Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen

    4.2 (43 reviews)

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen Photos

    Business Info

    CHELAS MEXICAN KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Trendy
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Chelas Mexican Kitchen

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Taco alambre (with red pickled onion) and taco al pastor.
    Craig P.

    Really tasty, colorful and flavorful dishes ... ¡muy auténtico!.. I've tried the tacos alambres and al pastor ... pictured. It's a small, pleasant, clean place with both indoor and outdoor seating. No wait staff, but very nice people at the counter who bring the food to the table. We've been here a couple of times and really loved it; recommended it to friends who texted us to say how great it was.

    Menu
    John M.

    Several times I have been to the other location in Talega and they were great experiences. Today I tried their newer location and it did not disappoint! At their other location I have had the breakfast burrito (one of the best in SC), the bean and cheese burrito, and the el Macho burrito and the chili verde wet burrito. All great. This time I wanted something different so I had the Chela's Chicken Burrito. The very nice server took my order for the burrito, the verde, La Famousa and chipotle salsas. $0.45 for the extra salsa as you get two with the food order along with a handful of tortilla chips. But I wanted to try them all and I should have tried the habanero as well. Next time and, spoiler alert, there will be a next time. Order came out quickly and is brought to your table after ordering at the counter. I started my meal with a salsa sampling. With the warm and fresh chips, I dug into the three salsas I had chosen. Immediately I liked them all, as I recall from the other location. After several tasting rounds I put them in this order: 1. Verde, 2. Chipotle, 3. La Famousa. Honestly, I'd be happy with any of them. Can't say I've been to a Mexican restaurant where I REALLY liked all of the salsas! Damn, should have tried the habanero! On to the Chela Chicken Burrito. Came out very quickly and looked and smelled (smelt?) good. Took some boudoir pics of it and then tried it out. Another great burrito. They are consistent at Chelas! The Chela Chicken Burrito is black beans, sour cream, guac, cabbage, onion, cilantro and Monterey Jack cheese. I would have preferred my tortilla grilled, but it did not take away from how good this burrito was. Just delicious and I would get it again. For me, the highest, high point of Chelas is their breakfast burrito, but all I have had beyond the BB has been great. GO! EAT WELL! HAVE FUN!!!!

    Surfboard table is very cute
    Elisa G.

    I've driven by her so many times and finally stopped in today before my MRI. Marilyn was here to greet me and she's very sweet and said it's happy hour! They don't have any margaritas though but they do have beer and shrimp tacos on the happy hour menu along with stuff that I don't eat. The shrimp fajitas are tasty and the vibes are great and it's such a deal!

    Samantha P.

    Oh how I love OC Restaurant week! Took a drive to visit this gem and it was well worth it! For $30 I got chips with salsa and guacamole, carne asada fries, 3 tacos (beer battered fish, crispy carnitas, ribeye) and flan. Everything was tasty but the beer battered fish taco was a standout for sure. The staff was all so kind and pleasant to work with and I will for sure be back

    Menu
    Nancie M.

    Wow wow a great start to this eatery in San Clemente the wait is finally over and this has been a great way for this restaurant to start off by having the most amazing Happy hour in town. Fish tacos 2 for $6 so huge not the street tacos look at the pics ..... great deal and the happy hour is Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday until closing 9pm . Don't miss this deal it's as good as it gets.

    Counter service
    Virgil E.

    New location in SC same great food. Love the salsas served! Someday will serve beer we hope. Counter service still. There's some outside tables with umbrellas.

    Chilaquiles with steak.

    Food is delicious. And customer service (Angel) was great. My girlfriends and I will most definitely be coming back here for breakfast.

    Food.
    Bob S.

    I love this place very much because the food here is delicious, there was awesome service, great ambiance, and nice upbeat Spanish music, too.

    Happy hour chicken burrito
    Joe A.

    We've been waiting for this location to open for a long time! And we weren't disappointed! The best part of Chelas is their happy hour. They have both food and drink specials which are discounted pretty well. Their salsa is on point, definitely check out the habanero salsa.

    Don ole burrito was amazing

    Food is amazing ... definitely coming back !! The decor was very cute as well . I recommend this place for sure !!

    Got the ORIGINAL chicken burrito on a Wednesday for happy hour.
    Mark C.

    The food is great, the service is a little confusing (probably because they are new) , the chicken in the original chicken burrito was a little rubbery. We have been here 3 times to give it a fair review and each time it has taken 20 minutes to get your food, so just plan accordingly. We live close to this Chelas and we have always loved driving to the other so we were very excited for this one to open, but we may be driving out to the Original in the future. We ordered chips and salsa for an appetizer and they gave us a bag of chips and a pint of salsa for 8.99$. Everyone who works here is friendly, but they all seem to be training. All in all we support local so we will be back and will try it again. The ambiance was delightful .

    Chicken bowl
    J H.

    Kind staff. Food was pretty good! We got 4 steak/carne asada burritos, which were flavorful. They didn't come with/guac, which would've been a nice inclusion. I got the Chicken bowl which did come with/guac and was flavorful and a nice portion and included side of chips. 1 of their hot sauces is hotttt & I'm no spice wimp! Maybe it's a habanero sauce...looking forward to trying other menu items.

    Get stronger togo bags.

    See all

    2 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Karla V.

    Karla V.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    2 years ago

    Love this place! Taco Tuesday and Taco Thursday is the best. They also have the best chips and salsa in town.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    jose c and Karla were the best and very helpful definitely need credit for the service also the chef cooked amazing food and tasted amazing

    Business owner information

    Photo of Karla V.

    Karla V.

    Wow - we are so grateful for your kind review! ~ Karla V.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 2

    Ask the Community - Chelas Mexican Kitchen

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Mexican 51,655 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Chile Verde Burrito Wet

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen

    4.4(245 reviews)
    3.0 mi
    $$

    A++++ I stumbled on…read morethis place toward the end of the afternoon and I'm glad I did. It's a cute little bistro in the industrial area of Saint Clemente around some other restaurants, including a Starbucks around the corner. The staff was super friendly when I walked in, need to use the restroom and the restrooms were super clean, and then I ordered a burrito the way I like it made made a couple of adjustments extra meat less cheese and I ordered the ribeye burrito and it was fantastic. Great amount of flavor. Didn't require any salsa or anything to help enhance it. Juicy and just well-made. Their chips were fresh out of the oven or at least tasted like it still warm. Very impressed. This little place. I'll definitely be coming back. Deserves five stars plus

    We were in the Laguna beach area during optimal brunch time so a lot of breakfast-y restaurants…read morewere PACKED. Little unassuming Chelas was the perfect little spot for some brunch. They had a nice dog friendly ground level area so we could bring our pup. We ordered their chicken tortilla soup, 1/2 pint of guac, and burrho de alambre! 10/10 for everything. The chicken tortilla soup as hearty and toasty, perfect for the cooler weather. The guac was exactly my style, not too salty, not too tart, and demolished in no time. My husband really enjoyed his burrito from the speiclas menu as well!

    Photos
    Chelas Mexican Kitchen - One year Anniversary celebration!

    One year Anniversary celebration!

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Beer Battered Fish Burrito

    Beer Battered Fish Burrito

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Breakfast Burrito

    See all

    Breakfast Burrito

    Primo Foods - Asada fries

    Primo Foods

    4.5(124 reviews)
    4.9 mi
    $

    A really nice and convenient--albeit small--grocery store not far from the San Onofre State Beach…read morecamping areas. They have a large selection of beer and wine, plus some fresh produce, basic supplies, tortillas, and lots of yummy homemade salsas (the medium salsa verde is quite good). They even have a deli in the back that serves lots of Mexican-style meats and takeaway items. I came by to buy tomatoes, salsa, corn tortillas, and cilantro to take down to my camping site on the July 4th weekend. Everything was really fresh and yummy! Definitely recommend checking this spot out when you're in San Onofre.

    The environment is small carniceria/taqueria store that sort of specializes in a handful of…read moreceviches (love the spicy pulpo), horchata and similar styles of drinks, salsa, guacamole etal. Everything is excellent. At the back of the store is the kitchen with a huge focus on tacos. 10 different options of which nine are a meat (including one fish) option and a vegetarian choice. Among the meats are asada, adobado, birria, chicharon and sometimes buche. Daily taco price is $1.49 but on Tuesdays and Fridays, tacos are 69¢. They have a very good chile relleno as well. There are other things available but it hard to get away from the range of street taco options. The folks working the taqueria are amazing, having to make plates and plates of tacos. Today, one work crew had 20 taco orders in front of me. Long lines await the tacos on Tuesdays and Fridays. Despite the load, the taqueros are friendly and fast. No photos as it really isn't necessary as the food is that good.

    Photos
    Primo Foods - The Primos taco line

    The Primos taco line

    Primo Foods - Aguas Frescas

    Aguas Frescas

    Primo Foods

    See all

    Adolfo's Mexican Food

    Adolfo's Mexican Food

    3.8(258 reviews)
    3.4 mi
    $

    I've had their birria tacos before and they were good so, today after a long day I ordered their…read moreregular carne asada tacos and one chicken asada taco and they were TERRIBLE. Save your money and order something else from their menu, like their birria. I ended up getting birria tacos instead. The service was not the greatest, a little attitude and not customer friendly. I hope they do better in their new location.

    I believe they have new management team and food is way better than before. The prices are pretty…read moreinexpensive, I got Asada Burrito with extra meat with tax and tip total up $19.19. Got this to go and it's about a 30 minutes walk back home and it was still warm. Yes, I can get a burrito from Chipotle but it's not close by me and ordering delivery would be double of what I paid here. The burrito was hefty, I could only finish half and saved the rest for next day for lunch. The meat were juicy, not dry and full of flavors. Comes with rice, beans and pico de gallo. I get a bag of cheese from Ralphs to do the modification of having a crispy cheese crust and that made the burrito into a 9.2 out of 10. (see pic) Overall, I'm glad this place isn't cash only anymore and the food is much better than before. Definately coming back when I'm craving a burrito or carne asada fries. (Yes, I know there are way better ones in Buena Park and Santa Ana but I don't live near there nor want to be stuck in traffic again) This place will do for now.

    Photos
    Adolfo's Mexican Food - Salsa

    Salsa

    Adolfo's Mexican Food - Salsa Bar

    Salsa Bar

    Adolfo's Mexican Food - Carne asada fries

    See all

    Carne asada fries

    Sol Agave

    Sol Agave

    4.4(2.1k reviews)
    3.4 mi
    $$
    Romantic vibe
    Fine dining

    We had a wonderful dining experience at Sol Agave today. This place is so so good. Carima, the…read morelovely hostess sat us at a nice table in the outdoor patio area. Bruno was our amazing server assisted by Milton and Eliezer. All three of them were stellar in the customer service, professionalism and kindness. We started with margaritas which were so good and yes, the chips, salsa and bean dip were delicious as well. My wife ordered the Chili Colorado and I have the premium steak fajitas. The food is amazing. The manager Benjamin stopped by and introduced himself and wanted to check on customer satisfaction as well. Amazing service here at Sol Agave. Milton followed up regarding a potential for dessert and my wife ordered the tres leches cake to go. The best Mexican food around and a nice ambiance with authentic dishes and background music. Highly recommended

    Came with a very big lunch party, so 20 of us. Just one waiter…read more This is my first time here, so very impressed with the non traditional decor, it was very modern and it's quite large inside. We all ordered drinks and food same time. Drinks came first! The food took 40 minutes, so thinking it had to be good! And it was! Very fresh and clean tasting. Chips are served with salsa and refried beans super delicious! The only thing I didn't like was that the ceilings are high and not sound protected so it's very noisy and echoes. We had to yell at each other for conversation. The service was really nice and friendly. Also, it's pricey, worth it, but pricey!

    Photos
    Sol Agave - Our Famous Carnitas and Avocado Toast

    Our Famous Carnitas and Avocado Toast

    Sol Agave - Steak Calamari

    Steak Calamari

    Sol Agave - Chilean Sea Bass

    See all

    Chilean Sea Bass

    Chelas Mexican Kitchen - mexican - Updated September 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...