El Patio Cafe - Review #1

El Patio Cafe 34226 Doheny Park Rd Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 (949) 496-9074 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

Enter starting address: Address City, State and/or Zip

Here's our second review by Jack from Fontana:

I grew up in Capo Beach, lived there for over 40 years, and have been a customer of El Patio since 1960. In all those years I've never been disappointed with any aspect of what they do. That's something, because I'm picky.

This restaurant is in the same spot, and is still owned by the same family, since its inception in 1953. For years the seating area consisted of just the counter and the handful of tables in the original building out front. Some years back, they added patio dining behind the place, but true to form, I've never dined back there. I insist on keeping to the familiar confines of the front.

My favorite items are the flour beef tacos, cheese enchiladas, chiles rellenos and fish tacos. The house salsa is a flavorful red sauce, with just enough heat to make my capsicum receptors happy. If you want a chunky pico de gallo type, have your server bring you a cup of "Jackie's" salsa. It's usually not on the menu. The eponymic nature of the salsa refers to it being the recipe of one of the owners, Jackie, son of the restaurant's late foundress, Lucy Chavez.

There's a large dirt parking lot next to the place, very handy to have as they pack in the diners on a regular basis. You can expect SRO and a line just about any night of the week. Call for their hours of operation, as they can be a bit strange. They're open for lunch also. I know they serve beer, but I'm not sure about the wine, as I'm not a wine drinker.

This is old Capo Beach at its best, and about the only survivor of what it used to be like. To me, it's like going home.

Rasta Taco - Review #1

Date of Visit: March 15, 2008

Rasta Taco 26881 Camino de Estrella Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 (949) 496-TACO Listing on Google Maps Official Site

Enter starting address: Address City, State and/or Zip

UPDATE: The Capo Beach location of Rasta Taco has closed down. It is scheduled to re-open on June 1, 2009, at The Camp across from the Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa. Stay tuned for further updates.

Question: How do you make food from a Mexican taco cart even more laid back? Answer: Add a reggae influence just as Rasta Taco has done. Rasta Taco started out as a taco cart catering company (and it still is one) but recently opened up a stationary, non-mobile restaurant in Capistrano Beach.

I had mentioned it here on the blog before but finally got to go down there last Saturday with my brother Gary to sample the wares. Ironically, neither of us got tacos. I had tried their tacos before at a taco tasting at Salt Creek Beach and wanted to try some other menu items this time.

The whole place is done up in the red, yellow, green reggae theme and when we pulled up there was a guy coming out who had obviously been growing his dreadlocks since long before Rasta Taco came on the scene.

We noted the posters for different reggae concerts on the wall including one for Lee "Scratch" Perry. Gary saw it and said, "I have his CD in the car. We can listen to it on the way back."

Most of the menu items are named after reggae artists, such as the Lee Scratch Breakfast Burrito, the Yellowman Breakfast Burrito (I'm sure the cheese on it is "yellow like cheese"), the Pato Taco (not a duck taco, but named after Pato Banton), and Ziggy's Medley Taco Platter.

Gary got the "Peter Fish Burrito" which we strongly suspect is named after Peter Tosh. It looked like it was loaded "to the gills" with fish and beans and rice.

I went for the Eek-A-Mouse Quesadilla and a Toot's Pork Tamale. The tamale was the best I've had in a long while, with the masa being moist through and through and the pork nice and tender. And I used plenty of their mild verde salsa on both my items.

And for Vanilla Coke lovers, this is the only other Mexican place I know of in addition to Rubio's that has Vanilla Coke.

Also, you can view their menu online (see link to their official site above) and call in your order ahead of time and they have a full line of Rasta merchandise at the store: stickers, shirts and more.

I loved the laid back ambiance of the place. Come for the food and soak up the atmosphere. I'll be back there for breakfast for sure. Four Speedy Gonzaleses:

Original Olamendi's - Review #1

Date of Visit: January 13, 2007

Original Olamendi's 34660 Pacific Coast Hwy Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 (949) 661-1005 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

Enter starting address: Address City, State and/or Zip

Due to being in the middle of another horrendous backlog again of reviews to write I am just going to post the Olamendi's photos for now and add my remarks on the place as my schedule allows. Not only is Olamendi's a feast for the mouth but for the eyes as well. Managers John and Gloria Olamendi Haney kindly allowed me to take pictures of their family-run restaurant which has been a favorite for 33 years now of both Republican politicians (Richard Nixon being the most famous; his last visit was about a month before he died) and Hollywood celebrities and the Dana Point locals. Many from all three categories are featured in the numerous photos adorning the walls

Some of the celebrities spotted at Olamendi's include:

• Anthony Edwards
• Kevin Bacon
• Courteney Cox
• David Arquette
• Oscar de la Renta
• Heather Locklear and Richie Sambora

The childrens' part of the menu at Olamendi's is called "Christian's Speedy Gonzalez Menu." Most readers of this blog will recognize how appropriate that is. The dishes on the childrens' menu are named after other Olamendi grandchildren.

From out front the restaurant looks small but it really opens up as you head towards the back.

Olamendi's has three other spinoff restaurants run by various family members; all locations are in the South County coastal area and may be covered here later.

At Olamendi's every day is Day of the Dead

"Shark fin" guacamole

I was having a hard time deciding between all the different breakfast entrees that they had that looked so good so at Gloria's suggestion I got a half-and-half plate with Huevos a la Mexicana and the Huevos Olamendi (scrambled eggs with chorizo):

What I especially liked about the chorizo was that it was perhaps the least greasy chorizo I've ever had and with just the right amount of spiciness. I took some of each entree, stuffed them into my tortillas and made some of my own custom ultimate breakfast burritos.

I also got a bowl of Huevos a la Tia Lucha, a sort of breakfast soup with a poached egg swimming a red sauce with avocados, peppers, sour cream, and pimento olives.

Olamendi's earns a four and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



Here are some more shots of the interior: