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Al pastor, mi amor!
Seriously, though, the al pastor tacos are amazing. Not quite as inexpensive as the taquerias I'm accustomed to but definitely fast, fresh and tasty. As usual, when it's been a while since I've had something, I over-ordered and even the leftovers were tasty.
With only a few tables, plan to be quick or take it home. All of the salsa from the salsa bar was flavorful and awesome.
Now, just to not mix this up with the eighty other Grullense-named taco places around the area.
This place is good. The tacos are inexpensive ($1.25), and three would make a respectable lunch. The meat is good (though not as good as at Chavez). The plate options (with rice and beans) tend to be overpriced in comparison. The salsa in the salsa bar is usually fresh.
Like many taquerias, there are many predetermined meals that could easily be captured by choosing combinations. The last time I was there I had the #34 (maybe it was the #47). Some restaurants (say Chipotle) have you choose: 1) hard taco, soft taco, burrito, fajita burrito, salad 2) chicken, beef, or pork 3) black or pinto beans.
Taquerias often list out many of these combinations and offer upwards of fifty predetermined meals. This is effective for decorating what are typically pretty sparse restaurants. It might also make you think you have only sampled a small portion of their menu.
Started working in Redwood city a few weeks ago and this place is just across the way and an easy walk so i tried it out.
Food is good, salsa bar is a nice touch, decent prices especially for the area where EVERYTHING is more ex$pensive.
Don't ask for hot sauce unless you don't like it HOT... some of the hottest i've ever had.
I'm vegetarian, but I've had a ton of good veggie burritos in the mission from authentic Mexican taquerias, so I figured this would be just like that. Wow, was I wrong. This was the worst burrito I've ever had. They put some watery ranch dressing on it or something; it was horrible.
Pretty standard Mexican place, though they also have a big selection of authentic dishes (I saw an entire fish corpse on someone's plate...if that's not authentic, I don't know what is). Tacos are $1.25 and burritos are $5.50 (Super Burrito with cheese, sour cream and guacamole is $6.50). I like that they have detailed pictures of every dish they offer. There is a pretty good amount of seating; an entire kid's soccer team was in there and my friend and I still had no trouble finding a place to sit down.
He got a taco feast, I got the Super Burrito with carnitas. The carnitas here reminds me of Thanksgiving turkey; tender, tasty and consistent. The rice was tasty, fluffy and not dry. They do not give you a choice of beans. The guacamole here is no good; it's too watery and the flavor is off. The fact that they give it away for free at the salsa bar is a bad sign.
But speaking of the salsa bar, I like what they have going on. The pico de gallo is pretty standard, but the green (tomatillo) salsa is very tasty and spicy. Their red sauce and guacamole are forgettable.
The burrito was solid, but nothing amazing. I'll mention that even though I made a conscious effort, I could not successfully spread out the ingredients within the burrito; e.g., I kept getting bites of just rice, just meat, etc.
Again, standard tacos and burritos, but I might be back for some authentic Mexican dishes.
Their entrees are a bit overpriced for the value, but thy more than make up for it with cheap tacos and burritos which are the best in town. They have a kick ass salsa bar and plenty of carrots peppers and onions. Try the carnitas with the salsa verde.
Cheap and tasty. Got the tacos with the BBQ pork and the nachos. Did I mention this place is cheap?
So my husband and I wanted something late last night and El Grullense (El Greasy) was open. It is very near to our apartment so we could walk there.
So lets see where do I begin. Should I start with the cashier that openly flirted with my husband right in front of me because I don't speak Spanish or the eye rolling when I ordered a vegetarian torta.
Any place I start it will not shine a favorable light on a place aptly nicknamed "El Greasy".
They are over priced and unsanitary to say the least they could at least clean the dining area once in a while if they are going to charge as much as they do for their food. The staff infection behind the counter refused to speak English to me once she found out my husband spoke Spanish and I stood there watching them make my food just because I was afraid they would spit in it.
I left here angry and feeling sick because although they do not admit to it I am almost sure their beans are made with Lard and not vegetarian at all.
DO NOT EAT HERE!!! It is a horrible place and unless you speak Spanish you will probably end up leaving with a giant head ache.
The best burrito in the bay area.
They are on top of the charts (in newspapers, etc) for best burrito all the time. There is a reason. The carnitas is out of this world good - slow cooked with the right amount of seasoning. They add plenty of cheese which I love. The green avocado sauce they have is so good, I could drink it out of a bucket.
I have tried all the famous places in the city, and would make the trip here anytime.
Bonus: They are open REALLY late.
Yeah, I miss L.A. Twelve ninety nine for a plate of Mexican food, what is that all about? But there isn't much that's open late in Redwood City so I go for the tacos at a buck twenty five each, and that's for all sorts of meats like lengua, carnitas, pastor etc. etc. They even have chile verde tacos, something I have not seen back home in SoCal. What's nice too is that they stuff those little tortillas to the brim, a nice touch eh.
Man what is with all the po-po on El Camino Real, looks like a total DUI spider web with Redwood's finest on the prowl. Don't booze up around there, and if you do, stop by and sober up with cheap tacos.
After a six-hour flight without any food of substance, plus a 45-minute drive home from SFO ahead of me, my stomach took over and convinced me to get off 101 and find El Grullense.
Even at 10:30 at night on a Sunday, there was a line. My original plan was to order a chile verde burrito so I'd have enough for lunch the next day, but then I remembered hearing that the carne asada is excellent, so I added on a regular taco. At $1.25, I wish I'd ordered two.
The taco was really good, with the tortillas a little crispy from the grill, plentiful carne, plus onions, cilantro, and a red hot sauce. The carne was delicious on its own, with a slightly salty but very beefy flavor, and was even better with a squeeze of lime. The quality of the meat was higher than that of other taquerias, as there wasn't a speck of fat or gristle.
The chile verde burrito wasn't nearly as tasty, though the pork was very tender and the sauce was pretty good. If the burrito had been a little better, I would have given 4 stars. I felt there should have been more chile verde and less onions and cilantro.
I've been coming to this place since I was 10!! They serve the most delicious tacos you can get for $1.25!!! I always get four because I'm a piggy and of course some of their delicious agua de horchata.
I stopped coming for a while because 1. too many tacos can turn you into a lard as*..
2. They changed their recipe on their "tacos al pastor"
Other than that...the girls at the counter are really nice. They are conveniently open late, sometimes they close at 2:00AM!!!
I usually walk there after going out to the bar/club. They tend to taste better after a few beers..or maybe I just forget how bad they are for you.
So this dude on Chowhound made a list of the best taquerias in RWC and El Grullense came in at #1. After three trips back this summer, I have to say that, at $1.25 per soft taco, I don't care if it isn't *the* best. It's still damn good carnitas, al pastor, and lengua (yes lengua! just give it a shot!). I always throw in a carne asada taco too, but that's consistently the least memorable one. The carnitas and al pastor are amazing here- they really are. These tacos are street tacos- just the right amount of corn tortilla and perfectly marinated and seasoned meat and cilantro and onions. I can put away 4, and the bill comes in at a pretty $5.
The salsa bar is also nice- always stocked with limes and pico de gallo with a kick. Carrots too. Friends always get the burrito. It's big. And rice=unnecessary filler. Go with a selection of the street tacos, you absolutely cannot go wrong.
So today my co-worker and I went to lunch. He wanted Mexican food and picked El Grullense. I didn't have a chance to check Yelp for which El Grullense (of the many many in Redwood City) is the good one, so we ended up heading to the one on 999 El Camino. We somehow overshot that one and ended up at this one...
Anyway, I came in here with high hopes because I thought maybe this is the one that everyone raves about. Ordered a pollo asado super burrito, grabbed a dish of chips from under the heat lamp they were chilling--er, heating--under and headed over to a table. Didn't have to wait long for the food and we quickly got to eating. The burrito was really hot, for some reason, and both of us had to wrap the foil in napkins in order to pick it up. Weird.
The burrito itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to write home about. Pluses include the salsa bar, self-serve drinking water and picture menus so you know exactly what you're getting. Minuses are that it's difficult to have a conversation with multiple telenovelas playing loudly in the background and their horchata and aguas frescas don't seem very fresh or delicious.
So my first el grullense experience came after a full day of careless drinking... one of those days when I completely forgot that I wasn't 20 years old, and the machine aint' what it used to be. And I just remember that salty goodness, that I'm pretty sure saved me from imminent death.
But even on the several trips back (even sober ones) I just love this place. It's really close, really inexpensive, no parking problems and most of all consistent. When you get your Super Carne Asada Burrito.... you know you're getting a hot, salty slice of heaven.
I would put it up there with what I consider the gold standard for burritos... el farrolito on 24th in s.f.
I have always had an affliction to Mexican Food. And my parents seem to be the ultimate connoisseurs of the culinary art form. While my mom was the queen of finding the best "sit down with a menu" spots, my dad was the polar opposite. He always was on a hunt for the best, most ghetto, shady, janky, run down, out of the place Mexican joints that a human can find. And we would regularly seek them out sampling their warez.
One day he said to me; "Jimmy, would you like to get a real mans burrito?" Now, I thought I had a mans burrito before, but when I was prompted with this statement, I could only imagine what this might mean. Well, on an early Saturday morning around 11am I ate the gnarliest burrito that I have ever consumed and experienced the creme de la creme of Mexican food establishments.
This shady little spot will forever hold a true place in my hear and I honestly believe that if I cannot take a girl here on a date, then she is not the one for me.
we were off to a bad start when we got out of the car and instantly we stopped breathing due to the foul stinch that was escaping the back kitchendoor. We looked at each other in horror and i reassured my boyfriend that it must be coming from somehwere else. so in we go and we stand in front of the cashier for at least 5 minutes while she blabbed with her coworkers and tried to fix the register tape at the same time. Finally the line piled up, and she took our order. We ordered two soft tacos- one shrimp and one chicken and a super carne asada burrito. the food came quick but was a total disapointment-- the tacos were smaller than my palm requiring two bites maximum, the chicken was weird.
the burrito had hardly any meat and the rice was small and grainy. the worst part about this burrito was each bite you were surprised with either cold or warm food. We didnt even finish our food and left hungry (which occurs maybe once a year).
Lastly, the noise at this grullense is ridiculous. Besides the screaming kids, they blast not only the telemundo on the TV but also the jukebox at the same time. Its hard to hear anyone talk.
Steer clear of this taqueria. It may be cheap, but its a mess and you get what you pay for.
The worst El Greasy in all of Redwood City, heck the whole country.
The employees have that attitude like someone is putting a gun up to their head to work there. I tip every time too, still the same bitch ass attitude.
Towards the end of the night if you order anything carne asada they wont say they have no more. They will continue to serve every last hardened old,dry. chopped piece of it and when you bite it will taste like rock pebbles and mostly rice.
The guys that work there will all try to give you the evil eyes if you're even remotely nice to the waitresses there, like if they are property of the male employees or something?
The bathroom has no lock, and the biggg deal breaker no soap, nor paper towels.
They do have a internet jukebox =)
I've only had their tacos- which were excellent. I highly recommend the Pastor tacos which seem to be been done properly on a rotating spit with pineapple on top. If you're lucky you might get some of that pineapple in your taco! .. God that sounds dirty...
Anyway.. delicious tacos. Hot, small, and cheap, just the way they ought to be. Have not tried anything else on the menu and don't really have any plans to!.
As far as tacos go, the Carnitas was a fairly good choice. Small but tasty. I also ordered the Pescado taco, but the fish was rather bland and not impressive.
What I will rave about is their HORCHATA. Ohh, I loved it! Deliciously creamy, muy cinnamony, and just enough sugary goodness to satisfy my sweet tooth.
This was the closest most convenient spot to pick up some Mexican food from my house, back when I was in the Bay.... and they just plain suck!
The food is always cold, the ingredients a little too old for my liking, and they NEVER EVER EVER got our order right.... EVER! I didn't know "no beans" was really that hard, even when I told them in spanish So, we just ended up at the conclusion that they hated us... because not only were the order ALWAYS wrong.. but the customer service is general is almost non existent. We ended up giving them the finger and trucking a mile down the road.
Stay away
Looking for fast and cheap eats and we found it here at El Grullense.
I love tamales - so I ordered the platter with one chicken and one pork tamale along with the usual rice and refried beans. I've had all sorts of types of tamales (I'm sure that tamale recipes vary by regions and I'm sure that each family has their own "special" tamale recipe) - but the masa on these tamales was crumbly and fell apart easily. It was all right, but a bit too much on the dry side for me. S's tacos were tiny, but the meat was very tasty.
I had to laugh when I read Dan B.'s description of the interior. Yep, I have to agree that the orange and yellow interior is pretty horrid, but at least, during our visit, the tables were clean (maybe it's because they read Dan B.'s review).
Don't know if we'll be returning here again as there are better options in the area.
WORLD'S TINIEST TACOS - WTF?!?. I was excited to try this place after passing by so many times and seeing the $1.25 taco sign. So I decided to get 2 tacos... when they brought them to me on a plate, I thought I was on Punk'd and someone was playing a cruel joke on me. The only other explanation would have been the cook came from a French restaurant. These 2 tacos barely covered even a 3rd of the plate - see picture. The carne asada and bbq pork meat was tasty but both tacos were gone by 4-5 bites.
Luckily we did order a quesadilla too and ironically that was one huge mother of a quesadilla. But one gripe is that I felt they were being deceitful about the quesadilla pricing. The regular quesadilla was $3.99 or $4.99 and the woman asked if we wanted cilantro, salsa, etc on it and we said yes. Turns out that little extra crap (probably costing 29 cents at the supermarket) cost us $2 extra but she didn't specify it would cost extra. I had a similar quesadilla problem at their sister location (El Grullense Grill) but had forgotten about it - see that review. I really think they have special "gringo" pricing and tactics to cheat non-regulars at their restaurants.
Bottom line: The food tasted pretty good but their tacos are best for supermodels on a diet. Otherwise you may need to order 6 tacos to get full. And beware of their deceptive "gringo" pricing tactics on quesadillas.
El Grullense appears to be a small bay area chain, since I know of at least three in Redwood City and one more in Palo Alto. I drive by this particular location at least twice a day, so it is super convenient, but I don't eat there very often. What does that tell you?
I haven't been able to find anything I really love here. Plus the interior is pretty horrible. It's like a bad, cheap porno film from the 1970s. The wall are lined with mirrors, and the table and chairs are in yellow & orange linoleum. They are rarely clean. The floor is usually dirty too, and sometimes there are flies buzzing about. Two TVs blare fuzzy, obnoxious shows from the corners of the room. Personally, I find the whole ambiance depressing and unappetizing, and I almost always get food to go. They do offer outdoor seating, but it faces El Camino and a busy parking lot. It's been a while since I came here, so I visited a few times recently just to refresh my memory.
First visit - Ordered the regular pollo asado burrito with green salsa. Tortilla texture was fresh and chewy. Meat quality was pretty average. I could barely taste the sauce, so I wouldn't get this again. All in all, this was a pretty average burrito. One positive was that it came with some nice chips, which were quite thick and tasted homemade.
On my next visit I just asked for the regular chicken burrito with guacamole, to go. Total cost was $5.25. Not bad, until I realized later there was no sign of guacamole inside. And I was super clear about my order. (Klingon bastards!) The burrito itself was one of the worst I've had in a while. The chicken was not very flavorful and had some fatty chunks. The onions were chopped way too large. More confusing was the fact that they did not include the regular red sauce that normally comes in their burritos. A one time thing or a permanent change? Who knows?
On my next visit I ordered a two-taco combo plate, with one carne asada and one carnitas taco, to go. Once again I was very clear about my order and confirmed I could order two different meats. (Yes, yes, it was no problem). Even so, when I got home I realized they still flubbed the order and gave me two carnitas tacos. Not a big deal, but c'mon guys, get with the program! The tacos themselves were very good but SUPER TINY, making me wonder if I had been given the child's meal by mistake. Beans and rice were average. Chips were homemade again but this time were cold and stale. Total cost was $5 even, a pretty good price if the food had been a little better and the tacos larger.
If and when I do eat here again I may have to stick with the tacos, but I will have to order at least three next time. I might even try their carne asada assuming they actually get the order right.
Pros: Good carnitas; Decent prices
Cons: Questionable cleanliness; Poor eat-in options; Inconsistent burritos; Doll-sized tacos; Problems getting orders correct
YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Their street tacos are soooo good, especially the chicken one. They really stuff those tiny little tacos. Tacos here are $2.50 each, they also have an open salsa bar. Service is pretty fast, it's as authentic as you can get minus the griminess of getting these things off the streets in Mexico - although it's not too far from it. They have the Mexico Jerry Springer shows playing in the background. I'm itching to go back and get some more tacos.
Best things: super late close, super cheap food, super good when ordered right.
A subset of their menu is absolutely fantastic. Other parts get left on the tray. As long as you order the former you'll have big happy face (the four stars are for that portion of the menu). And probably for less than $18 even if you get enough for two people for two meals (tested empirically many times).
Best trick: make sure you order any burritos with black beans. Huge difference.
Good things: carne asada or chili verde burrito "regular" (with black beans). Chorizo small/soft taco. Horchata if you like sweet. If you like spicy: when the marinated peppers in the little salsa station have red powder on them you'll be in heaven. Or the emergency room. (Lately though they've not been that hot, unfortunately.)
Sometimes great: birria soup. Though seems to taste different each time. Sometimes has too much cinnamon. Or blood.
Not as much of a fan: quesadilla and nachos were "ok".
I ordered the carne asada burrito and I felt like they put in ground beef with the carne asada. I've been taken advantage of in this fashion before at another mexican burrito joint, but it still bugs the crap out of me. Just give me some steak please!! Also, it was a little too spicy and the customer service stinks.
I'll order something else if there ever is a next time. On another note, there's Precision Auto Center across the street that gives cheap oil changes!
Since I'm no longer near Redwood city, I don't feel as divulgent upping the middle of the road average on this here joint.
Don't let the bad reviews fool you. This joint can't be bothered with aesthetics, manners, sanitation, or culinary consistency. The faint of heart will take note of this, but not much more.
The magic of this place is pig and green sauce. Never had a juicier piece of Al Pastor or Carnitas than I've had at this joint. On the flip side, I've also had dry-ish, blandish pig here. Consistency is not their strong point, but the juicy highs make the risk.... appetizing.
And the green sauce, there's voodoo in it.... in a good way.
Sopes are good. Chicken, decent. Cow, average. But -- as with all things in life -- stick to the pigs slathered in green sauce, and you'll be good.
The burrito was not to my liking, too wet and a little bland.
But the tacos were excellent!
Fast service too!
An extra star because their tacos rock!
Otherwise it would've been just 3 stars...
My spanish speaking boyfriend tells me that El Grullense means "the stork." We remain consistently dumbfounded about why this white bird is the mascot for a joint serving delicious al pastor (spicy pork) and carne asada (grilled beef). We also remain consistently dumbfound about the connection between the numerous taquerias that claim the El Grullense name in the mid-Peninsula area. The one we visit the most, and call our late night grub spot, is just SOUTH of Whole Foods Market on El Camino Real, on the SAME side of the street. I ain't talkin' 'bout that whimpy looking place near the CalTrain station.
Two words-- Camerones Aquachile. Raw prawns cooked in lime juice with jalapeno peppers ground up, served with tomatoes, cucumbers and sprinkled with salt. I've learned how to let my mouth salivate and allow my adrenaline to kick in to deal with the heat. You'd think I'd get a clue and stop eating the damn shrimp once my tongue swells up, but it just tastes so friggin' good. I've also learned to lick the corner of my hand, shake salt on it, and re-lick it to initiate the salivating. Taquila-style, but for spicy seafood. My BF says I look like a Mexican-food eating pro now and the relatives back in Mexico would be proud. He also gets all excited when he sees the sign outside proclaiming they serve Birria on Saturdays and Sundays. That's spanish for goat soup. I'm not THAT much of a Mexican-food eating pro.
Open super late (11pm weeknights, 2am weekends), but you gotta be able to deal with the conflicting noise of the soaps on TV and the old school Mexican songs coming out of jukebox.
Co-worker and I landed here for lunch. And yes, since it was Valentine day, my co-worker was a female, but she bought lunch because she is in an upper-class position from my job (she makes more than Matt...embarrassing, huh?). It was my decision, because I have driven by this Mexican restaurant many times when I needed to come to Redwood City and also it's one of my bookmarked businesses on Yelp.
This corner taqueria is located near many offices and businesses on El Camino Real. We were very fortunate that we dined here on the right day, with not much people eating at exactly noon.
Looking at the menu, your basic burrito is listed, plus pictures and illustrations of the meals are shown by the numbers. (a'la Vietnamese-style). The prices are very reasonable. But who cares, "I'm not paying." I had the Carne-Asada Super Burrito with everything including the spicy stuff. The Super Burrito from here is really cheap at $5.75 and comes with your choice of meat and the usual stuffing in the package silver-bullet. The meat was charred nicely with the bits of the end pieces that create a nice crunch and tasty flavor. I also requested black beans on my burrito, but they gave me both black and whole beans with my meal. And with my $1.00 can of coke, it was a big meal!
My co-worker ordered the Fajitas de Camarone (#21). Her $12.00 smoky skillet dish had 3 skewers containing 3 huge grilled prawns with sauteed onions and green peppers with an aromatic sauce. Aromatic it was, because her dish has almost set the restaurant on fire. Her dish also comes with steamed corn tortilla. I took one tortilla and absorb the sauce with it, and the two combine was heavenly. That will be my choice the next time I'll return, which will be undoubtedly. She had a can soda as well.
I was so happy for my meal, but I was even more amazed with what my co-worker got. Her 5-star skillet makes my Super Burrito a one-star choice. When we were there, the soda machine for their authentic Mexican drinks was out of order, as a result of our can soda.
The next time I come back, I'm definitely getting her meal and hopefully they have the popular Mexican drinks ready for us. This place takes cash, but not too sure about credit-cards. But they do have an ATM machine inside. I don't recall the fee for using it though.
I went to high school in Redwood City and until 11 years after graduation, I had never tried Grullense! I don't know how that happened.
We chose this one - the old A&W Root Beer Grullense. I had a carnitas super burrito, which was more than I should have eaten. I thought it was pretty good, if a bit greasy. My bf had a veggie burrito which he deemed pretty good, but greasy. I also like that they didn't skimp on the hot sauce despite my pale whitey-ness!.
I hope to go back.
Ok, El Grullense taquerias to Redwood City is like Ray's Pizza is to NYC. There are a lot of them and they've reached farther south in the bay. After eating at the recently opened location in Mountain View my deja vu had kicked in and the familiarity quotient started going up. So until I saw the pictures of this place it finally registered after filtering through the numerous listings.
I do recall having some solid asada and lengua tacos here and a huge horchata. The exterior is kinda nutty and surely has taken over some other wacky establishment. A picture of a mug and burger still hang inside. Big tanks of aguas frescas and and old school fast food booths. Taqueria meets burger drive in/diner I guess. Don't let the decor scare you, there's good taqueria fare here.
There are so many of these "El G"s but they're all so different. What do I love about this one? Free chips under a heat lamp for extra crispyness, all you can eat condiments (am I the only one who enjoys a nice radish side salad?), funky dineresque seating, cheap prices, copious fresh chopped salsa and a very very tasty chicken regular burrito. Also... do correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this may be the only joint you can get a real tacqueria taco on the peninsula reliably at midnight. I think the earliest they close is 1am.
Deduction of one star because the greasiness level really varies on each trip and once in a while it's pushing it for me.. particularly on the tacos. Also, the food can taste quite different from night to night depending on who's cooking! Not necessarily in a bad way... but sometimes you won't get the same thing twice.
How did I manage to go so long without reviewing this gem in the Bay Area?
I come here for 3 things:
Tacos - *****
Nachos - *****
Chips & Salsa - *****
Tacos
THANK YOU JESUS!!! Small tasty taco's with just a bit of hot sauce, cilantro, y onion for just a bit over a buck... HALLELUJAH! And what's that? Carnitas y Pastor??? Sweet! I don't get the impression that they make their own tortillas, but if they hand pressed them on site, I would move in and call them all Mom (note, my Mom does not hand press Tortillas... how I wish).
Nachos
How can I care about Nachos? But here... The sour cream is smooth like a sauce, with guac to match, and all the rest... so freak'n tasty, I almost have to order them every time I'm here (and pretty much never anywhere else).
Chips & Salsa
Only been here once when it seemed a rookie might have put the salsa together... else, it's been heaven every time. Chunky, tasty, bit spicy...
BONUS!
They have Sopes!!!! And tasty ones at that! In fact, everything else I had here was great, but I'm a sucker for Sopes from time to time and I find it hard to come by, much less well made.
Thank you El Grullense... Thank you... I have yet to meet your match in all the Bay Area.
After living in San Diego for four years, and Southern California for the better part of the last 10 years, I can never look at a mexican joint not ending in -berto with the same kind of affection ever again...
Del Taco's are nice (I like fries), and Tito's Taco in West LA was over-rated... but I decided to drop by this place a couple weeks ago when I was getting my smog check done next door.
I order a few tacos that day... and they were surprisingly tasty.
A couple days ago I went back and got the regular carne asada burrito. That was tasty too.
Two things that would've made this place a 5-star mexican joint: Carne Asada Fries, and Roberto's hot sauce. Fortunately, they have a bout 15 bottles of cholula above the salsa bar, and another 15 bottles of another brand of hot sauce.
Yes, it's kind of greasy, but I can definitely see myself coming here once a week for some carne asada something...
Yeah, this hole in the wall looks a little scary, but you can always run into the Yumi Yogurt next door for safety.
I would have never gone here had not a friend from East Palo Alto, upon entering Unamas!, said to me "do you wanna get some real Mexican food?" So I decided to put the ugly facade of El Grullense aside and give it a whirl. I ordered what she recommended, the tacos. I got the chicken ones....I would say try all other meats at your own risk.
These are the best chicken tacos I've ever tried!!! They are simple, no cabbage, no splooge of baja sauce, no melting iceberg lettuce (blech), and no gross cheese. Just perfectly crispy pieces of chicken on two steamed corn tortillas, great hot sauce, cilantro, onions, and a lime on the side. YUMMY!
Growing up, this was an A&W Root Beer, hence the funky decor. My parents live 3 blocks from El G, so I often stop here on my way to or from their house. The tacos are the best around--love love love the carnitas, but the pastor & carne asada are also good. I'd stay away from the tamales though--I made the mistake of ordering them last week and my El G craving was not satisfied.
Each taco comes with so much meat that I usually only order 2 tacos and then grab a basket of free chips for some impromptu nacho action. The salsa bar is great, and I love the pickled carrots. If you get your food to go, make sure you double bag it and put it on your all weather floor mats--otherwise your upholstery will get some nasty grease stains.
YUM!!
Wow. You'll have to pardon my French, but there's no other way to describe the burrito I just finished consuming, than Holy Crazy Shit, goddamn that was good!
Carnitas burrito, regular. Possibly the most rich, juicy, flavorful carnitas I've ever consumed. This may even unseat La Taqueria in SF for the Best Tasty Porky Goodness award. Flavorful rice (trying not to think about likely salt content), standard pintos, and a well mixed-in dollop of salsa. 99 times out of 100, I have to pour salsa on top of each bite of burrito, b/c the tube itself is insufficiently flavorful to satisfy. For once, this was not the case (not that that stopped me).
Green salsa: a bit thin, slightly unusual flavor, basically OK.
Avocado salsa: off. decidedly. almost tasted moldy. ew.
Red Fiery Salsa of Death: DAMN that was good. Wonderful roasted pepper flavor, and a shitload of kick. Very nice.
Anyway, the taqueria's big, has both indoor & outdoor seating & order areas, and lots of selection. Their horchata is tasty, but too sweet for my taste.
But that carnitas? Worthy of worship.
My hubby and I are on a quest to eat from all the "El Grullense" in the area. This was our third stop on our quest.
I saw a picture on the wall of a burrito "wet" with green sauce. I love me some wet burrito. Although the burrito didn't come with all the goods I wanted so I simply asked for a "super burrito, wet with green sauce." The girl stared at me like I was an alien. Then she repeated "wet?" I said "yes, wet". From the look in her eye i realized that (a) she had no clue what I was talking about (B) they don't put green sauce on super burritos (c) that I'm shit out of luck. At least I got my black beans! I've had better burritos honestly. I did like the MASSIVE amount of onion. I LOVE onion and I never seem to get enough in burritos. I'll stick to Grullense near the library or at the gas station.
Redwood City, CA
Category: Mexican
Redwood City, CA
Category: Mexican
Redwood City, CA
Category: Gas & Service Stations
Redwood City, CA
Category: Mexican
Redwood City, CA
Category: Restaurants
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