I love the atmosphere and how my burrito looked but it was served cold which was a downer for me. read more

El Chupacabra - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Great food, great service, great view. Go see Lacey, Jenn, Lesley, Shown, Drew, Sean and everyone else that I didn't mention. U rock! read more

El Chupacabra - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Not sure why this is 3.5 stars. One of my favorite mexican food places in the seattle area. Vegetarian options so on point and the salsas are amazing. Went on a Tuesday for lunch and I split a bean dip and got a taco salad, my brother got shrimp tacos. Both made us leave happy. read more

I've been to (I think) 3 locations of El Chupacabra. They're all just kind of, meh. There isn't really anything standout about their food or their prices. I guess it's kind of nice that, as a vegan, you can order nachos or whatever dish you like with vegan cheese. There are other places with better prices and general fare, though, where you can get vegan nachos. The biggest saving grace for this location of El Chupacabra is Alki. How can experience not be a great one when Alki beach is right out the window? If you're on Alki and looking for Mexican, El Chupacabra just may be up your alley. read more

I want to start by saying this has nothing to do with their COVID restrictions, and more about the establishment. Let's start with the first few times we have ordered take out. Neither phone or online orders tell you to walk inside to the bar for pick up. When they do direct you inside everyone will literally avoid any eye contact with you. Then finally someone will eventually ask you if you have an online order only after the entire staff has walked past you. I once walked in with juices from next store (straws still covered) standing at the pick up table. A waitress rudely tells us we can't walk in with outside food or drinks which is completely understandable so no fault to her on that part. After I tell her I'm there for a Togo order. She looks at my order (which happens to be the only one on the table) then walks away which I'm assuming meant it wasn't ready. The bartender kindly ask for my name and guess who's order it was? Yup, mine. She makes an excuse for the waitress, but that's cool whatever. Let's move on to how it $2.50 for a scoop of vegan sour cream only to get home and it not be there. On multiple occasions. What's a chimichanga without cream?? . Or how I order chips and guac and get home to see what I think is the salsa is actually my guac. If you look at the photo below. This is an online order placed on two separate days for the same thing, but in two different sizes ‍. I have the left one covered because it doesn't look the best but there is guac under there. The first thing yelp ask is to be considerate in these times. Which they should understand it's a privilege for my family to even afford to eat out. This isn't what I spend $50 on a to go order before tip for two people should look like. I'm not asking for a red carpet event, but my 6 year old even notices some of the staffs ill mannered behavior. For the price point and how hit or miss this location is here I believe I'm leaving a fair rating. read more

El Chupacabra - The same "Chips and Guac" order on two different days. - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Nice spot with the water front view of Alki beach. Food is not tasty. Burrito was cold. I think the red sauce was cold and they. Just poured it on the top of burrito. Chips were poor quality but salsa was decent. read more

El Chupacabra - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Solid Mexican food, cool vibe inside, cleanish bathrooms, casual efficient service. I would recommend

As a picky Southwest native, I've been searching for two years for good Mexican food. I'm thinking this might be the closest in the Pacific Northwest. We really like it here. It's divey, it has good food, AND it's on Alki. Black beans seem to be a real thing here of which I'm not a fan personally (especially refried), but El Chupacabra makes it work. I enjoy the chimi with carne asada "wet/red". read more

Got a chicken quesadilla, greasy but good! The seagulls loved it so i'll give it a 10/10

Always been pretty good used to be a lot more dog friendly. I got three orders of tacos yesterday none of the tortillas were grilled or put on the flat top just literally straight out of the bag that kind of sucked, also I got them to go the meat should've been strained because by the time I got home the tortillas were just wet falling apart piece of shit, I never understand why places have to rush when I'm literally the only person in the restaurant. Won't be ordering again. read more

Food and service was great and huge portions. Bathrooms obviously get a lot of use though. read more

El Chupacabra - Wet burrito - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I will never recommend any one visit this bar. I had a horrible experience with a disgusting bartender. From right off of the bat she was rude, angry, unwelcoming, and disrespectful. I absolutely was appalled by the negativity she projected to me. I hope that the owner or a management can do some thing about her. She is white, approximately in her 20s, short brown hair etc. Just to clarify, I did not intentionally do any thing wrong. I did not go out of my way to ruin her shift, or make unruly demands. read more

I effing love this little spot! The food is REALLY good, the staff are fun, and the view is amazing. It's a great fun bar environment. Customer base is eclectic but kinda on the rough side the later it gets. Service was fast. It's kinda pricey but it was good enough not to be upset about it. The only negative I'd say is the bathroom was an absolute mess. But there is a sign that says "enter at your own risk" lol read more

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This is the first negative review I've ever written. I always tip over 20% and am rarely bothered by poor service. It takes a lot for me to decide to not go somewhere again because of the service. In fact, I can't think of anywhere else I've made that decision. But I did today. I went to El Chupacabra for the third time in two weeks today. Being from Texas, I appreciate a good burrito. Being from Austin, I really dug the vibe, too. I live just around the corner, work from my home office, and was really looking forward to getting lunch at least once a week outside there and bringing other Seattle folks to a good burrito joint and bar. There's the sign that you see often at places like this. The sign that says to seat yourself. So I did that. There were three other tables with drinks and/or food, so I figured someone would be out soon. It was a bit longer of a wait than I would have hoped, but then someone showed up. And then he went back inside without heading to my table. Cool. Whatever. His hands were full, maybe he'll be back in a minute. After quite a bit longer, another table came, he came out, asked for their orders and went back inside. He then came back out and brought drinks and chips for the other table before heading back inside for the third time. Each of these three times he came out, we made eye contact and he never came over to get my order. Then he came out for a fourth time to take someone else's order. And that's when I left. I had made eye contact with him the first three trips outside and, for whatever reason, he passed up serving me. I just don't have an interest in going again after that. If you don't care about service, cool. But if you're not one for shitty service, know you might get it there. If you're wondering, this guy was the one wearing a beanie that looked like a slightly unwrapped condom...I guess he's into that sort of thing, whatever that sort of thing might be. So if he's working, maybe it's a good idea to pass that day. If he gets fired, let me know, maybe I'll show up again. read more

Usually in a place with slow, disorganized service, things get better when the food arrives. Not so at Chupacabra. It got worse once the food arrived. Bad food, weird flavors in the cocktail mixes, way too much noise and really, the food was not the least bit good. Grrr. I live near the restaurant and was looking forward to a fun place to eat or get takeout in the neighborhood. The guacamole was fine. That's the best I can say. read more

So apparently (according to yelp reviewers) Chupacabra needs to be the parent that parents cant handle being. It's got a bar environment with loud gangster rap and metal on the jukebox and a loud (but awesome) staff, and you send your children to the restrooms in that environment and are freaked out about the non-pornagraphic, non-titalating, HILARIOUS photos of naked folk on the bathroom walls? Sounds like the problem here is with your parenting, not this business. I know that parents have a hard time imagining a world that doesn't revolve around pleasing them and their children (omg you dont have a booster seat? no kids menu? what kind of business are you!?!) but there is a whole demographic of people who LOVE not putting up with you or your obnoxious children when we go out to grab some food and drink, and chupa is the perfect place for that. The food is rad, the drinks are way too cheap (and strong!) and the staff is worth getting to know (you know, instead of just being a pompous douchebag to). At least half of the negative reviews on here can be chalked up to conservative religious folk who think the human body is obscene and are terrified that their kids would be exposed to such evil. So here's a solution: let me and mine have chupa all to ourselves (promise you we can keep it in business on our own) and you entitled families can catch Cactus down the street. They're all about corporate restaurant ass-kissing-to-keep-your-business. Oh, and work on being a better parent. read more

I have been here several times and the service has always been mediocre. The last time I went here was about a year ago. There were two other tables in the restaurant (so basically empty). We waited 45 minutes for two meals before asking the waitress who never came by where our food was. She blamed it on the kitchen and wandered off. 30 minutes later, I had to go over to the kitchen where she was talking to the chef and ask where our food was. She said they had lost the ticket and that they needed to get our order again. 15 minutes later we had our food. When she dropped off the check she was so nice and made a lot of small talk. This was basically the only time we had seen her throughout the meal (other than when she brought us our shitty drinks). Since we had the feeling the only reason she was being nice was to save what was left of her tip, we were very upset. We asked for the manager. She said they weren't there and walked off. We have not been back there since and refuse to go when our friends suggest it as a possible place to eat (which happens all the time when we are in w. seattle.) Decent food but horrible, horrible service. We will never eat here again and tell all of our friends the experience we had. read more

They have the best fish tacos here ever! It must be the cream sauce. It's the perfect mix of spicy and yum. We ordered the beer battered fish taco meal without cabbage & onions. The batter wasn't over the top greasy. And it came with a good amount of fish. Our waiter was seriously the coolest guy ever. The only thing is that they need to do better on the chips. They are the kind you buy at the grocery store and are so not Mexican nor good. And, the place needs better heating. By the end of the night everyone was freezing. And each time someone opened the door the cold breeze made us even more cold. read more

Worst customer service experience of my life. It's a bright, sunny afternoon in Downtown West Seattle. It's our first time to Alkai Beach. We stopped in because it looked busy and bustling. Finding two spots at the bar, and discovering they served food at the bar, we sat, ready to eat and drink. The bartenders were busy. Sitting in a seat which had not been wiped up, I grabbed a bar rag to wipe our spot. Out of nowhere a bar back appeared, thin with spiky brown hair, and yanked the rag out of my hand, yelling FUCK! I was startled, and asked what the problem was. He put his finger in my face and yelled "That's not yours!!" I was, of course, taken aback. I asked to see the manager and was told she was too busy. When I tried to explain to the bartender what happened, the bar back became even more aggressive. We elected not to be subject to his abuse and left. I will never spend a dime in a place who hires such angry and violent people to handle guests. I look forward to telling this story to my friends, who are fervent foodies. read more

Here on my 47th Birthday and love it! Wait staff is awesome! Environment is busy my great! My kinda people!

Finally came here last night for the first time, and I can dig it. My friend and I came here for a few drinks last night and ended up grabbing some food which was good. Got a little rowdy, which isn't bad ;) but if you're looking for a place with a more romantic setting on Alki, this probably ain't the place you want to go to. Metallica and old school rock blasting all night was awesome, but made it a little hard to hear and have a conversation. The waitress we had was awesome too, and very friendly. This place definitely is aimed at a younger crowd, I had a lot of fun here though, and definitely will be returning! read more

Decided to stop in today after seeing the crowds of people who frequent the place. I mean, all those people- the place had better be great. WRONG. I'm so disappointed witht this place it made me write my first review in YELP. It was about 3pm in the afternoon when we paid this restaurant a visit. We figure it's not lunch rush or dinner rush so we shouldn't be fighting a crowd or long waits. Nobody greeted us when we walked in so my husband asked if we should seat ourselves and a server nodded to go ahead. Our server busied herself seating other guests and taking their orders..guests who by the way, arrived after we did. It took her at least 20 minutes to finally take our order. We were perturbed but ordered anyway. We ordered the Carne Asada soft tacos, Pork Quesadilla, Chicen Taco salad and for starters some chips. Our table was located where we can see the food coming out of the kitchen and as the clocked ticked away, our food was drying up under the heat lamps and everyone else around us was getting their chips and salsa. Finally our server checked on our food and when she placed them on our table I asked for the chips and she was apologetic they never came but this after waiting 20 minutes to place our order, another 20 minutes watching our food dry up under the heat lamp we were ready to leave honestly. But fine..we'll stay we're already there and wasted 40 minutes of our time anyway. The food was okay. The best dish was probably the taco salad since it didn't sit under the heat lamps forever. The salsa had a nice kick to it. Stay away from the carne asada steak, it was dry. The pulled pork quesadillas shared it's fate with the steak tacos- dry and the cheese had hardened already by the time we got it. We eventually got our chips by the way. The server only checked on us once. We tried to get her attention by raising our hand but she never seemed to look our direction..or maybe she was too busy taking shots at the bar (which we witnessed so not making it up). By the time my husband finally got her attention, we had to ask for everything we needed all at once lest we don't get her attention again. We left a decent tip..we're always good tippers no matter what. But we knew we would never come back to this place. We'd have enjoyed this place if the service was better but for sure the poor service plus so-so food made for a mediocre joint. It's definitely a bar bar..with the menu an afterthought food to go with your drinks. read more

Solid 3.5, but let's round up to 4. Altogether decent food, and CHEAP draft beer! Fish tacos are kind like a lame-d down version of So Cal fish tacos, flash fried cod with cabbage and sauce. Tasty. It's a certain style of fish taco done fairly well, it's not El Camion or anything, but flavorful and crunchy nonetheless. 3 for $6.99. Beeeer: Yes. Elysian Seasonal you say? Happy Hour (think 4-6) beer is $2.75 ($3 with tax). C'mon people, where else are you finding amazing local selection of draft and seasonals for $2.75, huh? Nowhere, that's where. Oh, right: here. Guac was decent, chips were decent, I mean, it's so middle of the line it's not even funny. Snappy service, especially for the 4th of July, nice deck seating and people watching. What gets me here is the price, it's really, really reasonable for being tasty and one the beach, Happy Hour settles the 4 end of the 3.5. Thanks for listening!!! read more

I have only eaten at the Alki location once so far but I am so glad they are here. The phinney location has long been on my top ten hangout locations. I love the pineapple chipotle salsa - I have had so many good times at that location that I am just glad they followed me down to Alki. This is kind of a Punk/Rock Musician Mexican bar. I dig the burritos with plenty of salsa. Please note - If you are not a fan of Iron Maiden with your Tacos and PBR- You might prefer Cactus. If you don't mind piercings tattoos and being served by someone who looks like they play guitar in a metal band...then this place is it. The food is good. I love the Jukebox and the staff kicks ass... I think they are going to kill it this summer...if summer ever gets here. I think this place compliments Alki nicely. read more

This place was awesome! Fish tacos were amazing! Tasted so fresh! They must have just pulled them out of the water 5 hours prior. I would definitely recommend to stop if your strolling around through Alki! read more

The staff is rude, and the manager was the most unprofessional person I have even encountered. Our food was auctioned off, they did not know what some of the food items were, and they even tossed a few plates on the table then walked away. This place also takes hypersensitivity to a new level as we were accused of making an inappropriate comment in a member of the staffs presence. I can't tell you how the food was, because our party of 8 persons walked off. read more

Stopped in to warm up as we are on the bike today and it's pretty fridged cold. Had their Bloody Mary, decent and a couple cups of coffee to warm the hands service was good as it got busy after about 15 minutes of hanging out. The company we were with had food looked great. Have to eat next time. But the waitress was attentive and pleasant. read more

I was a bit concerned when I read the less-than-spectacular reviews, but given most of those were when they just opened I decided to still give this place a spin. I have been going to the Phinney Ridge location for years, and my only problem was that the space is too small and crowded. After going to the West Seattle location, I definitely felt more comfortable in a much more open space - with actual booths instead of tiny tables mashed together. Now, some people may be into that and hence why El Chup is so popular - but not me. The main concerns I have read on the earlier reviews seemed to have been taken care of. We got there a bit early on Saturday, but at a time when the Phinney Ridge location would have been packed. The music was not loud at all, the food was excellent, and the servers were very attentive. My house margarita was just as good as I expected it to be. I hate to give this a good review just because I don't want it to get as crowded every night, but I do want people to give it another chance now that most of the kinks have been ironed out. Oh, and be sure to look at the collages in the bathrooms! (don't bring the kids though) read more

This was the 2nd time we've been. The food was not as good as the first time and it took forever to arrive. Granted it was a Friday night at 7:30 and they're still working out some kinks so I'll cut them some slack. But what totally killed it for me was the insanely LOUD head banger heavy metal music that made it impossible to have a conversation or even just sit and relax and enjoy my meal. I looked around and didn't see many head-banger type people except for the bartenders who seemed to be picking the music and the volumn. If this was bar, then I get it. But this is a restaurant so having to sit there and listen to that crap didn't seem to fit. By the end of our meal I honestly had a headache. Really bummed because I had high hopes, not sure we'll go back. read more

I ate here last night and was extremely disappointed. I have been to the El Chupacabra on Phinney Ridge a number of times and have always left feeling happy and satisfied with both the food and the service! Last night I was with friends celebrating my roommate's birthday...we arrived at 7pm and were seated outside within 10 minutes. When we sat down we asked someone to bring us some chips, salsa, and guac...not everyone from our group had arrived yet so we were fine just casually looking at the menus and hanging out. It was probably 30 minutes that went by and we still had no chips, and nobody had even checked on us. The last member of our group had arrived so we squished seven people around one of the 4 top tables by the sidewalk/fence....when the waitress finally came over to take our order we asked if it would be alright if we merged our table and the one next to ours where another family was leaving. She said that was fine but she didn't stay to help us or to take our order, by the time we were all settled in our seats again, it probably took her another 12-15 minutes to come back and actually take our order. We finally got baskets of chips and salsa/guac but nobody ever offered us waters or asked us how we were doing with our beverages that we had to go get on our own at the bar. And it was a hot day!! When the food finally arrived, she brought the three taco salads first...and then we waited for about 8 minutes to get the rest of our meals. When she thought she had served everyone she looked around and asked "what am I missing?" Umm...I'm missing my burrito...my whole meal. When I reminded her what I had ordered she looked at me with an expression that made me worry that she had completely forgot about it. I also asked for my burrito with no sour cream, so of course, what shows up with my burrito? Sour cream. And the whole plate was lukewarm at best. But by that time I was so hungry that I didn't care and my food was gone within minutes. Then one of the girls was trying to head out, so she asked if she could pay her portion of the meal. Sure, no problem. The waitress brought the entire check and just told the girl to let her know how much she wanted on her card. This whole process, as usual, was taking forever, so when we were waiting to get the leftover portion of the bill for the rest of us to split, we asked the busboy if he could take it back for us and bring us the revised bill and he says, "umm...you might wanna ask your server...I'm just a busboy..." Seriously?? So I asked him if he could send her out here and he says "which one is she?" Again, really?? There were two servers for the whole restaurant, you can't figure out which one she is on your own so you don't look like an idiot?? We chose the alki location of this restaurant because it was supposed to be a nice day and it's across from the beach, but I will never go there again. The good view does not make up for the terrible service. And I honestly enjoyed the food more at the Phinney Ridge location. So disappointed. read more

This West Seattle beachfront Mexican restaurant and bar is definitely worth the stop! Our party of 6 was seated promptly on holiday and the service was excellent. We all enjoyed our meals thoroughly - the al pastor and refried beans are definitely recommended. read more

My wife and I are both veggie and love the food here (it all can be made veggie/vegan!) The homemade sauces are great. For my money, they have the best Chimichanga in Seattle. Music can be too loud, but it's a dive bar so that probably means I'm getting older more than anything. read more

Cool place across the water in Alki. The house margarita was simple and really good. We had the grilled cod tacos and the beer battered fish tacos. They were both good, but between the two, the beer battered fish tacos are da bomb. We went there for late lunch so it was quiet and the service was quick. read more

Busy restaurant right on Alki beach. Love this place the environment is Sublime meets Mexican Streetfood with a great view of the Puget Sound and great service for such a busy place. The Chimichanga was outstanding with fresh guac and crem fresh. Yummmmm. Great place for beach food and a laidback chill vibe. read more

El Chupacabra - Holy Chimichanga! - Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I have been majorly slacking in the review department, whoops! So anyway, I visited El Chupacabra last weekend and I've gotta say it wasn't my favorite. While the view of Alki is pretty nice, the food left much to be desired, the service was slow (my friend waited over and hour and 3 different visits by the waitress before he got his margarita), parking was a nightmare, and it was kind of dirty. I ordered a veggie burrito that had no flavor and just looked like a bunch of slop shoved into a tortilla and topped with hard, unripened avocados. One friend I was with got a torta with the same avocados and the bread was so hard she couldn't eat it. Also kinda gross is the bottled hot sauce that they have sitting outside in the sun and ran and weather- they were all dirty and totally unappetizing. I think I would probably try other places around the beach before going back. read more

Smothered red sauce. just in everything. was it good? hell yes. or maybe it was the Tecate beer talking i don't know. Whenever I go to West Seattle, my hubby and I make a a pilgrimage to always go to El Chupacabra. The beers are cheap and the bartenders are entertaining. Looks like a dive bar the moment you walk in. We always order chips and salsa which is the staple for us, then we ordered 'the basic' burrito smothered. It comes out with this red sauce which was not even spicy at all but soooo good. I wanted to bath in it and take it home with me. I reminded me of the Mexican food when I was back in Los Angeles (yes it was almost that good). Like I said it could beer the Tecate beer talking... read more

Went here on a late Saturday afternoon & was pleasantly surprised. It is hard to find a restaurant open on a late Saturday afternoon that has good food. Food: We started off with chips, salsa, & guacamole. All yummy. Entrees: I had the veggie tacos & hubby had the pork. Both portion sizes were great & quite delicious. I was so glad my veggie tacos did not have frozen veggies mixed in with the rice, & they didn't over do the rice in the tacos....a nice balance. Drinks: I had a mango margarita & hubby had a light beer. I usually never have hard alcohol in the afternoon, but it seemed fitting & the server made a great one. Service: There was 1 guy seating, serving, & making the drinks. He was nice, on top of everything, really kickin butt. We never felt like we had to get his attention for something. Atmosphere: Fun! With a good, attentive server, good food & rockin music playing, we had a good time. I can see this place being super busy once the weather warms up. Did I mention the great prices??!! With all we enjoyed, our bill was under $30. *excellent* Overall, we really liked it & will be back! I'm glad we finally have a place on Alki we can go to....its been a long time comin'. read more

I have been here for lunch at least five or six times. The food is frankly awesome. Great vegetarian options, and good vegan awareness as well. I love the mock steak option in the chimichanga. The chimichanga is actually divine. Black beans, rice, pico and guac all on the side - heavenly. Burritos, veggie tacos, you name it, excellent. Here is my gripe though - it is freaking freezing in there. Granted I have only been at lunch time, and at night the body heat of a crowded bar probably does the heating. But seriously, it is a big problem. I keep considering not going there because I know I will have to eat all bundled up in my coat and still shivering. I recommend that they either turn the heat on, or else hand sweatshirts and hats out at the door. Or snuggies. If the food wasn't so bomb, I would never go back. But those chimichangas or calling my name... read more

I was pretty dissapointed with our experience yesterday at this restraunt. we came around 5 pm ish. it was full outside. we walked in and the server had us put our name on the list. we asked how long the wait might be, and she said "not long, your next on the list." well great! we stood for a minute, and saw a table for two open up outside. Instead of just bum rushing the table, we stood outside and politely waited for our name to be called. "keri" is what i wrote on the list. no one called, no one cleaned the table. Before my boyfriend and I knew it, an older woman and her friend walked right up from outside and took the table. they didnt even go inside to put their name on the list. my boyfriend and i were mad, we figured the server would have realized what happened. the server walked up to the woman, said something, and the woman walked inside. then the woman came back out and sat down. my boyfriend and i were upset. we decided to walk back in and let the server know what happened. i was shocked to see someone had blatantly crossed my name of the list! when i called a server over to explain what had happend, she said "oh we called the name Kerp. it looked like it said Kerp. thats probably why you didnt hear it" um wth? no server came outside and called ANYTHING. we were watching the door. i had just had a face to face conversation with a server about putting my name on the list, and i was standing next to the door outside. they gave my table to the other woman, and or the other woman crossed MY NAME off the list. it was BS. the server asked if i wanted to wait or eat inside, but after that horrible service, i figured i would take my business elsewhere... read more

I'm giving this place 3 stars for now. Hopefully it will improve and I can review it again later. We have been 4 times and they keep telling us they are "working out the kinks." It's a complicated place to review, since there are so many pros and so many cons. Pros: decent food & great drinks at great prices. It's a fun atmosphere, with one of the best patios/views on Alki. Cons: Sometimes the food is hot, sometimes it's cold. Music is WAY too loud, even though I like music. It would be nice to be able to have a conversation with people at your own table. Service is inconsistent. If you sit at the bar, you get great service. If you sit at a table, good luck getting the waitress' attention. Also, it would be nice if there were more variety on the juke box. I understand if you want to cater to one specific group of people, and Metal & rap are tolerable, but more music choices would keep more people there longer, spending more $. read more