Taqueria el Sabrosito!

(Pictured left: Storefront as seen from sidewalk of the taco stand)

14320 Bellflower Blvd, Bellflower CA 90706

(562) 867-4383

I seem to have stumbled onto something here...

The trip out here actually started looking for another taco stand, which after several turns and turns, I couldn't find. Incidentally, I came to a corner to make a final u-turn and spotted this little stand on the corner next to a mini-mall. It reminded me of so many shacks growing up that offered a little of everything, but started with the tacos. Perhaps it was the nostalgia, for maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was good, but this place certainly offers a little for everyone.

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Meat

The variety of the meats was abundant. The kitchen is in plain view from the ordering counter, with various pots boiling, stewing and warming the choices.

The asada was _the_ asada. I can't remember the last time I had it this good. Meaty, juicy, well chopped and without any fat, there was something in particular that struck me of the meat. It reminded me of the one decent offering at King Taco, the asada meat, only it was done better here. I remarked to my review partner that it really tasted as though the chef once worked at King Taco and left working there to improve on it. If I only knew how right I was...

The al pastor was...King Taco al pastor. Down to the seasonings. Only slightly better. I swore I was on Washington and San Pedro in the old-style restaurant biting into one of their offerings. To be fair, I don't care for that style al pastor, but this was decent, albeit not the best. It was certainly an improvement on the comparison I made to it.

The chicken was a pleasant surprise, being really chunky and tasty, without any fat and dry, allowing the rest of the taco to drive the higher notes instead of sitting in more brothy juices, which only serve to detract from this type of meat.

The cabeza also was of decent quality. It had no fat to be found anywhere, and was cooked just enough (if you cook it too long it can get stiff or dry instead of being slightly chewy, more akin to pulled pork than steak). It was held back though due to the fact that there was not much flavor to it. I remembered the cabeza from Super Tacos Culiacan and realized, this was no Culiacan.

Asada - 10/10
Al Pastor - 7/10
Chicken - 8/10
Cabeza - 7/10

Score: 8/10, being helped significantly by the strong score form the asada

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Tortilla

The tortilla was lightly oiled and heated, but not overdone. It was tasty without being sickening as some places might make it when it's dripping with grease from the skillet or range (King Taco), but better than a dry re-heated tortilla.

Score: 8/10, nothing too special, nothing terrible, but good.

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Toppings

The salsa was good, alternating between green and red appropriately between the meats. They reminded me too much though of something out of a jar instead of being home-made, but truth be told, you can't expect everyone to make salsa from scratch on a daily basis. I would only dock them points here if the salsa weren't good, but it was tasty and not too spicy. The rest of the toppings were standard onion/cilantro which were mixed just right and in the right amount. Basic stuff over all, but worthwhile and tasted great.

Score: 7/10, with the curve being set just that high after the trip with 'El Chino'...

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"After-effects"

After a while I did feel it with these tacos a bit. I felt over-stuffed and like there may have been too much grease in the tacos after all. there wasn't much of a greasy taste to it, but certainly heavy enough to make itself felt afterward

Score: 6/10 for the unpleasantness and needing a Pepcid afterwards...

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Bottom line, these were some good tacos, as well as having the best asada i've had. I split the meal with tacos and a burrito with al pastor to try out what they had to offer since the prices were great, and the burrito holds an absolute ton of promise. Now I'm anxious for a burrito of asada and possibly more tacos in the future now.


Bonus Points: (+1) For great prices!

Price: $4.25 / 4 tacos and a drink

Wait time: 5-10 minutes

Distance (from downtown): 20-30 minutes outside of rush hour, 1hr during

Total Score: 30/40 but don't get me wrong -- the best carne asada tacos I've had anywhere! It just didn't measure up to itself beyond that is all....)

What I would order next time: 4 tacos de asada (and maybe even a burrito -- the rice, beans and tortilla were the shit!)

Seafood & Tacos Raul

16806 Lakewood Blvd Bellflower CA, 90706(562) 866-8980

Not-so-secret way to make a bad taco....

Ugh, where to begin....

From the outside, it definitely had its humble exterior, which can often indicate an "up and coming" taco place. However, it was badly deteriorated from years of weathering damage, so it didn't strike me immediately that they're investing in appeal. This could imply that they survive without the need to advertise or focus on their superficial appeal. With that in mind, I actually entered with high hopes and expectations.

Atypical to my reviewing method, I was only able to review three meats instead of four, and that was accomplished by placing two separate orders. I was not allowed to order more than two types of meat with any taco order, due to the chef (???). Seems that complicated orders confuse him, and they want to try to avoid complications. Fair enough, they are a very small restaurant and quite busy, so they probably want to crank out orders as quickly as possible. What beheld me next though, egh...I'll do my best to describe and maintain fairness.

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Meat

While there were a variety of meats available, due to my limitations I was stuck with choosing three so I went with asada, al pastor and carnitas. Oddly enough, I can review all three at the same time, because if not for the names and origin, they were pretty identical.

Although they're different types of meat, they fall under the same descriptions. Absence of any flavor whatsoever. All were readily apparent at being very low quality as I found myself poking out lumps of fat (not bits, lumps) with every bite. The asada had nothing to it. It was slapped on the grill and then stuffed into the tortilla. The al pastor was very reminiscent of that from King Taco, except greasier and with even less flavor. Heavy on the onion, it was about half and half in my order, which was a slight saving grace, but for the lack of quality in the meat, it wont make up for it. The carnitas were very similar to my earlier impression of the birria at 'El Parian' -- I felt like I was eating meat for the sake of eating meat. Sure it was fried properly, but lacking flavor, any hints of marinade, and being low quality just made it not worth eating.

Score: 4/10, simply because they tried...

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Tortilla

Tasted like it was heated in oil (which is a good method), and then microwaved later because they were initially warmed up early in the morning, and then re-heated as needed. Store-bought and of low quality. Basically they're saying "we could care less about quality" by serving these discs.

Score: 3/10, especially since I saw fresh tortillas in the back which are used for enchiladas there as well; why not use those?....

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Toppings

Adequate, if not original. Onion/cilantro, lemons, and green sauce which was actually pretty good. It was a DIY job though, with the topping cart in the back. I can appreciate the topping cart on a certain level, however, because it allows you to prepare your taco as you wish. At least they had that going for them.

Score: 7/10, for being nothing special, but at least they were sufficient...

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"After-effects"

Ugh. I hated myself afterward. If I knew how I would have felt after eating the food, I would not have attempted it. I only ordered three tacos in all, and didn't finish my plate. Stopped a few bites short. Saw no point in finishing.

Score: 4/10

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Bottom line, for the fact that I don't even care to put up pictures of the tacos, I couldn't recommend a place any less than this one. Nothing redeeming, nothing special. Average prices, hurried service, lack of parking, seating for about 10 people total, and rigidity of the ordering structure are all of its downfalls. It almost makes me want to create a general "establishment" criteria to point out where some restaurants shine, and where others falter in customer service, appearance, and attempts to create repeat business. I would love to have that criteria available to me right now so that I could give this place an emphatic zero. I don't think this place could care less. They're simply going through the motions and ringing up the register, which for whatever reason, kept ringing the whole time I was there. what draws people here so much, I'll never understand...

Bonus Points: (+1) For having a huge cooler filled with Jarritos and other Mexican drinks...so they had Jarritos; at least my drink was tasty!

Price: $1.10 / taco, $1.29 for drink 

Wait time: 5-10 minutes

Distance (from downtown): 20-25 minutes outside of rush hour

Total Score: 19/40

What I would order next time: The #9 at Del Taco, which is closer to me, tastier, and possibly even better for my innards...