745 W 19th St #G
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 631-4464
http://www.eltorobravo.net
Dr. P had to go to Costa Mesa to take care of some business. He wanted me to go with him. He knew that he could only use food to lure me into going. We found El Toro Bravo Tortilleria on Yelp. It was listed as #1 when we search for restaurants in Costa Mesa.
We saw a big "El Toro Bravo" sign when we entered the parking lot. We walked in, and it was a small Mexican market. Uh.... where is the taco? We asked the lady at the counter. She said, "tortilleria in the back corner parking lot." The small tortilleria was tucked away in the corner. But we really should've seen it with the long line of people waiting. Food price is really cheap here. Combo meals run about $6.
Majority of the people in line are Mexicans, which is a really good sign. No doubt this would be an authentic Mexican meal. We waited patiently in line, and the line moved fairly fast.
The meat choices include: Carnitas (pork), Barbacoa (BBQ beef), Birria (spicy goat), Carne Asada (beef), Costillas (ribs), Buche (pig stomach), Lengua (tongue), Chicharrones (fried pork belly), Cueritos (pork skin), and Pollo Rostisado (roasted chicken). I was in an "internal organs" heaven! I had buche (pig stomach) burritos a long long time ago after clubbing one night. We stopped by somewhere off the 5 freeway to get the food. It was soooooo good that I actually went back to the same area hoping to find the same taco stand, but no luck. I tried to ask friends if they remember where the taco stand was, but nobody was certain. I think this is the ONLY other place that I've seen buche on the menu.
I was having a hard time deciding between buche and lengua. At the end, I picked tongue. The guy took out the WHOLE tongue, cut it in half, and chopped up half of the tongue.
OMG! Do you see how much meat they put in their burritos? A giant burrito like that is only $6!
A drawback at this place is that they do not have seats. There were 3 tall metal tables outside where people can stand and eat. But the tables were right by the trash can, and they were very dirty. We drove down the street and found a nice looking little park. Perfect place for a picnic!
Taco Combo ($5.99)
2 tacos, rice, beans, chips, drink.
Dr. P got a taco combo. The combo includes 2 tacos with any meat, rice, beans, chips, salsa, and a drink. I love their chips. It was thicker than normal tortilla chips. Very crispy.
Carnitas Taco
The carnitas (pork) inside the taco was tender and had very good flavor. Dr. P loved it.
Carne Asada Taco
I thought the Carne Asada (beef) Taco was very good, but Dr. P said he had better ones elsewhere. He said he liked the carnitas more than the carne asada.
Lengua Burrito ($5.99)
Here is my giant lengua (tongue) burrito. I only needed 1/4 of it to get full.
The lengua was super super tender. I love the salsa, onion, cilantro, rice, beans, corn, well, pretty much everything in this burrito. It is the BEST lengua burrito EVER!
Menudo
They only have Menudo on Saturday and Sunday. We were lucky that we went on a Sunday. The menudo was full of big piece of tender tripes. The soup was very thick and rich. I thought the soup was too salty. Plus it was a bit hard to eat hot soup in the park from a container with tiny little plastic spoon.
The cilantro, chopped onion, and lime juice were meant to be added to the menudo. We took the menudo http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com. I added more water to it, and added all the fixings. It was sooooooo good!
We love this place. If you like authentic Mexican food with very reasonable price, this is definitely a place to visit. They also do catering. Maybe next time we're throwing a party at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com, we'll cater from El Toro Bravo!
[ad#ad-unit]
exceptional food! still can't believe how he took out the whole tongue cut it in half and then chopped that up and put it in the burrito!! btw, those are some great looking hands in those photos, wait those are mine!! :)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to go back here again!