Perlita's Authentic Mexican — Restaurant in Crescent City

Wow. I read an article stating this was the best Mexican food in Northern, Ca. Read reviews that were amazing. Our hotel even recommended it. I was so excited as A: Mexican food is my absolute favorite cuisine and B: I just drove 8.5 hours from the Central Valley. We ordered, 3 cheese quesadillas, bean and cheese burrito, a combo of an enchilada and tostada, and a Bisted Ranchero. I also ordered some guacamole as an appetizer. The salsa was ok. Not great and not awful. Chips were good and warm. The guacamole tasted like stuff you get from the store. Maybe I’m used to Central Valley guacamole? But let’s continue. My 17yo didn’t like her quesadilla. I get that. She’s a bit picky. So definitely not the restaurant’s fault. My 3 other kids (8, 6, and 3) had kids plates. 2 quesadillas and a bean burrito. 3 yo is also a picky eater but he ate some. 6 yo ate all of her quesadilla but no rice or beans and 8 yo ate half her burrito and she enjoyed the beans. So that’s all lovely. The bisted ranchero tasted like “canned enchilada sauce mixed with their salsa and the meat was a bit chewy”- per my husband. He thought the rice was bland and enjoyed the beans. As for myself, I’ll start with my enchilada. The sauce was ok. Definitely not awful. But the meat (Carne asada) had 0 flavor and was tough. No big deal. Tried the rice. 0 flavor. The tostada. Also carne asada, 0 flavor except for the beans on it and again tough meat. However, the rice was super soft and fluffy, The beans were good, and the tortillas were great. The staff was friendly and kind. Very slow but its totally understandable for our current situation. I’m still trying to figure out why people rated this establishment so high… there was seriously absolutely no flavor. If that is authentic, then I recommend coming to Central Valley and get some of the best Mexican food outside of Mexico. 100% not trying to be rude. But I don’t want anyone else to get all hyped to be let down. My husband is a super kind and fair man. This was his words. “I’d give them a 3. You won’t die from their food and the staff is kind.” Maybe there’s a difference between Northern California Mexican food and Central Valley Mexican food? I’m not sure. But I’d definitely NOT rate this place higher than a 3. I’m so sorry Perlitas. If we are the odd men out then do not look at this review. If you like flavor, do...

It's a decent place. I'm not sure why the other reviews rave about the food. It's ok Mexican food, I've had better elsewhere. Maybe in this area, it's the best? Any way, the restaurant is located right along 101, has ample parking, so has quite a bit of traffic. We came here after a drive along 101 and a hike in Praire Creek Redwoods, so we were quite hungry.

The nachos were good. They give you salsa in a bottle that you pour out as needed. I both liked (cz I don't have to keep asking for more) and hated (is it homemade salsa or not, who knows) this.

I ordered the haurache supreme and my friend ordered the veggie quesadilla. I wasn't oh-my-god impressed. The tortilla wasn't not too crispy, which I liked. Lots of veggies (esp cabbage), cacti (which I loved), cheese, beans, salsa. The chicken with ok. I was really hungry so I cleaned the plate, but it was not extraordinary.

Same with the quesadilla. My friend thought it was just ok. But he was really hungry and inhaled the plate off!

The whole place has a nice Mexican vibe with music, pictures, etc. It's run by a family, so is really simple and homely.

Guess, having had Mexican in California, I have come to expect really good stuff and somehow it wasn't the same...

If I could give a 0 star rating I would. Absolutely the worst mexican food I have ever had - to say it was edible is generous because we couldnt even finish our food. We ordered beef tacos, the meat was most definitely not beef - maybe pork? Regardless we should not have guess what type of meat is in our food. We also ordered 6 other meals, only one of which they actually got right. We were missing rice, the meat with the other dishes was wrong, there were beans on everything in the messiest way possible, they didn't label anything, they said they ran out of rice and the "salsa" is really just hot sauce - a complete joke. You would think after waiting an hour it would be worth it but I can most definitely say it was not. And the saddest thing is that we only went there after reading amazing reviews from other customers. I'm really not sure what happened but what I can say is that there is no chance in hell we will ever...