First time at Chelas. We had a Ribeye Burrito and a Chelas Burrito to go. The food was ready when I arrived and I added an additional item and was advised it would be no problem. The food was fresh and authentic, with great flavor and the salsas were excellent as well. Great new spot, great value and wonderful food and service! read more

Salad, tacos, breakfast burritos... all amazing! This place has great prices and amazing food!

I ordered the shrimp salad and was blown away by the size of the shrimp and the salad itself! It was huge and delicious! I will definitely try other offerings soon. read more

I typically dont write reviews but I felt compelled to do so given the experience I just had. My wife called in an order to go for pickup (they wouldn't take payment over phone and there is no way to order online) When I arrived the line for the register was very long. Unfortunately there's not a to-go pickup line so I had to wait to pay/pickup which was lengthy given the fact they only had 1 person at the register (looked like 2 registers were available). While not ideal certainly understandable given the current employment environment. What's far from ideal is the chicken salad I received (see attached image). The amount of lettuce, chicken and additional toppings were meager not to mention the two slivers of avocado were beyond ripe. For $13.50 I would expect something much more substantial and fresh. The other thing that I found sneaky was how they advertise at the register a 4% DISCOUNT if you pay by cash. They actually CHARGE an additional 4% transaction fee if you use CC. The menu price assumes you pay cash. The restaurant is not cheap and there's several options for Mexican food in the area. For them to survive they will need to step up their game! read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Chelas Chicken Salad - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

Came here for taco Tuesday as I have heard this place was great in another location. It was not overly crowded but looked like alit if online orders because the wait was a little longer than expected. My hubby and I ordered 2 carnitas tacos (2 for $5.50) Tuesday rate and the carne asada burrito wet which was $14.99 all the food was good and I will come back again. Has seating inside and out added plus. read more

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I've been a patron of their old location in Laguna Niguel for 10 years and everything on the menu is delicious and authentic so I was excited when they moved closer to my house in San Clemente. They have expanded their menu and always have off the menu specials to keep things fresh and today I just did that and ordered the Chile Verde Wet Burrito and added two fried eggs on top. It was amazing and now I've found my new favorite!! You can choose any protein but I did mine with the carnitas. Definitely recommend this place! read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Chile Verde Wet Burrito. - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

Chela's is such an amazing spot for authentic Mexican food. They have great deals on Tuesday's & Thursday's, and their food is always so fresh and tasty. Jose always offers such great service and we love going there! read more

Food good overall. Service? Ordered 8 fish tacos they gave me 4. Went back in for the rest of the order and they gave me 2 more. At that point I went home short. read more

4.5 stars Had the pork wet burrito and it was delicious. Pork were mostly in cubes and would have preferred more shredded pieces. Sauce was amazing. Tortilla perfect. Chips were ok. Great place. read more

There is no shortage of Mexican restaurants in San Clemente - so every time a new one pops up the question is: what separates them from the rest? My first visit to Chela's did not disappoint. Casual dining or take away that is good and reasonably priced. So far I've only had their signature dish - rib eye tacos. The meal comes with two large (for street style tacos) tacos with great flavor, although I added some Cholula for a little heat and rice (flavorful but nothing special) and beans (creamy but in need of a little more of a flavor kick) and chips (fresh and ready for salsa, which wasn't included). The place is clean and friendly and is in a quiet spot near Starbucks off Pico. I'll be back to try some more dishes! read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Rib eye taco plate. They offer Pepsi products and Mexican Coke in bottles so BYO Coca Cola product if you are like me! - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

Excellent! I went 2 days straight lol. I had a chicken fajita burrito yesterday, not pictured, and today, I had a shrimp taco. The chicken fajita burrito was good, tender crunchy chunks of peppers. The chicken was moist. The shrimp taco was tasty too! The sauce on there like a spicy chipotle mayo sauce and I loved the crunch with the lettuce. The taco was hugeeee, I only bought one since I had other food. I had to split the taco into two, which is a life hack lol. Both times, I came during lunch hour after 12:30p. It was really busy one day and not too busy the next. Service both times were great, 10,I wasn't waiting that long during the busy day and someone was always checking in on me and my order. Cashiers were really friendly. Pro Tip: 4% charge on card, FYI. Every order comes with chips and salsa. Taco has 2 tortillas so with how much filling is in one, you can make 2 lmao. read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Shrimp taco - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Had amazing tacos and the nachos were great. The service was quick and everyone was so kind. Highly recommend!!

Really good food, have not ate there but it's extremely good. They have a really good Quesadilla and burritos.

I love coming to Chelas! Huge shoutout to Talia who was the face of the restaurant up at the front who is always so kind, calm, friendly and patient with my indecisiveness. She always answered all my questions and provided excellent customer service! Another huge shoutout for Julio - truly an awesome, hard working, knowledgeable, funny and caring team member who truly goes above and beyond to provide the best customer service. He always listens and recommends items that I'm looking for, accommodates any special requests with my orders, and makes me feel like family by greeting me everytime! Although I have yet to speak with the owner, I know he is always working hard and creates an awesome ambiance and menu. Chelas is a cute, local spot with awesome food! I highly recommend the fish tacos and carne asada French fries. We also enjoyed the carne tacos, chicken and pork tacos. read more

I'm a regular here and TacoTuesday is when I devour the excellent Crispy Chicken Tacos! The chicken and taco is prepared to perfection. My family loves their burritos. Can't go wrong with anything on their menu plus the service is outstanding! read more

I Food here is great! I love their variety of sauces, and the crispy tacos are my favorite menu item here! Prices and portions are fair and the food is made to order quickly. Very nice space, ideal to go as well. Great option for the area! read more

We ordered a pretty large order for my work (about 18 items). We placed it to be picked up at 12. The order was nearly 30 minutes late--they were very busy so understandable. When we got the bags we were trying to verify we received everything. Manager came over to review and looked like we were missing 1 salad. Get back to the office and we were actually missing 2 salads. My coworker calls in and a lady answered. She argued with my coworker saying we were not missing any items and that they already gave us "a free salad". Which it wasn't a free salad. It was a missing salad we paid for. She refused to help us. Or get a manager to help. The manager counted 6 salads while we were there. Our receipt showed 7. The lady would only let us purchase another salad which we weren't going to do since we paid for it. $300 order with a $40 tip and that's the service we get? Ridiculous. read more

The burrito I ordered was the bbq. It was very large. I couldn't eat the whole thing and it tasted really good.

Disgusting blob of pure fat that took up most of my carnitas taco that wasn't cheap either. 2 stars bc at least the other taco was OK but So disappointing! read more

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Anytime we come in here the service is amazing. Staff is friendly and on point! Anything we eat is delicious! Also can't beat their chips and salsa! read more

Chela's is a terrific place to find authentic Mexican food. Hamed the store manager always brings his smile and positive vibe to your dining experience. Although a small place there's comfortable indoor seating with fresh flowers on each table. Theres also outdoor tables. Try the breakfast omelette which can easily feed two or maybe the popular rib eye burrito. The chips and salsa are made in house and are tasty. Give it a try when looking for a quick spot to grab a meal. read more

Absolutely delicious food here at Chela's Mexican Kitchen. The green sauce on the enchilada was so good. We live about 20 minutes away, but worth the drive to eat their amazing food. read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Shrimp enchilada with rice & beans. - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

We were told to try Chelas and glad we did. Staff was very friendly, outdoor area was clean but OfCourse it's all about the food. Adobado tacos, tri tip tacos and green chili enchiladas were amazing and loved the price too! read more

The burrito's are the Bomb and the salsa's are really good actually everything. Not much seating

We drive out our way in San Clemente because of the awesome reviews. We were ready to try somewhere new and we weren't disappointed. We ordered a chicken taco, potato tacos, and a carnitas burrito. Everything was delicious, the burrito had large flavorful chunks of carnitas and was loaded with guacamole. Both tacos were tasty hot and had fresh ingredients. The service was friendly and our order came pretty quick. We will definitely visit Chelas again next time in SC. read more

OUTSTANDING FOOD AND SERVICE! It was about time that we had a new restaurant/Mexican food back in the Talega area. If you have been searching for a place with good street tacos in San Clemente, and haven't found much luck, This is a great place to go! My partner and I walked in one night pretty close to closing. The staff was very kind and welcoming and cooked our food fast but of quality. I am a huge fan of street tacos, but I haven't found any places nearby that offer a more caramelized flavor to their meat until now. The chefs at chela's offer the most delicious street tacos I've had here in Sc. All the ingredients were extremely fresh and had, delicious flavors and seasonings. I will definitely be coming back this week! read more

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Bomb and fresh always Always good quality Good atmosphere Nice employees and service read more

Absolutely amazing. such a beautiful place and lovely ambiance! the Food was amazing and the se vice was great! i needed GF options and they were awesome! read more

Excellent experience. Really fresh and tasty. We hit taco Tuesday so we tried the carnitas and potato tacos. We also tried one of the bowls. All of it was excellent! read more

Went in on 1/6 for dinner takeout - Wish I remembered the cashiers name but he was very positive and helpful with the menu as I had a few questions. Food was great and the value was 100% there will be back again! read more

The tortilla chips are horrible. The oil was so old and disgusting. Never coming back here again. Going for my money back. This is just horrendous. read more

We got the crispy tacos, burritos(wet and bean&cheese), chips and guacamole and everything was so good. Chips were really good and you can always tell if a Mexican restaurant will be good by the kind of chips they use. Service was good and everything was great. We'd totally go back read more

My breakfast burrito prayers have been answered!! The Chela MVP is my new favorite breakfast burrito! Oh and we tried the 1925 Don Ole, which was insane! Both are huge and we will be eating them all day. The salsa are great too. The spicy is very spicy and I am a spice person. The green salsa is a must. Just delicious all around. This will be our new go to spot. Can't wait to try more things on the menu. read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Chela MVP - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Starting this review to set the stage - I'm from San Diego and we're very spoiled with amazing Mexican food on every corner. When I moved to Orange County 8 years ago I quickly realized quality Mexican food was few and far between. I'm here to say THANK YOU CHELAS MEXICAN KITCHEN FOR BEING AN ORANGE COUNTY MEXICAN RESTURANT WITH SAN DIEGO MEXICAN FOOD QUALITY I got the street tacos which were delicious and so fresh. Then for the ultimate test we got breakfast burritos and it passed the test with flying colors. It tasted like home. I am one happy camper!! read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

Service here is much worse than the food. I am never coming back and I do not recommend anyone eat here.

Good quality - good portions! No booze yet.. A lil pricey. Had the Gringa Tacos con carnitas. Pretty solid. read more

Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Ambience: 3/5 (This review is based on one meal, so it's really sort of a "first impressions" kind of thing.) Chelas opened earlier this year in the spot previously occupied by Mint Café. I was pretty disappointed when that happened, because, let's face it, San Clemente isn't exactly in dire need of more Mexican food. What I should've asked myself, though, is whether or not we need more *excellent* Mexican food. Of course we do! I finally got to try out Chelas recently. Like Mint Café, it's an order-at-the-counter establishment. Now, I am a table-service kinda guy, and during the pandemic I had more than my fill of drive-up and walk-up ordering. But, I stepped right up to order without waiting, and Chelas delivers your meal to your table, so really this is the next best thing. I got the "crispy chicken tacos" (a slight misnomer, as it's the shell--not the chicken--that's fried). Before I tell you how that was, a quick editorial comment: TACOS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE CRISPY SHELLS. That's what makes them tacos. If you want a "soft taco", then what you *actually* want is a "tiny burrito". If you want a "vegetarian soft taco", then what you really want is a "tofu wrap". Let's get it straight people! My order came with two generously-sized tacos, rice, and refried beans. I don't care for refried beans, so I just got extra rice instead. I also got a couple of tubs of their chipotle salsa. The rice was good, though a bit bland; the salsa was flavorful and mildly spicy, which is exactly how I like it. The tacos were, in a word, muy bueno (OK, sure, that's two words). The shredded chicken was perfectly prepared; the lettuce and cheese were very fresh. The portions were large enough that I was satisfied, which is saying something. Service was prompt and very friendly and helpful. The restrooms were clean and well-maintained. Soft drink refills are free and self-service. (I wish they didn't use plastic cups, for the sake of the environment. But at least I only have to use one, which I typically keep using the rest of the day.) I prefer Chelas to much more expensive establishments, such as Casa del Sol. (Needless to say, I also prefer it to less expensive spots, such as my go-to fast-food Mexican take-out, Del Taco.) Next time you're in the mood for a taco or burrito or other Mexican food staple (and surely that will be soon), take the road less traveled and try Chelas. read more

Found this place by mistake when we were looking for Lowe's. It's kind of in the back, so you would never see it from some of the streets. There are tables outside. Nice and relaxing with a nice breeze. The food was excellent. The taquitos did not disappoint. They were stuffed full of chicken and beef. My husband had the burrito and said it was delicious. We sampled the mild and the medium salsa. The mild one is green and has the best flavor. It's really one of the best salsas I've ever had. He liked the medium salsa. It was a red salsa. He said it's better than mine. He's currently walking home. We opted for the big bag of chips so we could take some home to the kids. Their chips are excellent. Would definitely buy them for parties or weekends if we lived closer. The service was great. According to my receipt, Scott took our order. He was pleasant and smiled. More importantly, he was patient while we looked through the menu, ordered, and picked our salsas. We will most definitely be back when we're in the area. My daughter is vegetarian, and we see they have potato tacos. Can't wait to try those next time. read more

Chelas Mexican Kitchen - Taquitos chicken & Beef - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - San Clemente, California

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This place was nothing special. It was clean and the staff was cool. The food though, I was disappointed after reading all the reviews. Thought it was going to be great. Burrito had no flavor, the salsa wasn't spicy nor flavorful either. My wife got the chicken, Rice and bean plate and it wasn't good. The only thing that had flavor that I got from here was the bottled Coca Cola lol. Other than that, food was not good nor flavorful, all these people raving about it being good obviously haven't had REAL Mexican food lol then again we are in south OC where these people aren't used to seasoning their food LOL 2 stars for nice staff and clean establishment. read more

Great food, lots of specials everyday, nice people working there and a comfortable atmosphere!