El Chapin Restaurant — Restaurant in Providence

5/30/24—- I decided to take my friend to this Guatemala restaurant. She’s from Guatemala. As we began our apartment hunting, I thought it would be nice to have dinner before our scavenger hunt. This was my third visit to this restaurant in the 28 years I've lived in the area.

I ordered hígado encebollado, but they brought me bistec encebollado instead. I didn’t return it, though; it was still good. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the loud music, which continues throughout your meal. I hesitated to order coffee since I know these types of restaurants aren’t known for their coffee skills. I was right: they had decaf, which was a plus, but it was instant coffee, which was a minus. However, my expectations weren't high to begin with. If you're a coffee lover, this isn’t the place to expect great coffee.

Despite this, our dinner was good, and the service was excellent. Leslie, our server, was accommodating, pleasant, and courteous. Parking can be tricky if it gets busy, but we arrived early and found a spot right in front of the restaurant. Be prepared for two things: outrageously loud music and instant coffee. Everything else was great. I plan to return someday to try their breakfast.

Interestingly, besides my favorite Colombian restaurant, this is the second place I've seen that serves hígado encebollado. My friend had a wonderful time and said her drink, Jamaica, was very good, as was her meal.

I enjoyed seeing the local Guatemalans eating at this restaurant. I am usually around either white Americans or my fellow Colombians. So, it was a pleasure to see the local Guatemalans coming in after an exhausting day at work to sit, eat, and enjoy themselves while choosing their music at the jukebox. I didn’t bring my decibel meter but I tell you it’s loud . This takes away from a completely enjoyable experience. There is research done on loud music and eating such as : Research published in the journal Food Quality and Preference which found that loud music has an Impact on Taste Perception. Eating speed : Research indicates that loud music can cause people to eat faster. A study published in the journal Appetite found that louder music increased the speed at which people ate their meals.

Overall Experience: A study by Cornell University researchers found that loud environments can lead to a less enjoyable dining experience. Patrons often feel more stressed and less satisfied with their meals when exposed to high levels of noise.

I don't write this to criticize the place but to help improve it. In the wise words from the Key and Peele sketch "When Megan Meets Andre": "Don't be...

Food was ok, price very reasonable, service dead. This particular day I was going for my fav dominican food but was surprisingly closed today which service is 5star. So decided to head to longhorns but saw this place. After a double shift I figured i treat myself. Love trying different foods few times a week and been told I'm a very generous tipper. Anyway, I left cause what I love about going out is "customer service". I got stuck with two hostesses that seemed they didn't want to be there and rather be behind the bar eating, lol. So now writing this via Longhorns with great service. A goldfish out of water has more personality. um, hope they enjoy the tip!, If i'm ever in the area again, I will certainly pass bye - no...

The place is beautiful in and out.I like that they had both Spanish in English menu me and the host had a language barrier but we managed. the server was great though and thet food was delicious. They give you so much food that now I know for next time I do not need to order as much. The only thing that they can work on is parking lot space some body popped right behind us and we were not able to get out there driveway as easy how to do some crazy backing up to...