El Camino Cafe

El Camino Cafe 195 El Camino Real Tustin, CA 92780-3601 (714) 573-5898 Listing at Zomato Listing at Post-Gazette 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. I have very little time to write right now but I am looking forward to getting back to El Camino Cafe some more.)

Click here for the full flickr photo album (34 photos so far).

Taco Factory - Review #3

Taco Factory 14455 Newport Ave (Corner of Newport and Walnut) Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 731-1111 (accepts phone orders) Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Insider Pages No known official website.

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Here is our first guest review from Judy Asman, who has appropriately nicknamed herself Judy the Foodie and has a web magazine called The Astute Recorder:

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If I only had a $1 left in my pocket, I'd scrounge up some change and buy a Taco Factory taco on Taco Tuesday.

So the story goes, in 1983, Taco Factory ("Tacos al Carbon") in Tustin opened on the corner of Walnut and Newport. Soon after, various other small Mexican food joints opened by the same owner, all of which he (or she) sold.

If my account of the restaurant's history seems vague, it's all thanks to my faux and inadequate investigative reporting venture while talking to one of the employees. While the friendly cashier was informative, there were several details she could not confirm.

For one, she couldn't tell me who the original owner is and where the other "original" locations are. She could, however, tell me the Tustin Taco Factory is not affiliated with the Taco Factory locations in Irvine—which Christian has reviewed before—and the Tustin Taco Factory has been owned by the same folks for about 10 years.

When I first started eating at Taco Factory in 2000, I was introduced to its high-value $1 tacos on Taco Tuesday. Completely impressed with the freshly grilled carne asada—both tender and free of lard clumps (can I get an Amen?)—I now find myself to be a Taco Factory obsessed patron regular in the purest sense of the word.

What keeps me coming back?

Most of the dozens of times I've eaten at Taco Factory in the past nine years, I've ordered the carne asada tacos, and I eat them the same way, all the time: spicy pico de gallo, which TF features from mild to extra pica, spread over the meat with a few dashes of salt. Then I dip my freshly deep fried corn chips in for the kill. I enjoy most of my tacos as this kind of chip-dipping experience, then, when there's just the right amount of meat, I pick up the meat filled corn tortillas to eat them as tacos. It's truly divine.

Equally as enticing are the carnitas (pictured)—juicy, flavorful and boasting a saltiness and texture reminiscent of Kalua pork. Because I am a Pacific Islander, the latter description earns Taco Factory's carnitas tacos a double thumbs up from me. These I enjoy with hot red salsa topped with diced onions and cilantro, then—once again—with another chipping dipping until it's bite-sized taco experience.

The cod fish tacos are just as meaty and chicken tacos are transcended from typically boring to tasty and plentiful when blended with any spicy delight from the salsa bar.

Just about the only thing that seems to have changed since I first became hooked on Taco Factory is the price range. Tacos are now $1.29 on Taco Tuesday ($1.85 every other day) but one can still get a meat and cheese filled burrito (the famous burrito) for less than five bucks ($4.75). This popular dish comes with fresh guacamole, which is fresh and creamy, featuring the cuisine's signature flavor of cumin.

The wet burritos ($5.29) are worth blowing any diet for. The red sauce has a mouth-watering tang and the right amount of melted cheese accenting the green onions and diced red pepper on top and ample meat filling.

I've had just about every dish on Taco Factory's menu (while getting friends and family members hooked along the way), except dishes implying healthy eating (taco salad, tostada, vegetarian taco … you get the idea). But rest assured for interested parties, these items are on their menu with the highest priced of those listed as the taco salad ($5.49).

Taco Factory can even make a quesadilla sing. These tortilla and cheese favorites come in small or large sizes. The quesadilla is straight up a tortilla with cheese (small, $2.69 and large $3.59) with the quesadilla plus that includes a meat (small $4.29, large $4.99). Given the price, it's worth it to order a large quesadilla plus (scrumptious with jack cheese and carne asada), which can pretty much account for two meals.

Other than the prices, everything else seems to be the same at Taco Factory—the cooks, the cashiers, the salsa bar, the interior, the daily specials and yes—the Taco Tuesdays. This is a good thing for folks like me who look forward to the hearty and affordable eating experience. If anything, Taco Factory in Tustin seems to have its finger on the pulse of recession-proof restaurants all thanks to a formula that works.

Judy "the Foodie's" hot (salsa) tip: Mark your calendar on your birthday. If you show your I.D. at Taco Factory, you will enjoy a free lunch on them! Also there are daily specials seven days a week and lunch and dinner platters ranging from $3.50 - $7.00.

Seating:

One counter on the inside. Plenty of tables out in the patio.

Parking:

A few spaces right in front but the eatery is in a small strip mall where there are more spaces. Some street parking in front. One space for handicap parking.

Hours:

Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Payment: Cash and credit cards (minimum order $5)

Ruby's Diner

Ruby's Diner 13102 Newport Ave Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 838-7829 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Insider Pages Official Site

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(Disclaimer: This blog is not just about Mexican restaurants in Orange County but also about Mexican food that can be found in non-Mexican restaurants in Orange County.)

When you "Shooby-Dooby down to Ruby's" next be aware that the old-fashioned-style food chain has more than just hamburgers, shakes, and fries but also has a few Mexican items as well.

When I went to their Tustin location a couple weeks ago I tried their fish tacos. You can also get chicken, shrimp, veggie, or carnitas tacos, (The veggie tacos come on whole wheat tortillas and you can get a lo-carb version of the chicken soft tacos.) but you can't mix and match them. After ordering my tacos I wondered if I should've ordered a side dish to go with them but they were plenty filling. You get sour cream and guacamole on the side and a couple kinds of McIlhenny's Tabasco sauce to use to your liking. The fish had likely been frozen just prior to cooking but was flaky and flavorful enough to get me a good Mexican food fix at a non-Mexican place.

UPDATE: Here's a picture of when I got huevos rancheros at the Ruby's Moto-Diner at the Irvine Spectrum. Don't know why the picture turned out so bad.

Fresca's Mexican Grill - Review #3 (Quick Stop)

Fresca's Mexican Grill 1621 Edinger Ave, #6 Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 259-0499 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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Made a quick stop at the new-ish Fresca's Mexican Grill in Tustin (almost in Santa Ana) recently to follow up on the Fast Food Maven's recommendation to me to try their shrimp tacos. Fresca's is Orange County-based and similar to a lot of other fresh mex chains around here but it does have a few touches of authenticity you wouldn't expect.

So I ordered a shrimp taco and a chicken taco and loaded up on some chunky red salsa, some of the hottest escabeche I've ever had, some salsa verde and some horchata:

The thing I liked about the shrimp taco was that the shrimp were very fresh and plump and meaty with a hint of pineapple glaze and pineapple salsa. I wanted to get some flan but I've been trying to not have too much dessert lately.

They are also advertising some pretty good deals:

Charo Chicken - Review #2

Charo Chicken 17612 E 17th St Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 832-1300 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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UPDATE: This location has closed.

No More Mr. Nice Guy

I think I'm known on this blog as being the nice guy, maybe too nice, often perceived as being afraid of pointing out anything negative about any place I eat at. I will freely admit that I am generally positive in my reviews but it's not exactly out of fear of offending somebody or some restaurant as it is that I realize that one bad item or one bad service experience at a particular restaurant may very well be a fluke, an isolated incident, a random occurrence per se, that is not representative of that restaurant's overall way of doing business. If you get something that tastes bad or you have a problem with the service then there's nothing wrong with bringing it up to the management and getting it cleared up but I do think there's something wrong with not saying anything about it to them and then posting it all over the Internet. The restaurant may have a hard time living down something that was an isolated incident.

Or if there is a food item you didn't like there may still be other items on the menu that you would like if you just gave them a try. I have seen people write off a restaurant based on not liking one item. Sometimes I have seen these people go later, with some degree of persuasion, back to the same restaurant and try something different and then be converted to the place but some of these people dig in their heels, refuse to go back and miss out on things they would've enjoyed. I've also seen people go back to a place they had previously written off, order the thing they didn't like before instead of trying different stuff, then entirely write the place off forever. Yes, it defies logic, but we humans can be funny people and I am not without my quirks.

This leads me to the fact that I recently found a coupon in the paper for Charo Chicken advertising that they are now serving Carne Asada and Barbacoa Steak (or Chicken) as meat choices in addition to their obvious: chicken. I clipped the coupon and a week or so later I went to the Irvine location excitedly waiting to try the new options. The clerk there though told me that the two new meats were only available at a couple test restaurants. So I ordered a Moe's Favorite Potato (I conveniently ignore the fact that they now call it "Moe's Famous Potato") and thoroughly enjoyed it, as I always do, and saved the coupon for later use.

A week or two later I picked up my slowly disintegrating coupon from my desk and headed to the Tustin location. This was one of two or three test restaurants so they had the meats so I ordered a Carne Asada tostada and a Barbacoa Chicken taco. The problem was the Carne Asada was too tough and dry to chew. I had a few little nibbles as it slowly dawned on me that I was engaged in a lost cause. I nibbled at the non-meat portion of the tostada then just dumped the whole thing and moved on to the taco. The barbacoa chicken in the taco was definitely more edible but I don't think chicken should ever be served in dry, crisp taco shells. Bad combo.

I have in no way been turned off of going to Charo Chicken. I do still love their Moe's Favorite Potato and the service has always been good but I'm thinking maybe they better stick with chicken as their signature meat. Has anybody else had an experience with the carne asada at Charo Chicken? If somebody can report a good experience I am entirely open to going there and trying it again.

Taqueria El Chilito - Review #1

Taqueria El Chilito 15852 Pasadena Ave Tustin 92780-5414 (714) 730-9182 No online directory listings found. No known official website.

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Here's another review reprinted with permission from the Griffin Eats OC blog:

I drove by Taqueria El Chilito the other day and I was immediately excited. Looking at the shabby exterior of the restaurant made me think, "I bet they have great Mexican food!" Unfortunately, I had just eaten lunch so I made a mental note to return later to try it out. The next day my wife felt like Mexican food. She felt like having nachos from Alberta's. I told her about this new place I passed the day before and she agreed to try it. I drove out to Taqueria El Chilito and thought to myself, "I might be discovering our next favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint!"

I pulled into a parking space and walked through the door. There were a couple coolers of Mexican ice cream bars. They sounded good since it was such a hot day, but I passed them up.

Read the rest of this entry

Sharky's at The District Tustin Legacy

Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill The District at Tustin Legacy Jamboree Rd & Barranca Pkwy Irvine, CA 92606 Official Site

Just a quick note that the new Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill has opened up at The District in Tustin/Irvine. Click on the photo above to view my flickr album, including the Stacked Chicken Enchilada I tried, and click on the "sharky's" label below to read all our Sharky's coverage.

Whole Foods Market

Date of Visit: September 12, 2007

Whole Foods Market The District at Tustin Legacy Jamboree Rd & Barranca Pkwy Irvine, CA 92606 Official Site

If you live anywhere in or near Tustin or Irvine you must know about the new mega shopping center called The District at Tustin Legacy (which is actually in Irvine) which is nearly a clone of the Tustin Marketplace, which itself is in Tustin and Irvine (confused yet?). Before its grand opening on August 17 I'd made a few trips there to eat at Chick-Fil-A (a habit I picked up when I lived briefly in Florida), watch movies at the theater (before the general public knew it was actually open), and sample food at the enormous Costco.

Having read Nancy Luna's preliminary report on the coming Whole Foods Market I was interested in getting there as soon as I could. Due to a misunderstanding on the opening date I actually ended up there the day before it opened at which time I took the first picture shown above. It wasn't until about two weeks later that I made it back for real.

When I walked in the first thing that came to my mind was, "This is like a food version of Disneyland." Unsurprisingly I read in the OC Weekly later that night that the Weekly's food columnist, Edwin Goei (aka ElmoMonster), had referred to it as a "Disneyland for foodies," in an article entitled, fittingly enough, "Disneyland for Foodies" (and if I may be allowed to go off on another tangent I should add that when I lived in Hawaii I got my groceries at a supermarket called "Foodland" . . . and I'm writing this entry immediately after getting back from a Friday night trip to the real Disneyland). Somewhere in the back-quarters of this gustatory amusement park sits a churrascaria that doubles as a taqueria ready to serve up Mexican food for those who can't wait to get home and eat. So I ordered the "Tres Tacos," one with each kind of meat they offer: carne asada, chicken, and carnitas. They also have a vegetarian variety.

Heavy on the seasoning, made with very uniform machine-made corn tortillas, shredded lettuce, and lots of pico de gallo salsa and some shredded cheese this is Mexican food that cuts the mustard if it's the most convenient thing for you at the time. One thing I should add is that these tacos do not travel well. When I got back to my place to eat them they were dripping wet from all the excess pico de gallo water. If you order the tacos I'd suggest that you eat them there. Next time I get Mexican takeout food there it'll be a torta or a burrito.

UPDATE (April 13, 2009):

Here's a picture from when I went back a couple days ago and got three tacos and blueberry aguas frescas:

UPDATE (June 5, 2010):

Here's pictures from when I went yesterday and picked up one of their pre-made quesadillas:

Los Cotijas - Review #1

Just barely walked in the door from a weeklong trip to Hawaii. I haven't forgotten the blog here at all. In fact, I'll soon be posting a review of a Mexican restaurant I went to a day before my trip as well as a report on the Mexican food I had while on Maui. For now, I reprint with permission a review by ElmoMonster of Monster Munching on his visit to Los Cotijas in Tustin:

Where else but Orange County can a trio of long-haired, Asian-American surfer dudes build an empire selling Mexican food. But as much I admire the homegrown success of Wahoo's, I do not like their fish tacos because of one very simple reason: the fish must be fried.

Charbroiling the fish over flames may cut the fat content and increase its heart-health quotient, but it makes for flavorless, lifeless, dry-as-dust tacos. Deep-frying is the only path to righteousness for tacos de pescado.

The folks at Los Cotijas operate on this tried-and-true, time-tested principle. And the result? Well let's just say that your cardiologist likely won't approve. But damn if it ain't one tasty taco!

A slender fillet of white-fleshed fish is dunked in batter, dropped into hot grease, and fried until it attains a golden brown crunch. Stop here and you'd have half of what the British serve in their pubs as fish and chips. But wrap it around warm corn tortillas, top with crunchy shredded cabbage, mound on a spoonful of spicy pico de gallo, squirt some tangy, milky-white mayo-sauce and you have the best invention to come out of our Southern neighbors since tequila.

Los Cotijas charges you a paltry two bucks for each. And even if the Rubio's chain might charge less per taco, theirs is also smaller in size and lacks the soulfulness of these beauties. And if you think you'll miss the faux thatched roof over Rubio's salsa bar, or the signs pointing south with the distance in miles to Ensanada and Los Cabos, take comfort in this: Los Cotijas' grimy and worn interior is more accurate to what a fish taco joint would actually look like in Mexico.

Thanks, ElmoMonster!

Be sure to check out the Monster Munching blog, which covers all types of restaurants in Orange County.

Here's a couple pictures I took myself in Sep. 2007:

And another one from January 2010:

El Zocalo - Review #1

Date of Visit: June 8, 2007

El Zocalo Mexican Steak House 301 N Tustin Ave Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 569-1179 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch No known official website.

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A little over a year ago, back in the Roundup #4 entry, I mentioned that a waiter at Black Sheep Bistro in Tustin said that one of his favorite Mexican restaurants was El Zocalo Mexican Steak House in Santa Ana. The mere fact that I made that mention means that anybody searching on "zocalo" is likely to find my blog in their search results, but then come here and not actually find any information on it . . . until now. This should show anybody that's ever made a recommendation to me that I follow up on all recommendations I get . . . even if it takes a year or more.

You can hear this trumpeter for miles around

In a location that used to be the Ancient Mariner restaurant in the 70's and several other restaurants since then, El Zocalo looks a lot like the Chili Pepper in Orange with more earth tones, less primary colors, and lots more jungly overgrowth. The tiki torches in their courtyard don't exactly further the Mexican theme but I'm not complaining.

Meeting up with friends Matt and Rhett who arrived before I did, we perused the menu and I made an offhanded remark that somebody should order a steak since we were technically at a "steak house." Matt, with very little prodding, ordered the top sirloin steak (medium rare), which was served with steamed vegetables, corn on the cob, and french fries:

Top Sirloin Steak

Rhett ordered a carne asada platter which was served with Spanish rice, salsa and guacamole on a leaf of lettuce, and beans in a little tostada-style bowl:

Carne Asada Platter

I went for the chicken enchiladas in mole (pronounced "mow-lay") sauce, served with rice and beans and a little bit of salad fixin's that I probably should've asked for some dressing for. This was quite likely the hottest mole sauce I've yet experienced. Bitter, hot, and chocolatey: from reading it it might not sound so good but when you taste it your taste buds will counteract your mental reasoning on the matter.

Enchiladas de Mole

Matt and Rhett, my Zen masters and spiritual guides:

Seeing as how Rhett and Matt actually have things called "jobs" that they had to get back to I was the only one left to enjoy dessert, the bunuelos with ice cream which ended up being a lot like the deep-fried ice cream that Azteca's in Huntington Beach serves but without the ice cream being deep-fried, if that makes any sense. These were six fried, sweetened tortilla wedges all pointing at two scoops of ice cream, everything drizzled with strawberry sauce with a mint leaf, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.

I'm going to give El Zocalo a three and three quarters Speedy Gonzales rating, leaning towards possibly rounding it up to four, and if Matt and Rhett chime in with their assessment then I can average out our ratings: