El Chapala – Mexican Restaurant Lounge & Grill – September 28 2012

107 East Columbia Drive,
Kennewick, WA 99336

What something that separates a great restaurant from a good restaurant? Ingredients that are made in-house. What separates great Mexican food from good Mexican food? Homemade chips and salsa. El Chapala makes their chips and salsa in-house and you can tell.

Chips With Beans & Salsa
You know when you can tell the difference between homemade chips and chips that were brought in from a food supplier. The chips at El Chapala are made in-house as well as the salsa. I could seriously sit and dip these chips into this salsa all day long and be happy.

Camarones a la Diabla
Camarones a la Diabla are prawns cooked in a spicy sauce. Normally, I don’t order seafood when I go to a Mexican restaurant, but this was delicious. The prawns were cooked perfectly. The sauce has some kick to it but wasn’t overpowering. The Camarones a la Diabla comes with the traditional offering of refried beans with cheese and a side of rice.

Chicken Fajitas w/ Corn Tortillas
The Chicken Fajitas were delicious. The chicken was tender and juicy and the bell peppers were still a little crisp when I bit down on them. These fajitas were served with corn tortillas (flour tortillas were available too) as well as all the appropriate fixings. What really stood out was how delicious the guacamole was. This guac was creamy and delicious. The Chicken Fajitas also come with refried beans and a side of rice.

Everything about this dish was as it should be. There was plenty of food on these plates. Everything was full of flavor and there was way too much to eat in one sitting.

My Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for some solid Mexican food and you’re close to the eastern part of Kennewick, El Chapala will treat you right. The food is solid and you won’t be disappointed.