Best chips and salsa?

[mollyomormon]

I could eat chips and salsa for at least one meal a day. Who serves your favorite?

[yogachik]

don't know how I missed this thread before -- but two places I frequent, just for the chips and salsa

Kay n Dave's (yes, it's true, their chips and salsa are fantastic) and Monte Alban.

I agree with above about Tacos por Favor (I prefer the really hot salsa there) and La Cabana (and I also love their jalapeno poppers).

[mystiksc]

Get the Salsa Habanera from Big Saver. It is sooo good. Highly Addicting, But be careful. It gets really hot. The heat sneaks up on you!

[tissue]

If you are just going to chips and salsa, I like Casita Del Campo in Silverlake. I also like Salsa and Beer in Reseda. They have a salsa bar with 6 kinds of salsa and free refried beans with your chips. The food is better overall at Salsa and Beer than at Casita.

[DiveFan]

Stop by the Big Saver market in your neighborhood - get their brand of (thick cut) chips and salsa verde (roasted chile poblano, tomato).

If you want to review restaurants for chips and salsa, please take your posts down the hall to Yelp where they belong :-).

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Big Saver Foods
14310 Hawthorne Blvd, Lawndale, CA 90260

[mollyomormon]

Yes, please look for my reviews of Monte Alban and Mariscos Chente based solely on their chips and salsa on yelp ;)

[Cinnamon]

The original poster asked who SERVES the best chips and salsa. That said, I'll keep Big Saver in mind if I ever find myself in Lawndale. :)

[Cinnamon]

You know, if you ever find yourself at Cozymel's on Rosencrans in Manhattan Beach, their salsa is pretty good. I say that sheepishly, knowing most of you have answered about hardcore Mexican restaurants. We go there for their lettuce-wrapped steak fajitas and their margaritas when we just want a quick bite somewhere. I keep just wanting to order a big bowl of the salsa and a fork.

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Cozymel's
2171 Rosecrans Ave, El Segundo, CA 90245

[rednyellow]

I just tried Loteria on Hwd blvd. The chips and salsa were very good and was the best green tomatillo salsa I think I've ever had.

[JimN]

La Cabanita in Montrose
Border Grill in Santa Monica
Tacos Por Favor in Santa Monica

[ap22]

if you havent been to don antonio's (pico/barrington) yet, go there. best chips and salsa anywhere.

[Mel Gee]

Cenaduría La Casita Mexicana in Bell, where they serve a little basket of excellent chips drip-covered with complex mole sauce -- too bad Jackson Pollock didn't work in moles -- just before the fine to outstanding soups. La Casita's chiles en nogada are the reason for the visit, but those chips make a great start to the meal.

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La Casita Mexicana
4030 Gage Ave, Bell, CA 90201

[mdpilam]

Don Huarache has a fantastic salsa Verde that I love with chips. Their chips were good too.

[westsidegal]

tlapazola.
the style of chip they serve is very thin, light, and NOT at all greasy.
there are two tlapazolas: one in west la on gateway, the other on lincoln in marina del rey.

[a_and_w]

I love the chips and salsa at Monte Alban and El Super Taco, though I think they're made from flour tortillas.

[megs8]

I love the salsa verde at Mexico City in Los Feliz and the chipotle salsa is tastey as well. They home make their chips which are always good.
Also love the chips and salsa at Taco Beach in Long Beach.

[nosh]

Tough question. My favorite salsa roja/hot sauce in all of SoCal is from the Carnitas Michaocan up on North Broadway and 19th, above Chinatown and below Lincoln Heights. Spectacular, brickred, thin, smoky, complex, spicy, hot -- wonderful stuff. But I always get a burrito there, and while they do a nachos special with meat and all sorts of stuff on top, I don't recall the chips being anything special.

On the westside, my favorite salsa roja is from Tacos Por Favor -- it has a good flavor and a good kick. Their salsa bar also has a good, fresh pico de gallo, so mixing the two gives some texture and heft to the sauce. I like the chips there -- often they are warm and leave traces in the bag seeming to be homefried -- they are relatively thin and just salty enough.

The chips the time I went to Mariscos Chente were excellent -- really thick and crunchy and obviously homemade. I tried the thin green salsa, and while it had a nice bite, it didn't hold my interest, and the bottled hot sauces on the table didn't do it for me either.

[Emme]

Monte Alban

Tia Juana

La Cabana in Venice does margaritas and chips and salsa well, but not much else other than the nachos.

Similarly Don Antonio's has great fresh salsa and chips, but not so much the rest of the menu...

Border Grill

Second Gallego's

[jdwdeville]

if you have had and liked the chips and salsa @ La Cabana, try out La Fiesta Brava, about 3 blocks west on the same street-- no liquor, byob, but the salsa is leagues above La Cabana. I buy the stuff there to take home it's so good.

[ohdaylay]

Tia Juana in San Gabriel? That place is sweet and the chips and salsa are top notch.

[SoCal Foodie]

ohdaylay,

Where is Tia Juana in San Gabriel? Can you describe their salsa? Thanks!

[ohdaylay]

I think I mistyped. Tia Gladys is the place I was thinking of. It's on Mission I believe, just past San Gabriel Blvd.

[bulavinaka]

Gallegos Mexican Deli on Venice in Mar Vista has some great chips. Although their salsa bar isn't grand or expansive, they have a nice salsa that is smokey and goes well with everything that I've tried there.

[Burger Boy]

La Cabanita
Lotteria Grill
Gallegos Bros

[cls]

I am not a huge fan of the restaurant, but Malo's chips and salsa is pretty good.

[mollyomormon]

oh, good call. i love that habenero cream salsa.

[rednyellow]

Sadly, the chips and habenero cream salsa are about the only things good at Malo. Factor in the horribly loud room, poor service and generally bad food, not worth the trouble.

[Tom P]

I agree about the habenero sauce, oh my. Damn good. I also love the beef and pickle tacos. People complain about the food... I wouldn't know, that is all I ever order there!

[DrBruin]

I agree with RedNYellow... I was not thrilled with the ambience, service, or food at Malo. However, I did enjoy their flight of salsa, and their habanero cream salsa, in particular.

I really like the free chips and salsa at Riviera Mexican off of PCH in Redondo. And, well, I like the chips and salsa at El Burrito Junior (chain in the South Bay), and at Don Jose/Ricardos (chain in OC).

[Fryboy]

Tere's Mexican Grill! We go through two baskets of chips at Tere's every time we go. They make them fresh and they are awesome. They have a small salsa bar with 3 reds, a green and a selection of pickeled veggies; carrots, garlic,etc. I eat the green sauce and like it very much and my wife enjoys the reds.

[jdwdeville]

La Fiesta Brava on Rose in Venice. All homemade and the dark maroonish salsa is deliciously spicy!

[ipsedixit]

El Toreo in Pasadena (gratis)

Wahoo's (non-gratis)

[Foodandwine]

I dont know whats in it but the Green salsa and the chips at mariscos chente are very very good. Second are the chips and red salsa at Superior Markets..

[mollyomormon]

I love that green salsa. I did once get bagged tortilla chips at Mariscos Chente, though...:(