Taco King-Closed

Taco King
1317 E Foothill Blvd
Upland, CA 91786
909-982-0014

David Allen wrote about Upland institution Taco King being put up for sale.  So, since I did a review about another restaurant that maybe closing soon, Teddy's Tacos, I decided to give Taco King a try.

King Taco is a few blocks west of the now closed-Buckboard BBQ & Grill and Red Hill BBQ,  I'm sure I've pasted by Taco King and their distinctive sign many times, but never stopped in!

There are about 10 tables as you walk inside.  You order at the counter.  There are pictures of how Taco King looked in the early 1970's! 

Bean special- bean and cheese burrito, chips and a drink-$4.85.  The bean and cheese burrito is $2.75 by itself.  I liked this bean and cheese burrito.  It was better and more flavorful than the bean and cheese burrito from the more well known, Al & Bea's Mexican Food in LA.  While this is smaller, I much preferred the bean and cheese burrito from Taco King!

Hard Shell taco- $1.90- with beans instead of ground beef.  This was a good taco, their beans are great!  Fresh lettuce and cheese.  The portion is a bit small, but the quality of the food is very good.

Service is good.

I'm glad I got a chance to go to Taco King before it closed.  Hopefully, the new owners will keep the recipes and Taco King will continue to be an Upland institution!

Freebirds World Burrito

Freebirds World Burrito
17947 W Chatsworth St
Granada Hills, CA 91344
818-368-8239

Freebirds World Burrito looks like a direct competitor to Chipotle, a fast casual burrito restaurant that uses fresh ingredients.  Freebirds has been in the LA area for a few years, but the location near USC closed and the other locations, I don't usually travel near the other locations.

This Freebirds is located in your standard suburban strip mall, that has other chain restaurants.  It's located near Porter Ranch, where that natural gas leak caused people to move out of their homes, and the gas company putting people's lives in danger just o make a profit!

Freebird size burrito, $8.49, black beans, chile lime rice, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions and peppers, roasted corn salsa, sour cream on a spinach tortilla!  Freebirds has three different sized burritos, with the freebird size being a good portion, but no overwhelming like Chipotle! You can put a wide variety of items in your burrito. I got the veggie burrito and I like the choices-spinach tortilla, grilled onions and peppers, roasted corn salsa and the chile lime rice.  Since I got there about 40 minutes before closing, most of the items had been sitting on the steam table for a long time  They were ok, but you could tell they had been there a bit too long.  This would be a good burrito if I went during the lunch or dinner rush.

Service was ok.  The girl who would eventually help me, was nice but when I walked in there were two customers who were taking forever to order.  She was standing behind the counter doing a couple things, until finally maybe 3-5 minutes after I arrived she asked what I wanted to order.  What she was doing wasn't an emergency, and something that could have been done later.  At the very least acknowledge that I'm there and you'll help me as soon as you're done. 

Overall Freebirds compares favorably to Chipolte.  I think Freebirds has a more reasonable sized burrito and they didn't have that e-coli scare like Chipotle.  Chipotle has more locations in LA, so far, and I don't think Freebirds is worth driving out of your way.  I won't rush back to Freebirds, but I would go back if I'm in the area.

Casita del Campo

 Casita del Campo
1920 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-662-4255

Casita del Campo has been in business since 1962.  Located on the very busy Hyperion Ave, just south of Tomato Pie Pizza Joint, it's a huge bright pink building, and so old that vegetation is growing on the most of the building!

There are two entrances, one from Hyperion and the other from the back parking lot.  When you enter from Hyperion, you walk right into the bar area-which has booths surrounding it.  Then there are couple dining areas with tables.  It's a very dark restaurant.  

Vegetable burrito-$12, broccoli carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, black beans, white rice, guacamole, pico de gallo.  This was an overpriced, no flavor, under seasoned burrito.  I could have save a few bucks by going to Chipotle!  While everything was well cooked, it was so bland!  I didn't realize the guacamole and pico de gallo were inside the burrito, I thought they would come separate! I had to put some of the salsa from the chips and salsa, to add flavor.   While I realize beans and rice were inside the burrito, $12 for this burrito with no sides, is just too much!

Service was friendly and pretty good.  My drinks were refilled quickly, the server came by to ask how everything was, and I wasn't lacking for anything.  He also dropped off the check without me asking for it.

I wouldn't go back to Casita del Campo!  I don't understand how they are in business, because there are so many good Mexican places and the pop up taco stand so close by! 

Spike’s Cake Shop

Spike’s Cake Shop
660 Fairplex Dr
Pomona, CA 91768
909-868-0027

Almost two years ago, David Allen review Spike's Cake Shop and raved about their Mexican food and sweet cakes.  I'm sure the tree that blocks the signage for Spike's Cake Shop grew much larger due to the rains we got this winter!

I have been meaning to give them a try but never made it until today.  Hidden away in a strip mall with a Burger King and other small businesses, Spike's Cake Shop used to be Spike’s Teriyaki, so when the current owners took over, the decided to take down teriyaki and replace it with cake shop.  It's weird setup with tons of Mexican sweet breads and cookies on one wall of the store, then the counter where you order.  There are a few stools to dine in but it's mostly a take out place.

Bean, cheese, rice burrito, $4.37 with tax.  I figured I would do a comparison to Juanita's and see who had the better bean, cheese, and rice burrito.  The burrito at Spikes is made with a fresh tortilla and decently flavored beans and rice.  There was some cheese in the burrito, but not an overwhelming amount.  This was a bit dry and could have used some sauce, which I wasn't given any.  Or maybe I had to pay extra for sauce.  While Spike's is a bit more expensive, it is better and just a bit bigger than Juanita's.

Service was pretty good.

I would go back to Spike's before I would go back to Juanita's for the burritos.

Juanita’s Mexican Food-Updated Review

Juanita’s Mexican Food
1735 Indian Hill Blvd
Pomona, CA 91767
909-624-1272

Juanita’s is a Pomona institution, having been in business since 1976.  This location replaced an old  Tastee Freez, which opened around 1956.  Thanks to David Allen for the history of the location!

Juanita's isn't authentic Mexican food, but it's been around and loved forever.  Besides their food, Juanita's was known for the old menu board that listed all possible combinations of filling for their burritos.  Now they have a much more streamlined menu board.

Beans, rice, and cheese, burrito, $3.81 with tax.  The burrito was huge and worth the price.  But, the burrito was very bland.  No flavor and just boring.  Even their hot sauce didn't add much flavor.  The freshly made tortilla was the best part of the burrito!

Service was great!  There was a couple who ordered before me, that I later learned were regular customers.  I was treated just as well as they were, me a first time customer!  I hate giving bad reviews on the food, when the service and people are so nice.  But, the food just didn't do it for me.  But, the service was top notch!

I will go back to Juanita's to try their veggie and potato tacos, but I'll pass on the burrito!

Update July 21, 2017

So, I went back to Juanita's to try the veggie taco and potato taco! 

 Veggie Taco, $2.10, with beans, rice, onions, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and cilantro.  This was very good, a bit surprising because everything in the taco was in the burrito.  But, this taco had better flavor and I would order it again.  A bit heavy on the cilantro, but other wise very good.

Potato taco, $2.10, fried taco with potato, lettuce, and cheese.  This had a very thin coat of potato and then stuffed with lettuce and cheese.  It was ok, but the veggie burrito was much better!

Service again was very good. 

If you're a vegetarian, the veggie taco is the way to go at Juanita's. 

La Azteca Tortilleria

La Azteca Tortilleria
4538 E Cesar E Chavez Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90022
323-262-5977

You don't have to search long for a good burrito in Los Angeles.  Hell, go to an area with a large Mexican population and you'll find a good burrito within five minutes.  So, when a restaurant is suppose to have the best burrito in Los Angeles, it better be damn good!

LA Weekly rated the chile relleno burrito at La Azteca Tortilleria, the best burrito in LA.  Word of caution, in their Top 9, they included Al and Bea, where I was underwhelmed!

La Azteca Tortilleria, is located on a busy stretch of E Cesar Chavez Ave., which used to be Brooklyn Ave, before they renamed the street to honor Cesar Chavez.  It's a small restaurant, with about four tables and some counter seating.  It can get hot in there but they have a portable air conditioner that helps.

Chile relleno burrito, $6.50, Anaheim chile, cheese, tomatoes, in a flour tortilla.  La Azteca Tortilleria makes their own flour tortilla and it's great, really fresh.  The other ingredients were good and they sure give you a lot.  But, while good, not the best!

Service is good.  They are nice and friendly.

The chile relleno burrito is worth the $6.50 price tag and some people may not be able to finish the burrito.  But, it's not the best burrito in LA, though the tortilla is very good!

Mixto Comida Latina

Mixto Comida Latina
2827 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles
323-668-1818

Mixto Comida Latina is owned by the same owners of Tomato Pie Pizza Joint. Mixto is known for their healthy Mexican food options.  I've heard so many good things about Mixto but I haven't had a chance to try them.  So I was finally in the area and stopped in.

Mixto used to be Burrito King and has a covered dining area that seats about 16 people.  You order at the window and somebody will call your name when your order is ready. 

Grilled fish taco, $2.95.  Red snapper, avocado, napa cabbage, red onion, tomatoe and green tomatillo salsa.

I liked this grilled fish taco.  The red snapper was cooked perfectly and the toppings were fresh.  I liked the light refreshing green tomatillo salsa, which is a pleasant replacement for the white sauce that normally comes on a fish taco. The only thing I didn't like about this fish taco, was the tortilla wasn't that fresh.   There were part of the tortilla that was very tough and hard. 

Vegetarian burrito, $6.50; whole wheat tortilla, rice, black beans, pasilla chile, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and squash flower.

I really liked this vegetarian burrito.  The onions weren't carmelized and some of the beans weren't completely cook.  But otherwise everything in here was great and filling.  I loved the pasilla chile, which I thought were bell peppers but had more flavor and a different texture than bell peppers.  The rice was perfectly seasoned and wheat tortilla was fresh.

Service is good.  Nice friendly people.

 I would go back to Mixto anytime.  I really want to try the carne asada which is grass fed, the next time I go.

Al & Bea's Mexican Food

Al & Bea's Mexican Food
2025 E 1st St
Los Angeles
323-267-8810

Al & Bea's Mexican Food is a Boyle Heights institution, that has recently became better known to the rest of LA when the Gold Line Extension opened a few years ago. The Mariachi station is 2-3 blocks away and foodies have blogged about Al & Bea's bean and cheese burrito. So in Labor Day I decided to give them a try, giving traffic and parking wouldn't be too bad.

So I arrived at Al & Bea's quickly since there was no traffic and parking was pretty easy to find. Located near a very busy intersection, 1st and St. Louis, you can tell Al & Bea's has been serving the neighborhood since 1966, the sign says so. You order at the window and you can eat at the covered patio which has about 6-8 tables.

Bean and cheese burrito with red sauce, $2.99.

I didn't want anything fancy, so I just got the bean and cheese burrito with red sauce, $2.99. The burrito was filled with chalky beans and very little cheese! How can any Mexican restaurant screw up beans? These beans were undercooked and lacked flavor. I mean if Del Taco or Taco Bell can get a bean and cheese burrito right, why can't Al & Bea's? The amount of cheese in this burrito wouldn't top most tacos, much less this burrito.

Service was ok. Nothing great but nothing bad.

Going to Al & Bea's Mexican Food is something everybody should experience, but one trip is more than enough. The burritos are bad and aren't worth the price. I would rather go to Del Taco and get a bean and cheese burrito for $1, than drive back to Al & Bea's!

LA Weekly listed the bean and cheese burrito at Al & Bea's one of the 9 best burritos in LA!  WTF were they thinking?