Taqueria Chapala 4 — Restaurant in Austin

This is a comfortable place where the waitress remembers that I like the serrano salsa with sour cream. I went today after being gone for more than a year, and she still came out with my favorite salsa before I could make that request. Chapala is workday refuge as well as a weekend gathering place for families. It is also emminently bicultural--my conversation today with the cashier was about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The glass counter under the cash register is decorated with currency from multiple countries. The staff are bilingual and tolerant of my attempts to communicate in Spanish. The lunch specials go on til 4. I generally order from the blackboard rather than the menu. The barbacoa and carne guisada are strengths here. And the clientele reads newspapers! El Mundo and Ahora Si are both in newstands by the front door, and the papers are usually gone before the next weekly...

Worst service ever and the quality of food has gone down since the first time I went there. The waitress kept dissapearing, when she finally came around I asked for a coffee which it took her a while to bring and when she did it had so many bubbles and the mug was dirty. I asked her if she could bring me another one, and the mug was dirtier than the first one and broken too. So then we ordered, got charged a $1 for chips and when the food came it didn't taste fresh. My guacamole was old and I even found several pieces of plastic wrapped with the meat. I told the waitress and she didn't seem to care. When we paid we got deducted that extra $1 we were paying for chips cause there was plastic wrapped with my food. Clearly this location doesn't care about cleanliness and food safety, please check your food before you eat at...

Hidden gem!! This place is absolutely fantastic! Don't be fooled by the outside (the picture in the review is from their previous location). I think this building used to be Pizza Hut back in the day, so the outside doesn't look like a typical Taqueria. The inside is nothing fancy but is very clean. The staff (whether lunch or dinner) are super nice. We've been going for lunch and dinner for years and can't believe I haven't left a review before now. They have an extensive menu, so plan on taking some time reviewing before ordering. Everything we've tried has been excellent, but I must say the Asada Tacos and Birria Quesadilla plate are truly exceptional. They serve beer but don't serve liquor (sorry margarita lovers). I wouldn't let that hold you back though, the food is well worth the trip. And reasonably...