Avila's El Ranchito - Review #3

Date of Visits: July 24 and 25, 2007 and October 10, 2011

Avila's El Ranchito 2515 E Coast Hwy Corona del Mar, CA 92625 (949) 644-8226 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing at Yelp Official Site

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Here's some photos of the new Avila's Corona del Mar location, just across and down PCH from their prior location. They also have a little bit of a Mexican market in the front:

These are photos of their old Corona del Mar location:

I stopped at Avila's last week when I was out running errands and got some lunch. I'd never been to this location before so, hey, new material for the blog. Little did I know I would be back again the very next day but that's what happens when you absentmindedly leave your debit card behind.

Of course the meal started out with the requisite complementary chips and salsa, but what made Avila's salsa unique was the very distinct green onion component. Some of the green onion slices in it were like manhole covers.

On my first visit I ordered their Taco Tuesday special, the filet mignon tacos with rice and beans. Trust me, there's filet mignon in there:

Bits of the filet mignon were a little on the tough side, but with those out of the way and stuffed with some rice and lettuce and the salsa these were some fine tacos.

My meal the next day was even better, a chile relleno/pork tamale combo plate. The pork tamale had veritably exploded and was overflowing with nice cubed chunks of carnitas. The chile relleno was light and fluffy and I actually ate more of the chile pepper than I normally do.

And there's nothing wrong with showing a little American pride while retaining your heritage:

I wanted to try the strawberry-filled churros I saw on the menu but each time I was brought the check without being asked if I wanted dessert. I didn't fight it because I probably don't need dessert with every lunch (or maybe any lunch for that matter). I still want to try those churros sometime though.

Avila's El Ranchito in Corona del Mar earns a 3.5 Speedy Gonzales rating:

La Fogata - Review #1

Date of Visit: October 6, 2006

La Fogata 3025 E Coast Hwy Corona del Mar, CA 92625 (949) 673-2211 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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You can find out about good Mexican restaurants in the darnedest places. La Fogata was recommended to me by a nice couple I struck up a conversation with while at lunch at Taco Rosa. They noticed me taking pictures of my food so I explained what I do. I asked them what their favorite Mexican restaurant was and they quickly answered, "La Fogata in Corona del Mar." I told them I would try to make it there soon and asked them what I should try. Again a quick answer: "The California Grande Burrito."

Almost two months later I finally made it to La Fogata. I went with a date, Marissa, who, like me, has fairly periodic hankerings for good Mexican food. La Fogata is located in the Albertson's shopping center off of PCH between Iris and Jasmine. Parking is tight down that way, but what else is new? They are famous for their rotisserie chicken (in fact, I believe their full name is "La Fogata Healthy Mexican Grill and Rotisserie Chicken") and you can see a big rotisserie spinning over a huge flame as you walk up to their entrance.

Usually I can spend forever and a day perusing a restaurant's menu and then, and only then, finally make a choice out of desperation so as not to hold up everyone else in the party. This time, however, I knew I'd be ordering the California Grande Burrito. This is a huge flour tortilla with rotisserie chicken, fresh onions, fresh zucchini, shredded lettuce, cheese, rice, black or pinto beans, guacamole, sour cream, and your choice of an extra meat (steak or fish). I don't know if fish blends well with chicken or steak so I went with the chicken/steak combo. It ends up being an enormous burrito, the likes of which I am sure only Andre the Giant could get his mouth around. It's served with half-slices of orange and tomato and a huge dollop of sour cream.

Marissa ordered a taco combo plate, with one chicken and one steak taco. It turned out to be a less messy version of what I had ordered. Each taco came in one blue and one white corn tortilla. She called attention to the fact that they actually use jasmine rice here; I guess that's a little Indian fusion going on.

I have to add that La Fogata has the highest quality takeout menus I have ever seen. Even after they told me I could take one I still felt a little guilty about it. For filling us up without weighing us down, La Fogata earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating: