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Friday, October 31, 2008

Senor Campos - Review #1

Date of Visit: October 15 and 23, 2008
Señor Campos and Tillie's Mexican Restaurant
1220 W Whittier Blvd
La Habra, CA 90631
(562) 694-3614

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Here's a restaurant I've been to a couple times recently in that far-off country of La Habra. Actually my grandparents used to live in La Habra and they liked Mexican food so it's likely they would've been to this place since it opened 33 years ago and it's not out of the question that I could've been there with them as a little kid. With the chandeliers and red tablecloths and roses all over inside I wonder if any marriage proposals have ever occurred here:

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On my first visit I started out with chips and salsa and some of the boldest albondigas soup I've ever had:

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This restaurant is named after its owners, husband and wife team John and Tillie Campos, and most of the items on the menu are named after people who have worked there before or still work there, such as the entree on my first visit, the Pepe's Picadillo's, a steak and potato dish with salad, rice and beans (and lots of cheese on the beans):

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Or Jaime's huevos rancheros that I had on my second visit and I have no problem having excellent huevos rancheros like these at lunchtime, two eggs over easy topped with ranchero sauce over a corn tortilla with rice and beans on the side:

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On my first visit I ended my meal with the free cinnamon crisp served to every customer after each meal (seen in the flickr photo album; link below); on my second visit I ended with their flan, which struck the perfect balance between silky and firm, eggy but not too eggy:

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The sign I saw on my second visit stated that their 33rd birthday will be celebrated tomorrow, November 1, 2008, and they are going to have a number of half-off specials for it.

There's a number of items on the menu I still want to try such as Lupita's Arroz con Pollo and Suqui's Sopes that I didn't even get when Suqui was my waitress. Maybe next time. That's the great thing about this blog: any restaurant can be reviewed any number of times. There's no limit. Señor Campos earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:

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Click here to see the complete album (22 photos) at .

UPDATE

The owners found my entry and invited me to their anniversary celebration on Saturday. Here's a few photos (had their fideo soup and Lupita's Arroz con Pollo and the arroz con leche) and there's more photos in the photo album linked to above. There were a lot of people here for the celebration. Obviously this place has meant a lot to a lot of people over the years.

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John and Tillie can be seen here holding hands across the table.


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"Kenny Rogers" singing


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Christian, great to see you finally found this place. Having grown up in La Habra, and as a former La Habra High School alum, I know Senor Campos well. This place is great. The food is great, the service is excellent, and there is a true small-town feel to the place. While it might be a hidden gem for the rest of OC, it's well known amongst the locals. It's a very cool place.

John and Tillie, the owners, are just awesome people. They are very involved in the community and give their time and resources generously to important charities in La Habra and OC. John, Tillie and Senor Campos are local treasures! This restaurant is highly recommended!

ChristianZ said...

Yeah, I loved my experience and could tell many others have fallen in love with this place.