Chapines Restaurant — Restaurant in Pasadena

Great food and service! My husband has been wanting to try this place for some time since he saw they had Mojarra fritta on the menu. We finally came here for lunch this Thursday afternoon and we had no trouble finding a table.

My husband of course ordered the Mojarra fritta ($12.99) and I ordered Churrisco ($14.99). The Mojarra fritta is a deep fried bone-in tilapia. It was cooked perfectly and had a good amount of flavor. It came out nice and hot, the skin was crispy and not soggy, and the meat was moist. My Churrisco was very good too. The steak was flavorful and not overly tough. The tortillas were hot and actually had a nice flavor as well. The chorizo was delicious. My husband kept stealing bites of it.

We felt that the prices and portions were good and the service was great too. Our waitress took our orders promptly and checked in on us multiple times throughout to make sure it was good and to offer to get us things. This place may be small and cramped, but the food packs some big flavor. We will definitely...

YUM! We had the tostadas to start with. They were crisp fried corn tortillas with a thin layer of refried beans and light dusting of grated hard cheese; a simple tasty snack while waiting for lunch. My husband had the veggie burrito with beans. It was bursting with delicious grilled peppers and onions and the flour tortilla was toasted crispy brown. I also ordered a side of plantains. They are served sweet style, sprinkled with sugar. They were perfectly crispy outside and tender inside. They were so sweet, it was almost like a donut. Being gluten free, I haven't had a donut in so long, making the fried plantains an extra special treat. For lunch I had two bean and cheese pupusas and they were just the way I like them, a bit of cheese and bean bursting out and delightfully crisp. Besides french fries, these are the only vegetarian choices, but they are all tasty. We...

What a treasure this place is.

I don't recall how we found it, but we were looking for a new experience. This place is small but clean and efficient and the food is fantastic.

If you are looking for authentic Guatemalan food, this is it. The food absolutely reminds me of my South American travels.

The service is very friendly. Our server, Sandra, even put up with me attempting to recall my high school Spanish language classes.

This restaurant is not terribly fancy. But it is clean, efficient, convenient, friendly and well laid out. There is a good amount of free parking in the lot shared with the Food Lion next door. I've already been there twice and I plan to go back.

I highly recommend this place. Be sure to order the dessert version of fried plantains, served with sour...