Turlock Ca, Mariscos Guallavitos Review

[Agrippa]

A friend recommended I try the restaurant Mariscos Guallavitos in Turlock Ca. for Mexican style seafood.

The restaurant is located in an old building in downtown Turlock.

I am a big fan of Mexican seafood, and I've struggled to find a restaurant in my area that is fresh and consistent.

But, after trying the excellent shrimp cocktail at Guallavitos, I think I finally found a good place for Mariscos (for now).

Here is what I ordered.

1. Fish taco $3.50: I was VERY dissapointed with this item, the taco came
in a fried flour tortilla with sauteed white fish and a ton of melted
cheese. The whole thing was a greasy-cheesy mess, it was
basically a Cod Quesadilla. I took one bite for the hell of it, and
and didn't like it; plus the idea in my head of melted jack cheese
and cod did'nt mix well, and did I mention G-R-E-A-S-Y.

I don't understand how hard it is to deep fry some battered cod,
drop it in a corn tortilla, add some shredded cabbage, and then
drizzle some spicy creme sauce to make a Baja Style fish taco.
I've tried this item everywhere (even Mexico) and they seem to screw it up except for one place in LA.
(side note..The best fish tacos/shrimp cocktail I had were at 'El Oasis' in Pico Rivera LA)

Ok, enough ranting, Guallavitos can't make a fish taco, but they can make a very good shrimp cocktail.

2. Shrimp Cocktail $12.95: Along with fish tacos, Shrimp Cocktails are in my opinion
the other standard by which a mariscos place can be judged by, and I have to say
that the one I had a Guallavitos was excellent. The shrimp cocktail was big,
served in a huge goblet-bowel with a lot of fresh shrimp. The cocktail juice tasted fresh
and was light and snappy, with a very nice mixture of onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and
cilantro, avocado, and of course shrimp. Overall I liked the freshness of the cocktail
and the light flavor of the juice mixture. In the past, I've had bad cocktails that seemed
heavy and or pungent, or the place skimped on the shrimp, or used bay shrimp (BLASPHEMY!!!).
Guallavitos does their shrimp cocktails right, and are worth the visit alone.


3. Shrimp appetizer $12.95: Since I was there, I decided to try another plate, this time
a shrimp 'botana' or appetizer of head-on-shrimp sauteed in a spicy red sauce,
which may have been a 'diabla sauce' .
This dish was so-so, the spicy sauce they sauteed the shrimp in was
kind've sticky, which made it even more work to get the shrimps out of their shell.
I might try it again next time, but ask them to do it in Mojo de Ajo (Garlic Butter) instead
of the red sauce.

The waitress noticed that I did not eat the fish taco, and offered me something else, but I declined since I was full at that point.

The service was attentative and efficient.

The place's interior is a little cheesy with poorly painted murals and cheep stucco.

Overall, I give Guallavitos 3.5 stars out of 5 on the merit of its excellent shrimp cocktail.
Had the fish taco been good, I would have given it a 4.

They had a pretty big menu, so I am not sure if the rest of it is hit and miss too.

But I will go back for the awesome shrimp cocktail and maybe try their shrimp mojo de ajo.

Mariscos Guallavitos Mexican Restaurant
129 4th Street
Turlock, CA 95380
Local: 209-667-0224

[susancinsf]

Thanks so much for the report! I will be there before long to check it out...I really need to explore more of Turlock.

You didn't by any chance happen to see any albondigas de camaron on the menu, did you?

by the way, when I do a link I get a different name, or at least a different spelling (?)

[Agrippa]

I did not pay much attention to the menu except for the cocktail and fish tacos I was looking for, so I am not sure about the albondigas de camaron.

They did have a pretty large menu, but I highly recommend you to try the coctel del camaron, it was awesome.
Turlock is a nice town and makes Merced envious with its shopping, restaurants, and cleanliness. I also recommend you try Bistro 234 in Turlock, they have a pretty good Cal-Med menu, and a nice ambience .

The name confused me too when I was looking for directions. The restaurant did have a sign with the spelling in my post.