Relish: "beautiful people meet" at Chapultepec Lupita

By Jay Becton and Luid de las Cuevas     4/21/11 7:00pm

Chapultepec Lupita, named after a Chapultepec Lupita, named after a battle in which many children sacrificed themselves fighting Americans, is a staple of late-night college dining. Conveniently located on Richmond Ave. and open 24 hours a day, the restaurant offers a selection of decent food at moderate prices. It is a hole-in-the-wall sort of place, with no host and a hard-to-find back entrance, but it is definitely worth the drive or drunken 4 a.m. cab ride when nothing but home-style Mexican food will do.

Chapultepec is a house-cum-restaurant, with its spacious main dining area where the front yard used to be. As such, it offers a unique dining experience; fading murals of bullfights and crickets, year-round Christmas lights and slightly uncomfortable plastic furniture combine to create a fascinating, if initially off-putting, atm o s p h e r e . Sometimes it smells like the management has not cleaned the bathroom in a week or two, but what's the problem with that? Music does not play at all times, but a brand new jukebox plays Shakira and Selena hits if the patrons choose to pay. Otherwise, the silence can be awkward when you can't muster a coherent sentence at 4:30 a.m.

The menu is remarkably large, but every item is pretty much the same; the basic formula is tortillas with meat, rice, beans and sometimes guacamole. If you tried hard enough and had the ingredients, you could probably cook most of the items on the menu yourself, but half the fun of the restaurant is that its visitors are usually too incapacitated to cook for themselves anyway.

---

---

The standouts are the tacos al carbon, tostadas and budget-friendly tortas, all of which seem entirely un-microwaved. The green enchiladas are, like most items on the menu, overloaded with cheese, but they are still some of the best in the city. Whatever entree you get, be sure to try their orange-colored, crispy french fries. The adventurous should choose the indescribable Don Juan plate, which is great for sharing due to its abundance of artery-clogging cheese and bacon.

Also of note is the mostly-complementary chips and salsa, just spicy enough to wake you up from a drunken stupor. Don't try to get a meal's worth of salsa though; the waitstaff will promptly cut you off if they have to. If you're in the mood for something rich and potentially regrettable, get the fried jalapeno poppers stuffed with cream cheese and just enough fat to make your thighs jiggle. A word to the wise: order only one drink, both for your health and the charge of $2.50 for each massive cup of soda.

A real highlight of Chapultepec is the waitstaff. You will see the same faces every time you visit, which leads us to believe that the restaurant is family-owned or run on the labor of indentured servants — or both. Every employee is interesting, if not friendly. Sometimes it can be hard to communicate with the waiters, but that's probably because of linguistic shortcomings on both ends; it's better to point at the item you want than try to pronounce it.

Given its fantastic hours, Chapultepec attracts a very interesting demographic. On any given night, it welcomes denizens of the neighboring nightclubs, those who are fresh out of prison and gross hipsters. On our most recent visit, we witnessed a man in a tank top repeatedly force his armpit onto his nephew's face. Aware of Chapultepec's strange atmosphere and clientele, the Houston Culture Map even speculated that Lady Gaga would enjoy eating there during her recent stop in the city. While we're pretty sure she didn't end up visiting the fine establishment, the idea certainly points out the restaurant's reputation. Beckoning little monsters from all walks of life, Chapultepec is a refuge for those of us who find ourselves awake at odd hours and in need of some comfort food.

For those who are of age and of interest, Chapultepec offers over 140 different tequilas and an expansive drink menu. We hear through word of mouth, but certainly don't know ourselves, that the house margaritas are delicious. According to insider sources, the meltdowns, which are margaritas topped with liqueurs like Chambord, are the greatest drinks this side of the Mississippi.

If we were basing our judgment on the food alone, Chapultepec would be on the low-end of average. But the great staff, no-fuss attitude and convenient hours make the restaurant one of the best spots in the city for a good late-night meal with friends.

And as its dueling mottos say, Chapultepec is both "Where the Beautiful People Meet" and "Where Everyone Is Beautiful."

Jay Becton is a Wiess College freshman and Luis de las Cuevas is a Wiess sophomore.

---