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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Avila's El Ranchito - Review #3

Date of Visits: July 24 and 25, 2007 and October 10, 2011
Avila's El Ranchito
2515 E Coast Hwy
Corona del Mar, CA 92625
(949) 644-8226

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Here's some photos of the new Avila's Corona del Mar location, just across and down PCH from their prior location. They also have a little bit of a Mexican market in the front:

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These are photos of their old Corona del Mar location:

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - Exterior

I stopped at Avila's last week when I was out running errands and got some lunch. I'd never been to this location before so, hey, new material for the blog. Little did I know I would be back again the very next day but that's what happens when you absentmindedly leave your debit card behind.

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - Wall Painting

Of course the meal started out with the requisite complementary chips and salsa, but what made Avila's salsa unique was the very distinct green onion component. Some of the green onion slices in it were like manhole covers.

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - Chips and Salsa

On my first visit I ordered their Taco Tuesday special, the filet mignon tacos with rice and beans. Trust me, there's filet mignon in there:

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - Filet Mignon Tacos

Bits of the filet mignon were a little on the tough side, but with those out of the way and stuffed with some rice and lettuce and the salsa these were some fine tacos.

My meal the next day was even better, a chile relleno/pork tamale combo plate. The pork tamale had veritably exploded and was overflowing with nice cubed chunks of carnitas. The chile relleno was light and fluffy and I actually ate more of the chile pepper than I normally do.

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - Chile Relleno/Pork Tamale

And there's nothing wrong with showing a little American pride while retaining your heritage:

Avila's El Ranchito/Corona del Mar - American Pride

I wanted to try the strawberry-filled churros I saw on the menu but each time I was brought the check without being asked if I wanted dessert. I didn't fight it because I probably don't need dessert with every lunch (or maybe any lunch for that matter). I still want to try those churros sometime though.

Avila's El Ranchito in Corona del Mar earns a 3.5 Speedy Gonzales rating:

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are a fake! you clearly work for the OCRegister. I know because I work here!!!

Get a life no gives a crap what mexican food you like..

ChristianZ said...

I love comments like this. If I work for the Register and you work for The Register too then maybe you can bring me all the paychecks I never get for the work you say I do for them. And if I worked for the Register my blog would be on their site, but it's not.

But if you mean that you work for Avila's then why are you getting mad when I say I like your restaurant? I said I liked the food and wanted to try other things there.

And if you don't care what kind of Mexican food I like then why are you reading my blog? And if nobody cares then why are 250-300 other people a day reading my blog?