Cuca's Mexican Food

Cuca's Mexican Food 26676 Portola Pkwy Ste E Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 (949) 472-8227 Listing at Zomato Listing at Foursquare Official Site

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(This is an "only-photos-first" post, done quickly to get photos up and a new entry on the blog, with the expectation that text may be added later. Guest reviews can also be added to this entry and each published one will be paid $10.)

Click here for the full flickr photo album (22 photos so far).

Miguel's To Go - Review #1

Miguels California Mexican 26592 Towne Centre Dr Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 (949) 597-1079 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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Working in a new locale now I decided earlier today to do a little exploring and see if I might run into a Mexican restaurant I'd never seen before. Pulling into the Foothill Ranch Town Centre I found Miguels California Mexican as an oasis in the large parking lot. Knowing that for this particular lunch break I wouldn't have time for a full sit down meal I trepidatiously walked into the large building that looks like it's inviting customers to come in and sit down for a lengthy meal and asked the hostess as I walked in if they did take out. She said, "Sure, it's right there." I turned to my right and embarassingly saw a large "Miguel's To Go" sign and a takeout counter that I'd practically brushed against on the way in:

So I turned around to the takeout counter and began perusing the menu. Scanning quickly for something unique I spotted the "Mole De Maria" and ordered that and a soda. The employee at the takeout counter asked if I wanted my entree with corn or flour tortillas. Trying to lean the more authentic way I requested corn. I asked why and was told that Miguel's corn tortillas are store bought but that the flour tortillas are made on the premises so I switched to flour and then found out that not only are the flour tortillas made on site but they are made when you place your order. How's that for service? I was then brought my soda and was told that if I drank it before my food came I could get it refilled. Now that was something I was wondering about but the fact that they brought it up without me asking earns them some bonus points (and I did utilize the refill).

The worker at the takeout had heard me asking the hostess how long this restaurant had been here and while she didn't know the answer right off the bat he answered that they had been there for about four years now in the spot formerly occupied by Tortilla Beach. He also explained that they are part of the same chain as Miguel's Jr. in Corona which we reviewed quite some time ago (one of our few out-of-county reviews).

Back at work now I opened up the spread and found some moist, tender, falling-off-the-bone chicken in a full-bodied mole sauce (the menu mentions it contains peanuts as one of its 24 ingredients—so be warned in case you have a peanut allergy). The pinto beans and Spanish rice were sincere if not stupendous and made great filling for the three chicken mole tacos I assembled for myself.

An hour or two later I retrieved my Miguel's flan from my work refrigerator. Extra silky with a hint of fluffiness to it and extra caramely caramel:

In the few brief minutes I was at Miguel's I felt like I was at a high end hotel where every employee seems able to anticipate, meet and exceed every customer's needs; not only did the couple employees I encountered seem very helpful but they also seemed intrinsically motivated to be helpful. I'll be back for a sit down meal sometime, but for now I have no hesitancy giving Miguel's To Go a 4.25 Speedy Gonzales rating:

Fresca's Mexican Grill - Review #2

Fresca's Mexican Grill 41 Auto Center Dr Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 (949) 454-0404 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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UPDATE: This location has closed down.

Here's Johnny Automatic back in action with our first review of a place out in Foothill Ranch:

Dropped in on the relatively new location of Fresca's the other day. This one is in a new strip mall up in Foothill Ranch. Christian reviewed the Lake Forest location about a year ago. Like him, that location was a place I used to frequent when my work was nearby.

As Christian noted, this small chain is like a lot of other quick casual Mexican places. It's right in the same group as Baja Fresh, Rubio's and La Salsa. I find these places to be just enough Mexican to brand them as such but not enough that you can't offer it as a lunch option to a wide range of eaters. So it seems a lot of these places are intentionally corporate-think safe. You will not find lengua or buche offered at any of these places.

In fact this is the kind of place I don't really want to like. The menu looks like it was calculated by an MBA. It covers all the familiar territory with a token dish to cover the range of familiar Mexican dishes. It also Americanizes lots of stuff. Instead of tortas they serve Mexican subs on a Mexican roll, but with mayo, mustard and a side of chips. They also carry salads and the new trend, the rice bowl.

But over the years I've had plenty of satisfying meals here. This time I went with a suggestion of one of the comments here. I tried the Yucatan Fundido. It is described as "two grilled flour tortillas filled with a chicken/vegetable mix and topped with a jalapeño cream cheese sauce. This runs $6.50 as a combo with black beans and rice. Now as far as I can tell fundido is Spanish for fondue. So I suspect this whole concoction is made up out of whole cloth. Upon ordering you are handed a serving of tortilla chips. So the next stop is the salsa bar. And this is one of their strong suits. They have 3 really good hot salsas (as shown below) and some mild salsas that I didn't try, because what the point? The Japonesa, salsa arbol and en fuego were all good. But my vote goes to the excellent "en fuego" salsa. It is deeply smoky, thick as paste, and seriously hot.

They serve black beans as a side, which is a nice variation. Unfortunately they aren't terribly memorable but not bad either. The same is true of the rice, but I think of rice as a salsa vehicle. For all its questionable authenticity, the Yucatan Fundido is really quite a tasty item. I'd be hard pressed to find the jalapeño in the sauce, but it is flavorful and a nice compliment to the whole dish.

As a bonus, this location has a very nice patio that is perfect for a lovely warm November day like when I went. Fresca's fits firmly into the category they have intentionally picked for themselves. But there are places they rise above the pack. Careful selection from the menu will give you a good lunch choice and the hot salsas do not disappoint. But ultimately all of these type of places are about predictability and that they have in spades. Sodas, commercial agua frescas, beer and wine to drink. 3 and a half Speedys:

Thanks, Johnny!

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