Cecilia's Tortilla Grill

Cecilia's Tortilla Grill 25250 La Paz Rd #140 Laguna Hills, CA 92653 (949) 446-8414 Facebook Page Listing at Yellow Pages Official Site

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(This is an "only-photos-first" post, done quickly to get photos up and a new entry on the blog, with the expectation that text may be added later. Guest reviews can also be added to this entry and each published one will be paid $10.)

Click here for the full flickr photo album (35 photos so far).

Zorrito Mexican Grill - Review #1

Date of Visit: December 6, 2007

Zorrito Mexican Grill 24401 Ridge Route Dr Laguna Hills, CA 92653 (949) 215-4555 Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch No known official website.

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(UPDATE - December 22, 2009: I have heard that Zorrito Mexican Grill has closed down.)

Here's another in my recent patch of very quick reviews while I try toi get caught up by Christmas and then get ready to rev the engines again and hit a flurry of new places between Christmas and New Years.

Zorrito Mexican Grill is a place near my work that I saw when I was actually eating at a Japanese restaurant. A little mom-and-pop, family-run business that recently changed ownership.

I ordered a fish taco and a bowl of the albondigas soup. The total charge came to $10.05. The soup was hearty and spicy with two very big, very obvious meatballs. The fish taco could've benefited from using handmade rather than store bought tortillas . . . minor complaint. And their aguas fresca was out of commission so I couldn't get horchata. Maybe next time . . .

3.25 Speedy Gonzales rating:

UPDATE: Here's a picture from when I went back and got a chile relleno/enchilada combo:

When I went back I also noticed that they have several vegetarian items on their menu.

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Baja Fish Tacos - Review #1

Date of Visit: August 3, 2006

Baja Fish Tacos
23020 Lake Forest Dr Ste 130
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
(949) 587-0920

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Appetizer: Chips and Salsa
Entree: Sampler Plate w/ Two Taquitos and a Taco
Drink: Guava Jarritos

Here's a place that was recommended to me quite a while back. I told the person who made the recommendation (Steve Johnson, who runs the Orange County Memories blog and the Junk Food Blog) that I liked Baja Fish Tacos and I was aiming to get back to it soon. I used to go to the one in Laguna Hills all the time when I worked at an office building right across the street and I've been to the one in Santa Ana once or twice and finally made it back (to the Laguna Hills location) in the seven months or so since starting this site.

Ed's Enchiladas

Due to their location they are hopping busy during weekday lunches but slow on the weeknights and weekends. Since my last visit they have expanded into an adjacent shop space and their lunchtime business is so heavy I could see them expanding again.

Just about the only downside I can think of to Baja Fish Tacos is that you have to pay for a side order of chips and salsa, $1.95, although I can't blame them too much with the amount of wasted salsa I see at some of these places.

My co-worker Ed loaded up on the enchilada platter while I tried their sampler platter (#4 on the menu). This is not an appetizer sampler platter, but two of your choice of beef or chicken taquitos (no mixing and matching) and one of your choice of taco. I opted for the shrimp taco as they make quite simply the best shrimp tacos I have ever tasted. Served on a warmed up flour tortilla with sauteed shrimp, cabbage, a special sauce, and cotija cheese these tacos are a bona fide guilty pleasure . . . or maybe not so guilty. It costs a little extra to upgrade your beef, chicken or fish taco to a shrimp one but it is well worth it. The shrimp taco can be a little drippy, and drippiness usually irks me, but in this case when the sauce drips out of the taco onto the rice on your plate it makes a perfect post-meal topping for all the chips you still have left over. I tried emulating these shrimp tacos at home one time and did a decent job of it.

Day of the Dead is Coming

From looking at the top of their beverage refrigerator it appears they are getting ready for El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, the holiday in which Mexicans honor their loved ones who have passed on. Either that or the people at Baja Fish Tacos are just Oingo Boingo fans . . . or both.

Baja Fish Tacos earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:

Flamingo's Mexican Grill - Review #1

25342 Mcintyre St
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

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No known official website.

Appetizer: Chips and Salsa
Soup: Albondigas
Entree: Enchiladas Vallarta
Drink: agua
Dessert: Deep-fried Ice Cream

Some of Flamingo's many flamingos

So last night I went to Flamingo's, or, as I like to refer to it, "Flaming Moe's" (if you like The Simpsons you'll know what Flaming Moe's is). I thought "Flamingo's" was maybe just a name, but, no, they actually have flamingos all over the place inside. Stuffed toy ones, plastic ones, weird spinning-from-the-ceiling origami ones, mirrors shaped like flamingos, etc. And even though it's not called "Parrots" they also have a few fake parrots hanging from the ceiling, which, along with the all the bamboo and the tiki masks, makes you think you are in Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room.
Started out with chips and salsa, then a cup of Albondigas soup which was right on except the meatballs were a tad underdone (but just barely done enough to keep me from complaining about them). As an entree I ordered the Enchiladas Vallarta, chicken enchiladas covered with cheese and some sort of lime-jalapeño sauce. They were serviceable but I have yet to encounter a chicken enchilada where the ingredients blend as they should. That's not Flamingo's fault. It's just the nature of the beast.
And this is weird but this is the second place where I was all ready to order deep-fried ice cream but instead was brought the bill without ever being asked if I wanted dessert. Maybe they are just watching out for my health again. Otherwise the service was good.

The Tiki Room?


The flamingo on the right looks kind of mean


Boo!


Looks almost Arabic


Enchiladas Vallarta


Albondigas Soup


Ever seen a cross between a flamingo and a zebra?

I'll give Flamingo's a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:

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As a followup to my previous entry on Infrequently Asked Questions, I just noticed that a while back, Kirk from mmm-yoso interviewed Reid from 'Ono Kine Grindz and a lot of Reid's answers were very similar to how I think in my approach to this blog. Interesting.