Tacos Cancun-Closed

Tacos Cancun
459 W Broadway
Glendale, CA 91204
818-396-5584

Tacos Cancun is a small tacos restaurant on the western part of Glendale.  There are about ten tables in the dining area.  You order at the counter and pick up your food at the window.

 Grilled shrimp taco-$2.50.  A bit dry, they need to add more crema, though they did give you a mild green salsa.  There were about 4-5 small sized shrimp.  Your choice of flour or corn tortilla.

 Grilled fish taco- $2.50- They use pollock, and it's grilled.  As with the shrimp tacos, it was a bit dry. 

Service is friendly and good.

I won't go back to Tacos Cancun for the fish or shrimp tacos.  Nothing special about them.

Lily’s Tacos

Lily’s Tacos
901 N Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91767
909-593-5674

Lily's Tacos has been a Pomona staple since 1992.  David Allen gives a great history about the original Lily's Tacos, which was demolished to make room for another restaurant.  David also reviewed the new Lily's Tacos, which opened about two years ago.  It's a good sized place, where you order at the table.  I'm guessing there are about 10 tables in the restaurant.  Nothing fancy, but you get a good view of busy Garey Ave.

Fish taco-$1.75 with talapia fish used.  On the left side of the picture.  The batter was very salty!  The fish was fresh, as was the veggies, but I just couldn't get over the saltiness.

Shrimp taco $1.75.  The same as the fish taco, the batter is just way too salty.

While both are good sized pieces of seafood, this could be good, if the batter wasn't so salty.

Service is pretty good.  The guy was nice and pretty helpful. But, when I asked do they have another location, he just said yes.  But, he wasn't a jerk about it.  I figured most people will say where the other location is. 

I wouldn't go back to Lily's Tacos.  Maybe their other items are better, but their fish and shrimp tacos are not good.

Teddy’s Tacos-Moved

Teddy’s Tacos
15485 E Valley Blvd
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
626-392-3988


I read this story about Teddy's Tacos being saved from demolition for a stupid chain Mexican fast casual restaurant.  So I decided to go to Teddy's and support the mom and pop business!  The story says Teddy's is in City of Industry, but their Facebook page says they are in La Puente. Kim Tar, which is a restaurant I reviewed back in 2009, is about 50 yards west, and they are in La Puente.

Teddy's is a small restaurant.  The building is basically 90% kitchen and 10% counter.  There are some tables in the front.

Shrimp Taco, $3.25.  Grilled shrimp, lettuce, and crema.  This was a great shrimp taco.  One of the best I've ever had!!  Corn tortilla, filled with well cooked and seasoned grilled shrimp. The creama was the highlight.  Light, creamy, refreshing adding a touch of coolness to the taco.  I wanted to order their fish taco, but they use marlin and I've never had marlin.

Service is good.  The young lady helping me, was very nice and friendly.

I would go back to Teddy's Tacos any time.  I hope they find a new location!  It was be a shame to lose such a great place for a shrimp taco!!

Mariscos Jalisco

Mariscos Jalisco
753 E Holt Ave
Pomona, CA 91767
909-634-6808

I'm not a food truck chaser!  I have only reviewed four food trucks while maintaining this blog.  If there are food trucks without a long line, I will order something, but I won't follow them on social media to chase them around town.  Mariscos Jalisco, recently went from food truck to brick and mortar store in Pomona!!  And of course, David Allen wrote a story about the Mexican seafood items sold here, and how they landed in Pomona.

Shrimp taco, $2.25.  This is a fried taco with tons of shrimp, tomatoes, cilantro, inside with salsa, avocado outside.  This was outstanding! I liked the coolness of the avocado with the crispy fried shell!  A steal at $2.25.  Full disclosure-while I was waiting for my order, the woman, who I believe is the manager and owner's daughter, gave me a free shrimp taco.  But, I did pay for the two shrimp tacos I ordered!  I would have given the same review if I didn't get a free taco.

Service was good.  She was very nice and helpful.  She talked up David's story and how the night before they sold out of everything before their regular closing time; 6pm.  They are closed on Wednesday.  But, this will quickly become a Pomona favorite! 

Baja California Fish Tacos-Fullerton- Closed

Baja California Fish Tacos
2931 Nutwood Ave
Fullerton, CA 92831
714-983-7785

When I went to the Baja California Fish Tacos location in Lawndale, I noticed they had a location in Fullerton!  So, I went to the Fullerton location to try their grill shrimp taco. 

Baja California Fish Tacos is located in what used to be a Maru Sushi.  They opened in late 2016.  The building seems to be shaped like the original Pizza Hut restaurants.  The walls are painted in bright colors, blues, orange, and green.  There is a counter and tables on your left.  It's a big airy place, much bigger than their Lawndale location.

Grilled Shrimp Taco-$2.99

I really liked the grilled shrimp tacos!  Plump, well cooked and seasoned shrimp with cabbage, red onions, and tomatoes.  The tortilla is the same as Lawndale.  I love the freshness of this taco.  Well worth the price.

Service was good.  The young lady who helped me was nice and friendly.  As with Lawndale, you're greeted as you walk up.

I would go back to Baja California Fish Tacos! 

Baja California Fish Tacos-Lawndale

Baja California Fish Tacos
4749 Artesia Blvd
Lawndale, CA 90260
310-793-9073

I found out about Baja California Fish Tacos from this LA Eater wrote a story about the 25 Essential South Bay Restaurants to try.  I love fish and shrimp tacos and wanted to give them a try!  So, I head out there and parking is terrible.  Their small lot was filled, and the place was packed!  Were people coming here to eat before going to their Super Bowl parties?  After ordering I found out I wasted a trip to Lawndale.When I picked up a take out menu, I noticed they had a location in Fullerton, which is much closer to me.  But, I decided to go there to try the grilled shimp tacos.

My standard for fish tacos is Tacos Baja, who now has two locations in Whittier, within two miles of each other on Whittier Blvd!

Fried Baja Taco-$3.99- fried fish, which is swai, and fried shrimp combined!  This was very good! A large piece of swai that was fried perfectly. The shrimp was plump and I believe there were 3 or 4 pieces.   Fresh cabbage, red onions, and tomatoes.

Fried Shrimp Taco-$2.75-  (on the left) The shrimp were fried perfectly and as with the other tacos, the veggies were fresh.  A very good dish!

Fried Fish Taco-$2.35- (on the right) The piece of swai, was a bit soggy.  Otherwise, it was good. But, not great.  Certainly not worth the long drive.  Good thing the Baja and shrimp tacos were good.

Service was good.  The young lady cashier greeted everybody as they walked up to the register.  While it was crowded, the line moved quickly and I got my food quickly.

I can forgive one bad fish taco.  But, good thing I tried the fish and Baja tacos.  If I'm in the area I would go back to Baja California Fish Tacos.  But, I can just go to their Fullerton location when the craving for fish tacos hits me!

L Fish-Closed

L Fish
3205 1⁄2 4th St.
Los Angeles, CA. 90063
323-412-6586

I found out about L Fish from this LA Eater story.  As the story mention L Fish bought the recipe from the iconic El Fenix Puesto in Ensenada.

L Fish is really a stand in front of somebody's house.  The main set up with the fryer and flattop is where you order.  The tacos come just the fish or shrimp and corn tortilla.  On the table along the house is your condiments for the fish or shrimp tacos.  They have cabbage, pico degallo, salsa, and all kinds of sauces like crema and chipolte sauce.

Fish tacos-$2 The fish is angelito (angel shark), which is pretty damn good.  I've never had it before.  The batter is yellowish in color, tumeric or mustard power must be used.  It's kind of a thick batter and wasn't that crunchy, but I did like the flavor and texture of the fish.  Since you add your own toppings, I added just the basics, cabbage, pico de gallo.  I added some chipotle sauce and it did add some heat.

Shrimp tacos-$2.50- the shrimp, about three in each taco, was plumb, tender and very good. Same batter as with the shrimp tacos.  I prefer the shrimp taco to the fish taco here.

Service is good.  The owner is nice and helpful.  Eventually the plan is to make this location their actual restaurant.

I would go back to L Fish for their shrimp tacos.

Pacific Fish Grill-Closed

Pacific Fish Grill
13865 City Center Dr
Chino Hills
909-902-0099

Next door to Bruxie, is Pacific Fish Grill.  So, after being underwhelmed by the waffle sandwich at Bruxie, we went to Pacific Fish Grill for their shrimp tacos.

Pacific Fish Grill is a lot like another casual seafood restaurant in Chino; Papachino's.  It's is a small chain with other locations in Downey and West Covina. The Chino Hills location is a fairly big restaurant where you order at the counter.

Crispy shrimp taco, $3.79, cabbage, tangy sauce, and tomatoes on a corn tortilla.  The first thing I noticed was the thickness of the corn tortilla.  I liked it because some tortillas just fall apart after the first bite.  The shrimp was fried perfectly and was fresh tasting.  It may have been frozen shrimp, but at least it wasn't sitting in a freezer forever.  The cabbage and pico de galo were fresh and there was the right amount of crema, which they call a zesty sauce.  I think they add chili powder and cumin to the crema.  I liked this shrimp taco and I think it is worth the price.  On Tuesdays, the fish tacos are 99 cents and the shrimp tacos are $2, which would be a steal!

Service was pretty good.  The lady taking our order was nice, even going to the back room to get more take out menus, after I asked if they had any take out menus.  But, we waited a little too long for the tacos to come out.  There was a group of eight and a couple to go orders but otherwise it wasn't that crowded; not sure why we waited so long for our food.

I would go back to Pacific Fish Grill and will be going back on a Tuesday very soon, to try their fish tacos.

Update Nov. 12, 2013

Well, I went back for Taco Tuesdays.  The specials on Tuesday include; crispy fish tacos are 99 cents, and $2 for crispy shrimp, grilled fish, salmon, and grilled chicken tacos.

Grill fish taco, with white roughy fish, chili verde, grilled onions, and cabbage.  White roughy is a name for basa fish.  There is a lot of controversy over the name, because consumers often confuse or assume white roughy is like orange roughy.  White roughy isn't in the same family as the more expensive orange roughy.

Anyways, this white roughy lacked seasoning, was very bland and flavorless.  There was a good amount of fish in the taco, the only saving thing.  I didn't like the grilled onions and the chili verde was very good.  But, the fact that the white roughy was so bland, made this taco unappealing. 

 Crispy fish taco-fried pollock, cabbage, tomatoes, and crema.  From the flavorless grill fish taco, to the full of flavor crisphy fish taco.  The fish used is pollock and was perfectly fried, with a crispy outside that stood up to all the toppings, and a nice inside.

Service was good.  I went there just as the lunch rush started, but I know I got my order much faster than the first time I went.

I like Pacific Fish Grill and will be back soon.  The Taco Tuesdays deals are a steal, but prepare to wait in line to order and for a table.  But, the crispy fish and shrimp tacos are well worth it!

Via-Mar Seafood Restaurant

Via-Mar Seafood Restaurant
5111 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles
323-255-4929

So, Valentina Silva's blog, Eastside Food Bites, is a new found resource for restaurants I want to try, especially in areas like Highland Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Echo Park!  She reviewed three fish tacos restaurants; two of which I have already tried; Tacos Baja Ensenada and Ricky's Fish Taco, which is a stand, not a restaurant, but Via-Mar Seafood I haven't tried, yet. Valentina actually did another review of Via-Mar Seafood, for their other seafood items.

Via-Mar Seafood Restaurant is a small restaurant, with only outdoor seating.  It's on the very busy Figueroa St., and you maybe asked to buy candy or give spare change by some of the people walking along the street.

Every Monday is 2 for 1 shrimp tacos in a fried shell.  Tuesday, it's 2 for 1 shrimp tacos, regular price is $3.38.  Every Wednesday is 2 for 1 fried fish tacos, $2.25.  They have grilled taco, but I'm not interested in ordering that.

Shrimp taco, $3.38, deep fried shrimp with cabbage, tomatoes, crema and sauce.  Since I went on Tues., I got the 2 for 1 deal.  These shrimp tacos were huge!!  The batter is very light and crispy.  But, the shrimp was tough and chewy.  Leads me to believe the shrimp was either frozen or it wasn't very fresh.  There is too much cabbage for my tastes, but the tomatoes were fresh.  The sauce was kinda of just there, didn't add much flavor.

Fish taco, $2.47.  Deep fried basa fish with cabbage, tomatoes, crema and sauce.  The batter for the fish was the same as the shrimp.  But, the fish was much fresher and tastier.  This is a big portion of fish.  Again too much cabbage and the same bland sauce.   There is the perfect amount of crema.

The first time I went was for the Tuesday special, then went back on Thursday.  Both times the service was friendly and quick.

I liked the fish taco better than the shrimp tacos here.  But,  I wouldn't rush back here.