El Chupacabra

You would think...there's a cool place, let's try it. But, all the reviews here are correct: 1) If you like getting 'stink eye' for the wait staff, you're in for a treat. The women who work there are the masters of the Frowny Face. 2) Don't sit inside or bring ear plugs. The music horrific. Head-Banger, Acid Rock that seems to match the bitterness of the wait staff. It's like being in a trailer park with Meth addicts. 3) The Margaritas are pretty good--but you'll need about 7 of them to make the place seem nice. more

THIS PLACE BLOWS............... as one of the other comments pointed out, yes at firs it seems like a place i would hang out at........ man was i ever wrong, yes their burritos were pretty tasty, but that was about the only god thing about this place. Some really slutty looking chick that kept trying to ask me inappropriate questions in right there in front of my girlfriend turned out to also be the waitress, she took forever to bring the drinks back, oh sorry belay my last, only brought one of the drinks back, took her about another 20 minutes to bring the other beer she forgot to bring the first time, had to tell her my order like 5 times before she finally got it (does she not write the order down because she is illiterate and actually unable to do so?), took about another good 20-25 minutes for the food to get to the table, well long story short, if you are looking for a nice place to waste a good year or two of your life and get the worse customer service ever, then holly crap this place is perfect for you!!! don't bother going there it will make you wonder the rest of the day about all the other useful things you could have accomplished. I kinda wonder if the waitress was doing smack or something.............. yeah this place sucks more

First off, the hipster staff have such a chip on their shoulder that it seems like doing their job is a gigantic pain in the ass. When we sat down at a table on the deck (which was scattered with slops of salsa and food bits), our server didn't even greet us or offer to wipe off the table. She just threw down some menus and asked us what we wanted to drink with a sigh of contempt. Gee, hate your job much? I've worked in food service and know that waiting on people isn't a delight, but when your livelihood depends on tips, perhaps you'd best try and be cordial to your customers. The margaritas were good, but it took forever to get a refill. Oh, that's right...our server was too busy letting her boyfriend stick his tongue in her ear to notice. She also brought us the wrong bill. It's not like she had a lot of tables either..she was just simply lazy. Our dishes were so-so, nothing to write home about and I noticed that surrounding tables had to send their food back because it was incorrect. Could it be because our server didn't bother to write anything down? A few other notes of interest: 1. The server working the other side of the deck had her shorts hanging halfway down her ass so you could see her panty wedge. Not attractive and something people eating really don't want to see. She also stood in the middle of her tables gabbing on her cell phone, grabbing her crotch. Several people noticed and were amazed and disgusted. I thought, "Who hired these people?" Later, said waitress also decided to light up right there on the deck. One table had to move because she was blowing smoke in their faces. Uh, does the 25-foot rule mean anything? Nice customer service. I don't care how "alternative" you are, but it's common courtesy not to subject people to your illicit scratching and cigarette smoke. 2. My boyfriend walked by the bar on his way to the bathroom and noticed the staff was using hot glasses, fresh out of the dishwasher, to scoop ice. That's a major health code violation. Don't even bother with this place. The staff think they are too cool-for-school to do what they were hired for - to serve people food, and do it in a pleasant way. They really should find another line of work where people appreciate the abuse, like perhaps in a tattoo parlor. more

I posted this originally as a reply to someone else's review but wanted to make sure it made it under the review heading as well. The ladies that own this place aren't known for their pleasant demeanors. I live in the area and after a couple of times having bad service I decided it wasn't worth the cheap eats to go there anymore. I was even more dismayed when I learned that when residential neighbors complained about noise that the women that own this joint actually physically threatened their neighbors. They've also done a fine job of pissing off the owner of the Red Mill Burgers across the street so that they now block off their parking lot at night to prevent their patrons from parking there - which it is their lot and they can decide who does and doesn't park there even when their own business is closed after 9pm. I've found over time that the people that mostly hang out at EC are their friends and that does cause most of the problems with service. Could it be that the owners decided it was easier to open a restaurant where they could just charge their friends for the chance to party with them? more

Try the burritos, but order them for takeout. The 75 cent surcharge would be worth saving the hassle of dealing with the service. more

Had heard good things about this place from friends and decided on Saturday night to finally check it out. Rolling up in front of the place, and catching the vibe coming off the porch, I was actually excited as it looked exactly what we were looking for. Never judge a book by its cover. A few minutes after scoring a table on the patio it quickly became clear that we were in for a long night. It took us 15 minutes to even be acknowledged, and this was by another server apologizing that we had not been helped and suggested it would only be another minute as our server was in the restroom. I think she actually was in the bar taking shots because when she finally did appear it was obvious that she was shit faced. Completely drunk. She even admitted this to her buddies sitting at the table behind us, and I quote: "If i have another drink I'll fall down and hurt myself". She could not even hold the menus when she was handing them out. At that point she took the drink order, which she actually got right, then took her sweet as time bring them back, about 5-10 minutes. She took our order, without pen and paper (a neat trick if you can get it right), and had to ask me and a friend three times each what we wanted before she left. Then funny part is we both had ordered EXACTLY the same thing. We sat back and enjoyed the sun and the drinks for a good half hour before the food came. This was not that big of a deal as we really were not in an hurry, after all it was Saturday afternoon/evening. The problem was that we had also asked for water, never got it. A third place setting as there were three of us, never got that either. The food, it really is pretty good. I do admit that the burrito I had was easily in the top 5% of all burritos I have ever eaten. But the service just kept getting worse. Another round of drinks were order, too bad only 2 of the three ever made it back from the bar. Then when we had finished eating the waitress looked right at us, and our clean plates, nodded, and just walked away. 20 minutes later she reappeared and tried to make some "quirky small talk". Pretty sure that was more about trying to salvage a tip than anything else. Now things really get bad. We were charged for the Margarita that we ordered but never got. When we disputed this she looked right at me and just said "No." I politely explained that we did in fact never get this, and pointed to the table still had all the empty bottles and clean plates as she had also over looked the need to do that part of her job. After agreeing to fix the check she reappeared with the corrected bill, in glass of dirty water. I am not making this up. At this point we had enough. We left exactly what was owed and not a penny more. I have never in my life stiffed a server, even on the occasion when service was sub-par. Not this time, no way. The poor service was not due to being rushed or understaffed, that would have been understood (I used to wait tables). This was just pure laziness, no doubt enhanced by her elevated BAC. As good as the food was I would never condescend to give them my again. In fact I hope they go out of business. But I hope the chef lands someplace where the service matches his skill. more

This is an absolutely great place to wile away a summer happy hour…if you don’t mind waiting around. The food and drink specials are great (cheap, spicy and strong…a good combination), but I agree with some of the other posters here that the staff seems somewhat…altered. Running the gamut from slightly high to totally strung out, they could care less about you, or your order. Nevertheless, the deck is cool, the jukebox is hot and the people-watching is primo at this neighborhood joint. more

Snuggled in the lower reaches of the Greenwood/Phinney neighborhood is a cozy little bar called "El Chupacabra". This bar boasts one of the best (and only one I know of) late-night happy-hours in North Seattle. Pints and mixed drinks at $2.50 from 10:30 pm to 12:30 pm every night; and yes, they have a traditional happy-hour as well. Not to mention a great little Mexican menu to compliment the decor and name. Stepping into this bar is also quite interesting as the patrons come from all walks of life. Some nights you'll hear dj's playing a mixture of punk rock and classic country, or as it is dubbed "Democratic DJ Night". And being a pet-friendly bar goes a long way with some of the regulars who like to bring their four-legged friends along. If you're in the neighborhood or looking for somewhere to get a few last drinks in, stop by. Located at NW 67th Avenue and Greenwood Avenue North. more

Anyplace where you can sit outside on a warm night and enjoy beer and appetizers deserves one star for that alone. So here is a star for Chupacabra. When I went for said experience, my waiter must have been altered. For example, he was absolutely unable to provide their selection of salsas to all of the tables, so we customers ended up passing our salsas around to make due. I was fool enough to order posole (a soup). It came with the tiniest spoon you have ever seen, and no one could bring me a bigger one. The whole situation harshed my buzz. more

It's a small, pleasant enough room (if a little formulaic...is it possible to be more tired of the 'wacky Mexican' look?). Decent taps and bar. It's just the service...the bartender must've been in the middle of open-heart surgery for all the time and interest she showed in filling our simple order of two pints of beer. She ignored us the rest of the night. Good thing we were only in for a beer. I'm sure they'll do fine. Like anywhere, Seattle has enough people with low standards to make even terrible businesses like this successful. more

Someone told me that this place has some great Mexican food so i had to try it out. It was bad. Really bad. The beans were old. The burrito and enchiladas was very very bland. They gave us extra sauce to spice it up that tasted like mayo. The only thing good that i have to say about this place is that the margaritas were good. more