Casa Chapala

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with my Hispanic roots, but I live with a never ending craving for delicious Mexican food. And most of the time that void can't be filled with the run of the mill Tex-Mex that can be found around Austin. So during one of my recent rants about not finding good Mexican dishes in town, someone suggested I visit Casa Chapala. I had never been, so I decided to pay them a visit on Sunday.

3010 Anderson Lane, Austin
Photo: foursquare

We visited the original location on Anderson Lane, and as soon as we entered the place, I felt right at home. This is the kind of place I enjoyed eating at back in the Rio Grande Valley. On our way to Casa Chapala we placed a call to see what time breakfast cut off time was, the lady on the other end told my girlfriend 2:00 pm. It was 1:30, we were good. We arrived and were quickly seated, no wait! A server took our drink order and in no time another guy arrived to prepare a small batch of salsa in a molcajete according to our personal heat preference. We chose mild. The salsa was wonderful, with the warm tortilla chips. When our waiter arrived we asked to see a breakfast menu. He adviced us that breakfast cut off time was 1:00 pm, we told him we called in. He said he would check. After a few minutes he arrived with the breakfast menu and told us we could still have our breakfast. YESSS! After browsing through the menu for a few minutes, we were ready to order. I decided on the Asada and Eggs, which is carne asada and two eggs cooked to your liking. My girlfriend chose the Chilaquiles Rojos, diced bell pepper, onion, and crispy fried tortilla chips scrambled with egg and topped with salsa. Both were served with rice and our choice of either refried, charro, or black beans. My asada plate also came with my choice of corn or flour tortillas. I'm a flour tortilla fan. While we waited, we decided to have an appetizer: shrimp and mango ceviche. Oh yeah!

table side salsa

Shrimp and Mango Ceviche

After a few minutes our waiter arrived with the ceviche. It wasn't exactly what we were expecting but it was still very good. It was full of small salad sized shrimp, but they went really light on the mango. So much that that don't think I had more than two bites with a taste of it. Anyway, the true test would be the actual plates. When they finally arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes. These plates were served just like back home, nice big plates of deliciousness. My Asada and eggs were amazing! Plenty of well seasoned meat topped with scrambled eggs. The meat was thinly sliced and cooked to perfection. It was moist and melted in my mouth, no toughness at all. The rice and beans were great as well. My girlfriends Chilaquiles were pretty good too. The chips were crispy, as they should be. Her only complaint was that they weren't really full of flavor and seemed to be missing any seasoning. But after using the salt and pepper shakers on our table, they were good to go. 

Asada and Eggs

Chilaquiles Rojos

I have to say that Casa Chapala is officially my new favorite Mexican restaurant in town. As a matter of fact we are going back tonight to have dinner. If authentic Mexican food is what you are craving, look no further than Casa Chapala.