Yellow corn tostadas with chicken, in foreground, and tacos with a cucumber agua fresca are among La Capilla’s treats.
La Capilla dishes up lovely Mexican cuisine in a serene setting in West Berkeley.
The East Bay is packed with good, cheap Mexican food options, and small treatises have been written on the taco trucks lining International Boulevard. Increasingly in recent years, it also boasts a large selection of more modern, upscale Mexican eateries with places like Nido, Calavera, and Comal.
But there are fewer options in the middle, the kind of places that dish out made-from-scratch Mexican staples in an environment more attractive than a street taco truck or hole-in-the-wall burrito joint but more casual and affordable than the likes of sit-down spots like Doña Tomás and Comal.
La Capilla, which opened earlier this year just off the increasingly hopping West Berkeley area surrounding the intersection of San Pablo and University avenues, fills this niche quite snugly. It’s not a taqueria, but it does serve some pretty killer tacos, in addition to burritos, torta sandwiches, and some more ambitious and substantial platos like carne asada, chile verde, and chicken mole. They also show a legit healthy and fresh bent in using free-range chicken and hormone-free grass-fed beef, serving some lovely salads, and operating a full-on raw/juice bar.
And it’s cheap. Not taco truck cheap, but reasonable, given the portions and quality—entrees are below $14 and all other items under $9, including some brick-sized burritos. It probably helps that La Capilla is not owner Juan Romo’s first rodeo. He owns more than a half dozen other mostly Mexican spots in Berkeley and San Francisco, including three—La Mission, Casa Latina Bakery, and Monte Cristo Taqueria—within a few blocks (he also owned the now-closed Montero’s in Albany).
But there’s nothing chainlike about La Capilla. Indeed, the first thing you notice in walking in the doors is just how pleasant and thoughtful it feels. The lofty, light-filled space is decorated sparingly but beautifully, primarily with objects of Mexican religious art (la capilla translates to “the chapel”), including angelic statues, an oversize-wood arched mirror, and, of course, a richly painted image of the Virgin of Guadalupe perched on a red-bricked accent wall above a shelf of filament candles. The sharp white tile behind the order counter lends it all an elegantly contemporary feel.
That’s not to say there will always be space to dine in, since it’s a petite interior with minimal seating. As such, take-out service rules the roost, but if you have the chance, try to grab a seat for lunch on a sunny day—this is really a pretty place to eat some carnitas.
Surprisingly—maybe because sandwiches don’t typically come to mind when I think Mexican cuisine—the tortas were hands-down my favorite on the menu. The lechon blew away any Southern-style barbecue version of pulled pork that I’ve ever tried. The fatty, succulent shredded pork was slathered with a mildly spicy chipotle barbecue sauce that skewed pleasantly savory. A vinegary salsa criolla of thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes, and cilantro served to cut the richness. It’s served between torpedo rolls of perfectly squishy grilled white bread (baked fresh at Casa Latina down the street). It’s not fancy, but it’s totally comforting, and really well done—and given the amount of pork stuffed in there, it’s a bargain at just $8.50.
La Capilla
1106 University Ave., Berkeley, 510-529-4906, Facebook.com/Capi1106
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, 8am-9pm.
Average dinner entrée: $10. No alcohol. Credit cards accepted.
Published online on July 14, 2017 at 8:00 AM