Choza 96

I was pregnant and craving Lomo saltado so I came with my husband for lunch. From the service to the food, everything was mediocre at best. Top it off, service was veeeeeeerrrry sloooooow. It’s probably why there were barely any people in there. Not many people can afford to have a 2 hr lunch on a work day.

We come for dinner. Not many diners, I was worry if this place is good or not, but my friend no worries he eat here before & it is good, we had the fried yucca, ripeyes, & mustard chicken. All the food are delicious, I love the mustard chicken so gooooodddd!!! Remember to check in via Unilocal here to get 10% off.

Since this is a restaurant and bar, it’s a little difficult to rate, but I’d say it’s okay on both. I came here on a Saturday night for a party. Based on the fact that almost everyone in Choza was there for my friend’s party, I have to say that it doesn’t seem to be doing too well as either a bar or restaurant.
The menu is pretty varied and offers beef, chicken, seafood, and vegetarian Peruvian options. I was pleased to see a vegetarian version of lomo saltado (tofu saltado) and ordered that. It was pretty good, although I kind of think I could make it myself at home by finding a decent recipe online. The tofu, tomatoes, and onions had that delicious garlic flavor. The fries were pretty good as well.
As a bar, Choza was pretty bad. Like I said, it was empty except for my friend’s party and I think the size of the party (there were at least 30 people) overwhelmed them. While the food service was prompt, the bar service was terrible – extremely slow. Every time my husband got a drink it took a really long time. They also ran out glasses – he had to return to the table one time to get his old mug for another beer – and I think they also ran out of something else.
I’m in my 30s so I liked (overall) the music that was played, which included a lot of 90s hip hop and R&B, but it might not what a younger crowd would want. I’m not dying to go back and try more dishes but if someone suggested it I wouldn’t mind returning.

I had the WORST experience at this restaurant. It is unfortunate because the food was good and was looking forward to come back BUT that is not going to happen. First of all, the waitress kept coming back and forth trying to revise our checks since we were splitting them … After the third time she comes back and takes out cards. Well, we all look over our checks and it was split accordingly … I get my and my total was $ 14 plus tip $ 20. Ok cool. Next day I look at my account and why do I see the $ 20 PLUS ANOTHER transaction of $ 93??? I never authorized nor was given a receipt for that amount. Everyone in our table receipt matched so it wasn’t like she charged me for someone else as well. I call and the manager is not even sympathetic towards the matter and tells me he is going to talk to her to see what happened!!! Are you serious! he says he will call me next day. Guess what? Next day comes; no call. So I call him the following day and doesn’t even tell me what happened and all he said was he was going to refund me my money (like if he was doing me the favor) Two days later and nothing! These people do not care about customer service what so ever! It’s not a $ 10 discrepancy. It’s close to $ 100 for food I didn’t even buy! So disappointed!

This place is a joke! The music is okay. It was empty and the customer service was awful. Never again!

This is an awesome place the crowd was awesome service was great no matter what this is always my go to place

We’ve come here a few times because my husband loves aji de gallina, which is decent, but I have never had a good plate of ceviche which is my favorite Peruvian dish. Very disappointing. The flavor is decent, but the fish quality is always so chewy/​tough. It’s never even close to a smooth, tender melt in your mouth fish :(
The other food is tasty. BBQ meats and other flavored meat is good. The bread was freshly baked and I had to stop myself from filling up on the bread; slightly sweet, soft.
The staff were nice and the manager applied the 10% Unilocal coupon.
The Peruvian food tends to be on the expensive side and this restaurant is no exception. Lunch buffet was $ 12.

Went Tuesday night (4÷5÷16) with my 2 roommates.
Seated promptly enough by a woman who I THINK was maybe the owner? I’m not too sure. Our waitress came out shortly after and we placed our order: Lomo Saltado for one roommate and I THINK the Seafood Saltado for the other. I asked for a suggestion and she said of the 2 dishes I was looking at, the Mustard Chicken was really good. Ended up ordering that and requested some bread.
Bread was hot and delicious. The sauces that came with it were amazing on the bread AND the food we got. My roommates meals came first and she apologized that it took a bit longer. Not a problem, I’m no stranger to food requiring a bit more time.
Except when my food eventually came, my roommates were almost done with their food. Which wouldn’t have been a problem either if ¼ of my chicken wasn’t still raw in the middle… Debated on sending it back but given how long it took to come out, I just opted to cut that part off and eat the rest.
Minus it being undercooked, I highly recommend the dish! The chicken was savory and juicy, my mashed potatoes were yummy (REALLY HARD TO RUIN POTATOES), and my mixed vegetables were well seasoned.
They lost a star for that and another for the wait: our waitress was friendly enough, but didn’t seem too pressed about how long everything was taking. A full 90 minutes was not needed for that meal. Also the owner needs to have more than 1 waitress/​waiter/​bartender at night — I get that it was Tuesday, but she was alone making drinks at the bar and running food for 4 – 5 tables. Do better.

Came here with the team to have lunch. We were looking forward to lunch buffet but realized it is only available Thursday and Friday. So, we ordered from the regular lunch menu. Most of us ordered the lomo saltado and loved it. The beef was tender and full of flavor. It was a bit salty for me so I had more rice than I normally would to counter the saltiness. The team loved the place and would definately be back.

We went there last night. We ordered ceviche which showed the price as $ 16. They Charged us $ 20. We ordered the $ 7 wine and were charged $ 11 a glass. The server said he poured us a different wine that was not on the menu.
He insisted he could not change it because the owner was not there.
NOT GOING BACK!

unfortunately nothing good came from my meal. it was a huge disappointment in every way. I understand that every restaurant may have a different take on how they cook certain dishes, but the Arroz con pollo was just ugly. i couldn’t taste any distinct flavor other than just spicy (which I was not expecting-​these variations should be mentioned in the description so you know not to order it if you don’t like spicy food.) secondly, the Papita Rellena was just an order of 2 greasy potato balls with a bit of spicy (again with the spicy?) ground meat in them. I’ve had these before at other restaurants and when they are made well they are delicious! I was then thinking that at least I had «sweet» mashed yams to look forward to. Wrong. this dish looked like someone just took a heaping spoon of heavy, pasty orange goop and just slopped it into a to go box. no presentation whatsoever. that’s ok, I understand. it’s a to-​go order, not a painting, but come on! the best way I can describe how it looked is «slop». not only was it not visually appealing but it was also very bland. I think a jar of baby food «sweet yams» would have tasted better! on top of everything they forgot my order of fried plantains! that’s ok, if they tasted anything like the other dishes then it’s just as well. I did try to notify them about forgetting that part of my order but I didn’t hear back and just gave up. why bug them for another dish that I highly doubt would taste very good. I’m just upset that I spent $ 50 on a meal that I didn’t like at all and ended up eating only a few bites of each dish before I just gave up. it’s still in my fridge because I feel guilty throwing away so much food, but I can’t stand the thought of tasting any of those dishes ever again! So much for trying something new. sorry, but I’d recommend another restaurant.

My husband and I have come to this restaurant many times throughout the years. We’ve seen it change… For the worse!!! Back in the day it was a good restaurant with good ambience, good music, good food, and decent service. Nowadays you walk by the restaurant on a Saturday evenings and they are lucky if they have a table or two filled.
Anyway, today was Valentine’s Day. Figured any restaurant we hit would be jammed pack and we had an hour before we needed to catch a movie. Idk why I thought it would be a good idea to come here. Figured we would at least get a seat… and that… was about all we got (that. and our drinks… barely).
When we first got there, I was surprised to see 2 more tables filled as usual. Wondered where the host was but eventually a waiter came by the entrance and sat us. We sat there for a good 10 mins maybe before a waiter asked if we had been served yet. Then we ordered our beverages along with our food order. We didn’t get any service or food until about 50 minutes later… We finally got our free bread with the Peruvian sauces. We told the waiter we needed to jam to catch our movie and he went to the kitchen. We left some cash for our beverages and jammed out. How ridiculous!!! Mind you, in the midst of all this waiting, there were 2 other couples who also were complaining about waiting forever and getting the wrong order. Also, there were times that there were no restaurant staff on the floor. SMH…
Bottom line: How are they still open? If I could rate it 0 stars I would. And just because they changed the name (formerly Choza Mama) doesn’t change anything. If anything, it’s worse. And, very unfortunate because it has so much potential :(

Took a little over 2 hours for delivery! Food arrived lukewarm/​cold. For this privilege we were charged a $ 7 delivery fee.
Will not order again!

Disappointed by the customer service from Choza Mama herself.
So my gf has a membership with «Entertainment»; membership. that has deals for restaurants, shows, shops, etc… We’ve never had a problem with places except Choza… Choza Mama had a BOGO (buy one get one free) that we printed out.
We get there 7:30 pm on a Sunday and this huge place was empty but had Latin music on BLAST. No waiters, hostess, bartenders in sight– nada. I ended up walking to the kitchen and yelled out «hello!» and a waiter came out.
To make a long story short. We waited 25 mins for our food (at this empty place) AND CHOZA MAMA ARGUED WITH US AND DID NOT HONOR OUR BOGO. She kept saying she signed up with Entertainment and it was only suppose to be a 20% discount and not a BOGO… Idk about you but that’s your problem with «Entertainment» not ours.
Not surprised this place is empty. I recommend you visit Melbec instead, the prices are similar and the food and service is far better.
1 star for our friendly and attentive waiter.

Three stars because of the OWNER… I have come to this place often when it was Choza Mama, and now that it’s under new management/​ownership, I only have negative things to say about the owner! My friend and I came in a couple weeks ago and he seemed very disgruntled that we were there as soon as they opened (is that so bad??). He took our orders swiftly which was nice, but he wasn’t so kind-​spoken. Then a new girl took over, she was very sweet. When the food was brought out I was brought the wrong thing, which means the owner took the wrong order. I do not blame the cook or the server girl.
I did get the right order after I said something, and the server was again very sweet. I wish I remembered her name. The food was still absolutely delicious, so the food I would give 5 stars always. Just… owner, fix your attitude, dude.

I enjoyed lunch buffet there for $ 11.95.
A lot of varieties of food at that price.
Quality was not compromised.
Soup was very good too.
My only disappointment was with the Ceviche fish salad. The fish was undercooked. What could have been a lovely dish was not …
The service was good — free sodas were brought to our table.

If I could give them no stars I would!
I ordered my food for delivery. I asked them if they could deliver all the way to Arcadia and they said yes but it would cost a $ 10 delivery fee plus it was busy and it was going to take 1 hour to deliver because he had to deliver in Highland Park, Echo Park and some other place and then me. Granted, I was willing to wait the estimated time the man told me and I gave them my credit card info to pay. The order was placed at 7pm.
I call the restaurant to ask what is the hold up (8:56pm). All they can tell me is that the manager is not there and that they are super busy and my order should be arriving soon. its been a 1 hours and 50 mins that was close to 2 hours, I simply told him over the phone that I wanted to cancel and the guy tells me to take it up with the delivery man. I am a pushover and so my boyfriend intervened in the call telling them that we love their food and we are regular customers but if they did not cancel our order that they would lose us as clients and never return. So they told him that the order will be cancelled. It seems like they don’t take responsibility when things go wrong.
We ended up going to some fast food near our place and when we get back at 9:30 (2 and a half hours after we ordered) guess who is in our door! We told the delivery guy that we called and cancelled the order because it was 2 hours wait. The man was repeating «I told your wife it was going to take 1 hour and half» ok!!! Now he adds 30 mins to what he originally estimated and it was way passed that! We told him that we will not be paying nor taking the food. He was not leaving, he kept on saying we gave him the wrong phone number because he has been trying to contact us for a while, that he was waiting in front of our door for 30 mins and we wouldn’t answer his call. First of all, I never got a call from him, it’s not my fault that someone didn’t get my number right the first time, second, we already cancelled the order so he should have received a call from his co-​workers telling him that it was cancelled, third, the man should have just left to go on to his next delivery but no, he was was not having it. My boyfriend had to tell him to get off of our front porch. He wouldn’t so finally we closed the door on him. We were half way through eating our fast food when my boyfriend went to check something outside, THE MAN WAS STILL AT OUR FRONT DOOR!!! He was leaving a note for us restating the same thing he kept repeating before we closed the door. I swear who does that! That was scary and very unprofessional.
I checked my bank account today and surely they charged me $ 41.61. This place is horrible. The employees don’t take any responsibility for their actions nor are they professional. If they can not hack doing deliveries they shouldn’t be doing them and wasting people time.
DO NOT ORDER DELIVERY FROM HERE!!!

Decided to come out to Pasadena for dinner and was told I must try Choza and I was not disappointed. The food was absolutely delicious. We started with chicken empanadas and shrimp skewers. I was a little thrown off by the empanadas because they had powdered sugar on them but that didn’t matter. They were amazing. The shrimp skewers were perfectly seasoned. They came with this green sauce that is to die for! The shrimp didn’t necessarily need the sauce. They tasted great without it.
Since this was my first time eating Peruvian, I had to go with a traditional Peruvian dish, Lomo Saltado. There was so much flavor in the dish. I absolutely loved everything about it. I will definitely be back to try some other dishes. If you are in the area give this place a shot.

Enjoyed a tasty Friday night dinner with friends here. Food was very flavorful and presented beautifully. Service was attentive and friendly. This bar is part of Choza Mama restaurant, and the Peruvian cuisine is top-​notch. Dishes: mixed ceviche is outstanding, yucca and empanadas were great. We enjoyed our entrees: chicken, fish and beef were all represented, and one of us had a mixed plate with all of these plus some sausage. Didn’t have room for dessert.
We have been here for lunch as well. Same high quality, same serving sizes. There’s a buffet at lunch on weekdays that we’ll try soon.

Great food. We had the chicken stir fry, chefs special (parrillada), mixed seafood, bistec… so good! Sonia is so nice — we will definitely be back! Thanks for a great meal!

0 stars for service, 2 stars on food.
How is this place still open? The staff is rude and aloof. The food is mediocre at BEST. I was so excited find a peruvian place near my apartment, but Choza is no where close to representative of what peruvian food is supposed to taste like. I try the lomo saltado whenever I can and this place was gravely disappointing lol. Would not return.
PARKING: Quite a few meter spots on the street, or park in the underground /​regular parking lots — many of them have the first 90 minutes free.

This is my third time being here, and sorry to say, it was not a charm. My first two experiences were worthy of at least 3 – 4 stars, but this time was a disappointment.
Parking: It’s in Old Town, so there are plenty of parking structures. I’d recommend those before you do street meters or pay lots because I believe they give you the first 90 minutes free.
Atmosphere: The night I went, there was only us and another family at another table. That was it. I imagine they get more business as lounge, so everything seems ready to get cleared for a dancefloor. Even then, the food came out pretty slow.
Service: Our waiter was very nice and helpful. He’s a +1 star for Choza.
Food:
–Empanadas: They can’t go wrong with the empanadas. This is the other +1 star. If I had to do it again, I would have just loaded up on emanadas.
–Seafood fried rice: I was expecting something with Peruvian flare, but it turned out to be the kind of fried rice you could find anywhere down Valley Blvd in the SGV but at double the cost.
–Latin Paella: I don’t think seafood is their forte. This dish was waaaaaay too salty, and that’s coming from a guy that likes things salty. I was thirsty the rest of the night and the next day from the sodium and had to eat chocolate donuts just to counteract the saltiness. Also, the ingredients didn’t seem top quality. The sausage appeared to be hotdog, there was imitation crab meat, and a lot of the ingredients looked like frozen food.
Again, I know Choza is better than this, but that day I doubled down on seafood dishes and lost. If I were them, I’d really try to shore up that part of the menu or eliminate it completely. With places like Malbec and 1810, Choza needs to step up to compete with the other South American restaurants.

We visited Choza this last Friday with two of our friends that live in Pasadena.
The service was good but slow despite there only being about 6 tables in the restaurant. We ordered the beef empanadas. They were a little cold inside but very flavorful. I was a bit taken aback about the olives in them but I just picked them out. My wife ordered the pollo saltado and it was very good. Despite the reviews I ordered a steak. I asked for it medium rare but it came out raw. i sent it back and they cooked it more but it was still pretty raw and very fatty despite it being a filet mignon.
Very dissapointing.
PRO
Service was friendly, food was decent, drinks were good
CONS
VERY slow, steak was not prepared well at all
OVERALL
I wouldn’t order a steak there again which is sad considering it was a steakhouse but I would go back.

Had the Lomo saltado for lunch, it was delicious. They use filet mignon cuts for the meat. Very juicy and tender cuts, the onions are fantastic. The only thing is easter better in similar plates are the fries, but not a big deal. The waiter was also great, very nice.

In all honesty, I don’t know what authentic Peruvian food is supposed to taste like but I can say the dishes I ordered were superb.
My friend and I ordered the Pollo Saltado and the Arroz con Pollo plate. The server was very quick to take our order and extremely attentive. Our drinks were brought out very promptly and our dishes were served hot.
I don’t understand why people are complaining about the lack of clientele. You have the whole restaurant to yourself. Conversations won’t get drowned out by the people sitting next to you. You can actually enjoy your dinner and have a meaningful conversation.
The prices were reasonable, especially when you think about how much an actual vacation to Peru must cost. Trust me, you’ve saved a bundle just by getting a tiny taste of Peru in Pasadena.
I think a lot of people underestimate this establishment. It’s pretty darn good. Try it for yourself if you don’t believe me. I suggest you hurry up before the hipsters take over.
TIP: CHECK IN TO GET 10% OFF (DOES NOT INCLUDE BEVERAGES)

Friend bought a groupon deal not knowing how expensive the food was. Luckily, the other people in our party dropped out so it was just the two of us *cue the «Just the Two Of Us» song by Will Smith* .
Reservations: You can call ahead of time for reservations.
Ambiance: Loved the ambiance, but where was the people? Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice place, but I was expecting more people on a Friday night. I only saw a few tables that were filled that night.
Service: Service was slow, but the waiter was friendly. It was hard to flag someone down. Food came out at a decent time though.
Food: Ordered three things which were:
1) Empanada $ 8: Came with two decent size empanadas (spinach and cheese, beef). The outer crust came out a bit burnt. Not pleasant smelling burnt food, but once you start eating the inside it’s good. I liked the spinach and cheese empanada the most.
2) Arroz Con Pollo $ 15: I thought this dish had a lot of flavor, but the problem I found is that the rice was a bit overcooked. I think they put more water than they’re suppose to. The texture was mushy. They were also stingy with the chicken… not worth the $ 15 price tag.
3) Bisteck con Camarones $ 27??: We ended up chosing the filet mignon. Meat was very tender, but some parts was fatty. The shrimp was the highlight of this plate. Who doesn’t love bacon wrapped shrimp! I sure love it! Vegetables complimented the steak and shrimps well.
Tip: Spice up your life and dip your food into the green sauce that they provide you.
Don’t think i’ll come back, but I thought the this restaurant was okay.

Choza is a wonderful place to dine. Just a bit off the main drag of Colorado. easy to park next door. The ceviche is just amazing! I Eat it every time.
The meat is incredible too solo tender.
Fresh vegetables are always on the menu.
just know it takes time and it’s not fast food.

Came here for a friend’s birthday. It was pretty empty minus a huge party celebrating something.
Parking structure is free for up to 90 min but 2 $ an he afterwards. It looks small from outside but pretty spacious inside. We ordered some empanadas and ceviche for appetizers. They were ok.
Their saltados could include more meat. But I’m surprised It wasn’t as greasy as other places I have tried which is always a plus.
My favorite was Their bread and yellow sauce combo. Yellow sauce was so yummy I took some home to go.

Love coming here. A gem in Old Town Pasadena. Good food with nice servers. As amazing as this place is they aren’t too busy. Always good service, but it does take time, no rushing tasty food. Truly flavorful and consistent.
The ceviche is superb just enough lemon and cilantro, not overpowering. Tried many others, but the mixed seafood here it terrific.
Take the time to try this place. You’ll be glad you did.

I’ve been here before on a whim and once again during an Old Town food tour a few years ago. Both experiences were great with friendly service and delicious food. I was excited to bring the family here to try today. We arrived around 2pm for a late lunch and were seated as only three of the four other tables here. Servers were nice as before but oh gosh the wait was awful. After ordering we were seated there waiting for over thirty minutes without bread. Finally near 40 min out food arrived with our starter bread. The food was so delicious and worth its price but that wait? In an almost empty restaurant? Hmm I don’t know.

Just like the other reviews say, HORRIBLE SERVICE. The staff looks like they don’t want to be there, fake smiles, slow service, dirty tables and a manager or owner that seems not to care. Some service training or restaffing needs to happen.
Drinks: Way too much sugar or simple syrup. Don’t use measuring cups when making cocktails, only amateur bartenders do. Safe bet: beer on draft. The bartenders need formal training.
Food: Excellent
This place will succeed or fail. It depends on the ownership. You have the food down but your service needs A LOT OF IMPROVEMENT.

Disappointing lunch to say the least.
Wanted to grab a working lunch with a friend and the service was so slow. They were out of a few dishes, so I ordered the next best thing. Grilled fish but for some reason it came breaded. No time to wait for them to change my order. Even though that’s the opposite of what I was craving.
Service was so slow, like painstakingly slow.
I won’t return. Everything was lackluster. The impression I left with was that they didn’t care to be there. So why should patrons try.