Taco Rosa in Irvine California

One of my wife's favorite Mexican eateries is On The Border. While it is a trek to the Irvine location from our house, we head out that way occasionally so she can get her OTB fix. Taco Rosa is about 100 yards away and, every time we go to OTB, we pass right by it and always say 'We need to try that place'. Never happened...until this past Tuesday.

We had planned to visit Flamingo's Mexican Bar and Grill for Taco Tuesday but since we were way out here and feeling the need to fill our tummies, we decided to head on over to OTB. As we got closer, Capsaicin Head threw out the audible and thought we should try Taco Rosa. I'm glad she did!

The Establishment
We arrived at Taco Rosa and were surprised by a big red building jutting out from a sea of tropical plants. Not very "Mexicanie", but it really doesn't matter if the tacos are good, right? Upon entering we were greeted by Crazy George...ok, not his real name (well, George is), but this guy was quite entertaining. I see why they put him up front! We took a short walk through the restaurant and on to the patio where we sat down in nice, cushy chairs. The decor is fabulous and, as George put it, the patio was like actually being on vacation in Mexico. Funny guy.

Chips, Salsa and the Coveted Guacamole
Seconds after sitting, another waiter (Julio) brought us out a little basket containing two taquitos covered in carrots, peppers and onions. This was a nice little treat and something I've never seen before (if you look at the picture below you'll see one missing; I couldn't wait to eat it!). At this time we ordered up the standard Chips/Salsa/Guacamole mix. I'd just like to say, at this point, that we've been to a LOT of Taco Tuesdays, a ton even before we started this web site. We've ordered up the chips/salsa/guacamole combo at almost every single one and the presentation of this combo at Taco Rosa definitely gets an A+ in our book! A cool, conical iron chip and salsa holder was set before us as well as a plate with a 'guacamole patty'. The chips were incredibly fresh and made daily by Taco Rosa. They infuse some guajillo peppers into the chip paste to create a spicy chip that is pretty amazing.

The salsa came in two little bowls; a red, roasted tomato and green pepper salsa. The red is spicy, flavorful and pretty chunky, and matched up well with the homemade chips. The green, well, Capsaicin Head said it was really good but I found it a bit watery.

The guacamole is on a level of it's own. Shaped like a little hamburger patty, the guac was topped with onions, cotija cheese and tomatoes. A few chip-strips were protruding from it and the whole deal was surrounded by a few limes. It was was amazing to say the least and we scarfed it up before our food came out. That's a pretty big deal for us.

The Main Course - TACOS!
Taco Rosa has only 3 tacos in the $1 range. They have two 'Especial Tacos', the Carne Asada and the Blackened Chicken Taco, that are $2 and $2.50 respectively. Of course I have to try the 'upscale' tacos, so I ordered one each of the Especial Tacos. First off, did you see the picture. If not, look now...I'll wait. I'll just start by saying that these two tacos are, at this time, the best tacos we've had to date. Taco Rosa starts off by lightly frying the tortilla (no boring raw torts here) just enough to make it crispy but still flexible. I'm not a cook, but I think this method also helps keep the taco shell from falling apart when you stuff it full of yummy goodness like these two were. The Blackened Chicken Taco was fantastic, and the flavors from the pico , cheese and other ingredients worked great together. The chicken was a tad dry for my taste, but still an excellent taco. The carne, however, was bomb-on perfect! Flavor, cooked perfectly and just enough juices to make it delicious but not enough to create a swimming pool on your plate. A side of the roasted tomato salsa was included as was the carrot/pepper/onion concoction. These two tacos were the perfect size and, had it not been for Capsaicin Head mentioning sopapillas, I would have ordered 2 more.

Final Thoughts
I'd like to mention, too, our dessert experience. We don't normally order dessert but saw the sopapillas being delivered to another table. Light, airy dough pockets sprinkled with white, powdered sugar and surrounded by a plop of vanilla bean ice cream, honey and melted chocolate. Oh dear lord...heaven on a plate. As we ordered that, Julio suggested the pineapple churros. WHAT??? Yes, churros generously stuffed with pineapples inside. Sounded interesting so we added an order of those also. Oh dear Lord part 2. Come to find out that the pineapple churro is not a regular menu item; well the churro part is, but every month they mix the churros with something to create a new item. Pretty ingenious and, from now on, we'll be inquiring about what the monthly churro-mix is.

Without a doubt, Taco Rosa should be on every Taco Tuesday Junkies must visit list. We haven't visited the Newport Beach location (yet) so we can't comment on it, but I'd guess you'd get the same experience from both. The service was awesome and the tacos were next level. Sorry, On The Border, there's a new Taco Sherrif in town.

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