Tortillaz, RIP

A place I went to in Irvine a couple times. Just found out it closed down.

Click here for the full flickr photo album (10 photos).

Jose McCoy's, RIP/Sammy's Burgers Subs & Tacos

There's a restaurant that opened recently in Tustin that for a time was going to be called Pablo McGinty's, a sort of Irish/Mexican fusion place (it ended up being called Pablo's Cantina and we will have a review of them) which seemed like a unique idea but it had actually been done before. The place was called Jose McCoy's and the one I remember going to was in Seacliff Village in Huntington Beach. Oddly enough, I went with a friend who was of Irish/Mexican heritage. The first time I went was as a teenager and this friend's mom took us there because she loved the seasoning they used on the fries. I went a few more times and then I don't think it lasted there much longer but moved to near Warner and Bolsa Chica and then that location closed down a couple years ago.

Sooooo.... earlier today I'm driving with my boss to go get some lunch and he directs me to that same shopping center. When we pulled in I asked, "Do you remember Jose McCoy's being here?" He didn't answer my question directly but pointed me to Sammy's Burgers Subs & Tacos (listing on Yelp):

I was hungry so at that point I was more focused on eating than nostalgia but when I got inside I found that there was a Jose McCoy's mural on the wall:

What a surprise. Turns out Sammy's is in the same spot that Jose McCoy's was in. I quickly ordered a chipotle chicken avocado quesadilla as evidenced by this rather mundane photo:

I then asked the owner, Sammy, if any items were held over from when it had been Jose McCoy's and he mentioned the strips and cheese as the only item. I also found out during this visit that this was also Sammy's second location and it came back to me that I had gone to his prior one at Beach and Talbert in the 1980s. Then I found out while typing this up and doing further research that Jeff Overley had written up the strips and cheese before at the Orange County Register's Food Frenzy blog. Does anyone else remember Jose McCoy's and the seasoning on their fries and the strips and cheese? Of course the other place to get strips at cheese at is at Zack's at the Beach.

Strips and Cheese

El Conejo, RIP

Unfortunately we have another closure to announce. The Register's Irvine Retail Blog has reported that El Conejo in Irvine has closed down. The entry states that it was because of slowing business. It always seemed busy when I went so I wonder how much business it takes for a restaurant to survive. No word on if the smaller El Conejito has closed down too but I'll presume it's still open until I hear otherwise. UPDATE: It has been confirmed that all other locations are still open for business.

Kantina, RIP

Unless I hear otherwise I am going to assume that Kantina is closed since their website is down and they don't answer their phone and they don't respond to e-mail. If anybody has information to the contrary please let me know.

UPDATE (April 3, 2008): Now their website seems to be back up and running.

Baja Fish Tacos (Irvine), RIP

Have noticed people searching for information on "baja fish tacos irvine" so I have to post the unfortunate news that the Baja Fish Taco's Irvine location at Jamboree and Dupont closed down about two months ago. I don't know why it closed down. It seemed to always have enough business the couple times I went. Their only downside was that they didn't have Jarritos soda like the other locations do.

They still have three other Orange County locations open though and they do have excellent shrimp tacos. Follow the "baja fish tacos" label below to read all our coverage so far of this small yet respectable chain or CLICK HERE:

Agave, RIP?

Just started getting wind that Agave Mexican Grill and Cantina in Rancho Santa Margarita has closed. If anyone has more information on this please leave a comment. UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Agave Mexican Grill has closed down and is now an El Torito Grill.

UPDATE (March 12, 2008): Click HERE to read our new entry on the El Torito Grill in RSM.

Naugles, RIP

Our other Naugles entries:

Naugles, RIP
Petition to Del Taco: Bring Back Naugles!
Naugles Bun Taco at Del Taco
Del Taco Orange Shake Reboot
Buns & Torts: Naugles Lives On

Or CLICK HERE to read it all at once. UPDATE: Naugles Has Returned.

Here we get to pay tribute to another well-loved Orange County Mexican fast food phenomenon from yesteryear: Naugles. I first remember hearing about Naugles when I was 17 (at the location in Joshua Tree), although, looking back, I'm pretty sure I went at least a few times prior to that (including one in the south Orange County area for a steak & egg burrito). I went a bunch to the Fountain Valley spot during my senior year in high school. It was shortly afterwards that they were merged with Del Taco. After the merger all (or most of) the Naugles restaurants were co-branded as Del Taco/Naugles restaurants for about a year before eventually becoming only Del Tacos. (This explains why there are now two Del Tacos less than a mile apart from each other in Fountain Valley and two kitty-corner from each other in Lake Forest and two about a mile and a half apart in Huntington Beach.) I went to the Del Taco/Naugles on Gothard & Center a lot during a year at Goldenwest College. I don't remember a lot of details about the food except that I liked it and I liked the fact they had grape soda in addition to all the usual soda offerings. I haven't even been able to find associated imagery on the Internet but I remember their logo being their company name inside the outline of a sun icon. Please leave comments with your memories of Naugles.

Our other Naugles entries:

Petition to Del Taco: Bring Back Naugles!
Naugles Bun Taco at Del Taco
Del Taco Orange Shake Reboot
Buns & Torts: Naugles Lives On
Del Taco's Secret Naugles Menu

Or CLICK HERE to read it all at once. UPDATE: Naugles Has Returned.

While they are certainly not in Orange County anymore, the original Naugles remains open in Riverside County (listing at Yahoo! Local) and if the opportunity arises I'll make a trip out there and report on it here.

UPDATE (Oct. 10, 2007):

It appears that even the original Naugles may have closed down. If anybody has any information on this please leave a comment. (Further update [notated October 13, 2014]: the aforementioned listing may have been erroneous, possibly reporting the spot of a Naugles location from the 1980's.)

UPDATE (January 10, 2008):

CLICK HERE to read and sign our petition for Del Taco to bring Naugles food back.

UPDATE (August 27, 2008):

CLICK HERE to read about a Naugles item you can still get at Del Taco.

OR click on the 'naugles' label below to read all our Naugles coverage at once:

UPDATE (January 21, 2009):

Just found an image of an old Naugles sign on the Del Taco website and put it at the top of this entry. You can find a bigger version of this picture by going to the History section of the Del Taco site then clicking on "1980." If they just added this to their site I wonder if Del Taco is thinking of bringing back some Naugles products. The mere fact that they would mention Naugles on their site at all is a pretty big deal. The fact that they would say they "merged" with Naugles rather than saying they "bought out" Naugles is an even bigger deal.

UPDATE (September 29, 2009):

If you want to order yourself a Naugles-syle meal here's a few suggestions: order a bun taco (it's not on their menu but you can still ask for it), any "Macho" item such as a Macho Taco or Macho Nachos, and ask for a bean and cheese burrito with no beans plus sour cream to get something equivalent to Naugle's much-loved cheese burrito. Here's a pic of my own recent Naugles-style lunch from Del Taco:

Our other Naugles entries:

Petition to Del Taco: Bring Back Naugles!
Naugles Bun Taco at Del Taco
Del Taco Orange Shake Reboot
Buns & Torts: Naugles Lives On
Del Taco's Secret Naugles Menu

Or CLICK HERE to read it all at once. UPDATE: Naugles Has Returned.

Taco Bell Grill, RIP

I don't remember too much about Taco Bell Grill but it was to Taco Bell what El Torito Grill is to El Torito: keep some of the basic, core items while adding and focusing on fancier items. I visited at twice, perhaps three times and to the best of my memory I believe they had tacos al carbon and tortas and more freshly made guacamole than a regular Taco Bell would have and a few other items. It was a test from about four or five years ago and the only location I knew of was at Harbor and Garden Grove Boulevard in Garden Grove. It has since reverted to a standard Taco Bell restaurant. Personally, I would've liked for them to have kept it as a Taco Bell Grill.

Pup 'n' Taco, RIP

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Here's another memorial to a long-gone, kitschy, 1970's phenomenon. Pup 'n' Taco served hot dogs and tacos. Both were very basic and mass-produced. I think all their restaurants were A-frame buildings. But the best thing about Pup 'n' Taco is that they had very good grape slushes. I still miss those things.

If anybody else has memories or pictures of Pup 'n' Taco please leave a comment.

More at Wikipedia.

And here's a Pup 'n' Taco commercial I just found on YouTube:




from: http://www.democraticunderground.com

Oh, and faithful blog reader Eric H. just sent me this link to a page that has even more Pup 'n' Taco pictures.

Taco de Carlos, RIP

No, I'm not reviewing Taco de Carlos because it doesn't exist any longer but I was mildly excited earlier today when I finally found an image on the web that showed their old logo with the Carls Jr. Happy Star holding a fast food drink and a taco.

Taco de Carlos was an experimental spinoff of the Carls Jr. chain in the 1970's and early 1980's that featured, what else? Mexican food. My family went several times to the one that was at Brookhurst and Warner in Fountain Valley (right next to a standard Carls Jr. that is still in business). I don't remember anything about the food but I remember being very intrigued by the kitschy Happy Star character sporting a sombrero.

Does anyone else remember Taco de Carlos?