Chapala Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Boise

My friend and I had dinner at 5:00 p.m. on a Saturday at the Chapala Mexican Restaurant on Vista in Boise. We were greeted and seated immediately and a waiter arrived within a couple of minutes to take our drink order

The menu is extensive so you might have a difficult time choosing what to order. The good news is you can eat here again and again.

Over the years I have eaten at this restaurant many times. I have never had a bad experience. The food has always been good and the staff are always friendly and efficient.

This time I chose to order a large meal so that I would have food to take home to eat the next day.

I had:

Mikes Favorite Platter

Carne asada, camarones al ajo, chile relleno, and chimichanga with Rice, beans, guacamole and sour cream.

This the first time I have had skirt steak. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but I don't think I would have it again. It was tough. I would try a different type of steak.

Camerones are large prawns. On this platter, the prawns are cooked with mushrooms, butter, and garlic. Very good but too salty for me--I don't eat much salt. Many people would be fine with the amount of salt

The chile relleno was good with a little kick.

I had a chicken chimichanga. You get your choice of filling. I ate it with the sour cream and guacamole. Very good. I would say it was half the size of a chimichanga that one would order as a main dish.

The rice and beans were like those found in most Mexican restaurants.

This platter of food was enough for 2 meals or for a big eater!

My companion had the steak and chicken fajitas. She was pleased with her meal.

The restaurant is nicely decorated and they play Mexican music. Things got noisier as more people arrived for dinner but my companion and I could still hear each other

I highly recommend this restaurant for its food and...

Last Friday I came for the first time. I ordered chile colorado. My food had a good flavor but was super salty and the meat was so hard to eat . Instead of asking me if I wanted something else after I mentioned it to the waiter like in any other restaurant. He just ignored it. And I had to pay full price. The next day I brought with me 3 more friends. Again the food was good. But they give you 2 small containers one with beans and one with salsa. I have to decline eating any so my 3 companions could have a taste. This is ridiculous since how in the * world are 4 adults supposed to enjoy the atmosphere, talk with friends while enjoying chips and salsa when they offer you have almost nothing to snack while waiting for our meal. We order separate ticket so we assume each couple will have their on chips and salsa “WRONG”!!! When we asked to talk with the manager, there wasn’t anyone at the restaurant. How in the world are they doing business with no one in charge???? When my husband talk with the lady at the front door, it was terrible. Such a bad attitude. This is bas for business. When people go out to eat it not only because we don’t want to cook at home. We want to enjoy the day with family and friends. We are paying good money for our food helping businesses and on top of that we are not allowed to have extra chips and salsa without extra charges are just BAD BUSINESS!!!!!! WHERE is the owner of this place???? I would like to talk with him about hospitality in the culinary business!!! If you are reading this please contact me. Maybe this way you will never lose a customer. You...

First the good: Best service ever! These guys were very friendly. The busser made balloon art things (what are those called?) for all the kids in the place. Our son got a giant balloon sword. The margaritas were giant, which they should be for $7.

And then, well, full disclosure: I do not like most Mexican restaurants. Don't get me wrong, if I had to choose only one cuisine to live on for the rest of my life it would be Mexican. When I think of Mexican food, and make it for myself, it's all about the fresh veggies and meats. And most of all the spicy peppers. Chapala is your typical Idaho Mexican restaurant where you get a giant plate of bland beans, rice, and some form of bland meat served with corn or flour tortillas. No spice, no flavors. And, strangest of all no chiles.

At Chapala, I shared the (sharing is the way to go at these places, they all follow the quantity over quality philosophy) Grilled Chimis with my date. Yeah, it was just a plate of bland food. Not tasty, but not bad either. I wasn't expecting much. I know you can ask the servers to spice it up, or give you a side of jalapenos but then you usually find that they charged you extra for that little paper cup of canned jalapenos.

Anyways, I will probably go back for the margarita, and try something else. Sometimes you luck out and it just takes a few stabs at the menu to find the one thing that stands out. And the service at Chapala's, wow. It will be worth going back just to talk to...