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Original California Taqueria
Rating Details »
- Nearest Transit:
-
Bergen St (F, G)
Court St-Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5, M, R, W)
Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts (A, C, G)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
27 reviews for Original California Taqueria
Now I'm verklempt!! ...tawk amongst yourselves...I'll give you a topic:
California Taqueria is neither California nor a taqueria...Discuss.
(Ok fine, it is sort of a taqueria, but in NO way does this place compare to what it attempts to be from California).
Fuggers should be sued for false advertising.
After being unable to finish my disgusting burrito, this place left me saying: Yo quiero Taco Bell.
Being a gal straight up from Los Angeles, I was salivating when I saw the sign out front. Duped like many others here on yelp, I was excited to chow down like a real Mexican.
I shoulda have guessed when I was first looking at the menu. It didn't have your carnitas, pico de gallo, and other great Californian traditions.
It's a bum menu and beyond that, I tried the food anyhow--lemme tell you, you are much better off running off to Chipotle.
Ah, my Cali taco search goes on.
WHAAATTTT
this place was so good! i order the plate, or whatever it was called, with fish taco--rice, beans, pico de gallo, a mound of guac, a handful of crispy chips--and i came out delirious! i was sitting there, watching the cook actually fry a real, fresh telapia that he need to actually slice first!
sure, the place seems a little gritty, but the quality of the food was nothing compared to what the reviewers say here. this place was delicious! even though the rice was a bit dry, i know my stomach almost exploded by the end of the meal.
All right, I guess. I got tacos, and they weren't really 'tacos', but small tortillas thrown in some aluminum foil with chicken and lettuce thrown on top of it. It was good, but I ended up having to eat it with a fork back at home because picking it up just wasn't happening. My friend got a burrito though, and that was tasty. I'd get that if/when i go back. We'll see if that happens. It probably will. I do like they have Jarritos though, I'm a sucker for the lime.
As a Californian living in New York City, I can always bond with other Californians about the lack of decent burritos in this city. It comes up in conversation more often than one might imagine. Here's how it goes: people from northern California will argue that their burritos are better than those in southern California and vice versa. But when they meet in New York City, both parties will agree that most Mexican food here is crap.
Since this place advertised itself as "California style" I knew I had to give it a chance.
I was mostly let down. My vegetarian burrito was close to 9 dollars. Ugh! Sure, it was decent sized, but not for 9 bucks! And the rice in it, not seasoned enough, for sure. And the worst!? No Tapatio!
Every self-respecting California kid should know all about Tapatio. Just sayin'.
I'm not giving up my search. I have a few leads.
This review is in honor of one , Miss Nic B and our shared passion for the Double B - "Burrito Box and Babysitting""!
After I got dooped into 5 bedtime stories, instead of the normal 3...and singing Baa Baa Black Sheep for 30 minutes to the baby, her stuffed kitty and stuffed kangaroo... I find myself starving and parched from all the vocal exercise.
I was craving a burrito and started to look up some places on yelp and stumble across Original California Taqueria and Eric S's amusing review. Naahhh, I ain't neva scared of gettin caught up by a "west coast killah." But, this place just didn't deliver for me. Wait, correction, it did deliver my burrito...just 20 minutes late. Maybe I am spoiled by the beauty that is burrito box or maybe it is the white refined flour tortilla that is still sitting like concrete rocks in my gut 4 days later...but I won't be ordering from here again.
Only one of those three words is really accurate (hint: it's not one of the good ones).
Still, it beats Chipotle.
I've been here a couple times and I won't be walking into this Rebel trap again. First off, I don't expect encyclopedia Britannica when I walk in but I HATE it when they are so eager to close up your burrito you don't get to put any fixings in it.
Second off, it's more expensive than it should be based on the interior and product quality and contents. I realize we are in Carroll Gardens but c'mon. A fully loaded burrito should not be 9-10 dollars.
Referring to this as a California Taqueria is hurtful and mean-spirited. When I think of the a Cali Taco spot, I think of a salsa bar, JUST grilled meat, fresh vegetables that haven't sat in themselves for days. This place is the stereotype of what people from Texas and Cali complain about, dull and tired mexican--a tired tired comment on their part. But this is the kind of place that gives them credence.
I've yet to find a reliable quick-hit burrito joint in New York, but this certainly is not the answer to our prayers. And of course no plastic.
so this place isn't really "california", but their chicken burrito isn't all bad. I had it "east l.a. style" (nothing but chicken, black beans, and rice), and the chicken was surprisingly moist. For a quick, inexpensive meal (so the place is a bit sketchy), it is a-ok.
This place is my crack. I come here at least three times a week. I get 2 hard tacos.... Rice, beans, and cheese only. Amazingly yummy.... It is a little expensive though for what it is.
Ah.. they have good portions? And er.. the soda isn't flat? Prices were decent? There wasn't a line? What else can I say that's good, hmm..
Ah well.. The chicken quesadilla I got was.. not bad.. a little flavorless and soggy, but it didn't taste BAD persay.. Just kind of tasted like, oh I don't know... a wet quesadilla with too much dark meat. I only ate a couple bites.
The service was good though and quick to make my order. The Salsa & chips is really just pico de gallo and chips which I realize is somewhat normal, you generally have a 50/50 chance of a mexican place with actual salsa on tap, but I sort of with they would have told me since I haaaate tomatoes.
Now I have 70329740707 tortilla chips with nowhere to go!
Cheap fake Mexican food for when you're in a hurry and don't want to spend $10 just to fill your stomach. There's nothing Californian about this place except for the all-Latino staff.
Still, the tacos are a ton of food and for $2.99, perfectly adequate. Three stars.
After an afternoon reading the Sunday newspapers in the park, I needed a little nibble. My gf had dinner plans I opted not to join in on, but we both ended up ordering single carne asada tacos.
The corn tortillas are somewhat thin, so each taco comes bedded in two. Marinated grilled steak, shredded lettuce, and tomatoes are all you get -- cheese costs 50 cents extra. And while the tacos aren't anything special -- even the meat isn't that flavorful -- it's healthy fast food.
If you go, I recommend the horchata. It's a traditional drink, and it's different than anything American beverages have to offer. They also have the full array of Jarritos soft drinks; I usually go for the lime.
Nice to have on the corner, but it's subsistence food.
My thoughts as Babe and I ate here:
"Wow, this place is really dirty and their murals are actually scary."
"Wait, why is he not steaming the tortilla? If you just throw it on the flat top, it'll be all flakey and falling-apart-y, and just dumb"
"That carne asada looks like a piece of cardboard. How long has it been on the grill? It is completely dry."
"Why does that rice look so dry. It looks like yesterdays rice"
"OK, OK, the refried beans look OK."
"Can I get some Salsa? I didn't notice you putting any of the pico de gallo that was specified on the menu"
"Hello Mr. Obvious Owner....Hello. Stop watching the re-run of the Cruz Azul vs Tecos game. I have a question and want to give you some money. No! Not there. Don't look over to the other TV playing El Gordo y La Flaca. I know, I know. Hot dancing girls in a hot tub with that fat guy. I'm trying to be nice and I have money in my hand to give you."
"How much for Salsa?!?!"
"I am paying extra for chips?!?!?!?!?!"
"How much for all of this?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
"Whatever, I should just get a coke. At least that will be OK"
"Wait, that's the medium coke? That's like the kids cup from the happy meals of my youth"
"Babe, why did you choose this horrible place? I might hold this against you forever"
**First Bite of burrito**
"WTF....It's worse than I thought it could have ever been."
"How is this thing already falling apart? I'm only three bites in?"
"The only good thing in this burrito are the beans and sour cream"
"My mouth is so dry, and I'm already out of coke."
**Glaring at Babe** "This is all your fault"
"Let's try these chips and salsa......wow, wooooow. I paid for these?"
"These chips are so stale....I think the styrofoam plate they came on would taste better....and who still uses styrofoam."
"You actually did me a favor by giving me exactly ten chips. Maybe some salsa?...WTF is this watered down unnaturally green stuff....and this red stuff smells like butt....yep it tastes like it too."
Hands down, the most unsatisfying meal I have had in NYC so far. I did not know mexican food would be so hard to find. Who wants to go in on a mexican restaurant with me? I wonder if we would be the first restaurant spawned by yelp...
I think this place might get a bad rap because it makes a reference to California and new yorkers are afraid of a getting caught up by a west coast killa. I have say though, I love this joints soft tacos - from the chile' Colorado to the fish taco - everything taste fresh and you feel clean eating here. It's pretty cheap to, which leads me ask, on a lazy Sunday what isn't better then catching a flick up the road and grabbing a corona and taco? I dig it.
Tasty fish tacos and a cold Corona. What's bad about that? I am a regular.
A good, reliable takeout Mexican joint. The burritos are huge, the fish tacos are decent, and the prices reasonable. The only caveat is that I got sick after eating a Taqueria burrito a couple years ago and haven't been a regular since. But I just made of the mistake of trying Buddy's Burrito, also on Court, and that place sucks. So when I'm looking for Mexican food in my hood, I'll go back to Taqueria.
Sure it's a bit sketchy, but that's what makes it so good. My friend and I split the super nachos with refried beans and were quite pleased, especially for the money ($7 or $8). The portion was huge, and while delicious, it did lack a few toppings like jalapenos or salsa. And I know we chose beans, but I really do like chili on my nachos. We did add tomatoes to ours and some scarily thinned-out sour cream on top and similarly thinned-out guacamole on the side. I really enjoyed the beans because they weren't all mushy, refried beans; there were still lots of whole beans in there, giving it some substance. The chips were fresh tasting and still pretty crisp, and the cheese was more than generously sprinkled throughout. While not every chip was adequately covered (it displayed more of a stacked than spread-out design), there were plenty of toppings to distribute on each and every chip. It was no Wharf (which I believe has the best nachos in town), but it didn't deserve the bad rap it received here.
Not the worst Brooklyn burrito I've had (there's a worse one over on Smith St.), but - first of all- they need to kill the CA reference in their name. I only went there one time a couple years ago, but... not a good food experience. Have these folks ever BEEN to a California Taqueria??? Might be worth a little research trip. One clue is that burritos aren't made with flatbread, they're called tortillas! Sadly, even Chipotle Grill (owned by McDonald's -- aaarrgghhh!) produces a better product!
i gave this place three shots! three shots to make a burrito that isnt tasteless. i really did! its just bland. the rice reminded me of the spanish rice you get from a rice-a-roni box, the lettuce was...you know, i am just going to stop here, i do not want to be mean.
they do have seating on the sidewalk, though.
Servicable, but to impress it would either have to be innovative or execute perfectly on the classics. Sadly, this place does neither. Portions are very large and prices are certainly reasonable, but the food is largely devoid of interesting flavors and the ingredients don't come off as especially fresh. Like most shredded chicken, theirs is somewhat dry. San Joaquin burrito is interesting in that it's filled with a egg-battered chile relleno,
Still, you can get a huge plate of enchiladas and a beer for less than $10, which is pretty darn good.
The food is not bad. It is super-fast and there is never a line. Most importantly, if you are looking to eat 3 lbs. of food and only want to spend 5 dollars on it, this is the place for you.
Hmmm.....I wouldn't call them a California taqueria, but if you are starving at 10 pm after babysitting and don't want to eat in a regular restaurant, this is the place to go. I had a quesadilla and papaya juice and it was less than $10. The staff is nice, too.
It's not tremendously decorated, or a fancy restaurant, but it's reliable, delicious, friendly, and cheap. So, I'm a fan.
I was told this place was somewhat authentic, but I didn't really find it so. The salsa seemed somewhat fresh, but that's about all they had going for them. I would not recommend this and don't plan to go again myself.
Huge burritos... and they deliver too. A very good deal. I am a vegetarian so I've never had the beef and chicken dishes. Good for a qyick bite. Much better and cheaper than Burritoville.
nothing at all exciting about this fish taco. the place looked authentic, as in it looked like someplace you'd see in mexico city. not so hot.
