Burritos/Tacos in Westlake/Thousand Oaks

[Palisadesman]

Does anyone know where there are decent burritos and/or tacos in the Westlake Thousand Oaks area? I am used to the ones in central la and have not seen so much as a taco wagon. Any ideas?

[MunkeeCiao]

Not sure if it is good, but every morning there is a roach coach parked on Cedar Valley Drive (Westlake) adn there is always a good size line...always a good sign.

[Yclops]

There isn't much out here, unfortunately...most of the Mexican places are combo-plate & marg joints.

In Newbury Park, close to Amgen (Hillcrest & Rancho Conejo), there are a couple of tolerable places. Letty's is a sit-down place that has a decent pastor burrito, but caters almost wholly to gringos. The Mercado Guadalajara branch next door has a take-out counter in the back of the store. It caters to a Mexican clientele, has all the standard taco shop items (usually about 10-12 fillings), is usually packed, and is decent if not remarkable. Their carnitas are okay, nothing special; decently fatty, but a bit too much gristle. The pollo is tough and chewy, but I kinda liked it. The asada was sub-par and gristly the only time I tried it (and actually put me off the place for a few weeks). The chile verde pork was decent, but not quite tangy enough. The "barbeque" (barbacoa?) was actually big hunks of rump roast (not goat) stewed in a chile sauce; pretty good...it tasted just like a rather dry but beefy pot roast. I've also had a filling of nopales, eggs and dried chiles that was pretty good.

Basically, it's an average taco shop, but it's about the only game in town. I wouldn't make a special trip for it, but it will satisfy your taco jones 'til you can make it to LA.

MERCADO GUADALAJARA
2454 W HILLCREST DR # 108
NEWBURY PARK, CA
[phone]

There are also a few taco trucks that loiter around Amgen, but I haven't been able to pin down any regular hours yet (I'm far too busy uh, working, to figure that out). There was one parked on Hillcrest on the south edge of Amgen at 9am this morning.

[1967Derek]

There is this small mexican store in thousand oaks where they sell mexican food. My neighbor told me about this place, she usually goes there to get marinated BBQ. The first time i went there i had no idea they had this whole other section where they sell buritos and tacos. I've been eating there ever since. I LOVE this place. Its called Latino Market and its located at
711 thousand oaks blvd.
Thousand oaks CA 91360

you've got to try it!!

[Constancia]

Los Dos Hermanos on Thousand Oaks Blvd., near Erbes. The BEST "street tacos" we've had in the U.S. (and we lived for a few years in Mexico). Also a fantastic tostada with huge beautifully cooked shrimp. Good margaritas, that pack a whallop. No atmosphere to speak of, but the food is out of this world.

[Servorg]

Did you mean Los Dos Amigos?

[hnsbmg]

Costancia, now that I know about the branch of Stan's Donuts in T.O., I'd be very happy to have an "out of this world" Mexican joint nearby -- for that long drive home from Santa Barbara. But it's easy to find contrary reviews of Los Dos Amigos on the Web. What do you suppose the naysayers are missing?

[quincyc]

Well, nothing is going to compare to what you can get in central LA, but I grew up eating the carne asada burrito at Manny's on Avenida de los Arboles.

There's a surprisingly good Salvadorean place on TO Blvd. called La Carreta which might very well be better than any of the Mexican places in TO.

[liu]

quincyc, I'm so glad you mentioned La Carreta in Thousand Oaks. I always knew it was there, but never tried it.

We visited this morning and it was very good! We ordered their queso y chile papusas (cheese and chilis), a vegetarian papusa, a chicken tamale and a side of platanos...all very fresh and tasty, and not at all greasy. I also tried their horchata; it was very different from what I have become used to. I liked the cinnamon taste, but there was something missing or just something I didn't appreciate. (Perhaps someone can explain the differences between a Mexican horchata and one from El Salvador.)

The papusas were full of cheese and chopped chilis, and I really liked the texture of the tamale; it was very moist...like eating grits. The vegetarian papusa had a lot of shredded zucchini and other assorted veggies...all very fresh. We were also given a large bowl of shredded cabbage; this offered a nice crunch with the papusas.

Definitely, we will return! I might not get to explore their menu because I will be sure to order their chili and cheese papusa again...with a tamale.

La Carreta
75 S. Rancho Road - Suite B
Thousand Oaks
#805.494-4624