Papa Chico

Papa Chico mexican restaurant is considered to be the best mexican restaurant on the Slovenian coast. Well, there is not much choice because you can only find two mexican restaurants there. Besides Papa Chico, that is situated in Portorož, you can also eat in its sister restaurant, Mama Chico, that is situated in the Planet Tuš shopping centre in Koper.

In my opinion, Papa Chico is much better than Papa Chico. Although they are owned by the same person, they seem like each one of them is from a different planet, if you compare them. For example, Papa Chico is not that occupied by the masses of people, because it is not in the middle of the shopping centre, and it is therefore much better to eat there, because the atmosphere in Papa Chico is way more relaxing, quiet and private.                                                                  

Where is Papa Chico situated?

You will find the restaurant Papa Chico in the middle of the city centre of Portorož, which is a small, but very nice coastal city, about half an hour drive from Koper. It is also more touristic than Koper in summer, so it might be a good idea to call in advance and reserve a table. But only in summer.  Winter is a different story, and at that time, I would say that you do not have to worry about booking the table in advance. Honestly, I went there in summer a few times without booking a table, and I have to wait for a free one only once – on a Sunday.

But let me give you more detailed directions to Papa Chico. The restaurant is situated on the street, called Obala 26, which is said to be the most beautiful street on the Slovenian coast. And it indeed is, at least in my opinion. It is situated in the middle of all the fun in Portorož, so after having a meal there, you can go straight to one of the many bars around. Or you can simply stay at Papa Chico, which is equally good. Besides that, it is very easy to find, and there are also a few road signs across Portorož that show you where exactly the restaurant is.

You can get to Papa Chico from two different directions. I will describe each possible way of reaching the restaurant below, so you will not have to worry about getting lost on the way there.

The first direction is for you, if you are coming from Koper. This one is the easier one of the two. Once in Koper, just follow the directions for Portorož. It should not take you more than twenty minutes to get there. On the way there, you will pass two beautiful coastal towns, Izola and Piran. Shortly after you pass Piran, you will see Portorož below you. The view from up there is spectacular, and there are actually a few places where you can stop the car and admire Portorož.

Once you continue the way, you will soon arrive to the city of Portorož. There is one main road that passes right through Portorož. The first thing you will see, is a building, made out of glass and steel, situated on your right side. This is the nautical university. After it, you will reach the town centre in a few  hundred meters. This is where most of the nobel, five – star hotels, which Portorož is famous for, are situated (for example Pallace, Old Pallace and Slovenia).

You can only imagine how much an overnight stay in one of those hotels can cost. I once saw an advertisement for a weekend stay in Old Pallace, shortly after it was renovated – they offered two nights (although all – inclusive, butit is still more than expensive) for more than seven hundred Euros per person. I can plan two week vacation in the Caribbean for that money, with a plane ticket included!

Betwen the hotels Pallace and Old Pallace, there is a hidden driveway, and a sign that indicates that you will find the Papa Chico restaurant there. You cannot miss it, and the parking space is big enough to accept all the guests' cars even on the busiest days.

Seriously, I have never seen a full parking space in front of Papa Chico, not even when the restaurant was full. But in case it happens to you that the parking space is full, you are in a little trouble. No, I am not trying to scare you, but it is really difficult to find a parking space in Portorož. Some of them are situated on the other side of the city, which means that you would have to walk like half an hour to get back to Papa Chico. But even if this happens, let me tell you that it will be worth it. You will see once you take the first bite of your food.

The second option to get to the Papa Chico Restaurant is from Sečovlje and the Croatian border. If you are arriving this way, you also have to follow the road signs for Portorož. Once you arrive to Portorož, keep an eye on the hotels that will be situated on your right. Same as before, you have to turn right between the hotels Pallace and Old Pallace.

The restaurant's name

The restaurant name might seem common for a place that serves mexican food. But there is an interesting explaination behind it, which you can also see painted on the wall inside the restaurant. It is said that there was once a man, nicknamed 'Papa Chico', who lived in Mexico. He was in love with his parrot (well, that is a bit weird, isn't it?) and he decided to marry her (oh yeah, it can get even more weird…). Soon, the parrot died, and Papa Chico died of sadness shortly after. If you ask me, I do not see a real point in the story, but it sure is interesting to know where the restaurant name comes from.

Food and drinks

As the name tells you, Papa Chico is a mexican restaurant, where you can therefore eat typical mexican food. If you like spicy food, this is the right place for you! If you like to try out different types of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, this is also the place for you.

Let me tell you something about the drinks first. Besides all the typical drinks that you can find in every Slovenian bar and restaurant, Papa Chico also offers imported drinks from Mexico. Here you can therefore, for example, have an authentic mexican beer or a tasty margarita. Believe me, their margaritas are very good. Actually, if I think, they might be the best ones that I have tried.

Papa Chico also has at least one happy hour per day. On weekends, you can usually see promotions, such as 'buy one drink, take one for free', the whole afternoon. Or, you can have one liter of margarita for four Euros. Now that is what I call a good deal! And I am actually very surprised that not many students are coming to Papa Chico just for drinks, since they are cheap and the enviroment there is very friendly.

Before I start describing the food, I will give you an advice. I strongly suggest you to try their spicy sauce. It is called Lol-Tun and you will find in bottles like this one on the picture below. There is always at least one on every table. Obviously, this sauce goes excellent with the mexican food, but be really careful – do not use a lot of it! First time I tried it, I used an amount which would be good for an ordinary sauce, which is not spicy. And I did not even feel it burning for about a minute. But then, I was not able to taste well the rest of my meal. Well, lesson learned. Now, I still use this sauce everytime I go to Papa Chico, but now I know that I have to use a reasonable amount of it in order to be able to normally taste the food.

The food here can be described with just one short, but powerful word -  superb. In general, I like mexican food, and I have been to many mexican restaurants, and Papa Chico is definitely between the top three on my list. This is an example of a meal that costs about seven Euros, which I ordered during my last visit at Papa Chico:

First of all, you get the soup, and the kind of soup depends on the day. Mostly, you will get vegetable soup, which is just a bit spicy, but nothing dramatic. It is tasty and the amount is just right to make you hungry for the main dish. Their soups smell awesome. I do not exactly know why, but I have never seen (well, smell) that in any other restaurant. The smell is strong enough that it almost feels like you are eating the soup just by smelling it.

Second thing is the main dish, and you can choose from over thirty authentic mexican dishes. In case you are coming there with a group of friends, each one of you can order a different thing, and this way you can try several different dishes in one visit. Well, at least this is what me and my friends always do and it works out really well. At the end we, of course, split the total cost.

Last time, I was there by myself. I have just passed a very hard exam, and I was so hungry, and Papa Chico is the first restaurant that came to my mind. By the time I have arrived to the restaurant, I was even more hungry, so I have just said a number on the menu to the waiter, without knowing what I will get. And I must say that my coincidental choice was indeed a very good one.

I got fried chicken, which was very spicy, different kinds of peppers and onion, mixed together, and two flour tortillas. The portion was huge, as you can see on the picture below, but I was so hungry that my plate was almost empty at the end:

One more thing that I like in Papa Chico, is that you can choose whether you prefer corn or flour torillas. Personally, I really do not like the taste of corn tortillas, and in other mexican restaurants, where they only have the corn ones, I usually cannot eat more than half of my meal. And therefore, I also hate the nachos chips. This taste just makes me want to throw up.

The salad usually comes in a really small portion, and it also depends on the day what you will get. Mostly, it is either a beetroot, or a mix of pepper, onions and beans. But the mix is good, and if the portion was any bigger, you would probably not be able to finish it, since the amount of other food you get, is so big.

The last thing is the dessert, which is usually a tiny piece of cake or fruit by your choice. If you choose the cake, you will be licking your fingers even a few hours after you have finished eating it, because they are that good. But the catch here is, that they only have a limited number of cakes baked each day, so if you come to Papa Chico for a late lunch, there will most likely be no more cakes for you.

Regarding fruits, please do not expect anything exotic, such as, for example mangos. And when I said by your choice, I meant by your choice between what they offer. And you can usually choose between apples, bananas, oranges and tangerines.  In summer months, you can also choose ice cream for dessert, which is actually the most refreshing thing that you can do after eating such a heavy meal.

Staff friendliness

In general, the staff at Papa Chico is very friendly, and they will also gladly assist you with some suggestions in case you are not sure what to order. But there was an event during my last visit at Papa Chico, that completely ruined the otherwise very positive experience: two waiters were arguing in front of all guests at the restaurant about losing some money. I think that they should at least go to the kitchen and argue there. After all, I really do not want to listen to other people's problems when I am eating my food.

And they were really loud. After that, it was time for my food, and one of the waiters, obviously still angry, slammed the plate in front of me. Oh, come on. That was very unprofessional and I hope that it will not happen again, because I felt really uncomfortable after that event. But honestly, the food at Papa Chico is soo god that this experience did not stop from going there again and again.

Regarding food suggestions, it is also a good idea to listen when a waiter suggests you the best drink that goes well with a certain dish. Trust me, they are not trying to sell you the most expensive drink, because this is what I thought when this happened to me for the first time. They are just trying to make the food and drink experience as enjoyable for you as possible.  And believe me, they know what they are doing.

Ambient

I think that a lot of people are distracted when they walk past Papa Chico. A little or no guests often mean either a low quality food or expensive prices. But not in this case. One of the reasons why Papa Chico is so special is that people have not discovered it yet. And maybe this is better, so locals can enjoy a great meal at a great place for a great price.

Since Portorož is a small city, there is not many tourists and therefore you mostly do not have to book a table in advance if you would like to eat at Papa Chico, except in summer months. Another positive side of not so many guests is that it gives this restaurant quite an intimate feeling. Especially in summer evenings, you can only see a few people in this not so big restaurant, which also means that your food will be ready very quickly.

The outside of the Papa Chico restaurant consists of a fairly big terrace, tables and chairs, and also a hammock and a few rocking chairs! But as you have probably guessed by yourself, the rocking chairs and the hammock are almost always occupied. I think that it is very unpolite of some guests for keeping them occupied for longer than necessary. Therefore, I have never had a chance to try any of them. But if I had a chance, I would probably also not want to sit anywhere else even for a few hours.

The interior of Papa Chico gives you the feeling of the real mexican cantina. The walls are decorated with sombreros, tequilla bottles and other objects, related to the mexican culture. There is also a previously mentioned fairy tale about Papa Chico, painted on the wall. And the most beautiful thing – colour tile on each table. I wonder if they are hand - made.

Prices

Surprisingly, this place is not very expensive. In general, mexican food is quite expensive in Slovenia, especially in more fancy restaurants (where you could easily count Papa Chico, too). But eating, or having a couple of drinks here, in Papa Chico, will not empty your wallet.

The cheapest option is, of course, ordering a daily menu. It includes all I have mentioned above, plus a 2dl drink (either a non – alcoholic or a beer, whatever you prefer), and it costs seven Euros. Not much, right? Especially if you consider the amount of food that you get.

The prices of the drinks are similar to any other bars on the Slovenian coast, meaning that a litre of bottled water will cost you one Euro, a small beer one Euro and a half, and freshly squeezed juices two Euros. But this is just a few examples, they are offering much more drinks.

When is Papa Chico open?

Surprisingly, the restaurant Papa Chico is open fiftten hours per day. Most of the other restaurants that you can find on the Slovenian coast (and actuall in Slovenia in general) are usually open from 10.00 in the morning to 21.00 in the evening at most. But Papa Chico is open from 10.00 in the morning to 1.00 the next morning every single day! This is especially awesome if you would like to have a late night snack.

However, the restaurant Papa Chico occassionally hosts an interesting event, known as 'karaoke nights', and at the time of such an event, the opening time is different. You can read more about this special event and the restaurant schedule in the following paragraph.

Events in Papa Chico

Restaurant Papa Chico occasionally (once a month or so) organizes different events, and the most popular one are definitely the karaoke evenings (or nights, however you want to call them). People love it not just because of the great prizes you can win, but also because of the big amount of fun that this events bring. Since there are many different events at Papa Chico, I will only describe the most famous one – karaoke evenings.

Do not worry, even if you are not a good singer (like me), you can still go to his event. In fact, karaoke at Papa Chico always attract plenty of visitors. This event usually happens every first Friday of each month and it lasts approximately from 19.00 to 2.00 the next day. If there is a lot of guests at the end, the restaurant even prolongs the opening time, which means that the party can last until 3.00 or 4.00 in the morning! And they serve food all the time, so if you feel like having a fajita in the middle of the night, you can do so at Papa Chico.

But let's get back to karaoke night. Usually, the music type is different every month, and there are various different songs that you can choose from. What I like about it, is that you can sing even if you do not know the exact lyrics. Why? Because there is a big interactive screen on the wall where they project the song lyrics. And not only that, the words (or sentences) get coloured up at the time you have to sing them.

Sometimes (well, actually quite often during the late tourist season), the karaoke event is not very occupied, and then a group of slightly drunk turists come in, and start singing. This is usually when the real party starts. Also, sometimes you will see a big group of students, attending the karaoke nights. And some of them are really excellent singers!

The best singer of the night (this is usually identified by the audience reaction – the person that received the loudest clapping, will most likely win) gets a free dinner for two in Papa Chico, which really is a cool prize to win. Then, the second and the third person usually get either some free drinks or a discount on their next meal in the restaurant. Unfortunately, I am terrible at singing, otherwise I would be participating in the karaoke nights every single time.

Conclusion

If you would like to eat an excellent meal for a great price, you should definitely consider eating at Papa Chico. The friendly ambient, a great location and a quiet enviroment mean that this is a place for a tranquil, tasty meal. And if you feel like going out on a Friday night, but there is no good party in Koper, you can visit the Karaoke night in this amazing restaurant.