Cha! Cha! Cha!

Very spacious and fairly comfortable spot on Lombard. It only took me 8 years to try it. A sunny and modern restaurant. Not too much stands out in the way of décor. I was there with a friend for a private chat so we sat in the back corner (near a prepping station). It’s fairly busy on a Wednesday lunchtime — about half full.
I waited for my friend a while and in the meantime ate some chips and asked the waiter for his suggestion. The chips were delish, the salsa (or sauce) a but too hot for my liking. He suggested the burrito mole. It was quite superb. With a side of sour cream (way too small for my liking) and soe guacamole — this ended up being two meals for me. My friend ordered carnitas sopes. I forget what the heck it is, but I tried it and it was really good. We each had some sangria — he the white and I the red. Also very tasty and gave me a ovely afternoon buzz.
Ended up a productive and fun lunch with lots to talk about and good food to accompany! Mexican food is rarely my favorite — although there’s no doubt, I enjoy it. So wowing me is difficult and this place just may do that next over my next visits. But for now, a solid 3 with a promise to return.

I’ll start by saying that I never write online reviews. I’d rather not affect anyone’s business just because I didn’t like it. However this situation is far worse than just poor customer service. I’ve been to this place a bunch of times and never had anything like this happen before. I wanted to make a to go order so I walked up to the register and to the lady behind it said «hi, I want to make a to go order» she didn’t even look up to acknowledge me. She politely spoke to the ladies sitting at the counter right next to me. Then went and waited on some tables. I stood there thinking she was just busy and would come back for me. She did return to the counter many times but ignored me every time. Then a man that I assume was the manager came to the register. Again no acknowledgement of my presence. He answered a phone call, fiddled with the receipt machine and even looked around me and called out to a woman behind me to serve her. She was just asking for her check and he proceeded to fulfil her request all while ignoring me. Even other customers noticed how long I had been standing there with no one attempting to help me. If you haven’t figured out by now I am black and was the only black person there. Something I’m used to, living my entire life in Portland but I have never ever experienced anything like that before. I was furious by this time and decided just to leave without causing a scene. Needless to say I will never return. I will stick to King Burrito!

If you are looking for Mexican food it is right here. Their service makes you feel very welcome and makes you feel like you are at home. The food is amazing. The salsa is a little spicy for me but it was good. The prickly pear margarita is delicious! My waitress was personable and nice. The hostess was quick to seat me and get me water. Food was quick to come after I ordered. The people who work there are friendly and the atmosphere is warm and fun! They have a full bar. Overall my experience was amazing and would come back for sure!

Horrible. The new menu is limited with many of best items gone. No longer sourcing their meats from reputable local vendors. Prices went up, portions down. Had we gone any later the chicken i had would have been jerky. Never again.

New menu so are favorite items are gone — no chili rellenos or chimichangas. Now their salsa is very spicy. We can walk here but now will need to find and drive to a New Mexican restaurant.

The food here comes quick and it’s pretty good. The only thing that sucks about this place is the customer service! Multiple times I’ve came to dine in and just aimlessly standing waiting to be seated with multiple waiters just standing around or looking like they don’t know what to do. I’ve as well noticed that since they have got more business lately, the food portions have become smaller and they used to offer complimentary chips and dip but no longer do that, or they just don’t give us any. Last time they charged us for them. Whatever the case be the customer service here blows.

Love this place! It’s really close to my house and a great place to pick for happy hour or dinner. They have a great happy hour menu (and prices) and you can’t go wrong with the margarita of the day. The salsa to start is a little different, but still tasty. The Colorado beef is the best thing they have. You won’t go wrong there. Great quality food for an amazing price. Recommend 100%!

Well. This place used to be decent. They just recently updated their menu and upped their prices. I ordered the veggie tacos and out comes two tortillas with canned corn and a few onions (no beans, no salsa, no guacamole, nothing) for $ 3.50 each? Note: they used to come with beans and guacamole on top. My husband asked for guacamole for our chips and we got charged for chips and guacamole at $ 5.95 even though the chips and salsa are normally free. So we paid $ 5.95 for a tiny cup of guacamole?! When asking our server about it she just explained that she didn’t know why it was now that way and then walked away.
We used to be weekly customers, but these changes are going to have us looking elsewhere. Luckily Portland has so many good options.
Really?! No restaurant can reduce the quality of their food and up their prices and still get the same business. Good luck Cha Cha Cha.

If I could give a lower score I would. Such terrible service. EVERY TIME. The manager is the only saving grace. All other front of house staff get orders wrong constantly and every to go order seems to be left on the counter and never delivered to patrons. Mediocre tex mex. Terrible sauces for tacos. It tastes like spaghetti O sauce. Go to tienda Santa Cruz, LA taq, king burrito. You will be much happier. One note. I have frequented here many times because it is close to chill n fill tap room. Better options for take out near here are Darcy’s or drunken noodle (great Thai), east side deli.

Waited forever to be acknowledged and then forever to be sat. The food was bland and lacking. I didn’t like the food or service the first time I tried them (when they first opened this location) and the experience was the same this second time around. I won’t be back.

Nice to have this nearby. Good margarita selection. The mole was nice. It all seemed quite fresh and yummy. Will be back!

If cha cha cha made their own corn tortillas then this place might make a fourth star however I feel as though they are holding back a bit. Maybe it’s the Texas transplant in me, but I wish they would do something special with the tortillas they use, If not making them homemade then adding to the presentation a bit.

A great addition to the neighborhood. Fast, tasty and inexpensive. Lots of healthy and vegetarian options. The chips and dip (free) are great. The best place for service? The bar.
My favorite is the Big Mama enchilada with fresh avocados and shredded beef. Don’t forget to ask for the hot sauces! If you like large portions, consider ordering an appetizer. For me, the entrée size was perfect. The margarita of the day is a steal!
Indoor and outdoor seating available.

Not super busy and stood for 2 minutes with no greeting or acknowledgement before someone asked «is it just you?» Doesn’t make you feel like an appreciated customer. Strike one. Waited over 20 minutes for my meal of tostadas and waitress took 10 minutes to bring drink order. Never offered a refill. Lots of employee chit chat etc, while still waiting for food. Strike two. Chicken under seasoned and bland. Doused with house red salsa. Strike 3. Cha Cha Cha is out. Wish I could rate 0 stars.

Quick and easy takeout. I tend not to eat inside since they are almost always busy. My husband and I can share the chimi here– it is so big! They also have healthy options like the wholesome bowl or the super bowl.

I was visiting some friends in Portland and coming from the Southwest I wasn’t expecting the most amazing Mexican food in Oregon, but we figured we’d give this place a shot. Well, it was disgusting. I ordered the «ceviche» and I put that in quotes because it was an embarrassing attempt at a traditional Mexican dish. I was given a chalice of what tasted like ketchup with (I kid you not) five shrimp thrown in. It was disgusting. I’m from Arizona, currently live in New Mexico, and grew up eating REAL ceviche, so I was pretty annoyed that this was not only recommended because it was «huge enough to feed more than one», but because it was NOT even close to being ceviche. This couldn’t even feed one person, let alone serve as an appetizer.
Our waitress was nice, but seemed annoyed that we complained about our ceviche that had five small shrimp in it and then asked, «what do you want me to do?» Welp, nothing since I had to embarrassingly eat leftovers from my friends because my bowl of «Ketchup Surprise» wasn’t going to suffice. She said her manager would take 20% off the ceviche (it was only ten dollars lol) which seemed kind of odd… you’d think they’d just comp the thing since it was so gross and barely eaten. Then (after I’m sure they heard our table talking about their food) they decided to comp the dish. How nice.
Anyway, my margarita was good and so was the brown butter ice cream. So, if you’re looking for the Olive Garden of Mexican food, look no further!

Come here sever times a month. Ron makes the best margaritas. Good food, but Gotten a little pricier than it should be though recently.

I LOVE CARNITAS TACOS!!! Just sayin’. Their tacos are quite delicious. Sadly, I couldn’t have an adult tasty beverage this time but I know I dig their margaritas. You want to go? Let me know and I’ll go too. Their menu is good no matter what you get.

Not such a great start but the finish was pretty good…
Sat down to a happy hour dinner with the tournament game on in the background. Definitely a neighborhood kinda place.
We’re served a very small dish of tortilla chips with a creamy hot sauce which didn’t bode well for our crowd. Asked for Pico de Gallo which they gladly brought to the table. Not the best we’ve had – a little to salty.
The main course was just right. Big Mama burritos were good, not fantastic but good. We also ordered Hibiscus margaritas which my girlfriend loved. They were quite sour and not to my tastes.
Probably will not return as there are more authentic restaurants which have a warmer atmosphere closer to our home.

As far as Cha Cha Cha’s go, this one is the best.
It’s reliable food that will hit the spot, for a decent prize. You are not going to find authentic dishes here, but you will leave satiated.
My guy and I normally come for HH and sit at the bar. Most of the HH or daily special cocktails are pretty tasty, and not too hard on the old pocketbook.
Some of my favorite items:
The wholesome bowl with pork. Lots of veggies and great lime flavor.
Spicy Tinga house burrito– great flavor!
Pollo Libre burrito– bell peppers, chicken and goat cheese. Awesome.
Service is always fast and friendly. I am not a fan at all, of the creamy bland salsas however. I always skip the free chips and salsa.
Solid 3 stars.