Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen in Brea California

The wife and I were out doing some Geocaching out in the Brea area one weekend and, after a search for some local Mexican Food (imagine that), we ended up at Cha Cha's Latin Kitchen. The food was really good and, while looking at the menu, noticed they had a Taco Tuesday. Boom, Cha Cha's was on the list of our Taco Tuesday must-visits!

The Establishment
We pulled up to the location and parked in the main parking structure. Good news #1 is that this is free parking; Good news #2 is that it was right across the street from Cha Cha's! We crossed the street, entered the building and asked to be seated outside. The place seems a bit hoity-toity, but the atmosphere is really cool and the people are really nice. If there's room, I would suggest asking for the patio. There is plenty of foot traffic to gawk at and, if you're like Capsaicin Head and I, we like to people watch. And people critique. Ya, we're one of those couples.

Chips, Salsa and the Coveted Guacamole
When we ordered our drinks, we ordered up our usual chips, salsa and guac. The chips come in a cool little metal bowl and they serve them with 2 types of salsa; a flavorful red salsa and a milder green. The red was nice and spicy but not too hot. It could have been a little hotter for our tastes but it was still really good. The green was, as I said, a bit milder and had a heavy taste of lemon. I'm not usually a green salsa person, but I really enjoyed this too! Our third dipping bowl was filled to the rim with a creamy guacamole topped with cheese, cilantro and radish slices. While good, it didn't seem as fresh as some other guacs we've tasted. Mix it with some of the salsa (especially the red); it's really good!

The Main Course - TACOS!
I was feeling a bit hungry this evening, so I went with a triple threat of the Mahi Mahi, Shrimp and Portobella Mushroom tacos. Never having a Portobello Mushroom taco before, I decided to start off with that one. This taco was really good, lots of flavor and with just the right amount of Pico de Gallo on it. This taco is also quite juicy. This juice soggied up my tortilla so much that it started to fall apart. This allowed the juice to drip onto the plate and, yup, you guessed it, soggy up the other two. I did my best to keep this from happening but since all of Cha Cha's tacos are single-tortilla wrapped, there's not much you can do to avoid the dreaded tortilla failure. Next up was the Mahi Mahi Fish Taco. A HUGE piece of fish was loaded into this tort and covered in chipotle cabbage and pico de gallo. Another excellent taco, but after 2 bites I was forking individual pieces of it into my mouth instead of enjoying it as a whole taco. Last but not least was the Shrimp Taco. I have to say that this could have been hands down one of the best tacos I've ever had. The shrimp was big and juicy and the mango habanero salsa had so much amazing flavor! The salsa was a bit spicy so be careful of that, but if you handle it your tastebuds will thank you. I say 'could have been' because, after sitting in the juices of the other two for a few minutes, the tortilla was a soggy mess. This was a gather-it-up-and-eat-it-fork-style taco. I would suggest that if you do decide on Cha Cha's for tacos, you ask them to double-tort it. And order the Shrimp. Uber-yummy.

Final Thoughts
I would definitely recommend Cha Cha's Latin Kitchen for any of you Taco Tuesday Junkies out there. The atmosphere is great and the tacos are really, really good. Except for the soggy tortillas, Capsaicin Head and I have nothing but good things to say about this place. After dinner, take a stroll up the boardwalk and check out some of the other establishments there. There's a few shops that sell some pretty tasty treats if you're in the mood for something sweet.

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