Margaritas are usually on order for Cinco de Mayo, but I was driving and ya know...I was thinking responsibly. *wink wink* So my other alternative was to have myself some really tasty authentic tacos. Let's see it was about close to 4pm. The freeways were probably clogged and well that didn't sit well with me. As much as I love driving sitting in LA traffic ain't no sunshine. So rather than head south towards Downtown Los Angeles, I headed north to the city of Montrose, it is west of La Canada Flintridge.
El Charro. The city Montrose really isn't your typical place to find good Mexican food, but I can assure you...it's good stuff. They've been in the area since 1955. And if you've been in business that long, you know you're doing something right. My mom had suggested this place after I mentioned craving for tacos on Cinco de Mayo. It would be fitting that she be my meal companion for this trip. The place isn't too big and not too small. It has booth seating or regular table seating as well as cantina (bar) for those wanting a little cerveza. Luckily it wasn't crowded as it was in the middle of the afternoon when we decided to get some chow.
Upon seating we were brought some water the the waiter and some in-house tortilla chips along with some salsa. We ended up ordering a second basket.
My mom orders the fish taco meal. That thing looked huge! With a side to tartar sauce, shredded cabbage on top and a couple wedges of lemon. There were two homemade torillas underneath that hill of cabbage.
I order the carne asada combo meal. Left to right - Two carne asada tacos, pico de gallo, rice with an olive garnish and bead with melted cheese. The beef for the carne asada were nice cubed chunks with shredded cheese on top. These weren't small sized like some places either.
Look at that delicious taco. I ate both of them right up with some of the beans and salsa. These are some good tacos I've had in a long while. I do want to go back and try their tostadas and enchiladas.
El Charro
Mexican Restaurant and Cantina
3741 North Verdugo Rd
Montrose, CA 91020
818.249.2405
How on earth do you find these amazing places Jenn? I love Mexican food but don't often veer away from this area (due to the traffic you mentioned) so my options are a bit limited.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious and the entrees are huge!! I love fish tacos!
wow looks deliscious...love the fish taco plate also..
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Looks awesome. There is a little place opening up right nearby soon that advertises "homemade" Mexican. We have high hopes for that. Heh.
ReplyDeleteWhat fabulous looking food, I wish i could dive into a plate of that with you.
ReplyDelete*kisses* HH
Mmmm - looks delish! I hope you made yourself a margarita when you got home! :-)
ReplyDeleteThose tacos look fabulous indeed!
ReplyDeleteI love carne asada tacos! Your mom's fish tacos look great too.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to just admit that I crave Mexican food pretty much all the time. Now, I want some fish tacos!
ReplyDeleteThe food looks positively delicious! I'd love one of each taco right now! Please?
ReplyDeleteI want to sample. I did not go too crazy - I made pozole and strawberry margarita jam - now we'll have that flavor for breakfast for the foreseeable future. =)
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good Cinco fest to me!
ReplyDeleteWow, there is really much useful data here!
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