La Capilla Mexican Restaurant, Torrance

La Capilla is a casual dining Mexican Restaurant with 3 locations: La Palma (a city near Knott’s Berry Farm), Huntington Beach, and the original location in downtown Torrance.  I would equate this to be similar to an El Torito, but its family owned, not a chain.  

This is one of Stephen’s favorite restaurant, so we came here with my parents to celebrate his birthday. We arrived on a Saturday night around 7:30 pm, and the place was busy.  We were fortunate to have one of the few remaining booths, as shortly after we were seated, the placed filled up completely.

As in many Mexican restaurants, they start you off with the warm chips and salsa… always a favorite, and easy to over consume before the meal.  The salsa they provide is chunky, with a little kick but not enough to say it was too spicy or hot.

For dinner, I decided on the bowl of menudo ($10.95) and a side order of chicken enchilada, a la carte ($3.95).  The bowl was much larger than I anticipated, and it was filled to the brim.  While an excellent value, it didn’t have any kick to it.  Of course, I had to add the oregano, chili flakes, lemon, cilantro and onions to garnish it, but I also had to add a spoonful of the salsa to flavor it with heat.

Garnish for the menudo

Menudo

Enchilada, a la carte (no beans or rice)

Stephen had the Enchiladas Tejanas, which was 2 enchiladas topped with chorizo (sausage), served with beans, rice, and corn ($12.25).  My mom had the Number 7: Chile Relleno and the signature beef taco ($11.95) and added a cup of soup for $1.00, while my dad ordered 2 enchiladas.

It was a lot of food, and we ended up boxing half of it to take home. Overall, dinner was good. Not excellent, as I have had better Mexican food elsewhere, but its comfort food for most taste buds.  The check came to roughly $65 with drinks.

Service, however, could have been better.  We had to ask for refills, even boxes for our food.  There was a discrepancy with the check, and the server looked baffled when we pointed out the error.  I had to tell him that he overcharged us an item, and he needs to take it away.  I think he was confused how an error could have happened on his watch, perhaps?

Enchilada Tejanas
Number 7

When I told the server it was Stephen’s birthday, I had to repeat myself three times (once in Spanish) to say “anything for a birthday boy”?  The staff did end up bringing a little flan, and sang Happy Birthday, which was all I wanted.  A bit frustrating, but it worked out in the end.

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