Los Chaparros Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Honolulu

Ate here because we were in the area and because of the reviews and because I love Mexican food and Mexicanos as well. I may not be a fair judge as the other fans of the restaurant because I have had the opportunity to live in Cali and been to Mexico many times to have a good barometer of the various dishes, the regional variety as well as Cali and Tex Mex versions of Mexican food.

I give the one star rating first and foremost because of the horrible service and a two and a half star for the food. When we first entered we were greeted and sat down to our table, so far so good. We ordered the three combo plate, two tacos, enchilada, rice and beans for my two nephews and 8 year old daughter to share. Usually if a restaurant serves mole I love ordering it because it is not always available in some Mexican restaurants but I went with the carne asada plate and it is usually a safe bet. I also ordered a horchata for the kids as its usually non diary as it is a rice based drink and my daughter can not handle milk. When the drink arrived I asked if it was non dairy and the server rudely said, "wot you cannnot rrrrread?" which threw me back a bit. He then continued to argue with me about the make up of the horchata and that this is Hawaii and thats the way they serve it. He could have simply explained this is how they serve it and I would have been fine. As a fifth generation local in Hawaii and having lived on the mainland for 30 plus years I find it a poor excuse to behave this way. I could go on but Ill leave it at this.

Now to the food. The rice was dry and clumpy, the beans were a tad on the watery side the tacos and enchilada was standard. The carne asada on the other hand was cut into strange rectangular chunks, dry and heavily salted almost like it was microwaved from a pre prepared package. It was gross. Long story short I know this is not Cali, Mexico, or Texas so to throw a comparison on the island on how food should taste go to Taqueria El Ranchero in Wahiwa and order the Carne Asda, its juicy, grilled fresh and tasty as all hell thats...

I'm from Southern California, so I'm used to having a wide selection of Mexican food places to eat from - from the more upscale restaurants to little hole-in-the-wall places where you can see Mom and Pop cooking in the background. When my nephew wanted chicken tacos for dinner, we were a bit hesitant to get Mexican food in Hawaii. I am so glad that we found this place on Yelp; the food was delicious! I ordered the Super Chaparros Burrito which had pretty much everything in it and shredded beef (but you can choose from a variety of meats like ground beef, shredded chicken, shrimp, fish, etc.). I opted to get my burrito wet with green sauce and it was so good! The green sauce was pretty spicy (or at least I believe most people would find it spicy - I really like spicy food) but it wasn't super sour like a lot of other green sauces I've had before.

I got a michelada because it was one of their drink specials for Wednesday. You have your choice of beer selection for the michelada, and I opted to do my favorite, Dos Equis. It seemed like the michelada mix was kind of store bought, but it was palatable and still equally delicious. They had other specials that day as well like a lilikoi, passion fruit, margarita. I didn't have the chance to try this one but I will be sure to try it on my next visit.

The location of the place is a little on the sketchy side, but it's well worth the visit. It is quite a small location and they don't seem to have the largest staff so it can be a small wait for your food to come out, but the staff here are extremely friendly and courteous and the quality and taste of the food is definitely worth the wait.

One thing to note is that parking here is extremely limited, - there are about six parking spaces and there is only one entrance so you might find yourself in a tight parking situation. It's about a 50 minute walk from Waikiki, if you're staying at one of the numerous resorts here, so you might want to Lyft or Uber or be prepared to drive...

Believe the glowing reviews! This is coming from an absurdly picky eater (annoying even to myself) when it comes to eating anything I haven’t personally cooked. So often at restaurants the food lacks flavor, is over priced and disappointing. I carry condiments and seasonings in my purse for that reason. FIRST time in forever I didn’t have to whip out my own stuff and jazz up the meal to enjoy it.

Our server was extremely attentive and accommodating. First by turning off a ceiling fan without being asked and then moving us from our table under a vent to a corner booth because he could tell my husband and I were both cold. Our drinks stayed filled. Starter basket of chips and salsa were free and gone in a flash because the fire roasted salsa was delicious! We were happy to pay for a second round to enjoy alongside our meal. We ordered a lot to try a bit of everything and ensure we’d get something good because we’re always let down. Not this time! Everything we ordered came out fresh, hot, flavorful and exactly as we were hoping for. The only tweak I made was to add a little lime juice and salt to the rice to round out the flavor- everything else was chef’s kiss

Get there early for limited parking or free parking after 5pm at the credit union just down the street.

We got: Pick 3 combo: Chimichanga with carnitas, 2 shredded beef taquitos, enchilada with chicken and green sauce. Rice and beans. Pick 3 combo: Burrito with chicken, steak quesadilla, enchilada with ground beef and red sauce. Rice and beans. Order of salsa &chips-...