Chava’s Restaurant

Yuckala, fuchi, ewh, ugh, gag reflux sound, barf. People rating this place as 4 stars have gone loco and have killed every taste bud on their tongue. This place was disgusting. Wet burrito was smothered in below average sause, watery gac, sour cream and shredded chicken that included cartilage, (this was the same chicken given to us on two tacos, yes, cartilage included there too). At the request of an 8 yr old we ordered french fries. They were frozen and presented on a dish with burt black flakes, complementary effect of using and reusing frying oil over and over. The veggie burrito was soggy. The watery gac, sour cream and water from the bean juice, created a special kind of wet burrito. Picture holding your burrito, slightly tilting your head and taking a big bite on the right side– now sip it all in before your burrito smoothie runs down your hand!
Also, this place has no signage to let you know it’s cash only. Total bust!

Came here because of the four star ratings and was truly disappointed. This place is not authentic food. We had the order of chilaquiles which was suppose to consist of 3 eggs, based on the menu description. What we got instead were chips dipped in some sort of sauce, a sprinkle of eggs, a bunch of shopped onions and and a spoon of sour cream. They were bland and looked unappetizing. When we shared our disappointment with, what appeared to be the owner, she expressed that this was one of their most famous dishes, widely enjoyed by white folks. If you are looking for true delicious and authentic Mexican food, this is not the place to go.

Best chicken soup *anywhere* — always cures my colds. Great service, authentic food, abundant portions.

Been here so many times I can’t number them. Heard they had lease issues; landlord smells money. But it seems that it may have been resolved. I am glad, cause I love this place.
Seven days a week, they crank out really good food!
Fresh, delicious, house made tortillas, birria, pozole, and chilies. Machaca con Huevos, excellent Coctail Camarons and flautas. This is sit down, eat in, knife and fork, Mexican home style cooking.
You want a foil wrapped super burrito, they can do it, but I recommend you go stand line at El Farrolito. This isn’t hipster chow. Mostly latino families and older folks that don’t need to eat at the new-​new place their smart phones told them to.
Good food, good price, good people. They’ll never make it in this neighborhood. Oh, right, they’ve been in business for two decades. Almost forgot…

I’ve been eating at this place my whole life and it saddens me that I’m only going to get them 1 but I found a bug in my salsa! And it dead so you know it had been in there for a while! And the lady scooped it into the bowl so she could have spotted it but no. So sorry to say that my family and I will never eat here again.

I left a review here & somehow it got deleted. Hmm. Isn’t that funny. This place served me salsa with dead bugs in it. This place needs to be inspected ASAP. this is disgusting!!!

No idea how this place has 4 stars, might be the worst Mexican food I’ve had in SF. My family and I came here over memorial day weekend because La Taquria was closed and was provided with both mediocre food and service. Nobody was satisfied with the food. The chips were straight out of a bag, the guacamole was terribly presented and lacked flavor. Everything just looked sloppy… which you can somtimes get away with at Mexican joints, if the flavor is there.
Only good thing about this place were the home made beverages hot/​cold.

Do not order the chorizo. It’s terrible. It seemed more life ground pork with almost no seasoning. I ordered a breakfast burrito. With egg and chorizo. It was mediocre at best. I came early about 9am. The taste was fine but not really what I expected. I was disappointed while eating it. However 4 hours later my bowels told me a different story. I got sick. The only other thing j ate all day was my oatmeal at 5am. Which I eat everyday. I was sick all night. I will not be back.

I stumbled upon this place by accident when the Quickly next door was closed. So happy I did! I had a carnitas taco to go and it was def in the top three best that I’ve ever had. That says a lot because I grew up eating Mexican food.
Only thing is, I wish they accepted credit cards. Its CASH only.

Loved everything about this place! Fast/​friendly service, delicious food, and very authentic dishes! As a transplant So Cal girl, I am very picky when it comes to good Mexican food in the Bay. I can honestly say this place is delicious and authentic and I am definitely coming back for more! Do yourself a favor; Don’t order a burrito, and actually try something new. I promise it is worth it.

I come from Texas — San Antonio to be exact — where Tex-​Mex is pretty much a staple. So of course, it’s not too long after I move to San Francisco that my craving for Tex-​Mex starts kicking in and I find myself literally spending hours searching for a good place. Disclaimer: I’ve been told that there’s a pretty big difference between real Mexican and Tex-​Mex cuisine so I’m going to specify that I’m writing about Tex-​Mex.
I searched high and low for a place that serves fajitas and finally found Chava’s. Here are my thoughts about my experience in order of occurrence.
It’s located in a semi sketchy part of Mission. Don’t think I’m going to get hurt or anything, but definitely not the cleanest. That’s Mission district for ya I guess.
Cash only sign — good thing I had some paper on me. Usually not a super big fan of places that only take cash. Come on, it’s 2015, time to upgrade.
HOLY MOLY FREE GUACAMOLE! Normally, places charge $ 1 for guac, but it came with the complementary chips and salsa. Easily earned some major points for this place. Salsa was pretty good too!
The fajitas didn’t come on a sizzling plate like I’m used to in Texas, but they were pretty good none the less. I ordered charro beans instead of refried — mistake. The charro beans were incredibly bland, sticking with the fried fat next time.
Overall, I’m a fan. They don’t make em like they do in Texas, but it’ll satisfy my Tex-​Mex craving well enough.

After such a good experience at Gallardos, I wanted to return there but had to make it through my list of birria places in SF. so we ventured to the next one on our list. It was further into the Mission district near Bernal Heights. This time no line up… i did expect that since reviews mentioned it’s not very busy… but busy enough we were seated right away. Ordered our birria and huevos con chorizo since we were having chorizo cravings. The huevos con chorizo was a joke, never again. Bad chorizo with scrambled eggs… now onto the main Birria. This time there was no choice to have the meat separated from the broth so we ordered it as a soup. It was a big bowl and the broth was much better than Gallardos. However it stops there the meat was rather chewy and gamey… not my favourite, I was so disappointed and will not be returning here. Off the list.
Value 2.5÷5 pricey for what you get
Atmosphere ³⁄₅
Service ⁴⁄₅ fast service
Quality ³⁄₅
overall 12.5÷20

I was craving chilaquiles and they hit the mark! Excellent! Not greasy and full of flavor! They have the best mimosas! Freshly squeezed Oj served in a huge margarita glass! Service was great as well, very nice and welcoming. Look foward to going back!

OK — so if you are a tourist, don’t go here.
I have passed this place approximately 1000 times on my way home and never noticed it.
I went in on a weekday for lunch and was one of only two people there — in this huge outdated space. Then I saw a sign for cash only. My expectations were low.
I ordered a super burrito, but made all kinds of changes — no rice, no pico, no tortilla, mole chicken cut up in pieces. They accommodated me. Didn’t up charge me. The portion was huge.
For $ 8.65, I had a licking the plate good meal.
If they added this to the menu, I’d go a often. Was yum.

I’ve been here quite a bit and was there yesterday morning for breakfast. I’d have to say that the chilaquiles was not as good as it used to be. The salsa and chips are still my favorite here. Their stews and soups are good but they only take cash and the service is a bit slow.