Cha Cha Cha

The wait for dinner at Cha Cha Cha can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours. If you want to strategize, come early at 5 p.m., before the crowd has gathered at the corner of Haight and Shrader. Even at this early hour, the tables will soon fill up one by one, the bar will quickly pack in a shoulder-to-shoulder throng, and others waiting will squeeze their way into the lobby to put their names on the list.

What’s all the fuss about? Let’s start with atmosphere. The music at Cha Cha Cha is always festive, the kind of salsa, merengue, mambo, and reggaeton that makes you want to dance in your chair. Santeria décor bedecks the walls with little altars, each of them unique with a colorful array of prayer beads, petals, candlelight, and figurines. Christmas lights are strewn in the dining room, lighting up a bounty of healthy green plants.

In the adjoining bar, golden cherubs hang from a wood-beamed ceiling, blessing the toasts exchanged throughout the night as pitcher after pitcher of delicious sangria disappears. One wall of the bar is painted red, with mirrors and original photography hanging from it, and the stone wall on the other side supports a myriad of instruments and other fun paraphernalia.

The menu here includes a long selection of tapas, from jerk chicken to platanos maduros to Cajun shrimp to bistek. Owner Philip Bellber, a first-generation American whose Puerto Rican family raised him on rice and beans, shows an inherent love for Caribbean flavors in the restaurant’s award-winning selection of small plates and entrees that are generously sized for sharing. And of course, the sangria here is famous, a house blend of wine, fruit, alcohol, and sugar that is as strong as it is tasty.

Cha Cha Cha is one of those restaurants that becomes a favorite after your first visit, one you come back to with friends and family on various occasions for good food and a good time. The popular restaurant opened a second location in the Mission, where lines are shorter and there’s a room in the back for booking private parties.

HelloSanFrancisco tip: Cha Cha Cha doesn’t take phone reservations. Leave your name in person and plan on taking a detour before dinner to pass the time. Wait time in the Mission location is generally shorter than in the Haight.
 

- by Renee M. Rutledge, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Renee M. Rutledge

Renee M. Rutledge currently writes articles on local travel and culture for Red Tricycle, Parents' Press, Oakland Magazine, and Alameda Magazine.