Chapala Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Cambridge

The servers were very pleasant and the atmosphere is adequate. The food however was the worst Mexican food I've ever had. If you look at my other reviews you'll see that I'm no "Karen". I try to find something I like about every place I go to. I ordered the Tamal, Chile Relleno, and Chalupa combo. The Tamal and Chille relleno where drowned in what tasted like canned Old El Paso enchilada sauce. The Tamal was generously stuffed with meat, but unfortunately the meat had so much cumin that it was overwhelming. The Chile Relleno was covered in a very thick and chewy breading, and the stuffing was a runny salty mess. The Chalupa was actually a tostada, but it was ok. The Arnold Palmer was made with a small amount of the darkest tea I've ever seen and the worst artificial and overly sweet lemonade you could get from a gas station.

The chips and salsas provided were among the best I've ever had and were the most enjoyable part of the meal.

This is my review from my previous visit 6 years ago:

I will preface this by saying that I lived in Mexico until I was 18, but I will try my best to not judge this restaurant with a bias against it's lack of truly authentic Mexican fare. I ordered the Chile Verde, and while it was not authentic, it was pretty good. My main qualm with this place is that I asked my server for an Arnold Palmer and he didn't know what it was, no biggie except I explained to him in Spanish, half unsweetened tea half lemonade, the server said "oh yes I can do that." Sweet. When he came back he brought me unsweetened tea. Ok, fine, no problem. The server came back and took our order, asked me if I wanted flour tortillas with my Chile Verde, I said "may I have corn please?" He said he could do that. Food comes and sure enough, flour tortillas. I would understand if this had happened while speaking in English since it was obvious that it wasn't his first language, but I spoke with him specifically in Spanish which is also my first language. The server was nice and friendly but when you are writing an order down, in your first language, how do you still...

My son, Joe and I enjoyed a very nice lunch today in Cambridge, MN. I had the Burrito San Jose, and Joe had the Quesadilla Beef Fajita off the lunch menu. I ordered the large Guacamole Dip to go with a well seasoned salsa and “warm” chips. Our beverages were a Dr. Pepper, and I had a very nice coffee with cream. Everything came to $32.77. I couldn’t ask for a nicer friendly, clean restaurant. Truly a gem in Cambridge. There is another location in Mora as well.

When I ordered the large Guacamole my waiter made extra sure I understood it was a side and quoted the $6.15 charge. I was very gracious and absolutely loved it. Now some restaurants add shredded lettuce to expand the guacamole, but not at Chapala Mexican Grill. It was seasoned well and nicely chunky. Freshly made. It put a smile on my face. Please visit this restaurant. You will not be disappointed. I grew up in California with exceptional Mexican food. In my 36 years living in the Midwest, my taste leans towards the bit mild side. If you want to kick up your meal there is a nice variety of hot sauces on every table.

Last note: My waiter brought extra napkins for us which is something I seem to have to always ask for.

Last to Last note: Our waiter visited our table at least four to five times to refill chips and salsa, water, and soda/pop. As well as a couple times to see if we needed anything else. Where do you get service like that these days?

My advice, from a lot of experience is don’t go to Don Julio’s in North Branch. Come to Chapala Mexican Grill and enjoy beautiful Mexican music and a meal that you will surely enjoy the leftovers the next day...

WOW is their food ever good! There's something for everyone, the options are ridiculous! The restaurant has always been spotlessly clean. The employees are super friendly. And I can't say enough about the quality of the food! I was going to give this five stars anyway, but on my last visit I brought a bunch of extended family. My mother has a latex allergy. Unfortunately, if you have a latex allergy this is not the place for you, one of the servers brought out the box of gloves used in the kitchen so we were able to see for sure that they were latex gloves. However, their handling of the situation was awesome! They tried very hard to come up with a way to cook something so that she wouldn't be exposed, but conceded that it probably wasn't worth the risk to my mother's health. The genuine empathy for my mother and the fact that they were willing to go out of their way to try to make it safe for her was truly heart-warming.f you live in Cambridge or if you're within 30 minutes of here, go out of your way to come here, you won't be...