Cha Cha Cha Taqueria Cascade Station — Restaurant in Portland

Stopped in at Cascade Station while waiting to drop off our daughter at the airport, and needed to send her off with a full stomach. Cha Cha Cha was her choice; I'd never been here myself, and wasn't sure what to expect. Not sure if this is how things operate outside of COVID, but things were a little rough.

We were third in line when we walked in, and by the time we made it to the counter, there were about five groups behind us. We had to scavenge for a menu, as the ones posted on the windows and walls were far enough away that we would have had to abandon our place in line to read them. We'd only just barely decided what to order by the time we hit the counter.

Our daughter ordered a taco salad, and my wife and I split a molcajete, something I've never tried before, but sounded right up my alley. We also ordered a Mojito and a Cadillac Margarita which, we assumed, would be mixed up by a bartender. Nope. The poor guy taking orders at the register had to step aside to make them, on top of being the only person handling orders. Now, we understood why there was a line! The place was criminally understaffed! I can imagine some eye-rolling took place in the line behind us, but we had no idea our order would be a bottleneck, and honestly, it shouldn't have been. Cha Cha Cha needs to staff their locations better (at least this one!).

Once we were out of the way, we took our number to a table, and the order came arrived pretty quick; at least they're not understaffed in the kitchen! Kiddo's taco salad looked pretty good from afar, and the molcajete, which came in a solid stone bowl, was piping hot, with sizzling steak slices, onion, corn, peppers, and all the usual accoutrement: pico, guac & corn tortillas. My wife raved about Cha Cha Cha's sauces, which appear to be scratch-made and come in squeeze bottles. The green one was spicier than the other, which is generally not the case, and both are creamy and tasty, but I enjoyed the orange more, although I could not tell you what was in either of them. Be sure to request them with your order, and see for yourself.

I like what Cha Cha Cha is doing here: tasty Mexican food in a casual, walk-in environment: a hybrid between fast food and sit down dining. My only critique would be to better staff the counter; you need at least two people to efficiently take orders and make drinks. It should not fall to a single person to stem the tide of hungry customers. Doing so means failing in one of the core aspects of their business model, and is something easily rectified. The food is top notch for its price range (drinks could be a bit stiffer though), the atmosphere is fun, and the service, even when it was overwhelmed, as it was on our visit, was still humble, friendly and efficient.

And if they can't hire an additional counter person to share the load, maybe they should have a dance instructor, teaching the Cha Cha to those waiting in line? I guarantee you I'd come back...

Do you like onion burritos? Then this is the place for you. As I entered through the doors of this new and attractive taqueria, the layout was large and open, it was confusing to find the menus which were laminated flyers sticking out of the left side of the registers you had to search for it, I, being the picky eater I am asked for the fish burrito, and asked the ingredients, which the man taking my order told me were Guac, Pico de gallo, Salsa and Fish. Well why he forgot to mention that there are also onions was beyond me. Anyways I order my burrito, get handed a number and find a booth, I liked that you could see the kitchen, everything looked very clean, people were not super close in the seating so that was also a plus, and also the food was out around 10 minutes after I sat, which is great, the server was nice and quickly disappeared. The first thing I noticed was that the burrito was extremely hot to the touch so I couldn’t really hold it too comfortably, I did my best to hold it upright and I took my first bite. The first word that would come to my mind was “ONION” blechhh- I was surprised at how much onion I had bit into, first of all I asked the ingredients because I’m not the biggest fan of veggies but secondly I also HATE onions with a passion. I hoped the rest of the burrito didn’t have that much onion but I was wrong, I couldn’t tell if I was biting into onions or fish for the rest of the burrito, it was just a plethora of them. After a while trying to champion through I called the server over and I asked her, “what ingredients are there in here?” She then replied the same as the man, but I then told her “it feels like I’m eating an onion burrito” she explained that the fish already comes with grilled onions all the time and that next time I should order it without the onions and then reiterated the “next time” and just like before, disappeared into the kitchen. And as for the picture attached, this was just the first half of the burrito, hopefully one day I get to try a fish burrito. In conclusion, would I return to the brand new “Cha Cha Cha Taqueria”? Yes... to pick...

Our first visit Saturday around 4:30 PM. Read the reviews before going: ninety-nine percent positive, a couple expressed issues with portion size and price. Owner replied to negative reviewers - actually have NEVER seen any resturant no matter the price do this! Entered main foyer and greeted by owner, middle aged Hispanic man, and shown specials board and where to pick up a menu. I had to use bathroom and after returning complemented the owner on cleanliness of the entire restaurant - you could eat off the floors including the bathrooms. Asked the owner about vegetarian options and he pointed them out. Ordered Enchaladas de la Casa with vegetables. Given a choice of green or red sauce or half and half - means green on one enchalada and red on the other - I had half and half, both are mild and different from the spicer green and red sauce in squirt bottles they bring to table or booth with paper napkin wrapped silverware and whatever ordered drinks. Everything is served to you and they clean the tables. We sat in a booth with comfortable seating. Wall TV at each end of the room with football sports channel playing but no sound because pleasing Hispanic music is playing over the sound system. The enchaladas with sides of beans (your choice) and rice delicious and authentic Mexican taste. Had a non-alcholic Corona was very good. The only suggestion I have is to add soft sopapias to the menu as there are no desserts. My wife noticed Cha Cha Cha is a chain and she almost shied away because of it, but this one looks to be run by a family (I may be completely wrong) I am thinking father owner, daughter serving, brother/uncle cooking. It just has a family run business feeling. So we were plesantly surprised and felt we found a jewel among the weeds. I will return and not hesitate to make the drive from Beaverton to Cascade Station to eat there again. I hope you have the...