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we visited trabuco oaks steakhouse for the very first time last night for a birthday dinner. we have been wanting to try the steakhouse for a very long time, and last night's celebration was the perfect night for our first visit. the drive from orange to trabuco canyon via santiago canyon road is awesome in the daytime, and as we now know, very fun and relaxing at night as well. our reservations were at 7:30pm and we arrived about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. as you pull up into the parking lot you know you will be in for a treat. two all-gravel parking lots with oak trees sprouting up here and there throughout the lots wait for you. the building itself looks like like a little country roadhouse, dark red stain, not much more. when you walk in the front door, the excitement begins. a big long bench of seating along the left side says that there are some heavy crowds here on occasion(often i would think). the sceond thing you notice are all the goodies, trinkets, and ties everywhere. ties? yes ties, see you can't wear a tie at trabuco oaks, if you do it will promptly be snipped off by a pair of scissors. a cool old juke box and a display of classic booze decanters are over on the right side of the waiting area, lots to look at and enjoy. the restaurant looks to have two dining rooms, one in the front, an open standard celing type of roadhouse looking room. the second and main room is all the way to the back, this is what makes the whole experince worth it. this room is dimly lit only by the lamps hanging above the tables, the room also has a very low ceiling and is painted with a dark base. the room is wallpapered by thousands of snipped ties, business cards and other trinkets. the tables are tucked in little spots here and there between the oak trees that come up out of the floor in several spots.
the food is awesome. the prices are that of any steakhouse, $15-25 for the usual steak plates, seafood, chicken, etc. the mesquite grilled food is so good, and the ambiance just makes it all that muh better! they have a full bar as well and plenty for the kids to eat.
our (really good, yummy, fantastic) choices for the night were:
oak-a-bob
8 oz. of choice bits of filet mignon and top sirloin on two skewers with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and our special BBQ sauce. served with our house salad, garlic toast, baked potato, and western beans.
$15.95
mesquite grilled chicken
half a chicken, marinated with fresh herbs and slow roasted over mesquite. served with our house salad, garlic toast, baked potato, and western beans.
$15.95
deep fried cod and fries
two big cod filets and tons of fries, for our son.
$6.95
trabuco oaks steakhouse
20782 Trabuco Oaks Road
Trabuco Canyon, CA
949-586-0722
http://www.trabucooakssteakhouse.com
iguanas y ranas is a hole in the wall. there is no other way to describe it, except for maybe "hole in the wall with the world's best tacos!" iguanas occupies an ex fedex drive-up kiosk in city of industry. the best part about it is the fact that it takes me about a minute and a half to walk there from my office. it started out last year as "iguanas y ranas tacos and beer", but seeing how there isn't any room inside to eat, they put in a permanent shade canopy in the first parking space and threw out some tables and chairs under it. so i guess the "beer" part had to go in order to eat out in the parking lot. even without the beer available, the place is still busy everyday because the food is top notch.
they have a few different choices to try; carne asada, al pastor, carnitas, swordfish, chorizo and barbacoa. any of these fillings can be made into tacos, burritos, quesadillas, mulitas and tortas. they have a few fantastic taco specials too;
the jalapeño special(tacos made with asada, topped with grilled cheese, a green chile with raisins and quacamole) $1.69.
the azteca special(tacos made with chorizo, topped with grilled cheese, cilantro and onion) $1.69.
the california special(tacos made with asada, whole pinto beans, onion, cilantro and pico de gallo) $1.69.
the marilyn special(tacos made with swordfish, topped with a light tartar sauce, onion and cilantro) $2.00.
their burritos and tortas are also excellent and worth a try. the one item i want to try is the "iguanas y ranas", a pint or so of barbacoa and juice, pinto beans de la oya, onion and cilantro and some salsa. my opinion is if your ever in the southern san gabriel valley you need to swing by and have some tacos without a doubt.
iguanas y ranas
15485 E. Valley Blvd.
City of Industry, CA 91746
(Hacienda Blvd & Valley Blvd, Superior Warehouse Shopping Center)
we went to taco mesa sunday for lunch, it was my first time eating there, my wife had been there several times before when she worked near the costa mesa
location. on this day, we decided on our local location, taco mesa of orange. the food was very fresh and healthy, and there were plenty of items to choose from. chili corn tortillas are used for their chips, tacos and burritos can be made from chili corn tortillas as well. the guacamole, onions, peppers and salsas are very fresh and really tasty, as are the black beans and white rice. after eating there only once, i myself am hooked, as my wife new i would be :)
some of our favorites are; $4.99 vegetarian nachos(chili corn chips, enchilada sauce, black beans, cheese and pico de gallo), another fav would be the $4.99 mesa burrito(rice, black beans, spinach, mushrooms, guacamole, red onion, tomato, cheese and topped with caldillo sauce).
taco mesa 3533 E. Chapman Ave. #E
Orange, CA 92869
714-633-3922
http://www.tacomesa.net/
yes we will be posting photos of the places we eat at and the food we order. yes the blog was started before any pics have been taken LOL. starting with our next dining night out, after payday, photos will magically appear hahaha.
taqueria de anda opened up on tustin ave. in a former burger king building. why the hell a burger king would go out of business on the main boulevard in the city of orange we'll never know, but we're glad it did. the grease pit burger joint is out and a glorious taqueria is in, a great turn of events. de anda has two items on the menu; tacos and burritos. period. either item can be made from super tender chunks of carne asada, pollo, al pastor, lengua, cabeza, carnitas or buche. heck there might even be something we're missing, but you get the point. the tacos are the standard two tortilla type with onion, cilantro and choice of sauce. the burritos weigh in at pretty hefty and include rice, beans, onion, cilantro and sauce of choice. tacos run around a buck or so each, burritos go for only $4.00, a total bargain.
our favorite items on the menu are burritos de asada and burritos de pollo, with either red or green sauce and a little squeeze of lime.
taqueria de anda
291 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92867
714-639-1020
or
924 Euclid Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92802
714-520-5939
http://taqueriadeanda.com/
tacos jalisco is our neighborhood mexican food joint of choice. we lived in orange for almost 4 whole years before trying jalisco's for the first time. what took so long you may ask, well we had always heard it was good, but our brains are so fried from daily life that we always forgot about it when deciding where to go to grub down. one day, finally our brains clicked and we headed over there, it has since become a staple in our dining out nights. this place has a full menu of very good and inexpensive mexican food. combinations, soups, burritos, breakfast plates served all day, this place has it all. and the best part is, 95% of the menu is under $5.00!! you can walk up for pronto ordering or take a seat for normal retaurant ordering, we always opt for walk up for faster food. the salsa is to die for and anything on the menu is really good. the ambience is very casual and helter skelter so don't go looking for fancy. if you want good food at a very affordable price, go here now!
a couple of our favorites are; machaca plate, potato tacos, shredded beef tacos, asada torta, wet burrito asada especial.
tacos jalisco
480 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92867
714-771-5819
