La Chapala Market

I visited chapala market Thursday and bought carnitas and carne steak and the guys gave me all fat of carnitas, and the steak was very smelly, it smelled spoiled. When I returned the carnitas and carne the guys were so rude and didn’t give me my money back.

Oh hell no. I went in around 3:30pm and pretty much nobody paid any attention to me. Finally my order was taken. After going back and forth on whether they had one of the meats listed. One woman said they had it, another said they didnt.
Once I got my tacos. VERY QUICKLY I must say. Which was a pro… I bit into the «carnitas» which was pretty much the consistency of funion rings. I have no idea what that was. It wasnt meat. So that went without eating. That was the one meat that made me go here. Everyone raved about it. Must have been the end of the day so they gave me the dried out leftovers. I would have rather tell me they were out. Then I took a bite of my birria taco and nearly broke my tooth on not 1 but 2 huge bones in my taco. Never again. Really too bad because I work right across the street.

My family and I tried to order some burritos yesterday, they took our order down, and then after they took our order they notified us that they did not have our choice of meat. We changed our order by asking for a different choice of meat, only to be told they also did not have that meat either. WOW.
Why is it on the menu then???
Won’t be coming back here. Awful vibe from the lady who took our order.
We decided to go across the street to The Habit Hamburger joint instead. Yum!

Was once my favorite until the meat started moving

There’s a reason I gained 10 pounds when I worked within walking distance of this place. The food is great — not fancy, but homey and delicious. I especially like the carnitas, and at less than $ 2 for a generous taco, it’s the best deal in town. As others have noted, it’s basically a market with food, a carneceria. They’ve updated the inside (it’s cleaner and much better organized) and the outside is getting a nice makeover. Bottom line, if you’re in Old Town Goleta and want good, inexpensive Mexican food, you can’t go wrong with La Chapala.

Go there for the take out. They make the best rice! Get it by the pint. You won’t be disappointed!

I highly recommend the carnitas and costilla tacos! They are soooo good and the amount of meat is sufficient to make 2 tacos out of one order! Friendly staff and good meat market as well…

If you want amazing meat that has great butchers to help you then this is a great place. They carry a lot of meat and sell a ton of meat so everything is fresh, fresh, fresh and packed to order that moment. There are usually three people behind the meat counter so you know they move a lot of it and it is just high quality because of its freshness. I really don’t stop and buy too much else here but I do recommend their meat counter. And they have pre-​marinated items like adobo that are super tasty if you plan to make your own tacos.

The carne asada torta was just ok, nothing really special. The al pastor taco though had really fantastic flavor. The lengua was so so too. Wish I got a bunch of the al pastor tacos.

I’ve visited for both the market and to eat in.
For the market I got the fixings for a carne asada the meat was reasonably priced and marinated nicely. The produce section is small but has what you need.
Tortillas are handmade at the restaurant, yum! I highly recommend the al pastor and buche tacos. My daughter also loved her carna asada quesadilla. Looking forward to some caldos and menudo on the weekend.
Flavor is authentic, food is tasty and service has been consistently good!

Other than being slow, dirty, getting the order wrong, and eventually serving not very good food… well, just not much we found to like here. Sorry. If the food had been delicious, we could have forgiven all the rest, but the fish tacos were served with a sweet pineapple coleslaw, the meat tacos were tough, the salad was a packaged spring mix that was past its prime with black leaves and sweet dressing (the same style as Los Agaves serves – must be a thing).
Los Tarascos, on the other side of the freeway near Zodo’s bowling, is a MUCH better choice.

Delicious cheap Mexican food. Try the huaraches or just get tacos, you really can’t go wrong. Wide selection of salsas to choose from; I like the dark red one the best. Order at the market checkout. Bring cash because there’s a .50 cent fee for cards.

I wouldn’t have my wedding reception here or anything, but who would have a wedding reception at a Mexican market restaurant? BTW, what even do you call a restaurant in market? It’s not a deli. It’s not really a restaurant. What is it?
I had the al pastor burrito with extra guac and extra cheese. It was pretty good, but needed more spice.
For the sake of transparency I should note that I may have given this a little better rating than it deserves since the only other review I have done to date was a bit negative. Plus I feel the need to make up for Daniel and Bruno’s overly harsh rating.

La chapala market is much more than a convenience store. The front kitchen area makes authentic Mexican fairs at an incredible bargain. I got an array of tacos and a chili verde combo for less than $ 15. The serving size was generous, the adobado was nicely seasoned, the carnitas was tender with a few crispy bits. The shrimp taco was a little overcooked, but still tasty. For those with a more adventurous palate, you can get goat and cow brains for the taco fillings. The chili verde combo was enough for 2 to share with big pieces of tender pork in a tomatillo sauce that’s spicier than you expect. Even the rice and beans were very flavorful, but there could be copious amount of lard in the preparation that made the sides so delicious.
I took a quick tour of the store while waiting for my food. The best part was the meat department with most items being around $ 3 per pound. They had already marinated pastor and fajita meat (get 2 pounds and drive to Goleta beach to grill for a relaxing yet delicious weekend). There were also many cuts that were completely foreign to me, most of them were sliced very thin so you could grill it quickly or prepare it Milanese style. I imagine some korean bbq marinade would work beautifully with them too. The store also offers good prices on a selection of produce common to Mexican cooking such as tomatillo, scallions, chayote, jalapeño, etc…
There are ample parkings in the back of the store. Don’t let the sketchy looking façade fool you, there are plenty of cheap good eats in La Chapala.

Market/​restaurant. One stop shopping for all you South of the boarder, culinary needs.
Well, I assume they have everything you need. I wandered the meat and veggie isle wile waiting for my Caldo de Res (Mexican Beef Soup) that was on special. My lunch date ordered up the Chili Verdi
The menu board is inside to the left and you order at the cashier just ahead. Grab drinks from coolers along the left side and pay.
Con’t find a spot ton the street? No problem. Pull around in back for plenty of space. Helps to speak and read Spanish but it’s not a prerequisite but it helps. Don’t let that stop you form visiting. While I was not crazy about mine due to the lack of any real spice and a bland broth, I did like the Chili Verdi. I’ll give it a try again.

This is another of my favorite places in the Santa Barbara area. I usually order the vegetarian option, the huarache with rajas (a large cousin of the tostada, covered in roasted mild green chilies and pico de gallo, with a generous sprinkling of crumbled cotija cheese.) There is a choice of salsas to top it off. It’s very filling. It’s also as good as the delicious street food I’ve had in Puerto Vallarta and Mexico City.
You have to get your drinks in the store, order and pay at the cashier, and pick it up at the window under the menu. Wait for them to call your number… and it might be helpful to review the numbers in Spanish before you go.
Get dessert at the panaderia a few doors down, if you still have room for it.

Who would believe a neighborhood Mexican market/​butcher counter could have such good, authentic cheap eats.
Well, duh, it actually makes perfect sense. All the good, fresh stuff they sell for you to take home and cook, they use the same ingredients to come up with the tasty dishes they serve.
Grab a drink from the refrig case at the back and order at the cashier and pick up when they call your number at the food counter near the salsa bar with a good selection of mild to spicy house-​made sauces.
Get anything asada – just pure, deep beefy goodness. I love the asada huaraches. It’s like an oblong tostada with lettuce, beans, sour cream, pico de gallo.
Burritos come with rice beans and cheese. Skip the cheese – it totally detracts from the meat. I would recommend the asada, carnitas, or pastor.
I once had the whole fried tilapia. Came with rice beans and tortillas. Very tasty.
Patrons tend to be bachelor Mexican laborers who want some food that reminds them of home. Cracks me up when I see them eating at ten in the morning on a weekend with a big ol’ bottle of beer accompanying their food.
Eat here-​good stuff, good prices.

My husband decided to surprise me with tacos from La Chapala. He had found out about La Chapala from a friend. We loove tacos and are always looking for delicious street tacos. La Chapala is definitely a place to find excellent tacos. My husband bought me pork tacos. He doesn’t remember if they were al pastor, but they were definitely not cooked liked the carnitas described below. The pork was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. Not too salty at all. They’re just as much as Lilly’s Tacos downtown at $ 1.40.
As for my husband, he ordered the chicken burrito. It was delicious as well. He devoured it. The salsas had a wonderful smoky flavor and the grilled onions and peppers were tasty.
We are looking forward to many more visits. I can’t wait to try the other tacos.

* Please open a location in Vancouver! *
I love places like this. From the outside this appears to be someplace between a convenience store and a grocery store. When you wander in you find a meat and fish counter doing all the cutting on the spot, and a counter that will grill up the items for you to eat at a few tables in the front.
You can’t order or pay at the counter, even though there is a menu there. Figure out what you want and then head to the check-​out counter and order there. Your items will then be available at the counter when they are ready.
What a lovely meal! Or let me rephrase that. What a set of 3 lovely meals. We couldn’t help but return several times.
Everything was really good. The carnitas taco (around $ 1.40 or so) had an incredibly generous amount of meat piled on top and all the toppings you would expect. Nice taco!
But the pescado en mojo de ajo (fish in garlic sauce) seriously kicked butt. The combination of butter, a ton of garlic, and the acid from the lime juice worked perfectly. The fish was grilled perfectly with a nice char, yet still was done perfectly on the inside.
They gave such a generous portion, with all the trimmings (rice, beans, tortillas, salsas, etc.), yet still only charged $ 7.99. Wow!
Now if they could only send some of the cooks up to Vancouver and open up a Canadian location all would be good.
Please? Pretty please with cajeta on top?

Oooooof!
That’s my final remark on my taqueria tour of Old Town Goleta. La Chapala was the last place on my list, and I am FULL.
The majority of La Chapala Market is grocery/​convenience store. There’s even a good meat department, for raw cuts, and carnitas and chicharones.
But I was there for the dining portion. It’s a very, and I mean VERY, basic counter for ordering hot foot, and half a dozen small tables for eating in and another eating counter along the front windows. Really, no frills.
It is important to note that the counter where the menu and prices are listed is not the counter you order and pay for your food. That is done at the general store’s cashier counter. If your Spanish is no bueno, that is okay, the cashiers can cope. But for the guys in the kitchen and who bring your plate to the counter, you might encounter a language barrier. Just hold onto your order stub and listen for your number, and pick up your food at the counter where the menu is displayed.
The menu is not complicated. An assortment of meats and vegetable, offered as burrito, taco, torta, hurrache, gordita. And a few combination plates and specials.
I got the birria hurrache for $ 4.99. Oh man, it was more generous than I expected, piled high with succulent goat meat. There was one bone in it, but it was obvious and I much prefer that to fine shards of bone I get at some other places that serve goat. This hurrache also was loaded with a cold marinated green vegetable, perhaps a sweet pepper. There was actually too much of it, and I picked some off.
I also ordered a carnitas taco, at $ 1.39, the cheapest tacos in Old Town. This deep fried pork had both the golden-​brown deliciously of being fried and big tender chunks that make me feel la Chapala has been best carnitas of Old Town Hollister as well. Really good stuff.
My lunch companion got the mole chicken, which came with refried beans and rice and tortillas. I sampled a bit and found the mole underwhelming compared to other places I like in Santa Barbara. It had a bitter burnt taste. I think that dish cost $ 6.99.
I spent just a smidge over $ 6 and I am ridiculously full. So full, I am feeling a little relieved that my taco tour is over. Time for a break.
But I know I’ll start reminiscing over the memories within a week. Adiós!