Hacienda Flores - Review #1

Hacienda Flores 146 S Main St Ste Q Orange, CA 92868 (714) 978-1490 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch No known official website.

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I used to live pretty close to Hacienda Flores years ago. They had just opened up then. I couldn't remember anything about their food but I realized they'd been there for awhile. So Thea and I popped in for lunch to check them out. They do a good lunchtime business and most of the tables were full when we arrived. You can see from the photo of the store front that they have a number of combos specially priced for lunch at $5.25. They also had a few specials. I decided to try one special - the chile relleno burrito. Thea stuck with her usual cheese enchilada. Hers was one of the $5.25 lunch combos that comes with rice and beans. All items come served with chips. They have a small fresh salsa bar with about half a dozen choices for use with the chips or to spice up your meal. The health conscious will be glad to hear they proudly claim to only use canola oil.

And for a chilehead like me the meals do need spicing up. The food is generally pretty mild. So if you worry about Mexican being too spicy this is a good place for you. But I don't want to imply that the food is flavorless. Far from it. I enjoyed the flavors of my burrito and Thea enjoyed her enchilada despite a sauce she found lacking in deep chile flavor. But the salsas help bring up the heat on any dish you want to be fiery. I found the fresh green chile salsa to have a nice zip.

One of the usual side players really stood out for us. We both really liked their refried beans. Even using canola oil these had a lot of flavor and we strongly seasoned with black pepper.

Hacienda Flores is family run and the dining room has a nice comfy feel to it. The family clearly cares about the business and they have developed a clientele that appreciates it. Service is speedy and friendly. We give them 3 and 1/2 Speedys.