Taco Rosa January 2008 Specials

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Click HERE to read ALL our extensive coverage of Taco Rosa. This is the link to follow to see tons of pictures of Taco Rosa's food. Also includes links to their official site, addresses for both their locations and more.

Here's the specials for the month of January at both Taco Rosa locations:

Soup

Caldo Tlalpeño

"Homemade chicken soup with garbanzo beans and red and green peppers. Served with Mexican rice, avocado slices, and a touch of chipotle."

Entrees

Filete Relleno

"Beef tenderloin pounded and rolled with ham, potatoes, cheese, and peppers. Wrapped in bacon and smothered in our chipotle-caldino suace. Served with arroz del dia, black beans, and guacamole."

Pez Espada

"Charbroiled swordfish presented fajitas-style, with green and red peppers, and onions, topped with a tampiqueña garlic sauce. Served with arroz del dia, black beans, and guacamole."

Dessert

Crepas de Cajeta

"Cajeta caramel in four folded homemade crepes, accompanied with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate."

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Be sure to check the specials board and ask your server about variations in the specials offered each day. The items mentioned here will generally be available throughout the remainder of January 2008 but there may be slight variations from day to day. Here's one item that is sort of a secret special for the month of January:

Medaliones de Filete

"Two beef tenderloin medallions charbroiled and smothered in a green tomatillo sauce with potatos and black beans."

Click on the 'taco rosa' label below for tons of information on both locations including dozens of photos, address and contact information, and links to their official site.

Albatros - Review #1

Albatros Mexican Food 23591 Rockfield Blvd. #G Lake Forest, CA 92630 (949) 859-9600 Across from the Captain Creams Shopping Center, facing the north side of The Hat. No known official website.

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I recently found out about a new food blog on the block called Griffin Eats OC and its most recent review is about a new Mexican restaurant in Lake Forest. I wish I could go to every Mexican restaurant in the county every day. Well, not really, but there's still only so much one person can do so I asked Griffin if I could reprint his review of Albatros and he kindly gave his permission. So without further ado:

I recently visited the brand new Albatros Mexican Food in Lake Forest. Although they have a bird on their sign, I got the impression that they were trying to make people think that they were an "Albertos." This place is tucked away in a tiny strip mall. The location has had so may different tenants recently that I didn't think that anyplace could survive here. Until now.

I went to Albatros with high hopes and wasn't disappointed. I have only tried one item so far, the carne asada burrito ($3.50), but I was really impressed at both the quality of the burrito and the cost. I watched as the cook took a large portion of fresh beef and threw it on the grill. The small pieces of beef quickly cooked with a few tosses of his spatula. The cook then threw a giant flour tortilla on the grill, removed it and put some oniony guacamole on it and then filled the tortilla with the beef and rolled it. No rice, no beans, just meat and guacamole. An all meat burrito for $3.50? Unheard of! It was also actually so large that I couldn't even finish the whole thing! The meat was tender, but a little under seasoned for my tastes. I would have liked a little more of a citrusy flavor. It wasn't bad at all though.

Their salsa was very watery and not very spicy. Another guy from my office got their carnitas burrito. It too was all meat and guacamole, and he enjoyed it very much as well. I look forward to returning to Albatros soon to try their other menu items like Tortas ($2.75 ham, beef, chicken, chorizo-$3.00 carne asada, carnitas) Tacos ($1.90-$2.25) Enchiladas ($3.40) and more. I hope they don't raise their prices soon though. I can't believe how cheap some of their stuff is!

Read the complete entry at Griffin's blog: Griffin Eats OC

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UPDATE (April 9, 2013): Here's some pictures I (Christian) took at Albatros when I finally made it there myself a few days ago:

Click any one of them to be taken to the complete flickr photo album.

Carl's Jr. Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito

"Scrambled eggs, refried beans, shredded Jack and cheddar cheeses, crisp tortilla strips and Ranchero sauce wrapped in a warm flour tortilla."

Carl's Jr. has had this item for a month or two now but the recent death of chain founder Carl Karcher spurred me on to finally trying it. Everybody else at the location I went to this morning seemed to be ordering it too (although the Mexican food lover inside me got a little disturbed when one girl asked for ketchup for it and had this look on her face that clearly indicated that she had no idea what "salsa" was). Devoted readers of the blog here know of my love for huevos rancheros and Carl's has just made huevos rancheros a little easier to eat when you're on the run.

CLICK HERE for a Coupon

Pepe's - Review #1

Pepe's Finest Mexican Food 821 N Placentia Ave Fullerton, CA 92831 (714) 528-9291 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch No known official website.

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Here we have a new review from Johnny Automatic of Pepe's in Fullerton. People seem to be searching for information on Pepe's all the time and now we have a review to fill that need:

Pepe's is a small chain with 4 locations - Brea, Anaheim, Fullerton and Downey. This is a review covering two trips I recently made to the Fullerton location. This family enterprise has been in business since 1962, but not at this location. My wife remembers it from her college days when it was a Naugles. There is a large painted wall inside that tells the Pepe's story. It's a very popular spot and handles crowds of people efficiently. As you can see they also have drive-thru service. So if you need a fast Mexican food fix you can go to Pepe's instead of one of the big corporate chains.

Every time I have eaten here there are CHP patrolmen, so you'll probably be safe. I always think if law enforcement is eating someplace then it probably has good hearty fare for a good price and it's probably unlikely you'll get food poisoning. Just my pet theory.

Here's a picture of the #4 combo. This is a favorite of my friend's. It is 2 ground beef enchiladas. The enchiladas are a pretty straightforward version. Good flavors but nothing distinct. They have about 15 different full combos. They run $6.50 to $7.00. You can see that the combos come with rice, beans, chips and guacamole. They also serve burritos which you can get for about $4.00 and if you want them "wet" it will run you another $1.79. They have a number of a la carte items too. Breakfast is served all day.

I ordered the #1 plate, green chile pork. Even though the chile sauce doesn't look that green it is definitely made with green chiles and has great flavor. It's a good, rib-sticking and satisfying dish. I like the addition of guacamole to all the combos. You can see they added the hot sauce squeeze bottle to my tray. How did they know I like it hot? The dishes are generally mild but the regulars all seem to get the squeeze bottle and spice it up to their liking.

My wife went a la carte and just had two cheese enchiladas. They lack a certain appeal served this way. Melted fat from the cheese floats on top of the thin sauce and the whole thing is a swimming soupy mess. The flavor was one dimensional but my wife liked it better with some of the hot sauce.

When I went with my wife, I ordered the all meat carne asada burrito. Fresh salsa is the only addition to this meat-filled beast. The carne asada is almost certainly not grilled over coals but on a fast food grill. That aside, the flavor on their carne asada is just great. It is well seasoned with a strong shot of black pepper. Maybe closer to pepper steak than true carne asada but I love pepper steak and this was great. My wife eagerly agreed and said she'd order it herself next time.

(Special note to Christian: I know you love huevos rancheros. They serve them all day here and the guy next to me had them for lunch. They looked great!)

Even though my wife's cheese enchilada experience wasn't the best, we still find a lot to like about Pepe's. For fast food Mexican they really offer up a good meal. If you like straightforward traditional Mexican food at a good price and served fast then you can't go wrong here. 4 Speedys:

Thanks, Johnny. I'll have to try the huevos rancheros there sometime and that beef enchilada plate looks great too.

Rasta Taco Opens Restaurant

Satisfy My Soul

I've written about Rasta Taco before and their taco cart catering services but they have now opened a bona fide walk-in restaurant. I'll write more about it once I make a visit there but for now their official press release follows:

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For Immediate Release

Rasta Taco Holding Inc. announces the opening of the inaugural
Rasta Taco in Capistrano Beach (Dana Point) at:

26881 Camino De Estrella
Capistrano Beach, CA 92624
(949) 496-TACO
Open 7 days a week
7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Yahoo! Maps

Following on the heels of the tremendous success of its mobile taco cart operation, Rasta Taco launches its first reggae-inspired restaurant location idealizing Rasta Taco's founder Mario Melendez' dream. Rasta Taco Catering is still Southern California's premiere mobile taco cart catering company.

"We have a full menu for the entire family," says Founder Mario Melendez. "Our fast-take-out style restaurant combined with the Rasta Taco style motif will certainly please the palate as well as the senses."

The store, maintaining a very focused look true to both Jamaica/Rasta and Mexico, combines elements of Mexico and Jamaica culinary plates.

From the "Lee Scratch Breakfast Burrito" to the "Peter Burrito" to the "Pato Potato Taco" to the "Halie Salise Taco Salad," all are original plates made with Rasta Taco's signature blend of secret spices and marinades. Michael DeSimone, Partner and Head Chef, has over 10 years experience in the kitchen and his original recipes can be eaten at the Restaurant or enjoyed at home.

For more information, contact Rasta Taco at (949) 496-TACO or visit us at rastataco.com/capistranobeach for more information or rastataco.com/shop/catalog/ for our online menu. To book a catering party please visit us at rastataco.com.

Del Taco Breakfast

I realize this is the third Del Taco-related post in less than two weeks but a lot of people have been searching lately for information on breakfast at Del Taco. Del Taco has had a variety of breakfast burritos available for quite some time at reasonable prices and a couple years ago they added a breakfast quesadilla and more recently some locations began offering a "Big Fat Breakfast Taco." They also offer hashbrown sticks and orange juice or coffee to round out the morning menu which is available each day until 11am.

Chipotle Opens in Lake Forest

Chipotle is having their grand opening today at The Arbor shopping center in Lake Forest on the southwest corner of El Toro & Rockfield.

I stopped by at lunch and got the carnitas burrito bowl:

Read more about Chipotle and this new location at the Fast Food Maven blog.

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Petition to Del Taco: Bring Back Naugles!

Our other Naugles entries:

Naugles, RIP
Petition to Del Taco: Bring Back Naugles!
Naugles Bun Taco at Del Taco
Del Taco Orange Shake Reboot
Buns & Torts: Naugles Lives On

Or CLICK HERE to read it all at once. UPDATE: see here for information on a Naugles revival separate from Del Taco.

Dick Naugle Says: Bring My Food Back to Del Taco!

Judging by the enormous reaction in the Naugles, RIP entry posted elsewhere on this blog, where people have left comments detailing their memories of and longing for food from the old Naugles Mexican fast food chain, I think we have enough of a basis to petition Del Taco to bring back some of the Naugles items (and the logo).

Naugles was actually begun by a Del Taco employee (Dick Naugles) and then about 18 years later was purchased by Del Taco. For a brief period the former Naugles locations were co-branded as Del Taco and Naugles but they eventually all became just Del Tacos. The former Naugles menu has influenced the current Del Taco menu in the form of its Macho items such as the Macho Nachos but many people still crave several Naugles items that are no longer available, especially the cheese burrito and the Naugleburger (the root beer shake mentioned by one commenter sounds good too).

Now the current president and CEO of Del Taco, Shirlene Lopez, is herself a former Naugles employee (talk about irony!) and she has stated in a recent issue of OC Metro that she plans on introducing innovative new menu items for 2008. With all of the points of intersection that Del Taco and Naugles have had over the years maybe the best way to rev up the Del Taco menu would be to bring back the unique Naugles items. People love it, people want it, and people will buy it. I don't see any drawbacks. It won't create competition for Del Taco since people would be purchasing the Naugles items from Del Taco. This would be a win/win situation.

If you have any thoughts on the matter or would like to add your name to this petition please leave a comment here.

(We have 6 entries on Naugles, each with different information. Click the 'naugles' label below to read more. Why do I have this information here? It is because we have more info about Naugles than just what's in this one entry and I see all the time that people look for info on Naugles but don't then CLICK HERE to read more about it, and we have lots more info about it.)

Mariscos Playa Azul - Review #1

Date of Visit: December 27, 2007

Mariscos Playa Azul 1071 N Harbor Blvd Anaheim, CA 92801 (714) 535-3977 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Ask.com's Citysearch Official Site

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Appetizer: Chips and Salsa
Entree: Camarones Playa Azul
Drink: Tamarindo Jarritos
Cost: $13.72

Here's a little place I found when I was actually looking for another restaurant in the same spot. Apparently Mariscos Playa Azul has taken the spot formerly occupied by Tacos Acapulco of Anaheim (the Tacos Acapulco in Santa Ana is still around though - see our review). This should be good news for Mexican seafood lovers as Mariscos Playa Azul is perhaps the ultimate Mexican seafood restaurant.

Mariscos Playa Azul sports interior decor that makes you feel like you are out at sea (bring some Dramamine) or perhaps under the sea. Many of their dishes are pictured in large, clear photos on the walls and I wanted to get lots of pictures of these so I could show what they had to offer since I would only be able to order one dish for myself but I found out later that they actually have a very nice website with their full menu faithfully reproduced in Flash format, so check it out.

A couple guys at another table ordered the restaurant's pièce de résistance, the Molcajete de Mariscos, and as the waitress walked past me with it I was quite sure the huge crab claws hanging out of the giant molcajete were going to snap at me.

I went for the Camarones Playa Azul, six plump shrimp wrapped in bacon topped with a special sauce and cheese and served with rice, beans, and salad. This was one of those rare occasions where a dish you order looks just as good as it does in the menu and tastes just as good too. Shrimp and bacon: two great tastes that taste great together.

By the way, does anybody care to try their Caldo de Iguana and report back to me on it?

Camarones Playa Azul

Mariscos Playa Azul earns a 4.25 Speedy Gonzales rating:



See the whole photo album at

Javier's Laguna, RIP

From comments left by two readers earlier today it has been confirmed that the Laguna Beach location of Javier's has closed down for good now and we are now awaiting the opening of their Crystal Cove Promenade location soon.

UPDATE: We have more information on Javier's than even Javier's official website has. CLICK HERE to read about all their locations including their brand new one.

Taqueria La Poblana - Review #1

Taqueria La Poblana 2018 N Tustin St Orange, CA 92865 (714) 283-3478 Listing on Yahoo! Local No known official website.

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Just near the BevMo! at Tustin and Meats in Orange is a nice little taqueria that I have eaten at several times in the last few weeks.

La Poblana sticks mostly to the holy trinity of taqueria offerings - tacos, burritos and tortas. That's pretty common as you can use most of the same fillings in all three. They also have five desayunos or breakfast offerings as they open up at 7am every day (and are open until 9 pm). On weekends you can get mole poblano, pozole and menudo but I haven't had a chance to try any of these yet. They also do a few combo plates including enchiladas and steak. They carry Mexican and domestic sodas as well as horchata, jamaica and tamarindo. For dessert you can get frozen treats or pastries, neither of which are made there. It's pretty straightforward and spartan inside with half a dozen tables.

The taco wars seem to be going strong in Orange and La Poblana may be the the cheapest place day in and day out. All tacos are 92 cents. There is nothing over $6 on the menu. They offer all the standard meats: pollo, carne asada, al pastor, carnitas, buche, cabeza and lengua. The burritos are good size but not huge. You can see the al pastor burrito I had on a previous trip. It is mostly meat with a little rice and beans as well as some cilantro, raw onions and cooked onions. It's a tasty combo. Their al pastor is nice and saucy with nice flavors.

My wife Thea and I stopped in recently for a quick lunch. I had two tacos de cabeza and two tacos de carne asada. Thea had two carnitas tacos. The thing that stands out about all the meats here is they are very saucy and moist. Even the carne asada which has obviously been grilled, is then kept moist in a sauce. This can make the tacos a little bit sloppy, but you never get dried out or tough meat here. A few bits of fat showed up in the carnitas and the cabeza. This never bothers me but I know some people are put off by this. If so stick to the chicken, steak, al pastor options (or lengua if you are adventurous).

I have enjoyed everything I've tried here. They aren't trying to do anything fancy here but they do justice to their simple menu. If you are on the north end of Orange it's a great place to drop in for a quick and cheap meal. I give it a solid 3 3/4 Speedies.

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Kantina, RIP

Unless I hear otherwise I am going to assume that Kantina is closed since their website is down and they don't answer their phone and they don't respond to e-mail. If anybody has information to the contrary please let me know.

UPDATE (April 3, 2008): Now their website seems to be back up and running.

Del Taco Churros and Tostadas

Any frequent reader of this blog will know that I try as much as I can to provide information on things people are searching for. Lately I have been noticing a lot of people searching for "del taco churros." My knee jerk reaction was, "Del Taco doesn't have churros." Well, according to a post by Nancy Luna, the OC Register's Fast Food Maven, Del Taco does have churros now and they have also brought back tostadas. Remember tostadas? Back in the day every Mexican place used to have them but then they started to fade away. Now Del Taco is bringing them back.

Del Taco Official Site