fresh and hot. We will definitely eat here again when we are in the area. Husband got the shrimp tostada and he really enjoyed it. He wasn't sure because it is served cold but is was very fresh and tasty. I got the all meat combo and it was way too much food for me but it was also very good.

The service was rough (I think the server would've duked it out with my sister) for no reason but the food was actually decent despite their reviews; the portions are large, our food came out all together & hot. If you visit, be sure to get their homemade horchata as it is SO GOOD. My family all ordered micheladas or margaritas & enjoyed them. The ambiance is cute & clean. My step dad's major gripe was that they forgot his tortillas.. but see my pics ;)

Chapala sits at Harbor and 10th Street at the gateway to downtown Santa Paula. The dining area is spacious and comfortable, with room for small, medium and large parties. There is a banquet room available as well. Chapala serves a wide selection of dishes and has a full bar. Service is quick and efficient with friendly staff. My party of 6 was easily accommodated and enjoyed a variety of items. The complementary chips (prepared on site) and salsa are a delicious way to wet your appetite. Ask for the "picante" salsa, a sort of habenero/Chipotle mix that is very good. I had a crisp shredded chicken taco (again, house prepared shell) and chili relleno with whole beans. All were tasty and delicious!

Six years since my previous review, and they are still a solid 4 stars. Six of us headed from the Santa Paula Theatre on a Sunday afternoon after watching an excellent matinee play. Choices on a Sunday afternoon before 5 are limited in Santa Paula, but fortunately, our friends reminded us of Chapala and the fact it also serves cocktails. We found parking spots in their private lot, and we were seated immediately. Rounds of their homemade chips and salsa appeared on our table. The drink service was quick, and then the hard part, choosing an entree from their six page menu. The ambiance is pleasant with typical serapes festooning the walls, inside is clean and fairly quiet with booths on the sides, and open tables in the center that can seat at least eight, so good for groups, plus they have a separate banquet room. The bar area only has a few tables. The drinks' alcohol content is fairly low, but drinks arrived quickly. Their horchata comes in a giant tumbler. Everyone enjoyed their ginormous entrees.

The service is terrible, I came here in the afternoon. When I then got home I realized I forgot my sun glasses, So I went back to the restraint and they didn't want to give me my glasses back, they only gave them back to me after 30 minutes of arguing. Even a customer told me how he gave the glasses to staff. Terrible! I can't believe that they tried to steal from me!

The food had no flavor! I got fajitas on a hot plate & for a $25 dollar plate you would think your meat would be seasoned. My daughter's taco came with meat and a tortilla, I had to request cilantro and lime. Our server (skinny male, curly hair with glasses )had attitude! My margarita wasn't great. My queso fundido had yellow cheese! Spent $125 but I would rather spend that in a restaurant where people don't stare at you and give you attitude!

I love coming home and visiting chapalas! The molcajete is my favorite. Two people can easily share this. It has asada, chicken, chorizo, shrimp, nopales, and cheese. The salsa is so good! Their cheese dip with chorizo also a must. It's open and comfortable inside with a separate bar area. The staff are super friendly and attentive. Great for families or date night. If you're in Santa Paula, you're going to want to check them out!

Right off the 126 Chapala is convenient and right as you get into Santa Paula-you just can't missing it! The food is plentiful and authentic a must stop at when going to Santa Paula or cruising the 126

Our server daisy was very sweet and on top of everything she provided very good service please give her a raise! We will be coming back for sure!!! The food was also very good.

Went in for lunch and they were not busy. Service was terrible from the start and didn't get any better. Food was good once we got it, my wife's came out 10 minutes b4 mine. My Margarita was almost too sour to drink. Definitely has gone downhill from the Familia Diaz days.

GETTING HERE: This restaurant is located on the corner of 10th Street and Harvard Boulevard in Santa Paula. Accessing parking can bit a bit wonky; I would recommend parking entering off 10th Street, across from the Chevron station. Trying to access parking off Harvard is sometimes difficult with traffic and lights. REVIEW: This is such good Mexican food! Every time I come here I am just more and more impressed. This visit was on a Friday night, surprisingly not too busy. My guest and I were seated quickly and were offered chips and salsa PDQ. I could live on their chips and salsa. True story. Ordered our drinks quickly, and I ordered a Virgin Pina Colada that was so good. So tasty! My guest ordered the shrimp tacos which he absolutely - l o v e d - and I ordered their Papas Don Juan. It was a hard choice between that and the Flautas. NEXT time the Flautas are on deck, but their Papas Don Juan were hot and loaded with all the good things. All around a great dining experience. I will report again v soon on their Flautas, believe me. :) Thank you Chapala!

Well first , the food was good cannot say anything about that so no complaints ever about the food . Second kind went late it was maybe 1hr or maybe more before closing so this is where I'm having an issue ... figured getting close to closing everyone just wants to get off and go home I get it but don't have attitudes with me and my girl because we came late making side comments saying should have did this did that so we couldn't come in just really poor service. And what ambiance We were the only ones there ? No wonder ... the reason I gave two stars is because the food was good

Came here twice. First time was good but we were the only people inside. Today was a second time. Stopped by today (Sunday) at 6:45. It was busy which is to be expected, but a few tables were available The host assumed my husband spoke Spanish so she blatantly ignored me. I told her we don't speak Spanish and want seating for 2. We were seated immediately without a word. You can be nice without saying a word - she was not. Chips came fast and we asked for water. 15 min went by with 0 acknowledgement, while other customers had their orders taken immediately by their waiters/waitresses. We had 0 clue who ours was. No one said "I'll be right with you". I Eventually I flagged down a girl who took our order. 5 min later, a woman asked us in Spanish if we're ready for food. I told her we don't speak Spanish, so she left. After placing our order with the girl, we got our food in a reasonable amount of time. The bean dip is good. Fish tacos (tacos de pescado) was great. My husband got the carne asada burrito which was meh- literally meat, beans, onions, and mushrooms. No cheese. Very weird. Very good prices but lots of room for improvement. Truthfully I'd like to give a 2.5. I want to love this place but the service was very poor. For all I know, 2 people may have called out who also speak English. I really hope that's the case otherwise they are severely short staffed. I'd only return on a weekday on the daytime when I know it's dead.

I came in with a family of 8 for dinner. The restaurant was empty and yet it took them over 50 min to accommodate us. We got asked what drinks we wanted once we got them the waiter never checked in with us never brought any napkins or anything. We kept asking when our food will be ready and we never got any answers our waiter disappeared. When we got frustrated and decided to leave after asking multiple times when the food will be ready we never got an answer. Then we forgot our sunglasses, and when we went back for them they pretended we didn't and thankfully a customer who had return them heard and told me that who he gave them to and it was one of the waiters and they said they will check the cameras and sent my glasses back with someone else and didn't come out of the office anymore. This was a horrific experience specially since I had been going to dinner there for years it seems as the service downgraded significantly.

Tasty Mexican food with good service. Comfortable seating. Our server was super kind and helped us with what to get. Ended up getting chicken enchiladas. They were pretty good with very delicious beans and well seasoned rice. My son got the shrimp and they were too seasoned. Garlic galore! Good place if you are driving through and need some grub!

My favorite Mexican food restaurant in Santa Paula if you love margaritas, the Mazitlan Maggie is excellent.

Extremely slow service. Our drinks came AFTER our food. Quality of food subpar. Will not return.

Excellent salsa. Good margaritas and good food. Plus, top notch service. I enjoyed it.

When it first opened, Chapala's seemed to be on the right track like the restaurant that previously occupied the location that of Famila Diaz but somewhere along the way, it started to falter and go downhill to the point where even the staff despite their best efforts, often looked overworked or even that of the family managing the location. The meals from here started out well enough but as time wore on, the quality began to diminish and flatten to the point where if not for the name, i would be confused as to where i was. It feels like this place needs a bit of refurbishment and people who can actually run an establishment, it's feels more like every other generic mexican rest janet rather then anything really unique or something that is really worth the expensive prices thar often feel undervalued for some of the underlying meals. I tried to be fair and honest but i do hope this restaurant gets better and is better capable of handling the aforementioned problems.

On a little drive from Sara Clarita we popped into Chapala's. As a long time resident of LA and eating lots of Mexican food, we were really surprised to have excellent service but also amazing food as well. I had a beef taco & Chili Relleno with rice & beans. Their Refried beans and Spanish rice were both sooo delicious. Chili Relleno had so much cheese & flavor.. additionally, I had some of my boyfriends Albondogus soup & rib eye steak. Both were top notch! Worth the drive anytime. Our waitress Yesenia went above and beyond. It was a fantastic experience!

Sorry guys this ain't it. My wife and I stopped in for a drink and quick dinner. Service was fine and no complaints but the margaritas were not good - obviously made from a cheap mix (they showed us the bottle - Finest Call brand marg mix). Cmon guys there's no excuse for a Mexican restaurant to make a marg from a mix. We got a couple carne asada tacos - dry poorly seasoned meat, dry machine-made tortilla, blah salsas. Pass. 0/10 do not recommend. Oh also we got one Corona and they had no limes. How can you not have limes? So bizarre. Anyway, will not go back. Sorry guys. Also our bill for one well margarita, two coronas, and two tacos was like $57. How?

First time customer and very impressed. Food was yummy with large size portions, prices are decent, decor is beautiful, place is very clean! Will definitely be back again.

I've come here a lot and have always loved the food and the service. Today I came here and was attended by a waiter who never once covered his face properly while attending to guests. All the other employees were properly masked. The service was still good and the food delicious but this waiter's carelessness was not appreciated.

Food = Good Service = Newer but they try Ambiance = Nice I keep going/coming back but every time I go it seems like they have a new wait staff. I've been in the business back in the day so I tend to forgive slower service. Drinks are usually not on point but I guess that's the owners fault for letting the wait staff make their tables drinks (and my fault for ordering them still) lol All in all, food is good, Thumbs up!!

I wasn't going to give a review, but Yelp has asked me to. Our waiter was very nice but obviously new. I suspect the cooks were new, too. The menu said that my fish entrée would come with salad, rice, and beans. My plate arrived with the fish and a huge serving of slightly wilted salad on the plate - nothing else. When I asked the waiter about the rice and beans, he said that the cooks said it was either salad, rice, or beans. I told him to bring me the menu and we reviewed it and I pointed out that it didn't say "or", it said, "and". He took it to the boss who agreed and then he went back to the kitchen and brought a serving of rice and beans on another plate. By then my fish had been sitting getting cold on my plate and now I had two plates to eat from. It didn't make for comfortable and relaxing dinner time. Unfortunately, at today's prices for going out to eat, I think I've become more particular. I'm not likely to return.

Only place I've had good enmoladas, not everyone makes them, they did not disappoint, I had Molcajete on a second occasion and it was amazing, a lot of food for me and my son, and we had leftovers, it is on the pricey side but it is worth it. My only complaint, I don't go as often as I wish.

I truly enjoyed the chili colorado at this restaurant, the sauce is amazing, the cubed beef is tender and moist. When is santa paula stop here and enjoy the fish tacos, burritos, and the best chili colorado in town.

The food was pretty good one or two things were actually good food. The service was not the best but not the worst it took a long time for water. Chips and salsa before water but the salsa was nice. The place was also kinda cool too. Overall is was ok. 6.5/10

Recommended by Efrain at El Vaquero Guero. Wonderful ambience and decor. Friendly staff. The salsa has a fiery flavor, but not too spicy. Not sure how the main dishes taste yet since I'm writing this review before receiving our meal, but if the salsa is a sign of what's to come, the food will be great too. Update: salmon tropical and Baja burrito! Bomb!! Enough said. Eat here!! Before and after photos of Baja burrito. Demolished!

The food was delicious! My picky child ate his two crunchy (homemade shells!) shredded beef tacos and some of the rice before being stuffed! My mom and I were not able to finish our plates, but my dad cleaned his up! Definitely a place to go back to!

Decent food. Margaritas are ok... Service needs help. Customer service would make this place the place to be.

I've been going to Chapala's and occasionally come over I feel this place hasn't disappointed me. I've both dined in before Covid and even now on Cinco De Mayo I ordered food for pick up and I love the crunchy tacos with chicken it comes with a salad, the dressing is delicious the quesadilla is cheesy big , it comes with guacamole and sour cream in individual containers and if you get chips and salsa they are delicious and a great portion.

First time eating at Chapala's. Met my Sister there for birthday lunch. It was great. The service was quick. The server was courteous and very attentive. The food was everything I expected and more. The Chili Verde topper Burrito was loaded and I can say that I honestly have never had one better. Very easy to find, right off the 126 freeway. Very satisfied with this place and will definitely be back! Thanks Chapala's, you made our day!

Best Mexican food in town! Always order the molcajete and a michelada. Overall great atmosphere

We've gotten both bfast and lunch and it's really delicious, fresh food. Staff has been friendly and helpful.

My Wife and I love good food and service.... If you also love Great Food as we do this place is a must! The first time I dined at Chappala I ordered their Carne Asada,,,,,,,,, OMG! It was one of the most enjoyable 1 1/4" thick, med rare, steak dinners I have ever had. The only problem with it, after you have it all others fall short by miles!!!!!! Great Job Chappala! I wish i took a photo to post.

Who thought this level of Mexican restaurant in this area! We came here after cornmaze hiking near by on Friday. Everyone's exceptionally happy! We all agreed the best Mexican food we ate here! Very clean and friendly service. Definitely a must go place!

Good mexician cuisine, and a great staff! The bar, while small, it fun to watch the Dodger game. Nothing but great food, margreatas, and a really nice environment

Been here numerous times before. I understand help is still hard to find- but service is usually OK. Food pretty good as are the drinks. Tonight- food was OKish- service struggled but they were trying. Drinks- weakest, nastiest margarita ever. I don't think there was even 1/2 oz of tequila.

We were there on May 5. Not busy but after 45 min. no drinks, no food. Complained to owner who replied we could cancel I was a frequent customer but never again. Very rude!

Having not been here since the pandemic, I was CRAVING the hard shell tacos that Familia Diaz used to make. Back when Chapala first opened, they had used the same taco shell same recipe and had progressed the menu elsewhere. To my surprise, they had changed the hard shell taco dinner a bit but it did not disappoint. We will definitely be back, the chips and salsa have remained the same as well so that's good and the drinks as always are amazing! All in all, we tend to avoid this place since it's always so busy but apparently it's for good reason. We will be back to sample some other menu items.

This has got to be one of the BEST places to eat! Family owned and operated and make homemade corn tortillas! Great selection to choose from and authentic, not to mention great mix drinks and real Mexican coffee. Good size portions of food, not at all stingy. Fairly priced too. The servers are amazing and so friendly. They truly go out of their way to make sure you're happy. This is my favorite place and easily found right off the 126 fwy. Everyone is really pleasant. My respect to the cooks who create from the heart.

Good is really good They may have been skirt handed Seemed to have waited longer than we anticipated

We have loved everything we have eaten here. One thing they need to keep their rice and beans hotter. Their Fajitas are excellent. Everything we've tried is good. I know they've had trouble finding help but their service sometimes has been awful. When we've been with a group of 6 or more it's been a disaster with service and we keep going back because it's good food. The ambiance is fine. It's a big restaurant so it's hard to create ambiance but it is an attractive restaurant.

Just moved to Santa Paula and I must say the food and service here superb. Highly recommend!!!

Just ok. Been going here for all my life.... mom for about 90 years. Worst service and not great food for all time. Our group of 8 ordered a pitcher of Margs. No flavor- no tequila. So we asked for more and they charged us for 3 or 4 more shots of tequila. My marg- The Rosarito ... tasted like cough syrup. My fish taco was mushy. Others said their food was ok. Restaurant was pretty empty. So we won't be back any time soon. PS Server was very nice but service was slow... slow kitchen.

Excellent, can't finish my plate,absolutely stuffed. The service and food is excellent.

I can't believe this place! should have a 5 star rating. Waiter stayed open without hesitation to a late seating. Cooking was excellent, exceptionally yummy Mexican food. Pleasantly surprised to revisit this place!