‘Mexican’
Deep down in Torrance, there is an old Mexican restaurant called El Paso Cantina. Among my coworkers it’s known as the “$1 Margarita lunch” spot, but seeing as it does indeed serve food, I thought it deserving of a review. In addition to their margaritas, they also have a food lunch special and $1 churros. I’ve had these before and while they were pretty good, the options were quite limited. This time I was looking for more.
EDIT: This location is gone, but you can find Freebirds elsewhere, man.
Beginning in Santa Barbara back in the day, Freebirds World Burrito has recently been expanding all over the place. With a hippe/biker vibe (no, I have no idea how that came to be), Freebirds has taken Henry Ford’s assembly line to burritos, but offers more colors than just black. In fact, the options are kind of mind blowing. Multiple tortilla, meat, rice and bean choices, as well as a plethora of salsas and other add-ins.
By now you are probably tired of me referring to my fiancee. Well, be tired no more, because she will soon be referred to as wife. In fact, one step in that process was a visit to El Encanto in Cave Creek, Arizona. You see, El Encanto has been chosen as the location of our rehearsal dinner. But before that dinner could happen, we decided to take the place for a spin to see what the rehearsal would taste like.
My story of breakfast from Corner Cottage in Burbank is one of blind trust and bacon. My morning started out like any other when I received one of the greatest text messages of my life. It read:
“Hey Zack. I’m going to pick up a burrito from Corner Cottage this morning. Want one? Bacon, sausage or even double bacon is really good.”
It came from one of my coworkers and my response was a “Hell yeah!” followed by a request for double bacon and to avoid all vegetables. Like most well-informed and educated people in the world, he was aware of my meat blog and disdain for vegetables, but I still had to make the request.
Down in Long Beach to visit my favorite baby named after Bella from Twilight, we found ourselves at Tequila Jack’s for lunch. Located in the touristy pier/wharf area, Tequila Jack’s had all the look and feel of touristy Mexican restaurant. Yet, for all that look and feel, it did have a few of those Mexican dishes you don’t find at your average tourist spot. One of these dishes was their Chicken Mole Enchiladas. So, like any unsuspecting fan of Mexican I ordered them.
Before basketball on Tuesdays I usually need to grab a bite to eat. For some people, this is a cramp-inducing process. I, on the other hand, cramp up while playing if I don’t eat enough. With that in mind, I went to Taqueria Juanito’s No. 1 in Balboa Park with my fellow baller and rather than order a couple little tacos, I got pretty much the biggest thing on the menu. It was their nachos, and came loaded with cheese, refried beans, a couple of salsas, cilantro and a meat of my choosing. I chose carne asada and pretty soon went to town on those nachos.
What happens when you put a Philly cheese steak joint in North Hollywood, north of Victory Boulevard? Apparently an amazing place to grab a torta. At least that’s what I was told when I set out for an adventure during lunch at work one day. I found myself at a tiny little standalone building with just a handful of tall tables and a great looking selection of sandwiches. It was called Philadelphia Steaks & Hoagies and I was pretty sure I was in for a treat.
In an unassuming little part of Santa Monica lies Lares, a Mexican Restaurant with an old-timey Mexican look and feel on both the outside and inside. It has the kind of wide menu I’ve come to expect from unassuming Mexican restaurants around LA, but I had heard that of all their options, their carnitas were the bee’s knees. Carnitas are like Mexican pulled pork and usually not my first choice in Mexican food, but I figured I would be a fool to not try them at Lares.
Santa Monica doesn’t exactly have a reputation for good food. And what reputation it does have usually tends to lean on the upscale. But reputation alone does not simply make a city, and Santa Monica actually has a surprising number of little gems hidden in its nooks and crannies. One of these, I had heard, was Tacos Por Favor.
Yet, aside from actually hearing of Tacos Por Favor, I hadn’t really been told what was good on their menu, so when I arrived and found a vast menu full of nearly every Mexican dish I had ever heard of, I was in trouble.
How many times have you sat around late at night eating either Taco Bell, Doritos or both and thought how amazing it would be to combine the two? I know I have. So when Taco Bell first started testing their new Doritos Locos in Fresno and Bakersfield last year, I was almost tempted to pay one of those cities a visit. Thankfully, I did not make the mistake of setting foot in one of those cities, and the testing was obviously a success, because at midnight this morning Taco Bell rolled out their Doritos Locos Tacos for the nation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Doritos Locos, they are essentially your regular or supreme tacos, but with a giant Nacho Cheese Dorito as the shell. Usually I can wait to try Taco Bell’s new products, but for this I had to be there right at midnight.