Good Mexican food in San Pedro?

[bennysails]

Looking for good authentic mexican food in San Pedro.

[elcydcruiser]

Burrito Factory....19th & Pacific...1902 S. Pacific Ave

Green Onion....6th & Palo Verde....145 W. 6th St.

Jolly Burrito....6th & Mesa...407 W. 6th St

Just in case....Acapulco @ Ports O'Call

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

Looking for good authentic mexican food in San Pedro.

 

Acapulco at 750 Sampson Way, Berth 83, San Pedro, CA 90731 http://www.acapulcorestaurants.com/ourfood.aspx

[Wineaux]

Looking for good authentic mexican food in San Pedro.

 

Hands Down the BEST Mexican food in San Pedro is Puesta del Sol on 17th street and Gaffey. The others are too "Americanized" for me. Puesta del Sol has new owners and they really churn out some good authentic mexican cuisine.

[shastatroy]

It's really frustrating to read people recommending Acapulco Restaurant to people who are asking for authentic Mexican food.

 

Acapulco is a chain restaurant and for a southern Californian it can't be further from authentic. It's like sending someone to Sizzler for a steak dinner.

 

Hint: the grubbier looking the restaurant (hole in the wall) the better the food!

[kenish]

Hint: the grubbier looking the restaurant (hole in the wall) the better the food!

 

LOL, one of the best Mexican places down here in Orange County is El Tapatio in Santa Ana. It's family-owned in the middle of an industrial area where I frankly wouldn't linger late at night. But their food is excellent, prices are reasonable, and the entry has lots of Restauranteur Assn "gold" and "silver" awards on display.

 

The Sizzler analogy is right on...that said, two things going for Acapulco are the view of the channel with ships coming and going, and they are probably more able to accommodate large groups. But hardly authentic food.

[Belle]

Is right across the street from

Crowne Plaza. Easy if staying there.

[Bruin Steve]

And, of course, perhaps the best Mexican food in all of the Greater Los Angeles area is found in Boyle Heights:

 

http://manuelseltepeyac.com/locations

 

I used to frequent this place in my braver, younger days...Always for lunch...Not the greatest neighborhood these days (although Boyle Heights actually has a LOT of history and is sort of beloved by many Angelenos...lots of personal stories from my own youth)...

 

This place is absolutely legendary (there are a scant few Los Angeles eateries I would put in this class--Canter's Deli on Fairfax, Phillipe's "The Original Beef Dip" near Union Station/Chinatown, the Original Pantry on Fig--downtown, Pink's Hot Dogs on Fairfax, Dinah's Fried Chicken on Sepulveda near LAX, the ORIGINAL Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart, etc.)...places seemingly there forever that everyone knows...with all sorts of stories that take on mythical qualities...

 

Anyway, at Manuel's they serve up the "Hollenbeck Burrito"--which is massive...even in my younger days, I could seldom finish one...and THAT is their SMALL burrito...The Piece de Resistance is called the "Manuel's Special"--IT WEIGHT FIVE POUNDS...It was featured on the Food Channel series "Man vs. Food"...The old urban legend was that "If you could finish one, the second one was on the house!"

 

Anyway, Manuel's if anyone here has ANY reason to find themselves in Boyle Heights (an area of East LA, east of Downtown), this place is a once in a lifetime experience...and true authentic California Mexican Food...

 

Now, rather than call anything "Authentic Mexican Food", one must realize that there is no such thing to be found...Mexico is a BIG country...authentic Mexican Food is NOT the same, say, in the Yucatan as it is in Mexico City--which is not the same as it is in Sonora or in the Baja...

 

As brought into the United States, Mexican Food differs greatly in California than it does, say, in Texas--though some of that distinction is blurring as chains spread and things become standardized...But, the individual Mexican cuisine in different parts of the US stems a lot from where in Mexico the Mexican immigrants originated...

 

You've got to realize that, for most of Mexico, the flour tortilla, a staple of Cal Mex food, doesn't exist...Most of Mexico relies on CORN tortillas...Why? They don't grow Wheat for wheat flower in most of Mexico...Corn, by far is Mexico's largest crop...Wheat production, though expanding to more of Mexico in recent years, up until the last 30 or 40 years, was overwhelming restricted to the Northwestern Mexican states--Baja California and Sonora predominantly...So, the use of the flour tortilla was something known well by those who, decades ago migrated to California...and brought it with them...Another standard with origins in the Baja is the "Fish Taco"--it's a local treat in Baja, but was never something you'd find elsewhere...Burritos werenn't even common in Mexican food elsewhere up until recently--hard to wrap a decent burrito without a flour tortilla...

 

Well, Cal Mex, as we know it today, has expanded--largely because we Californians are danged good at "chain restaurants" and "fast food"...Heck, we've spread McDonald's (founded in San Beranrdino, CA) all over the world...

 

And, as these chains developed and standardized, they've become somewhat, in the eyes of many, "Americanized"...Really, in the case of Cal Mex food, they've removed some traditional Mexican Standards--like Menudo--from the menu...as it doesn't quite sit well with the American palate...

 

OTOH, a lot of the "Americanized" stuff is actually not bad...Like all food, it really depends on what YOU, personally, like...If you are going to order a standardized Combination Plate or "Fajitas" or gourmet Crab enchiladas, what difference does it really make where you get it...I personally like Acapulco's...no, I would never describe it as "Authentic Mexican"...but I do find it a place where I can trust I know what I'm getting inside my enchiladas...and where, in San Pedro, the location is pleasant and the view outstanding (assuming you got a table by the window or are eating out on the patio)...It is a local chain...there are several of them all over the LA area...They also own and operate other chains, including El Torito and Chevy's (which is somewhat national)...So, if you have a Chevy's near you, figure that's about what you'll get with Acapulco...

[kenish]

Thanks Bruin- I didn't know about Manuel's. Some relatives are buried nearby at Evergreen Cemetery, so I will have to try Manuel's next time I'm up there.