For as long as I've visited Southern California, I never saw the city of Irvine as a place for Mexican cuisine. Boy, was I wrong. I was first introduced to the Mexican food scene a couple years ago and it opened my eyes because the food was amazing. Being from the Bay Area, I had high expectations of good Mexican food and my expectations were met from these three restaurants that I got to try.
My first pick has to go to Javier's, right inside the Spectrum Center, and it will blow you away. The amount of times I've been here to try a new menu item and loved it is insane because everything has been a hit. One of my all time favorite dishes here are the steak carnitas. Normally, when I get carnitas, I expect the steak to be average because I'm mainly focused on the tortilla but the steak inside these carnitas were delicious! Seared to perfection, the carnitas turned out really moist and based on the reviews of everyone talking about them, I woud say I made the right choice. I've tried a lot of their menu items such as the burritos, tacos, and the crab enchiladas (these were surprisingly tasty) but my favorite has to be the carnitas.
What I recommend: steak carnitas and crab enchiladas
I'm just going to jump straight to the point and tell you guys to come here and order the maine lobster tacos. You heard me, the MAINE LOBSTER tacos. These tacos are insane and they give you a huge piece of lobster claw meat. I've never even heard of anyone attempting to combine lobster into a soft taco before. Of course, you would have to come back when it's in season because they're not always available. But have no fear because the next best thing are their filet mignon tacos! This place does such a good job at adding expensive protein to their tacos and I'm all for it. I've never had tacos so fancy before and I always come back to this restaurant just for their lobster and steak tacos. Both are winners in my book. As for a tasty dessert, I love getting their tres leches de cafe because their tiramisu and tres leches cake combined, the combination none of us knew we needed!
Another great taco place is Taco Rosa, located on Jamboree Road, and this place makes lobster tacos too! Although it isn't an entire claw, they make their lobster tacos with shredded lobster which is still delicious and you can taste more of the lobster because it's mixed in with all the ingredients in the taco. If you want an Instagram worthy picture, I would suggest you order the avocado stack appetizer. It's a huge file of avocado with all the ingredients to make guacamole and a bunch of tortilla chips stacks in a star shape to create the coolest appetizer ever. Another interesting taco I got was the blackened chicken taco, which is unique and very moist. I would compare it with their pulled chicken and the blackened chicken has more taste. If you're a fan of blackened chicken, have them put it on tostadas and it's even better!
What I recommend: shredded lobster tacos and the blackened chicken dishes
Location: 13792 Jamboree Rd Irvine, CA 92602
Although there's so many Mexican restaurants in Irvine that I could talk about, my favorites will always be the ones that go above and beyond when it comes to service and creativity and the three I talked about achieved it and more. The customer service at these places are always so attentive when you come in and sit down. When it comes to the food, their presentation is everything and they pride themselves with it. If you ever get the cravings for Mexican food in Irvine, make sure you check these out. And if you have any recommendations for me, do let me know. Always down to try new restaurants!
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Guest
2021-10-22
There is no stop. Mexican restaurants hard to come by in Irvine they all get replaced by Asian eatery’s like we don’t have enough of those already
Alex Trench
2021-08-18
Irvine is definitely not known for their food of any kind the only thing that it’s known for its being in the top 10 of the safest cities
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