Chalateco
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
219 reviews
Mountain View, CA
"This is the only taqueria I mess with in the bay area. Being from Texas I think I'm a good judge on tacos and burritos and its authenticity.…" read more »
28 Reviews for Chalateco
The menu items were a little more expensive than what my friend and I were expecting, and there were so many choices that it was overwhelming--the pictures helped, though. We finally decided on sharing a plate of 4 tacos. It was yummy but greasy until it got cold. We shouldn't have talked so much. ^_^ I also got horchata, which was very smooth and devoid of chunky rice bits and excess cinnamon. If anything, I would definitely come back for the horchata.
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It's the big yellow building near Santa Clara University, you can't miss it! You go in, it's a little hot, makes you feel like you are in Mexico. You open the menu, and BAM! Flying pictures, word art, it's FANTASTIC! And english is almost like it is in copyright... can't really find it, but it is OK! You've got PICTURES!!!! The chips and salsa are crazy delicious, even though they seem pretty normal. I've had the tacos, and they're pretty awesome. Fajita platter is amazing as well! All the food so far has been pretty good. I just give it a little minus on one star for kind-of-hard to understand what's really going on unless you know some spanish (which luckily I kind of do sort of ???)
Definitely try it if you haven't! If you are craving mexican food (or I guess maybe latin american food? not sure) Go here!!!!! It's SO good!!! Very interesting, very fun, tasty, and cheap!
One word: MEGAQUESADILLA.
Once every 1 1/2 years I totally destroy my charade of a healthy lifestyle and eat Salvadoran food. This time I tried Chalateco. That was unfortunate because despite all the calories I took in, taste-wise the place deserved a solid "Eh."
First thing you should know, if you're coming from The Alameda it's pretty tricky to get here. I ended up backtracking through a bunch of really narrow streets (some were narrow enough they should have been one ways).
When I got there I asked to see the menu before sitting down. The waitress (who apparently spackled on her eye shadow) gave me a menu and then hovered over me which was a bit uncomfortable. That was actually the most attention she gave to me after being seated, since she never checked on me during my meal (and the place was empty).
Here's what I got:
Cheese pupusa ($1.99). It needed a little more oomph (some little chilis would have been nice). The curtido was vinegary but didn't have much bite.
Sope Normal ($3.25). I'm always burned by sopes. The only good ones I now realize are the potato chorizo onces at Tacubaya in Berkeley. The Sope Normal at Chalateco just consisted of the base starch, refried beans, iceburg, sour cream, and cheese. They were pretty bland. Yes, I know that's partly because I didn't order ones with meat, but I still hoped they'd give them a little flavor or spice (sort of the theme of my visit).
Tamales with Sweet Corn and Crema ($1.99). I think the crema was just sour cream so that wasn't so good. The tamales were like solid dry bread. These were extremely disappointing. Sabor Salvadoreno's in Santa Clara put these to shame.
The menu also has huaraches ($7.75) and various interesting quesadilla variants including "MEGAQUESADILLA"! (MEGAQUESADILLA sounds like the new car-stomping creature at a monster truck rally. It has a 5,000 watt flamethrower for freestyle car crushing and cheese reheating action... MEGAQUESADILLA!) I wanted to try them (instead of the sope) but also wanted a pupusa and a sweet corn tamale and didn't want to spent over $10 on lunch.
The complimentary chips tasted like they were out of a bag. The salsa was okay but nothing special.
I recommend La Michoacana in San Mateo for your pupusa needs or, if you must eat closer, Sabor Salvadoreno.
I ended my trip waddling back to the car - my head hung low in a sort of caloric morning after walk of shame.
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Yo, I love this place to death.
I'm vegetarian so I haven't tried everything there, but I love the vegetarian burrito with everything.
A fat glass of horchata, I'm set yo. I love the burritos. =)
It's just perfect, I workout at SCU and it's my favorite pre-workout // post workout snack.
I highly recommend.
THEY ALSO GIVE YOU FREE LOLLIPOPS~!
=D
You know ........I have been driving by this Chalateco and the one on 10th St. for years and never thought to stop in. MY BAD!!!
Looking for something different tonight my fiance suggested Chalateco which I thought was like most taquerias with more neon but man was I wrong.
It's Salvadorian, I came to find out, and the treats we had are not ones you find at any taqueria I know.
Being our cheat meal for the week we did some serious cheating! We ordered the appetizer platter which had what looked like a little bit of everything on it and it did. We also ordered two sopes http://en.wikipedia.or... with pastor(marinated pork) and chuleta (grilled pork) and two pupusas http://en.wikipedia.or... one with queso con loroco, http://www.worldcrops...., and the other with fried pork beans and cheese.
Feast time!!! The pupusas and sopes arrived first and they were scrumptious!! The pupusas were kind of like quesadillas but the fillings were encased in something more doughy than a tortilla but less than batter or breading. They were very good non the less. The sopes were piled high with fresh lettuce, crumbled cheese and sour cream on top of the meat refried beans and the sope itself which I am learning is fried masa was delicious.
The appetizer platter consisted of another pupusa with chorizo and potato filling, a Salvadorian empanada, my favorite on the plate, fried and boiled yucca, two Salvadorian tamales, fried plantains, and a dessert like fried plantain around what tasted like coconut. All was tried and liked by both of us.
We did take home plenty of food since we over ordered but it was worth it to try all the treats on the menu.
Bright and clean inside with plenty of televisions playing Latin music videos it turned out to be someplace I will be craving til the next cheat meal comes along.
Please don't be insulted by my wikipedia references to the food. Maybe there are other gringos out there like me too!
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PUPUSANATOR IS BACK..AND READY FOR ATTACK!
I stumbled on Chalateco on my way to "Rosie's Pizza" on the Alameda. As I was walking, this white van drove by. I did a double take and started shouting " I FOUND THE PUPUSA VAN. IT DROVE RIGHT PAST ME(check out my pics). LOOK EVERYONE. HOLY MOSES!"
I couldn't believe it. So what do I do...the next night..I decide to go and check out this place. My friend thought I was so crazy...because I wanted to take a picture next to the van...tragically, it was not there.
So we entered into this big orange and yellow square building. Inside, pretty basic tables with TV's everywhere. I loved that they had Mun2 on the tube, and it was playing music videos.
We sat down and were greeted with a big menu, chips and salsa. I had never seen such a variety. I was confused and amazed all at the same time. They had PUPUSAS! RICE PUPUSAS at that. I ordered bean n cheese, and cheese with lorroco. Moreover, they had typical dishes from El Salvador like, fried mojarra and El Salvador breakfast(plantains, beans, eggs, cream, and cheese.) It was so cool. They even had ensalada, which is a fruit drink.
If you are still scared of the pupusa, they have tacos, burritos, and quesadillas. The meat is well seasoned, and portions are pretty big.
It is a little pricey, but love the choice...and the VAN! Service was great.
I love that they give dum-dum's with the check, and that there is a sink in a little corner of the dining area. I had not seen this before, but thought it was a great idea. Essentially, you can see when people wash their hands, or wash your own if they are greasy. It's super convenient!
Definitely going back for breakfast.
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Pupusas..............That's all you really need to know about Chalateco.
One of the better taquerias around Santa Clara University. There is ample space to dine in, and they're pretty quick to make orders to go (phone ahead and it'll be ready by the time you get there).
The pupusas are fabulous. The corn filled tortillas w/ cheese and pork are mighty tasty, and the chorizo and potato ones are hefty and will give you a coronary......but it'll be worth it.
Besides the pupusas, they offer your standard Mexican flare, with more plate style dishes rather than your typical taco and burritos. On weekends they have barbacoa and lamb stew available which is definitely worth a weekend stop.
You can't miss this place as the oddball blinding orange and yellow building stands out unless you're color blind. Tee parking is pretty tight as the streets are small. Their menu can be confusing as well as it's a bunch of pictures and titles splattered all over. But, if it looks good, it probably is good.
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Poopoosa.
The thick moist handmade corn tortilla that holds together the meaty and cheesy contents of my quesadilla cannot make up for the fact that the pork pupusas are not what I expect from the tasty El Salvadorean delicacy.
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this place is ok. i'm used to the one on capitol and mckee, that place is #1 in my opinion, their papusa's are made just right, while THIS chalateco ,on the alameda, tends to make their papusa's a bit dry, and skimpy with the meat/cheese/beans inside of the papusa. oh well... but overall this place is good for their papusa's, tacos (al pastor) and fruit water! YUM
OMFG!!! Went here when Michael C responded to my thread and recommended this place for lunch. OMG! It was soooooooo good. I had a really bad experience at La Penita last night and was really hesistant about mexican food. But dayam this place is good. I got a chicken burrito mmm it was delicious and I couldn't even finish half of it. My boyfriend got the chicken tacos and he said they are some of the best tacos. He said he'll be going back for dinner lol Next time I'm getting the tacos. My BF let me have a bite of one of his THEY WERE BOMBBBBBB!
Try it out. Their menu is pretty big and they serve breakfast. Everything looked delicious and smelled good :)
Oh & free lollipops the cherry one is goooood :)
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I love me some papusa.
Wow, that sounds kind of bad. Or kinda sexy, if that's your thing.
I love these fried, cheesy, pork-filled hockey puck looking things. I love the tacky color scheme the place has as well. I love the communal bucket of condiments. If I love the place so much, why only 4 stars?
Well, because I haven't tried anything else on the menu. Also, because the lady helping me was kind of a bitch. I'll chalk it up to a bad day, though. I have them, too.
Papusa's are yummy here, and you should have one. I bet the other food is good, too.
Take that and stick it in your papusa.
This is under the same ownership as the last restaurant name that was here, so I guess I get a free rating boost!!! woop!!!
anyway, this time around I ordered some chicken tacos and a pork pupusa. i have to say it was all A+ again, but the portions were pretty teenie, so order up rather than down when getting these items.
the salsa is also delish. 5 stars, fugg it.
my only complaint is the menu. could they make this thing any more difficult to read?? I nearly had an aneurysm when trying to order
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This place has really great food and has a ton of options. I was a little overwhelmed by their menu and it's "mas, mas, MAS!"-esque font and pictures, but was thrilled with all of the choices I had.
I had a vegetarian burrito and a bean and cheese pupusa. I loved the fact that they have 6 types of hot sauce on the table next to the napkins (but only one proved to be hot enough for my palette). My burrito was delicious and the pupusa was pretty tasty. I was impressed by the fact that they were generous with the guacamole in the burrito.
My boyfriend ordered carne asada tacos which were good, as evidenced by his empty plate - after all, he is a taco connoisseur. My roommate had a couple pupusas which she enjoyed and platano frito. We all enjoyed the platanos.
The service was good, atmosphere authentic, and prices fair. I'd definitely go again.
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I am from Texas so finding a good taqueria in San Jose was a little difficult.
My faves are the following:
Cheese Pupusas- nice a crisp on the outside, gooey and cheesy on the inside!
Queso Flamiado- Don't pay for over-priced quesadillas. For just $3.25 you can make 3 of your own
Yucca Frita- As a Muslim, I get this minus the pork. I would order with the slaw on the side and crema drizzled on top. Yucca is like a potato but just a little drier.
Sope- Think a taco but with a tortilla the consistency of a pupusa. My fave is carne asada with lettuce, salsa, cilantro, cheese, and crema.
Torta- very satisfying even though it is totally overpriced. I paid no more than $3.75 for this baby at any other place. But hey that is Cali for you!
The service is good. I don't like the fruit juice cocktail. It leaves an armpit after taste.
Well that is all I can think of for now. Enjoy!
IT'S LIKE ORANGE n' YELLOW decided to have babies: this place is soo colorful. Yes, borderline tacky. But the service was super warm n' friendly (no complaints even though they forgot my avocado) and the menu was pretty exciting.
CUISINE: from Mexico City and El Salvador. I learned a lot from the ginormous menu. Words like pupusas and tortas jumped from the menu, as well as pictures of what a real gordita's supposed to look like (hint: nothing like dear ol' Taco Bell). The chips are clearly from the bag, but the salsa is fresh-tasting. Rumor has it that they have an avocado-thickened green salsa, must investigate next time.
AND YES, there will be a next time. This place was solid! I ordered the burrito with the Al Pastor (pork marinated in their *special* sauce) and it was pretty darn good. Tortilla was perfectly steamed n' not dry around the edges (a winner in my book) and filled with just the right amount of pinto beans, sour cream, mild salsa, lettuce, n' ooey, gooey, melted cheese. There was plenty of meat, too, which was spiced really well. My "guacamole" on the side turned out to be about a quarter of an avocado, sliced. Score! My meal came with a wedge of lime = happy Mexican camper. The bf ordered the Alambres which are really impressive looking soft tacos bursting and COVERED with BACON (?), onions, bell peppers, and Al Pastor. Talk about meat tacos!!
All of the above + 2 Cokes + a LARGE Horchata (Mexican milk + cinnamon contraption) + FREE lollipops = approx. $20? Not bad, Mexico City!
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Great horchata. The papusas are yummy. The burritos are ok - not the greatest, but they'll hit the spot. Getting the menu is overwhelming because there are always so many things I want to try.
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I don't know of many places in the South bay that serves Pupusas, therefore I find that I need to write about any place that serves this treat. What the Taco is to Mexico, the pupusa is to El Salvador. Chalateco serves a great pupusa with any combination of beans, cheese, and pork. They've even created a Pupusa de Arroz (Rice) as well.
I found Chalateco to be a nice little place with very good food.
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This is my favorite South Bay Mexican joint.
My two recommendations are the "alambres especiale" (steak tacos with cheese and salsa, sprinkled with mexican style bacon on top) and the megahuaraches (flatbread type tortilla with refried beans, chipotle style hot sauce, asada, avocado, and cheese on top).
The menu is HUGE, if you can't find something that looks good then you don't like Mexican food. The pupusas are great, never seen one before and apparently it isn't mexican cuisine... but hey, maybe ignorance is bliss.
this place had the best tacos.Me and my girlfreind were looking for some good mexican food and we found good reviews on this place they were right.I got 4 small tacos and my girlfriend got a burrito we exchanged bites of eachothers food and they were both equally good the next time i get a craving for mexican food i will be going here.
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So I went here today for lunch only after seeing the sign outside advertising Pupusas.
I didn't set my expectations high since every pupusa I have tasted outside of the SSF area has been the epitome of gross.
So I go in and was greeted immediately which was nice. I sat down and was given chips & salsa very quickly. The salsa was pretty darn good & hot too.
The menu was rather large for "taqueria" like place.
I ordered 2 pupusas con loroco and one sope. (In case I didn't like one, I would eat the other, dur!)
The sope was good. Nothing to write home about, but I would definitely order another on a future visit.
The pupusas were actually pretty darn decent too. The only thing I thought was that they lacked a little flavor. I just added some salt and I was good. These pupusas weren't as greasy as the ones I'm used to eating, but nevertheless, I finished those bad boys.
Overall, I liked this place and will totally return. At least now, I have a place close by work to go get a pupusa fix should the need arise.
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Hmm... not much to say about this place other than that the pupusas were pretty good and cheap. The salsa was nice and spicy. I thought it was a *little* odd when the waitress brought me a Costco sized container of coleslaw (literally) and a serving fork to dish it out with for my 1 pupusa. That was a first! Want not waste not?
Edit: I came here again, and found it to be even better than the first time. I mean, I did still receive the Costco sized container of coleslaw with my one pupusa, but it's all good. This time I also tried their taco al pastor... OMG you would not believe how tasty it was. It's a secret recipe and it's their specialty. They have definitely earned a 4 star rating.
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Came here on a whim. Being labor day, we were rejected by countless "CLOSED" signs from Race Street's Fish and Chips, Falafel Drive-in, and Cluck University. After leaving Cluckies in distraught, 30 feet, 20 stomach growls and 10 swear words later, we were fortunate to have found this restaurant to still be open! 4 stars straight up just for saving my life during my darkest moments of intense hunger. I ordered a bean and cheese pupusa and a carne asada sope. Love pupusas, and love sopes. the joint was pretty spacious, and i dont doubt it can accomodate you and many of your friends. it even had an upstairs that led to who knows what. i didnt have enough cerveza to want to find out. portions here are huge and the prices are affordable. this place is tasty and if you want the biggest bang for your buck, grab the burritos. they are massive like chipotle's burritos, minus the lack of authenticity and array of tabasco sauces (no disrespect to chipotle's in anyway, only stating facts! chipotle is my favorite chain up to date!)
First time eating here...I guess they have a few locations throughout the south bay but this one's right next to the Santa Clara U campus/near my work. Whenever I hit a taqueria my default is always to try the tacos. Simple things are usually the best way to judge a place and the tacos didn't dissapoint here. Had a tripitas, asada and lengua and all 3 were solid. The menu is gigantic so I'll have to stop back again. Seems they both mexican/salvadorean cuisine. Good, cheap, solid eats.
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i wouldn't classify chalateco as a mexican restaurant more they serve all sorts of latino specialties. I usually get their delicious pupusas my favorite is the revueltas which is pork pintos and cheese. they give you little baggies of the the sauce and the relish (one poster called it cole slaw) they do serve typical taqueria style tacos and I ways see the chefs making huge yummy looking tortas. They have an extensive menu so there's a lot to try.
Don't go here unless you like processed cheese... hmmm
The meat here was passable/good, but I couldn't get over the cheese product in my burrito...
With a myriad of good to very good burrito places in San Jose, I would suggest skipping this one...
But what do I know, try it once for yourself... They do have a large menu and trying something different may change my mind...
pretty good food. large menu with a nice variety of items. i hope to try some different things next time. service is some what lacking, but i don't expect much from these type of places.
not the worst, but only go there when starving
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