Welcome to my blog for reviewing the best Mexican restaurants and food in Orange County, CA. I intend to cover as many as I can . . . and all sorts and price ranges: "From taco trucks to fine dining . . . and everything inbetween." Newer entries tend to focus on photos more than words. Number of restaurants covered so far: 268+. See The List
This is the first place where I got to use my new digital camera. Three friends (Sherry, Bill, and Phil) were along for the experience and at various moments they either didn't know they were being photographed, knew it but tried to get out of frame, or knew I was taking a picture of something else and burst into frame.
Surf City Tacos has a definite surf city vibe (sorry, Santa Cruz), very much of a locals hangout. It is also very cramped inside and the only tables where there is room to put all your food are the two that are outside. But it was too cold to eat outside tonight so we ate with our food hanging off the ledges inside. I ordered the fish taco plate and it came on one of those styrofoam plates that has the two divisions for side orders that were filled with the requisite rice and beans, both very standard tasting. The tacos were very reminiscent of Rubio's fish tacos.
Sherry, Bill, and I all liked the place but Phil called it a cross "between Taco Bell and Las Barcas" and complained about their salsa. He said the only place that has worse salsa is some Mexican joint in Whittier run by Vietnamese people. I guess everyone has their own opinion.
Normita's Surf City Tacos earns a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:
UPDATE: Here's a taco plate I got at a later date:
This review is going to fall victim to the fact that I am transitioning from using old-fashioned disposable cameras to my brand new digital camera. I used a disposable one at Baja Fresh and only one of the pictures turned out when I got the prints and the CD back and it wasn't even a very good one. I did a good job of arranging all the food back at my place for some photos and for some unknown reason they didn't turn out. I've had what were going to be good pictures from other restaurants not show up either and after it happened too many times I finally caved and bought a digital camera. It was a Wal-Mart special, 4.1 megapixels and it came with a bunch of accessories that you would normally have to buy separately.
There was nothing bad about the food at Baja Fresh but there was nothing really to like about it either. I also don't like that there are so many places whose name ends in "Fresh Mexican Grill." I don't even know who started it but, as far as I'm concerned, they're all at fault. The chicken tortilla soup was edible but it made me appreciate El Pollo Loco's even more. I think I'm going to actually have to PhotoShop a half Speedy Gonzales now and give Baja Fresh a two and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:
UPDATE (August 29, 2008):
Here's a much better picture of the storefront taken about two and a half years later:
Also, you can read our subsequent Baja Fresh coverage by clicking the 'baja fresh' label:
Located in Old Town Irvine (same parking lot as the Tia Juana's), Knowlwood bills themselves as a "casual dining hamburger and American restaurant experience." The theme is "anything from early to mid-1900's rural American." They specialize in hamburgers and shakes, but have a number of other items on the menu.
This location looked like it might've been built into an old barn as there is a lot of "set decoration" that appears truly authentic. A clipping from the Irvine World News on their wall confirmed that this location did actually use to be a barn and a blacksmith shop. That would explain why the little room I ate in had sorting boxes with dozens of sizes of nails. It's hard to tell how many of the decorations used to create ambience were originally in place when the building operated as a barn and how many of the items were moved in when the building became a Knowlwood restaurant. Was the metal sign for "Green Arrow Steer Manure" around originally? Who knows? Suffice it to say there's a lot of old stuff in there. And some arcade games. And some pinball machines. And a pool table. And an old 1940's truck that looks like it was used to haul produce to the market.
I ordered the mahi taco combo. They also have cod, salmon, beef, and chicken tacos. The plate came with two tacos with mahi mahi and stuffed with plenty of green and purple cabbage, lots of chips, a wedge of lime, and a cup of salsa made with tomatoes so bland and unripe you'd swear they were stolen from Chipotle. Everything about the tacos was serviceable but they were about as Americanized (unsurprisingly) as the ones from California Fish Grill. Still, it made a good lunch.
For making serviceable Mexican-inspired food when it's not even their specialty Knowlwood gets a three Speedy Gonzales rating:
No, I haven't forgotten this blog. I just haven't been to a Mexican restaurant in an unusually long time (for me that's one week). I could've taken my Valentine's date to a Mexican restaurant last night but we went to a French/Italian one instead. I still have pictures coming for a couple existing entries and I'm about to give in and finally purchase a digital camera soon, which will, of course, help me to have photos available as soon as an entry goes up.
Also, in my Taco Bell review, I mentioned getting Zesty Nachos from the location at Bushard and Talbert in Fountain Valley for 79¢. Well, when I went to another Taco Bell on Saturday last week they didn't have the Zesty Nachos so I had to order Nachos Supreme and ask for it with no beans (which, of course, completely threw off the guy taking my order) and it was $1.29 as I had guessed previously. So, apparently the FV store is a test store. I say they should roll the Zesty Nachos out to every store.
On another note, I may build a proper site around this so that the blog portion will be only one aspect of an entire site. I need to figure out what approach to take to it first. And, if anyone wants to suggest a zingier name for the blog/site and/or develop a logo for it I say, "Go for it." Couldn't guarantee that I'd use whatever might be submitted but I'm entirely open to suggestions.
And, almost but not quite off topic, I was perusing other food blogs (dangerous when you're hungry) and came across this recipe and actually made it about a week later and it turned out good.
Lastly, I'm open to posting reviews from other people. There's so many Mexican restaurants in Orange County that it's hard for one person to cover them all. I'll still do everything I can though, but if you think you might want to help out just let me know. If you only have one review to submit then I might just post it under my ID here and give you credit but if you think you might do a bunch of reviews then I might get you the ability to post here under your own ID. I'll have to figure out how to approach it if and when the opportunity presents itself.
Click HERE to read ALL our extensive coverage of Taco Rosa. Includes extensive photography. This is the link to follow if you want to see tons of pictures of Taco Rosa's food. Also includes links to their official site, addresses for both their locations and more. If you are just looking at "Taco Rosa - Review #2" then you are not getting the big picture on Taco Rosa.
Taco Rosa 2632 San Miguel Road Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949) 720-0980 Appetizer: Sausage Chimichanga Entree: Sopa tlalpeña and Alambré Taco Drink: sandía (watermelon) aguas fresca Dessert: Fried Sopapillas
My favorite Taco Rosa waitress served me this time and told me I had missed the grape aguas frescas by one day. I asked her how I would know when they might have it again and she said it is decided each morning what two aguas frescas to make for that day. So I'll have to try again another day. She did, however, bring me a free appetizer that I had never had there before: a sausage chimichanga.
Next up was a bowl of their soup listed on their specials chalkboard for the day and to the best of my memory it was called Sopa tlalpeña, and was basically a chicken soup with rice, garbanzo beans, and avocado slices.
After a big lunch earlier in the day, the chimichanga, the soup, and the prospect of dessert, I wasn't sure I would want a full dinner entree so I ordered an alambré taco (cubed steak grilled with bacon, red onion, pasilla pepper and Oaxaca cheese garnished with marinated serrano peppers and red onion) a la carte. It still came with a helping of escabeche and some of their orange/red corn chips, all of which helped to round out this perfect meal.
The sopapillas shone forth a heavenly light (actually it was just bad photography)
After telling me several times in the past that they don't do half-size orders anymore on dessert I was told tonight that I could get the fried sopapillas half-sized and it was just the right amount for me. The dish came with two fried puffy sopapillas, a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with chocolate (that hardened like Magic Shell), and a cup of chocolate and a cup of agave nectar (cactus honey) for dippin'. I don't know what caused the change or how long it might last but it really makes sense to have dessert portions that are the right size for one person, so, thank you, Taco Rosa, for doing that for me. Keep it up. I've been to Taco Rosa many times by myself but have also been on many occasions with as many as seven guests and just about everyone I have introduced Taco Rosa to has gone back and brought other people with them. So I have many times ordered one or more full-sized dessert platters but sometimes you just want a one-person portion. Okay, enough on that "half-size" topic. The final thing I would say about their desserts for this entry is that they now have a separate dessert menu that they bring to each table when the guests are done with their main entrees. It is all the same desserts listed on previous iterations of their full menu, with one exception being that there is a new dessert sampler platter featuring churros, flan, and chocolate-covered strawberries, pretty much some of everything except the sopapillas.
For excellent food and personalized service this Taco Rosa visit earns an unqualified five Speedy Gonzales rating:
Click on the "taco rosa" label below to read all our entries on Taco Rosa, most of which include better photographs than this entry has.
(UPDATE - March 19, 2007: The Zesty Nachos mentioned in this review that were only available in a few test markets at the time are now available at every Taco Bell.)
"Taco Bell?! Taco Bell?! You mean to tell me you're reviewing the least authentic, most McDonald's-like 'Mexican' fast food restaurant there's ever been?" Yes, yes I am. It may not be authentic but sometimes it fits just what you need at the moment. And I always see Mexican people eating there so if they don't have a problem with it then why should I?
This particular location used to be a Pup 'N' Taco that I would go to all the time with my family when we piled up in our old green van. Pup 'N' Taco had excellent grape slushes that I still miss. It was converted to a Taco Bell in the summer of 1984. Was that a good move? Who knows. A recent Internet search showed that there is still a Pup 'N' Taco somewhere in Texas. If that is true and they still have the grape slushes I might go there.
A new item on their menu that I noticed this time was their Zesty Nachos. I ordered these without hesitation because they seemed like the nachos supreme but without the beans. I used to always order nachos supreme without beans and the employees couldn't figure out why somebody would want nachos without beans so they would always take the beef off instead. Now I can just order the Zesty Nachos and have no fear of my order getting messed up. Also, they are only 79 cents, whereas, if my memory serves me well, the supreme nachos were $1.19 or maybe $1.29.
I also added a bean burrito. Why am I ordering a bean burrito if I don't like beans on my nachos? I guess it's my own idiosyncracy but beans just don't seem right to me on crisp corn chips but do seem appropriate on soft flour tortillas.
Mountain Dew's Baja Blast and Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza
Taco Bell also serves an exclusive Mountain Dew variety, Baja Blast, which they say has a 'tropical lime' flavor. Yes, that's true, you can only get this drink at Taco Bell. This helps to mix things up a little when making a fast food run.
Another plus is their caramel apple empanadas, a relatively recent addition to their menu. I've had these dessert empanadas a few times and they are sticky, gooey fun and a great way to finish off the meal and not at all bad for 99 cents. There was a brief period of time when one Taco Bell location had Klondike brand Choco Tacos on their menu as a dessert item, including the rare Choco Tacos that had strawberry ice cream. I wish they'd bring those back.
My whole meal came to only $4.16. That's pretty good for nachos, a burrito, a drink, and a dessert, all of which tasted very fresh.
I feel funny giving Taco Bell such a high rating but it earns a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating for having enough unique items on their menu at a very reasonable price:
Trivia Question:
Five Speedy Gonzaleses go to the first person who can tell what the original name of Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza was.
Update (August 4, 2006): Five Speedy Gonzaleses go to Chaz Lamrusco who correctly guessed that the original name of Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza was "Pizzazz:"
UPDATE: Tia Juana's has closed down as of late 2011.
Located in historic Old Town Irvine where the 5 Freeway and Sand Canyon Avenue meet, Tia Juana's is built into an old grain silo. At least that's what I've been told. I've also been told that it's only made to look that way. Either way, it still looks like it's in an old, old building. Everything else in the little Old Town Irvine either looks old or is old, including the La Quinta Inn, the Knowlwood, The Denny's, the Jack in the Box, the post office, and the antique store. Sometimes I've seen permanent travelers (modern gypsies) parking their RVs there for long-term stops. If you see an RV there be careful about looking too closely because the people in it might be taking showers. The post office is a little gem. It is a bona fide official US post office but, at last check, it doesn't even show up on the postal service's website when you search for post office locations. Ever since I found out about it I've gone there rather than going to the big, enormous postal station about a half mile south on Sand Canyon because there is rarely a wait. There's also a really expensive gas station in Old Town Irvine. Don't go there if you don't need to.
Why all this talk about other places in the same shopping center? Because Old Town Irvine is an interesting little place but there's not much to say about Tia Juana's. It is one of those places you go for drinks when you get off work. The food is a secondary feature. I went largely to try their deep fried ice cream because their online menu doesn't mention coconut as one the ingredients and the last place I ordered deep fried ice cream used coconut but I can't eat coconut so I was anxious to try a coconut-free version.
As an entree I ordered their Alaskan "Mero" - yellow corn-meal encrusted Alaskan halibut topped with citrus chipotle sauce and served with some zucchini/yellow squash concoction and yellow corn masa (there's a definite yellow theme going on here). I had told the waitress I wanted to order something different and she said, "That's definitely different." And it was definitely different. The fish was good and cooked to just the right degree of doneness but the chipotle sauce was a little funny tasting. Not bad, but I wasn't asking for extra. And the salsa that came with the chips made a good fish topping and so did the squash mixture (I just know I'll remember what the squash stuff was called after I post this review).
I wanted to try their deep fried ice cream but they never even asked if I wanted dessert; therefore I didn't order any and therefore I can't comment on it. I don't know why they didn't ask. Maybe I didn't look like a big spender or maybe I acted like I was in a hurry to get back to work (I wasn't) or maybe they're just not used to people ordering dessert at lunchtime. I did, however, notice that their little dessert menu mentions that their deep fried ice cream is rolled in bran flakes so maybe that helps you to feel slightly less guilt when you eat it.
I want to drop them down to two for being so average and not asking if I wanted dessert but I'll give Tia Juana's a three Speedy Gonzales rating for having something a little different on their menu:
I had been wondering why nobody had been commenting here yet (apart from 1 comment on the California Fish Grill review) and it turns out that people had (2 under the "Is this good for you?" entry) but I had inadvertently changed something in the settings to make it where I would have to approve comments before they show up in the blog. Now I am aware of that and we should be back on track. So feel free to comment on my reviews, suggest restaurants, submit recipes, etc. For now I am going to give my own intelligence a one Speedy Gonzales rating:
Appetizer: Free chips and salsa (rather spicy hot salsa) Beverage: Lemonade Entree: Chile relleno burrito
El Farolito opened in 1974 and is in sleepy downtown Placentia. So sleepy you can walk around right in the middle of the main streets and have no fears for your safety. A customer's comments on their Yahoo! Local listing says that the building El Farolito is in used to be a house.
When I saw that they had a chile relleno burrito on their menu I had to try it. Then when it arrived I wondered if the stem would be removed from it so that nobody would accidentally eat it when it's even more hidden than normal because of being inside the tortilla wrapping. Well, and I don't know how this happened, but the stem hadn't been removed and there were two additional loose chili stems inside. I figured it must be a sign of good luck so I made a secret wish. The chile relleno burrito turned out to pretty much be a chile relleno inside a flour tortilla with some refried beans thrown in for good measure and ranchero sauce all over it so I had to eat it with a fork and knife.
The Chile relleno burrito is camera shy
My brother ordered a two enchilada plate but had them substitute a chile relleno for one of the enchiladas. My friend's mother ordered a chile relleno a la carte and said it was the best chile relleno she's ever had. None of the three people (my friend James, his wife and his kid) on the other side of the table ordered anything that had to do with chile rellenos.
Their menu didn't mention postres so we just went to Foster's Freeze afterwards.
Overall, El Farolito earns a three Speedy Gonzales rating:
UPDATE (February 13, 2009):
Here are some pictures taken three years after the initial review:
