>
The sign says ‘grand opening’ and while the owners may be new, the restaurant has been here for a while. It used to be Reyna’s and shared its space with the Tamale Queen, but now, with a new coat of paint, a new menu, and voila, a new restaurant emerges.
When I visited, they had only been open 3 weeks and didn’t even have the agua frescas set up yet. The guy said soon, but who knows when soon will actually be.
The menu now is slightly different to before….. with breakfast items being offered such as pancakes, American-style eggs, bacon. The name of the restaurant suggests that the restaurant leans towards tacos and seafood, but unfortunately, what I used to order here, the camarones a mojo de ajo and camarones a la diabla are both no longer to be seen.
Salsa and chips were brought to the table and it was nice that they brought out one mild and one spicy salsa. The chips were thin and was a nice start while we perused the menu. I decided to order some tacos, and my friend, the barbacoa plato. I wanted to try a few of their meats so I opted for al pastor, carnitas and lengua since I’m sure I could get a taste of my friend’s barbacoa.
It didn’t take long for the food to arrive and when it did I was pleased to see that the portions were generous. My friend’s barbecued beef plate (pictured above right) was filled with chunks of meat swimming in a sauce accompanied by frijoles, arroz and a side salad. Corn tortillas were also provided. I thought the barbacoa was flavorful even though it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve never had it so ‘wet’ before either.
My tacos were decent enough, although, the al pastor was texturally wrong as the meat was mushy and grainy reminiscent of ground pork rather than sliced pork. Carnitas was flavorful, but again, average when compared to other taco places. Surprisingly, the only thing I found better than what I’ve recently encountered was the lengua.
The meal was cheap, it was quick, service was good, water was refilled several times and the lady even refilled our chips and salsa. Honestly, it was decent enough and if I had to stop somewhere for a quick bite and was in the area, I will have no hesitation in coming here again.
Tacos Y Mariscos Sinaloa, 1620 E 1st Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Tel: 714-835-6227
Leave a Reply