Jugos Acapulco Followup

Jugos Acapulco 745 W 19th St Costa Mesa, CA 92627 (949) 722-8513 Listing on Local.com Listing on Urbanspoon No known official website.

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This is embarrassing to admit but since starting this blog I have packed on 40 pounds. For about 15 years before starting the blog I was holding at an incredibly steady 175 lbs. But then the weight started piling on and I eventually topped out at around 219 lbs. The funny thing is I don't think my eating habits changed once the blog started; I was eating about the same only now I was taking pictures of the food and reporting on it. But I couldn't deny the increase in weight. Maybe it was simply a slowing metabolism due to age. Whatever the cause I needed to do something about it.

Now I don't do diets. I believe in making lifelong changes to eating habits. My simple approach was going to be: lower sugar intake, eat less processed foods, increase fresh fruit and vegetable intake. I then remembered that a Mexican place I went to over five years ago served fresh vegetable juice. Why hadn't I been back there? On my one prior visit I had a papaya drink. This time I had to get the vegetable juice. They have several varieties to choose from or you can tell them exactly what vegetables you want in your blend. I went for their version that closely mimics V8. You get a big styrofoam cup full of it and they give you the blender too with all the juice that wouldn't fit in the cup and there's probably more in the blender than in the cup. When you're done you feel like your body has loaded up on nutrients.

They have tacos and other food items too but the tacos were, uh, pretty standard, nothing to write home about:

Next time I'm in the area I'll probably be getting my food from El Toro Bravo and my vegetable juice from Jugos Acapulco. They also have mixed fruit bowls too called "pico de gallo:"

I got one of these and enjoyed at home later (no, I didn't use all that chili pepper). A little extra dose of sunshine for the day. I can now report that my weight is down to 210 and hopefully I can get it to keep dropping down to that optimal 175.

Jugos Acapulco - Review #1

745 W 19th St
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Listing on Yahoo! Local

No known official website.

I was making my way down the quiet western end of 19th Street in Costa Mesa all set to reacquaint myself with an establishment I hadn't been to in several years but used to go to all the time when a particularly colorful place caught my eye so my initial plan was averted. Don't worry, though, as I'll still be covering Taqueria el Granjenal in the future. Jugos Acapulco is so bright and colorful you could almost confuse it for Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. As its name would imply this restaurant specializes in jugos (Spanish for "juices") and they have plenty that you can get in fresh juice or milkshake form.

Nobody that worked here seemed to know English (not a complaint since that's usually a good indicator you're at an authentic Mexican restaurant) but the guy taking my order seemed to be suggesting that I get the Carne Asada combo . . . so I did. Maybe he suggests it to every gringo. It took a while to prepare but I didn't mind as I was soaking up the colorful atmosphere of the surroundings. I took a couple pictures since this place really has character and wanted to take more but was a little self-conscious about it.

The papaya juice came to the table right in the blender it had been blended in along with a styrofoam cup I could pour it into to drink from. I'm pretty sure the juice was nothing but a papaya blended with a little water. Talk about natural.

The main dish finally came served on a paper plate with a large carne asada steak, some salad fixin's, and rice & beans (surprise!), as well as a half-dozen warm corn tortillas. After making myself six tacos I was full enough to have to call it quits yet there was still food on my plate.

I'm looking forward to returning and taking more pictures and trying more menu items. Plus, I spotted some other spots along 19th Street that I'm eager to review.

Overall the experience at Jugos Acapulco merits a four Speedy Gonzales rating:



Here's some much better quality pictures taken by Shelly B. in September 2007: