Taco Rosa - Review #4

IMPORTANT NOTE: "Taco Rosa - Review #4" is an outdated entry. If that is the entry you are on you will want to CLICK HERE to read all our extensive coverage of Taco Rosa, especially since it includes dozens of photos that are much better quality than the ones found here.

Date of Visit: March 29, 2006

Taco Rosa
2632 San Miguel Road
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 720-0980

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on Google Local

Official Site

Came tonight to meet up with some friends. Deanna was the first in the party to show up and told the co-owner, Marco Calderon, that she had two amigas bonitas coming. Well, the next two people in the party that showed up were me and then Darren and we didn't fit the description of amigas bonitas so Deanna made extra sure to point out Tricia and Jenn to Marco when they finally arrived.

Deanna ordered a bowl of the lobster bisque, Taco Rosa's house soup. When she tried it she said it was too salty and told the waiter it wasn't quite to her liking and he immediately asked if she would like the soup of the day in its place. She agreed to that and liked the replacement soup, the caldo tlalpeño (made with chicken, rice, avocado, and garbanzo beans), much better. Jenn ordered the zucchini quesadilla, Tricia ordered one of the enchilada platters (can't remember exactly what kind), Darren ordered a blackened chicken taco, and I ordered the blackened chicken torta.

For dessert we got the churros and the sopapillas. Everyone dug in, dipping away into the cup of sauce from the chocolate fountain as well as the cup of agave nectar.

Near the end of the meal I got up to take a picture of our group and my favorite waitress went walking by and volunteered to take the picture for me, so I got in the picture too. Then she told how, back in late December/early January, one of the managers printed up my first review of Taco Rosa and had all the employees there read it (now I feel very self-conscious). Apparently they were all asked, "Who was it that worked the day after Christmas and forgot to give this customer his appetizer?" I hope I didn't get anybody in trouble because my point in that review was that they did a good job of handling the oversight. I finally asked this waitress what her name is and I believe she said her name is "Jo."

The pictures didn't turn out quite the way I would have liked them to but they still give some idea of the place and they give me an excuse to go back and take better pictures later.

Appetizer tray


caldo tlalpeño


Enchiladas


Blackened chicken torta


Blackened chicken taco


flor de calabaza


Sopapillas


Blurry group shot


Working out the bill

Everyone in the party enjoyed the meal and the service was excellent and personalized. Nothing about this Taco Rosa visit lowers the five Speedy Gonzales rating they received in prior reviews here:

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Click on the "taco rosa" label to see all our coverage:

Ricardo's Don Jose - Review #1

14882 Holt Ave
Tustin, CA 92780

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch

Official Site

Joy has submitted another lengthy review after her tour de force review of Taco Rosa, this time of Ricardo's Don José in Tustin:

Ricardo's Don José Restaurants is a chain with eleven locations in Southern California. My partner and I have been to the Don José in Tustin multiple times, and have always enjoyed ourselves. We went back last night to take advantage of a coupon sent in the mail for one free entree with the purchase of an entree and two beverages (they also post coupons on their web site sometimes). Again, we had a satisfying, filling, and pleasant meal. I didn't take any pictures, so I'll try to describe the food with plenty of detail to make up for it.

Walking into Don José, it may not seem like a very authentic Mexican restaurant: most of the customers are white, and everyone speaks English. However, this is far from the Americanized Mexicano-slop I was served in the Midwest: with only two exceptions (potato skins and mud pie), the menu only includes standard Mexican items, and the flavors are similar to what I've eaten in restaurants that drew primarily Mexican customers. The decor is colorful and cheerful without being either too kitschy or too much like a soulless chain restaurant, everything is clean and well-kept, the wait staff is efficient and nice, and they don't play music so loudly that it interferes with conversation. There are often many people waiting in the lobby to be seated, but the line tends to go pretty quickly. There are two dining areas. The one on the left has a large TV, usually playing sports, and includes a short bar with a few bar seats. The right side is larger and is all booths, which make for comfortable seating.

The service is consistently good. Within a minute of being seated, someone brought us chips and salsa, and a minute later our server came to take our drinks order. I didn't keep track of the time after we ordered our dinner, but it came amazingly fast -- no more than five minutes. That was especially impressive because the restaurant was packed. Everything else we asked for (refills, dessert, bill) also arrived quickly.

I really like the Don José chips; they are exceptionally thin and crisp, and often still warm when they arrive at the table (I think they are made of flour tortillas). You only get one choice of salsa, which is pretty good. It's chunky, as I like it, rather than smooth. It's just spicy enough to be interesting, if not as hot as I like it: you can clearly taste the raw onions, cilantro, and chile peppers, in that order. The salsa has been better on other trips, which I think is due to the varying quality of the tomatoes.

In many past trips, I've ordered the Chicken Sonora plate. I especially like the "Sonora corn" served as a side. It also features a marinated and grilled chicken breast, a chile relleno, refried beans, rice, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, tortillas, and I think some other side or salad. But this time I was determined to order a chicken taco -- based on an earlier conversation with Christian on this blog. I ordered the combination plate #7 (soft chicken taco, chile relleno, and chile Colorado, $9.75) and my partner ordered the combination plate #6 (soft shredded beef taco and tamale, $8.75). Both come with refried beans, rice, and some lettuce. My dish came with so much food that I had a full plate's worth left over for lunch the next day. My partner ate almost all of his dish, though.

Don José serves my favorite chile relleno in this region, that I've found so far, at least. On the menu, they call it "grilled chile rellano." I'm trying to figure out how they cook it, because it's distinctly different than most restaurants. (I don't know if that means it's inauthentic, or if it represents a different part of Mexico. Maybe spelling it rellano rather than relleno signifies a different region, or maybe it's just a misspelling.) I think that what they do is fry the batter by itself first, like a thick eggy pancake, then wrap it around the cheese-stuffed chile and reheat the whole thing in the sauce. The result is a delicious, distinct egg flavor in the coating, without any of the oiliness or bits of undercooked batter you can get with deep-fried versions. Also, they use a relatively small amount of cheese, which allows much more poblano flavor to come through. The sauce is a light tomato-based sauce: not very spicy, but interesting enough to add to the dish.

The soft chicken taco was served on a separate plate. Even though it had two corn tortillas, there was so much filling that I couldn't manage to pick it up to eat it until after I'd eaten about a third of it with a fork. Even then I made a total mess of my hands in the process. The taco was good, with fresh-tasting ingredients and big chunks of chicken. It didn't stand out much, though; later I realized that all it needed was a dash of hot sauce (which they don't have on the table, but I could have asked for some).

The chile Colorado was also good. The sauce was flavorful, although again, I wish I would have asked for more chiles or hot sauce. The meat was also good, although a few pieces were somewhat chewier than I'd prefer.

(To clarify about the heat level: although the food here isn't as spicy as I'd like it, I seem to have a greater tolerance for heat than others, so don't think the food's not flavorful. For example, it's still spicy enough that my white-bread parents and sister would think most dishes were too hot.)

I'm not fond of the refried beans at Don José. I prefer my beans to have more texture, whereas their beans are smoothly mashed. But worse, they don't have much flavor. Also, they put too much cheese on top for my taste (I keep forgetting to ask for less or no cheese on the beans). My partner likes his refried beans smooth and cheesy, and after adding a bit of salt to perk them up, he liked them fine.
My partner liked his taco and tamale. Being the very neat person that he is, he somehow managed to pick up his overstuffed taco and eat it without dropping filling bits in his lap and without getting sauce all over his hands (it's his special superpower). I didn't snatch any of his taco before it was gone, but I got a couple bites of his tamale. I don't generally enjoy tamales because I find the masa to be too thick and/or dry, but this was pretty good. There was relatively more filling and less masa dough than usual, and the masa wasn't as heavy tasting (probably because, according to their site, they use vegetable oil rather than lard -- definitely not traditional). Also, the masa dough was somewhat crispy on the outside. Maybe they fried it straight up, without the corn husks (if so, is it still a tamale?), or maybe they burned it on purpose to get this crispy edge, or maybe this was an accident and it doesn't normally taste like this. I don't know, but it made a really nice contrast with the soft filling.

My partner was too full for dessert, but since I was saving half my meal for lunch, I still had room for more, and ordered the fried ice cream ($4.25). It turned out to be the only dish I didn't like, although it couldn't have been too bad, since I ate it all! The coating was not at all crunchy or crispy. Since the ice cream was still hard, I think the ice cream wasn't fried for long enough or the oil wasn't hot enough. However, it would still have suffered from the fairly flavorless coating: I like a pronounced flavor of nuts or cinnamon or both, but this had neither. The ice cream ball was served in a fried tortilla shell, which was also lacking in flavor; there was a sprinkling of cinnamon on the bottom, but it really needed more fat/oil flavor, and maybe some powdered sugar. Even the whipped cream was disappointing. They also offer flan, but we've never had it, since we rarely order desserts.
On previous visits, we and our dining companions have ordered many -- possibly almost all -- of the other dishes on the menu. I don't remember details, other than my in-laws loving the fish tacos, just many happy meals and no significant disappointments. This is a really good, cheery, dependable restaurant, although not what I'd call a really good traditional Mexican restaurant. What's missing is more Mexican touches, such as more salsa options, condiments on the table, drinks such as aguas frescas. I give it a Speedy Gonzales rating of 4 out of 5.

Thanks, Joy. Always open to more reviews.

Salsa Extravaganza

So, I made these salsas for a little informal church gathering. Due to the circumstances I wasn't able to give them all the TLC I wanted to and the photos are a little blurry but everybody still seemed to like them and it gives an idea of the versatility of Mexican food. I've made traditional salsa and papaya salsa before but this was the first time I'd made Honeydew-Garbanzo Bean salsa. It was modeled after a salsa served at a Mexican fast food place that I used to go to in the food court at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Hawaii (Señor Pepe). I don't even know if I remembered correctly what was in that salsa but people seemed to like my concoction.

Papaya


Traditional


Honeydew-Garbanzo Bean

UPDATE (August 22, 2006):

Made some watermelon-raspberry salsa last night using yellow watermelon obtained from Gelson's. The first picture shows the ingredients before they became salsa. The pictures turned out much better than the ones above.

Salsa Ingredients


Watermelon-Raspberry Salsa


Honeydew-Garbanzo Bean

Also see my entry on Making Salsa.

El Matador - Review #1

1768 Newport Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on AOL CityGuide

(For an UPDATED take on El Matador with photos of their recent renovation please CLICK HERE to read El Matador - Review #2.)

A reviewer at this restaurant's Yahoo! Local page says, "Don't let the location in an old storefront next to a tire dealer put you off . . . " and the guy who told me about it says, "Don't be frightened by the horrific decor from the outside...." When I got there I could see what they were getting at. The door to the restaurant almost seems like it could be a side door to the tire store, they are that close. There are a couple of parking spaces right out front but I went into the alley and parked by the carpet store.

If you like old school El Matador has a corner on old school. They have changed hands a number of times in forty years but have apparently always kept the decor largely the same. I was tempted to bash open a few of the piñatas hanging from the ceiling but I restrained myself. Their front window advertises that they serve fish tacos which any Mexican restaurant feels like they need to advertise nowadays to stay relevant but I don't think customers patronize El Matador for temporal relevance but for familiarity.

Guess this particular meal was somewhat of a brunch because I ordered chorizo with potatos and eggs. I'm a sucker for a good chorizo meal. Reminds me of the times when my dad would cook it up on Saturday morning while I was watching cartoons (Hong Kong Phooey!) and the aroma would permeate the house. El Matador's chorizo was probably the closest approximation to those childhood memories I've experienced in a long time.

El Matador gets a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:

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View the complete photo album (24 photos so far) at flickr.

Tia Juana's Long Bar & Grill - Review #2

14988 Sand Canyon Ave
Irvine, CA 92618

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch

Official Site

UPDATE: Tia Juana's has closed down as of late 2011.

So, I went back to Tia Juana's on a lunch break just to get some pictures because last time I was there only one of my pictures turned out. Ordered the Alaskan Mero entree again but instead of ordering the deep fried ice cream I got their tequila lime cheesecake as a dessert.

Tia Juana's Shrimp Enchilada Platter


Tia Juana's Alaskan Mero Entree


Tia Juana's Interior


Tia Juana's Lime Cheesecake

My co-worker Ed ordered the shrimp enchilada and liked it better than shrimp enchiladas he's had elsewhere because it had big chunks of shrimp in it. He was about to order dessert but was too stuffed from the chips and his entree. He said he'd give Tia Juana's a four Speedy Gonzales rating. I'm sticking with my original three Speedy Gonzales rating (although it's maybe more solid this time) and combining the two for a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:

Where have we been? (The Table of Contents)

Below is a table showing restaurants we have reviewed since late December 2005, the city they are in, and who reviewed them. They are placed in the order they were reviewed chronologically. Obviously there are more reviews on the way. This table is sortable, meaning you can click on the table header "Restaurant," or "City" at the top of the table and the table will be sorted in alphabetical order by the criteria you selected.

Mexican Restaurant Names

Once you see a restaurant you want to read about click on its name to read all about it.

Review Index

	Restaurant Click anywhere in here to sort list alphabetically by restaurant name.	City Click anywhere in here to sort list alphabetically by city name.	Reviewer
1.	Taco Rosa	Newport Beach	Christian
2.	Little Onion	Santa Ana	Christian
3.	Las Brisas	Laguna Beach	Christian
4.	Azteca's	Fountain Valley	Christian
5.	On the Border	Irvine	Christian
6.	Jugos Acapulco	Costa Mesa	Christian
7.	El Pollo Loco	Tustin	Christian
8.	Rubio's	Fountain Valley	Christian
10.	Old Mexico	Anaheim	Christian
12.	Los Sanchez	Garden Grove	Christian
13.	Taco Factory	Irvine	Christian
14.	Las Barcas	Huntington Beach	James/Christian
15.	El Farolito	Placentia	Christian
17.	Taco Bell	Fountain Valley	Christian
20.	Baja Fresh	Irvine	Christian
21.	Normita's	Huntington Beach	Christian
22.	Blue Agave	Yorba Linda	Christian
23.	Taco Rosa	Newport Beach	Joy
24.	El Fortin	Stanton	Christian
25.	Sharky's	Irvine	Christian
27.	Playas de Sinaloa	Santa Ana	Christian
28.	Taqueria el Granjenal	Costa Mesa	Christian
29.	Flamingo's	Laguna Hills	Christian
30.	Las Fajitas	Irvine	Christian
31.	Miguel's Jr.	Corona (OOC)	James
33.	Don Carlos	Anaheim Hills	James
35.	Moreno's	Orange	Phil/Matt/Johnny
38.	Ricardo's Don Jose	Tustin	Joy
40.	El Conejito	Lake Forest	Christian
41.	Los Gallos	Placentia	James
44.	El Gallo Giro	Santa Ana	Veronica/Christian
45.	Taqueria de Anda	Orange	Christian
46.	Taco Mesa	Ladera Ranch	Christian
47.	Javier's	Irvine Spectrum	Christian
51.	Mexi-Casa	Anaheim	James
52.	Acapulco	Costa Mesa	Christian
53.	La Cocina de Isabel	Costa Mesa	Christian
54.	La Capilla	Huntington Beach	Christian
55.	Charo Chicken	Seal Beach	Christian
56.	Las Fajitas Grill	Irvine	Christian
57.	El Torito	Irvine	Christian
59.	Del Taco	Fountain Valley	Christian
60.	Jalapeno's	Irvine	Christian
62.	Cocina Cucamonga	Anaheim (DCA)	Christian
65.	La Provincia	Tustin	Christian
66.	Carnitas La Villa	Newport Beach	Christian
67.	Baja Fish Tacos	Laguna Hills	Christian
68.	Tacos Acapulco	Santa Ana	Christian
70.	Avila's El Ranchito	Lake Forest	Christian
71.	Taco Mesa	Orange	Christian
72.	Durango Mexican Grill	Brea	Christian
75.	Mexi-Casa	Anaheim	GrindzHound
76.	El Cholo Cantina	Irvine	Christian
79.	La Fogata	Corona del Mar	Christian
80.	El Torito Grill	Irvine	Christian
81.	Tortilla Jo's	Anaheim (DD)	Christian
83.	Fiesta Grill	Huntington Beach	Christian
85.	Super Mex	Huntington Beach	Christian
86.	Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill	Trabuco Canyon	Christian
87.	La Sirena Grill	Laguna Beach	Christian
88.	Rancho del Zocalo	Anaheim (DP)	Christian
91.	Lindo Michoacan #2	Anaheim	Christian
93.	Chili Pepper	Orange	Christian
93.	The Chili Pepper	Orange	Christian
95.	Olamendi's	Capistrano Beach	Johnny/Christian
96.	Cancun	Huntington Beach	Christian
97.	Sharkeez (aka Baja Sharkeez)	Huntington Beach	Christian
99.	Azteca's	Huntington Beach	Christian
102.	Taco Mesa	Costa Mesa	Christian
103.	Los Cabos	Orange	Chaz
104.	El Rincon Chilango	Santa Ana	Alex
105.	La Rana	Aliso Viejo	Christian
106.	Taco Surf	Surfside	Christian/Dave
107.	Chipotle	Santa Ana	Christian
108.	Rockin' Baja	Oceanside (OOC)	Brekkie Fan
110.	Gabbi's	Orange	Christian/WC
111.	El Maguey	San Juan Capistrano	Matt
112.	Mario's	Huntington Beach	Christian
114.	El Farolito Jr.	Anaheim	Christian
115.	Taco Adobe	Orange	Christian
118.	El Zocalo	Santa Ana	Christian
119.	Las Cotijas	Tustin	ElmoMonster
120.	Tortilla Jo's Taqueria	Anaheim (DD)	Christian
121.	La Reyna de Michoacan	Santa Ana	Christian
122.	La Sirena Grill	Irvine	Christian
123.	Molcajete Grill	Huntington Beach	Christian
124.	Mi Tierra	Laguna Niguel	Christian
125.	Chronic Tacos	Newport Beach	Christian
126.	Cancun Fresh Mexican Grill	Fountain Valley	Christian
127.	Chronic Tacos	Orange	Johnny
128.	Wahoo's Fish Taco	Costa Mesa	Christian
129.	Taqueria Janitzio	Orange	Johnny
130.	Avila's El Ranchito	Corona del Mar	Christian
131.	Cafe El Cholo	La Habra	Christian
133.	The Lazy Dog Cafe	Westminster	Christian
134.	Carnitas Los Reyes	Orange	Johnny
136.	El Moctezuma #3	Orange	Johnny
137.	Taco Rosa	Irvine	Shelly
138.	El Molino de Oro	San Juan Capistrano	Christian
139.	Mi Casa	Costa Mesa	Johnny
140.	Whole Foods	Tustin/Irvine	Christian
141.	El Matador	Costa Mesa	Shelly/Christian
142.	Tacos Jalisco	Orange	Johnny
143.	Wahoo's	Irvine Spectrum	Christian
145.	Los Primos	Lake Forest	Johnny
146.	La Chiquita	Santa Ana	Christian
147.	Chipotle	Irvine Spectrum	Christian
148.	La Siesta	San Clemente	Christian
151.	La Fondita	Placentia	Christian
153.	Mollie's Country Kitchen	Laguna Niguel	Christian
154.	El Torito Grill	Brea	Christian
155.	El Chinaco	Costa Mesa	Shelly
157.	Sharky's	Tustin/Irvine	Christian
159.	Taco Factory	Irvine	Christian
162.	Alerto's	Westminster	ElmoMonster
163.	Tacos Ensenada	Lake Forest	Christian
164.	Green Burrito	La Habra	Christian
165.	Arsenio's	Santa Ana	Johnny
166.	Taco Joe's	Garden Grove	Christian
168.	Super Pollo	Costa Mesa	Shelly
169.	Rodrigo's	Huntington Beach	Christian
171.	El Maguey Express	San Juan Capistrano	Christian
172.	El Fortin	Fullerton	Christian/Johnny
173.	Taqueria La Poblana	Orange	Johnny
174.	Mariscos Playa Azul	Anaheim	Christian
175.	Pepe's	Fullerton	Johnny
176.	Albatros	Lake Forest	Griffin
177.	Yucatan Grill	Seal Beach	Christian
179.	Javier's (Crystal Cove)	Newport Beach	Christian
180.	Tacos & Co.	Irvine	Christian
181.	El Pollo Fino	Placentia	Johnny
182.	Taqueria Mexico	Orange	Griffin
183.	Avila's El Ranchito	Newport Beach	Christian
184.	El Patio	Anaheim	Johnny
187.	Taco Loco	Laguna Beach	Christian
188.	Bobby D's	Orange	Johnny
189.	Carrusel Panaderia	Anaheim	Griffin
191.	Azteca	Garden Grove	Christian
192.	Tacos Pepe	Orange	Johnny
193.	Zack's	Huntington Beach	Christian
194.	Taqueria el Chilito	Tustin	Griffin
195.	El Tarasco	Fullerton	Christian
196.	Rollie's	Tustin	Christian
198.	Dave's	San Clemente	Jack
198.	Azteca's	Anaheim	Christian
201.	Alebrije's Grill	Santa Ana	Christian
202.	El Patio Cafe	Capistrano Beach	Jack
203.	Celinda's	Rancho Santa Margarita	Johnny
205.	Miguel's To Go	Foothill Ranch	Christian
206.	Coyote Grill	Laguna Beach	Christian
207.	El Toro Bravo	Costa Mesa	Shelly
208.	Las Brisas de Apatzingan	Santa Ana	Christian
210.	Cantina Lounge	Fullerton	Johnny/Christian
211.	Gammy's Cafe	Santa Ana	Christian
213.	Charo Chicken	Tustin	Christian
214.	El Suahayo	Cypress	Christian
215.	Duke's	Huntington Beach	Christian
216.	Hacienda Flores	Orange	Johnny
217.	La Cocina de Ricardo	Lake Forest	Christian
218.	Señor Campos	La Habra	Christian
219.	La Casa Garcia	Anaheim	Johnny
220.	Pacific Whey Cafe	Newport Beach	Christian
221.	Fresca's	Tustin	Christian
222.	Baja Fish Tacos	Santa Ana	ElmoMonster
223.	Ruby's	Tustin	Christian
225.	Taco Factory	Tustin	Judy the Foodie
226.	La Terraza	Santa Ana	Christian
227.	Alexa Catering	Irvine	Christian
228.	Rita's Baja Blenders	Anaheim (DCA)	Christian
229.	Tacos el Vaquero	Various	Johnny
232.	Casa Gamino	Anaheim	Christian
233.	El Chavito Tacos	Huntington Beach	Christian
234.	Alberto's	Huntington Beach	Christian
236.	El Adobe de Capistrano	San Juan Capistrano	Christian
238.	El Buen Sabor	Tustin	Christian
239.	Matador Cantina	Fullerton	Christian
240.	Mi Casa	Orange	Johnny
241.	Olamendi's: Pop's Tacos and Sandwiches	Dana Point	Christian
242.	Sol Cocina	Newport Beach	Christian
243.	Buns & Torts	Visalia (OOC)	Eric/Christian
244.	Sombrero's	Stanton	Johnny
245.	Esther's Taco House	Placentia	Christian
246.	Trejo's	Huntington Beach	Rustan
247.	Cafe Rio	Lake Forest	Christian
247.	Cafe Rio	Costa Mesa	Christian
248.	Taco Dawg	Countywide	Christian
249.	Cha Cha's Tacos	Brea	Christian
250.	Cancun Juice	Orange	Christian
251.	George's Mexican Food	Huntington Beach	Christian
252.	El Portal de Veracruz	Orange	Christian
253.	Tacos Jerez	Huntington Beach	Christian
254.	El Mejor Tacos	Irvine	Christian
255.	Amorelia Mexican Cafe	Costa Mesa	Christian
256.	Taqueria Tapatia	Santa Ana	Christian
257.	Sancho's Tacos	Huntington Beach	Christian
258.	Tortas Sinaloa	Santa Ana	Christian
259.	Ochoa's Chorizo	Santa Ana	Griffin
261.	Taco Nazo	La Habra	Aaron/Christian
262.	Pedro's Tacos	San Clemente	Christian
263.	Taqueria Zamora	Santa Ana	Christian
265.	Taqueria la Bamba	Fullerton	Christian
266.	Adolfo's	Laguna Beach	Christian
268.	Tacos el Rancho	Fountain Valley	Christian

Search by City

Click any of the following city links to read our complete coverage so far of Mexican restaurants in that city:

Aliso Viejo • Anaheim (includes Anaheim Hills) • Brea • Capistrano Beach • Corona del Mar • Costa Mesa • Dana Point • Disneyland • Fountain Valley • Fullerton • Garden Grove • Huntington Beach • Irvine • La Habra • Ladera Ranch • Laguna Beach • Laguna Hills • Laguna Niguel • Lake Forest • Mission Viejo • Newport Beach • Orange (includes Orange Park Acres) • Placentia • Rancho Santa Margarita • San Clemente • San Juan Capistrano • Santa Ana • Seal Beach • Stanton • Sunset Beach/Surfside • Trabuco Canyon • Tustin • Westminster • Yorba Linda

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Search Tips

1. Make sure you know the name of the place you are looking for. If you are looking for "Sharkeez" in Huntington Beach and you sort the table alphabetically by restaurant name and you look under 'S' you won't find it and you will leave thinking we don't have the information you need (yes, people have done this). But if you sort the table alphabetically by city name and look under 'Huntington Beach' you will see that it is correctly listed as "Baja Sharkeez."
2. Make sure you know the city the restaurant you are looking for is in. If you are trying to find information on Gabbi's (and we have plenty of information on Gabbi's) and you think it is in Tustin and you sort the table alphabetically by city name and look under 'Tustin' then you won't find it and you will leave thinking we don't have the information you need (yes, people have done this). But if you sort the table alphabetically by restaurant name and look under 'G' you will find Gabbi's and see that it is in the city of Orange.
3. We have reviewed ~250 Mexican restaurants so far in Orange County so there is a very good chance we have information on almost any Mexican restaurant you are trying to find out more about. If you simply haven't yet been able to find a review here on a particular restaurant please e-mail reviews@ocmexfood.com and usually we will be able to respond quickly with the information you need. On the slim chance that we haven't yet covered a restaurant you are inquiring about it then we will add it to our "Go To" list and try to cover it as soon as possible.

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Non-Mexican Restaurants

	Restaurant	City	Reviewer
9.	California Fish Grill	Irvine	Christian
19.	Knowlwood	Old Town Irvine	Christian
116.	The Veggie Grill	Irvine	Christian
144.	Rainforest Cafe	Anaheim (DD)	Christian
150.	Market Broiler	Huntington Beach	Christian
170.	Dave & Buster's	Irvine	Christian
190.	Cafe Maiz	Mission Viejo	Christian
212.	Mosaic Bar	Laguna Beach	Christian
224.	Zov's	Irvine	Christian
235.	Storyteller's Cafe	Anaheim (DCA)	Christian
237.	Eat Chow	Costa Mesa	Christian
260.	Native Foods Cafe	Tustin	Christian
264.	Sammy's Burgers	Huntington Beach	Christian

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Restaurants we have reviewed that have since closed down:

Graveyard

	Restaurant	City	Reviewer
11.	Anita's	Fullerton	Christian
16.	Tia Juana's	Irvine	Christian
32.	Javier's	Laguna Beach	Christian
34.	El Torito Grill	Mission Viejo	Christian
42.	Taleo Mexican Grill	Irvine (Park Place)	Christian/Joy
43.	Agave Mexican Grill	Rancho Santa Margarita	Christian
48.	Nancy Puebla	Santa Ana	Christian/Omar
58.	El Conejo	Irvine	Christian
61.	Kantina	Newport Beach	Jonathon/Joy
69.	Fresca's Mexican Grill	Lake Forest	Christian
73.	La Salsa	Fashion Island	Christian
74.	Mario's Fiesta Maya	Huntington Beach	Christian
78.	Pedro's Tacos	San Juan Capistrano	Christian
84.	Chronic Cantina	Costa Mesa	Christian
98.	El Torito Grill	Anaheim	Christian
100.	Taqueria Tiscareno	Orange	Christian
113.	El Torito Grill	Fashion Island	Christian
117.	Tortilla Flats	Mission Viejo	Christian
135.	Chevys	Anaheim	Christian
149.	Taco Surf	Costa Mesa	Shelly
152.	Lucia's Tacos y Mulitas	Huntington Beach	ChubbyPanda
156.	Fresca's	Foothill Ranch	Johnny
158.	Taco Adobe	Santa Ana	Johnny
167.	Zorrito	Laguna Hills	Christian
178.	Erazo's	Anaheim	James
185.	Rasta Taco	Capistrano Beach	Christian
186.	El Torito Grill	Rancho Santa Margarita	Christian
197.	Nacho Taco/Mi Tierra	Garden Grove	Christian
200.	Frio Divino	Santa Ana	Christian
204.	Peña's	Santa Ana	Christian
230.	Blanca	Newport Beach	Judy the Foodie
231.	Contodo	Orange	Christian
264.	Jose McCoy's	Huntington Beach	Christian
267.	Pablo's Cantina	Tustin	Christian

Moreno's Mexican Restaurant - Review #1

Appetizer: Fresh made tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole
Entree: Chile Colorado Plate (#22)
Drink: Diet Pepsi
Dessert: Flan

Phil Pico, who was the photographer for the first review of Las Barcas and was present for the first review of Normita's Surf City Tacos has submitted his own review for Moreno's Restaurant in Orange:

Well, in celebration of several family birthdays today my family got together to celebrate at a long time favorite of my fathers, Moreno's in Orange. At first glance the place gives you the impression of old Los Angeles. There is ample parking and it's pretty easy to locate off of Chapman Ave. After parking a clue to finding the main entrance is to cut through the front patio.

Once inside there are several rooms available, so wait to be seated. The staff are very friendly and helpful. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Nana and Tata's house when a family function is about to begin. After being seated we had fresh-made tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole and ordered our drinks. Also on the table are a couple bowls of vegetables for those of you wanting to spice things up (muy caliente!). We placed our orders promptly, I chose the Chile Colorado (#22 on the menu), my nephew's fiancé chose vegetable-beef soup, and my niece's fiancé chose the Carnitas (see below). All combinations come with tortillas and your choice of soup or salad; I had the Albondigas soup and it was hot and quite tasty! For those of you who like Spirits my mom and dad had margaritas (fish bowl sized) and my sister had the sangria (topped with fruit).

Our food arrived before the first basket of chips was gone. The Chile Colorado was real good! The portions were large and I had to get a take-away box because I couldn't finish it all. My nephew and his fiancé were very impressed with the Vegetable-beef soup and I didn't hear my soon-to-be-nephew (Rob) complain once about the Carnitas. After the plates were cleared the staff arrived and adorned us with sombreros (the birthday people). They sang us a special birthday song and presented each birthday person with a complimentary birthday flan. We had a great time. My parents often go there for the morning brunch and rave about how good it is. The only drawback that I had about the whole experience was the Salsa. I asked a waiter for some salsa fresca and he replied they didn't have any (what?!). We stayed long after our food was gone and continued to socialize. We arrived at 4:00pm and were on our way out by 6:00pm.

Out of a possible five speedy G's I give Moreno's a four (salsa cost 'em a Speedy, sorry!)

UPDATE: Here's a slideshow of pictures from our other reviews on Moreno's. You can see our complete Moreno's coverage by clicking on the "moreno's" label below:

El Pollo Loco Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

The Orange County Register recently printed a recipe for a clone of El Pollo Loco's Chicken Tortilla Soup. I don't know how long the article will be accessible online so here's the recipe:

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CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

Yield: 6-8 servings

• ½ cup instant rice
• 4 cups water and 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies with liquid
• 1 15 oz. can black beans with liquid
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1½ cups frozen corn kernels
• Toppings: blend of shredded Mexican-style cheeses (found in sealed bags in most supermarkets), roughly crumbled tortilla chips, chopped green onion, sour cream

Procedure:

1. Place all ingredients (except toppings) in 3-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil on high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20-30 minutes. Ladle into bowls and add toppings as desired.

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If anybody tries this recipe before I do let us know how close it really is to El Pollo Loco's version. UPDATE: I should add that a lot of people keep searching the Internet for "El Pollo Loco Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe" so it must be popular.

UPDATE (February 26, 2009):

A commenter named Dawn just informed us that this very in-demand recipe is on El Pollo Loco's website. If it's been there for a while then I guess it was hidden in plain sight. CLICK HERE then scroll down to almost the bottom of the page for the South of the Border Chicken Soup. I'm guessing this is the same recipe even though it doesn't mention tortilla strips.

El Torito Grill - Review #1

El Torito Grill
27741 Crown Valley Pkwy Suite 601
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Listing on Yahoo! Local

Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch

Official Site

Appetizer: Handmade tortillas with two types of salsa and honey butter
Entree: Quesadilla de Filete al Mesquite
Drink: agua
Dessert: Flan

UPDATE: This location has closed.

Fancier than El Torito (expansive fifty year old chain), not as fancy as Las Brisas (which is a lone restaurant under the El Torito umbrella), El Torito Grill, according to themselves, is "dedicated to bringing you the sensory experience that is a fusion of the contemporary and native foods of Mexico." El Torito Grill has four locations in Orange County. I've been to at least three other locations before including the now extinct Costa Mesa location. Many of the basic items on their menu overlap with the menu for the standard El Torito restaurants.

My brother and I stumbled on this location after we went looking for the Ladera Ranch location of Taco Mesa for breakfast and couldn't find it. The address for Taco Mesa is 27702 Crown Valley Parkway and we found two gas stations next to each other on Crown Valley, one of which was 27682 and the other one was 27742 but with no Taco Mesa in between them. Does anybody have any information on this? Anyways, we ended up going to El Torito Grill for an early lunch. It is on the 3rd level of the Kaleidoscope shopping center right where Crown Valley Parkway and the 5 freeway meet.

Guacamole made tableside

Instead of chips and salsa El Torito Grill brings you warm handmade tortillas with honey butter to spread on them and a mild and a spicy salsa. They also tend to bring you refills on the tortillas without you even having to ask. One of their featured appetizers is guacamole made tableside prepared with two big fresh avocados and to your desired degree of spiciness. I've had it on a previous visit but had to snap it being made at another party's table this time. If you want guacamole any fresher than that make it yourself and eat it while you're making it.

Two Cheese Enchilada Plate


Quesadilla de Filete al Mesquite

Seeing as how I was really hoping for breakfast I didn't go for a full entree but instead ordered an appetizer from their specials menu (their website indicates their specials menu changes daily so you will pretty much get a surprise every time you go). My item was a Quesadilla de Filete al Mesquite described on the menu as: "Grilled filet mignon, Jack cheese, shallots, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes in a smoked chipotle tortilla. Served with fresh avocado relish." Turned out to be the fanciest quesadilla I've ever had (not the fanciest quesadilla I've heard of though, which was a Brie and Grape Quesadilla served with sweet pea guacamole I saw on the menu at the Hali'imaile General Store when I was on the island of Maui last June and which I might actually order when I go back). It was more like a big taquito, quartered with each segment lying in a bed of guacamole and facing up, all topped with a mop of shallots. If I ever see it on their menu again and somebody in my party wanted to share it as an appetizer I'd definitely order it again.

El Torito Grill's Flan

For dessert I ordered their flan. My brother came really close to ordering the peanut tostada then flaked out. The flan is presented in a more artsy way than most places but less artsy than Taco Rosa's. It came with whipped cream and strawberry slices, a sprig of mint, and powdered sugar dusted all around the oversized bowl.

Overall, El Torito Grill earns a four and a half Speedy Gonzales rating. I would maybe even kick them up to a five Speedy rating except that they don't have anything creative in the way of non-alcoholic beverages. Still, every visit to El Torito Grill is a positive adventure.



Other El Torito Grill entries:

• El Torito Grill - Review #2 (Irvine)
• El Torito Grill - Review #3 (Anaheim)
• El Torito Grill - Review #4 (Newport Beach/Fashion Island)
• El Torito Grill - Review #5 (Brea)
• El Torito Grill - Review #6 (Rancho Santa Margarita)

Or click on the "el torito grill" label below to read our full El Torito Grill coverage: