EXHIBIT 31.1

                        CAPITAL SENIOR LIVING CORPORATION
                               September 30, 2004

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I,  Lawrence  A.  Cohen,  Chief  Executive  Officer  of  Capital  Senior  Living
Corporation, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of Capital  Senior
Living Corporation ("Registrant");

     2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
of a  material  fact or omit to  state a  material  fact  necessary  to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances  under which such statements were
made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

     3. Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other  financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

     4. The registrant's  other certifying  officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

          a) Designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant,  including its
     consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by  others  within  those
     entities,  particularly  during the  period in which  this  report is being
     prepared;

          b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
     and  procedures  and  presented  in this report our  conclusions  about the
     effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of the end of
     the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

          c)  Disclosed in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
     recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in the case
     of an annual report) that has materially affected,  or is reasonably likely
     to materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal  control over financial
     reporting; and

     5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial  reporting,  to
the registrant's  auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's  board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          a) All significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or  operation  of  internal  control  over  financial  reporting  which are
     reasonably  likely to adversely affect the registrant's  ability to record,
     process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that  involves  management or
     other employees who have a significant  role in the  registrant's  internal
     control over financial reporting.


                                             /s/ Lawrence A. Cohen
                                             Lawrence A. Cohen
                                             Chief Executive Officer
                                             November 10, 2004