Lupe's — Restaurant in Dana Point

The quality and taste of the food is MEH. I ordered a salad last night, because I had a bad experience with ordering a bowl last time. It was too watery (I guess from the beans), so this time I tried a salad. It looked fabulous, but the taste was so plain.

The chicken was VERY dry. I called in for a pick up order and ordered 1/2 steak and 1/2 chicken on my salad and the girl who took my order said they could do that. I should've checked my order before leaving but how complicated could that have been? (Clearly it was)... I get home and the chicken looks dry and so did the salad. When I called in my order the girl mentioned that they put olive oil dressing on it and when I looked at my salad there seemed to be no sort of dressing on it.

Good thing I took some salsa with me. They left the salsa in three plastic containers. I don't know if the salsa needs to be refrigerated to keep fresh, but I think they do this to close up faster when 10pm hits. As a customer I don't appreciate that the salsa is not on the salsa bar kept fresh because, I should get the same experience and quality of salsa that someone gets when they open. It just looks unprofessional and janky when the salsa is on the counter. On top of that they need to up their salsa game. I will be honest that the salsa has no flavor or spice to it. Such boring salsa and only 3 kinds to choose from... I enjoy eating spicy food and if a Mexican restaurant can't offer good salsa that speaks high volumes. GET IT TOGETHER.

They also need to get their soda machines and agua fresca stations fixed. It's not the first time I've seen the sign placed on the soda fountain. One time I even purchased a drink cup and they failed to mention that the agua fresca (horchata) was out. That's the one drink I wanted (of course)... I know things break and need to be fixed but seriously it's not the first time their soda machines have been broken. Unless they never fixed it the first time?...

I give this place two stars because I don't like dry meat and bland salsa. Not to mention the price of one burrito and one salad was about $23. LOL no side of chips come included for a burrito. Like really you gotta charge for chips. Is business that bad??This place has dropped as one of my places to choose to eat. I will not choose to eat here, there are way better places to grub that are worth eating...

Last night was our first time eating Lupe’s and it exceeded our expectations and then some! With Covid running ramped in SC right now, we put our order through Door Dash. More times then none, our Door Dash orders from other restaurants are either wrong, missing items, or boxed up sloppily. Well not Lupe’s...it was perfection.

To start, the presentation of every item was clearly put together w/ a lot of thought, love and care. Even in boxes/containers it looked as if it came straight out of Bon Appetite magazine.

Now on to the taste...We started w/ the Pollo Soup, which was perfectly seasoned, and not overly salted (which a lot of Chicken Soups are) The chicken was tender and juicy, and the perfectly bite sized cubes of veggies were cooked al dente, (instead of the typical overcooked/mushy veggies you get when a soup is ordered Togo.

We then moved on to the massive California Burrito, which was built so precisely you got every ingredient w/ each bite. (Rarity w/ Cali Burritos) The Pollo Asada Tacos had a generous proportion of chicken and were topped with onions, cojita cheese and “fresh of the farm”cilantro.

Last but not least, the Chips were so fresh, and clearly made that evening, and the salsa and Guac were let’s just say a party in your mouth! :-)

With that said, being in the restaurant business for over 20 years, I unconsciously pay attention to every detail when it comes to eating out, and honestly it’s a rarity to find an establishment that I’d give 5 stars across the board from presentation, to taste, quality etc. in regards to their food...well I’m happy to say Lupe’s gets 5 stars and then some. When having food like Lupe’s, it’s not just shoving substance down your mouth, it’s truly an experience, and a much needed one during our current time.

I’d like to thank the staff at Lupe’s for all of their hard work. It’s clear, that they truly care about what they’re serving to the public, which at the least, deserves to be recognized and...

First walked in to a mess with their pos system, so had to wait a good chunk of time to order. Even though the cashier could've took my order like he did the people ahead of me.. But he was busy joking about some guy not showering.

Ordered the lupes in Cali burrito and the shrimp n bacon burrito.

The Cali burrito was really good, had great flavors to it, and the sauce was perfect. It was packed full and hearty, well worth its price. But, the shrimp inside.. Yeah they don't do fresh shrimp. It's the precooked frozen shrimp, from a bag, like you get at the market. They held no flavor, and were over cooked and chewy.

Now, knowing this about the Cali burrito, I was scared to try the shrimp and bacob burrito.

Yup...

Frozen pre cooked shrimp. Luckily it seemed like per order veggies, and the sauce was good... But having that weird super white over cooked shrimp in a shrimp burrito is just not right.. How could you!?! Your already having so many great flavors, and wonderful handmade items, and cooked to order veggies and such... How could you destroy it with pre cooked frozen shrimp...??? And that's not all... The shrimp and bacon burrito was lacking bacon... And.. Well.. It was lacking filler all together.. It was only half as full as my Cali burrito... The value was nowhere near the Cali I had for the same price.

Staff was pretty upbeat, cooks looked happy... Although I wish some of them would keep their gloves on when handling food and food items going out.. Food besides the, shrimp had good flavor.. Only thing saving them from not going under 3 stars..

We will return to try their pastor taco Monday... But.. I will definitely be staying far away from any...