Pedros Tacos

2313 S. El Camino Real (phone 949-498-5904)

AND on the other side of town at

550 N. El Camino Real (phone 949-498-5908)

San Clemente, CA 92672

 

You may have seen the bumper sticker on random surfer’s cars in South County… “My child was outstanding student at PEDROS TACOS.” 

Well the folks at Pedros must have been outstanding students at the school of tasty food making because this little walk up/ drive thru taco stand always has people gathering around its windows.

Pedros unique little buildings on either end of town make getting a quick bite after a surf session an easy chore for the locals and tourists alike in this cozy little city.

The menu items all seem very awkwardly priced at first glance, but another convenience about Pedros is that everything adds up to fifty cents or an even dollar after tax. Smart because A) nobody likes getting a fistful of random change back and B) this place is frequented by folks in wet-suits and board shorts, so why not make it so people can get their change back and easily tuck it in the neoprene of a wet-suit sleeve.  Whether that was their intention or not, it’s still kind of cool.

Nonetheless, on to the taco!

Pedro’s makes a fried fish taco, and much like a good taco shop should, it comes to you piping hot on a bed of cool crisp cabbage and pico.  The golden battered piece of fish hangs delightfully out of both ends of the doubled up corn tortilla and they add a little creamy sauce to the mix for good measure.

While I was eating my taco, I couldn’t help but think of fish n’ chips and how much this reminded me of it. Similar to something one would buy at a county fair, this taco was as delicious as it was bad for you and I left the stand with a smile on my face and a sauce stain on my shirt.

Definitely a place I would recommend to all that pass this city. The next time you’re on your way from LA to San Diego, take a half-way point pit stop and break at Pedros.

The never-ending quest, however, continues…

Adolfo’s Mexican Food

989 S. Pacific Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

(949) 497-2023

You know you’ve come to a good Mexican joint when you walk in and not only is there a line to order, but the gal taking orders is speaking Spanish with every third person in front of you.

Such is the case at Adolfos in Laguna Beach. Now granted, parking can be nightmare since Adolfo’s is on PCH, but let’s be honest, parking anywhere in Laguna is a nightmare, so you may have to do a few laps to find a spot, but oh will you be happy you did.

Inside the deep and narrow restaurant is a flurry of colorful signs, local business posters, and a plethora of hippies, businessmen, and day laborers all chowing down.

On to the taco…

Adolfo’s recipes seem to go along with an old acronym I learned in writing school, KISS or “keep it simple, stupid.”  The taco comes on a doubled up corn tortilla. Fresh seasoned and grilled fish, cheese, and tad of lettuce. If you like, you can add salsa, pico, onions, and cilantro to taste because they have a fresh salsa bar available.  I also noticed they carry my favorite hot sauce, Gringo Bandito, which I seem to be seeing more and more often in Orange County these days. I however chose to eat the taco in its purist form, the way it came.  

No special secret sauce slopped all over the dish, no over-saturation of seasoning. My meal came with refried beans and mexican rice, and I was undoubtedly pleased.  The fish didn’t taste fishy at all, and though some juices dripped out of the back of my taco, it wasn’t a grease soaked meal like many places can be known to do. I left feeling happy, hearty and full. I cleaned my plate in fact, as did pretty much everyone around me. 

It was a piping hot meal for under 10 bucks, and I can’t emphasize this enough, when you see Mexicans ordering at a Mexican restaurant, you know your going to have a good meal.

 

The never-ending quest,  however, continues…

Fred’s Mexican Cafe

 300 Pacific Coast Hwy Ste 201.

Huntington Beach, CA 92648.

 (714)374-TACO.

 

 Fred’s is an upstairs restaurant that overlooks the Huntington Beach pier on the corner of Main Street and PCH.   It’s seen predominantly as a tourist trap so naturally I was a skeptic as to how the food was going to be.                                                                                                                                                                                                      The first thing you notice when you step inside this place is the set up of the place. It’s very picturesque in regard to what you would imagine a little beach front bar to be. Colorful walls, a huge bar in the middle, attractive waitresses. Nice. This is one of those places that converts into a full on bar at night, much like most of the downtown area joints, though the full menu is served until a ripe midnight.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Anyway, on to the taco! I chose to come out on a Tuesday evening, and as anyone in Southern California knows, that means TACO TUESDAY!    Naturally I got my fish taco, but I decided to delve into the world of steak and chicken as well. Hey, we all know you have to get a grip of tacos when your out on this day…  Anyway, the place was bustling and it did take a few minutes for my food to come, I can understand this because the kitchen, which contains a viewing window, appeared to be rather small for the size of the restaurant. The kitchen staff was cranking those bad out though, I’ll bet time flies for those guys back there, they looked BUSY.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               My taco came and it was nice and hearty looking. A flour tortilla with a descent slice of grilled fish, cabbage, pico de gallo and this creamy tomatillo sauce.  I must say, the taco was delicious. In fact, all of the tacos were delicious. The steak was rare, just like I like, and the chicken was… well chicken is chicken, and it’s hard to mess up.  Three tacos and I was stuffed. The fish was grilled perfectly so it had a delicate crunch on the outside, almost blackened I’d say and the creamy sauce really made the taco.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  As of right now, I feel that Fred’s has the tastiest grilled taco, and previously reviewed Normita’s takes the trophy of best fried taco…                                                                                                                                                                                                               The never-ending quest, however, continues…                        

Normita’s Surf City Taco

815 Indianapolis Ave Huntington Beach, CA 92648 714-960-8730

 This little hole in the wall spot is located just a few blocks from PCH on Beach Blvd.  It always seems to me that the little hole in the wall places tend to have the best food.  I attribute part of this to the fact that they are more often family run, thus all the recipes are from scratch. Less use of stuff from places like Sysco foods.  Well, Surf City Tacos is no exception.  Though its always a bit cooped up and warm inside, and they only take cash (the liquor store next door has an ATM machine for ya), you are sure to leave this place feeling satisfied.  Norma, the owner, is there every single day taking orders and handing out delicate sarcasm that’ll make you feel right at home… at least my home, hyuk hyuk.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Now on to the taco….     The standard here is fried, though they will make a grilled taco for you should you ask.  This is another one of the places that makes your taco right there in front of you.  The piece of fish that comes on the double layered tortilla is friggin gargantuan.  Seriously, two of these bad boys and some rice and beans and you won’t be needing food again for a day.  The fish is piping hot, something to be weary of, but I wouldn’t recommend taking this to go (actually I wouldn’t recommend taking any fish tacos to go EVER. The fish will always get soggy and the tortilla will always disintegrate if you get a legitimate fish taco to go).  The sauce is creamy and the veggies are fresh.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 What differentiates Normitas from other fish tacos is that golden batter they use.  It’s one of the best fried tacos I’ve had in OC.  It’s probably why such a small, hard to find place that only accepts cash is able to thrive in a place where rent ain’t cheap and tourism reigns. Enough locals know about this sweet spot to keep it cookin’. Give it a whirl, tell your friends….                                                                                                               The never-ending quest, however, continues…. 

Fiesta Grill in Huntington Beach

Fiesta Grill 

418 17th St.

Huntington Beach, CA

92648                                                             

                                                      

(714) 969-7689                                                             

   This is a nice little family owned restaurant. This place is run by some seriously hard working folks. (They are there seven days a week. The same employees. Now that’s dedication.)   Judging by the sign, one would figure that this place has a pretty damn tasty fish taco. Looks like it’s their claim to fame.  One nice feature of Fiesta Grill is that no matter what you order, they give you complimentary chips and homemade salsa.   My father used to judge Mexican restaurants by the way their salsa tasted. This place fairs quite well in that department. Not too chunky so that its straight pico de gallo, and it carries a nice little bite about it as well.                                                                                                                                                                                                     On to the taco….    First thing I must say is if you like cheese, you’re going to love this place. I chose a grilled fish taco though they do carry both grilled and fried. The hearty taco came on a traditional double layer of corn tortillas and contained about as much cheese as fish! Not a negative thing at all. The heat from the freshly cooked fish nicely melts the cheese into a warm and chewy delight.  The fish itself is standard Mahi Mahi with not a whole lot of seasoning on it. (No salty aftertaste as if they were trying to cover a fishy taste.) It came with a sprinkle of cabbage as well as lettuce and did have a very light sauce as well.  If you’re a purist and like your grilled fish tacos au natural, then this is the place for you. Simple ingredients, fresh fish served piping hot, good homemade salsa, and staff that will remember your face if you come in more than once.  All in all a good experience…   I’ll review the fried taco on a later date.  So check back soon!                                       The never-ending quest, however, continues…..                                           

Chronic Taco in Orange County

                          Chronic Tacos is located all over Orange County.  (check www.eatchronictacos.com for a location near you)  This is an up and coming chain of good old fashioned tacos with weed references to keep the surfer dudes coming back.  They actually opened one of their locations on 4/20 in 2007.  The walls are shlocked in surf/snow/skate/energy drink/new clothing company that will probably go under in 6 months stickers, and there’s always good, make you wanna bob your head music jammin in all of the locations that I’ve been to.  Verylively and colorful inside all of these taco shops, and they even have a big sports bar location called Chronic Cantina in Triangle Square across from Sutra.                                                                                                                                                                                                    On to the taco…. Chronic gives you the choice beer battered and fried, or simply grilled fish. This is definitelya nice thing because lets face it, sometimes you just want a greasy gut bomb and other times you want to pretend like eating out is healthy.  The fried fish taco is very tasty, and one cool feature at these joints is that you get to build your own taco. Don’t like lettuce? Go for cabbage. Want a heapload of cilantro? No problem. Their fish sauce is quite tasty as well, like a tangy sour cream almost, and you can add it to anything on the menu, be it seafood or not.  Another thing I noticed at most of these locations is that they have this local hot sauce on the tables called Gringo Bandito. It’s a nice variation from the standard issue Tapatio that everyone carries (Chronic included) I’ve been noticing it at a lot of the taco shops I frequent in the area.  Anyway, all in all Chronic makes for a good, hearty, affordable taco, plus you can get black beans OR refrieds which is a rare occurrence in many OC spots.  Give it a try, if it turns out to be something you don’t like, it’s probably because you had them put the wrong ingredients on your taco.                                                            The never-ending quest, however, continues… 

Las Barcas in Huntington Beach

 Las Barcas Gourmet Mexican Food 21032 Beach Blvd. Huntington Beach, CA 92648 (714) 536-2616