authentic Mexican food in OC

[hbgypsy]

I am STILL looking for a decent Mexican restaurant near the HB area but have to go as far as Los compadres in LB or Farolitos in Placentia.

[hbgypsy]

thanks, ubergeek but El farolito and Las Compadres are the only authentic I have yet to find.....I come from 2nd generation Mexican and we make our own homemade tamales, chili rellenos with fresh roasted chilis and our own green and red colorado sauce from scratch.... A lot of the places around here cant even come up with decent frijoles and homemade tortillas are always a treat...The absolute best Mexican food is is Santa Fe, New Mexico. Once you go there you will be spoiled for life.....Its all about the sauce, salsas and real chilis. california sucks when it comes to real authentic Mexican food. Tacos are really an american favorite not what I would ever order in a restaurant! Too many taco joints in Santa Ana. I can make tacos every day at home....

[Das Ubergeek]

Well, it depends what kind of "authentic" you want. OC has some fantastic, non-taco places. There's a place oddly named Taquería La Raza even though they rarely serve tacos, where you get comida corrida (wet soup, dry soup, main dish). I love their chicharrones en salsa roja and their chuletas en salsa verde, and they hand-make their tortillas. Similar dishes can be had at El Pico de Gallo on Trask and Harbor in Garden Grove, especially at the weekend.

As above, there are some very good Sea of Cortez-type seafood restaurants. Is it Mazatlán or Loreto? No, but there's only one place in LA that could compete with that sort of place.

There's great birria, fantastic barbacoa, wonderful coruñas, good panuchos, great tortas ahogadas, pambazos and carnitas, amazing moles including manchamánteles, and even places that aspire to alta cocina like Raya and Gabbi's.

Most good places make their own salsas. El Cabrito on West 1st makes one of the best salsas de aceite I've ever had. Taco María—a luxe lonchera that can usually be found in central OC, including a weekly stop at the SoCo Collection in Costa Mesa—makes great food that can be ordered in non-taco form.

What you're talking about as authentic is New Mexican food, which is its own whole subset of Mexican cuisine and not one found very far south into Mexico. The only place that did it was Anita's, they didn't do it very well, and they've long since closed. My wife's family is originally from New Mexico and they do all the cooking with the roasted Hatch chiles, the smoky Chimayo chiles, stews with potatoes, beef and chile, sopaipillas and bizcochitos, things like that. Simply not available here except in private kitchens.

[mikester]

What you said. Very well-said.

There's also some very good authentic Mexico City (D.F) style, such as Los Chilangos in Fullerton area, El Chilango in Santa Ana, or Tacos Y Mulitas Ruben, a fantastic truck, on the streets of Santa Ana.

I also really like Taqueria Don Victor, on Beach Blvd in HB, which, according to OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano, is about as authentic as you can get to Barbacoa de borrego estilo Hidalgo as it gets. And on weekends they even have Pancita de Borrego (basically Mexican haggis) - it's awesome !

[Mike9876]

I love Taqueria de Anda. It is more of a burrito and taco joint, but delicious. Here is the list of their locations: http://taqueriadeanda.com/locations.cfm

OC has tons of great Mexican food (and authentic). Remember that Mexican food differs depending on the geographic location. Not all Mexican food is the same. The Mexican food in the North is different than the South for example. So, you have to find the type of Mexican food that you like.

I have lived in different parts of Mexico and to be honest I prefer the Mexican food in California. Why? Because there is so much more variety. When you go to, Guadalajara, for example, most of the food their is pretty similar. But, in OC, you can find every type of Mexican food easily. Also, I find in general the produce, meat, and ingredients used in California is better quality than in Mexico (generally speaking here).

In sum, I am confident that anyone can find a Mexican restaurant to their liking in OC. You just have to hone in on what style of Mexican food you are looking for.

[Das Ubergeek]

When you say authentic, what exactly are you looking for? I ask because neither Los Compadres nor El Farolito are authentic. They're pretty good combo-plate Mexican-American restaurants.

HB is not exactly a paradise of real Mexican cooking. There's Zacatecan food, including asado de boda, at Tacos Jerez on Beach near Slater, and a good cheap lonchera called Tacos el Chavito just off that corner. (2 tacos for $1 and free agua de piña until they run out).

But why not head for Santa Ana instead? That's where the largest concentration of Mexicans in Orange County lives. There's a little of everything there, from Oaxacan to Pueblan to Yucatecan to Sinaloan.

[moto]

herr übergeek, which Oaxaque~no o Poblano places in S.Ana do you like the best ? there's also a place that does Nayarit style seafood that looks interesting that we were thinking of trying. thanks as always for your knowledge.

[Das Ubergeek]

I prefer El Moctezuma. There's one in Orange (on Chapman west of Main) and one in Santa Ana (Fairview/Civic Centre). There is also one on Harbor and Lampson but I've heard conflicting reports of its closure and will have to go investigate.

As for poblano places, my favorite is actually Taquería La Poblanita on State College in Anaheim.

For seafood I recommend Mariscos Licenciado #2 in Anaheim, or Mariscos Los Primos, also in Anaheim. There's also Ostionería Bahía in Orange.

[A5 KOBE]

Das Ubergeek~~ Have you been to Carnitas Los Reyes near Ostioneria Bahia on Tustin? They have the best authentic tacos I have had in OC and out of this world refried beans. I especially love the chicharron, lengua, buche and chorizo. Carne asada is okay, but the other meats are far superior. Two tacos and a side of beans is like under $4 too.