Lourdes Mexican Food — Restaurant in Escondido

I measure the quality of chicken soup by whether I will eat it when I'm not sick. I'd eat Lourdes' "Chicken Soup" anytime, anywhere. I sometimes get excited when my wife or daughter gets a cold so I have an excuse to drive to Lourdes to pick some up. Yes, I'm a horrible, hungry human being.

Lourdes is a Mexican restaurant that has been operating in Escondido since 1988 by Hector Parra and his wife Lourdes (of course), who came to the region via their native northern Mexican state of Sonora. It is Lourdes' sacred "Chicken Soup" recipe that has made this a must-visit restaurant. And, as good as it is, you won't find it in Mexico: she took a family recipe for "chicken and potato soup" that she confesses to "American-izing" by replacing the potatoes with rice and adding avocados. Much of the rest of the menu consists of more authentic recipes she learned from her mother combined with concessions to San Diego County's insatiable appetite for tacos, quesadillas, and burritos.

But that chicken soup is fantastic. It consists mainly of shredded chicken, tomatoes, sliced avocado, fresh chopped onions and cilantro. There is a hint of lime and celery flavor in the deep chicken-y broth, the latter of which bridges this to the Jewish-style chicken soup one craves when suffering through an upper respiratory infection. The crisp fresh onions and cilantro prevent it from straying too far from its Mexican origins. There is a mild amount of chile-induced spice, but you really can't discern it when you're eating, it just lingers ever-so-slightly on your palate. I like to crumble the complimentary corn tortilla chips into the soup to give it a "masa kick."

Is this the "best chicken soup in town," as painted on the outside wall of the restaurant? It's the best I've had in Escondido, for sure - and the only better Mexican-style chicken soup I've had in San Diego County is at El Rincon in San Ysidro, nearly an hour drive from here, and a mere 15 minute walk from the Tijuana border crossing. In other words, this is absolutely fantastic fare for North County.

The "Chicken Rolled Tacos" (aka Chicken Taquitos) are also excellent -- lots of juicy, shredded chicken rolled into each deep-fried tortilla, with an above-average ratio of meat-to-tortilla. The shells have a nice crunch to them, and are fried in clean oil with no off-flavors. Guacamole and melted shredded cheese on top of the rolled tacos keeps toppings to the essentials. The "Carnitas Tacos" feature delectable pork shoulder on soft corn tortillas of near average quality, with diced tomatoes, onions, and guacamole. It is about average for a SoCal carnitas taco. Stick to the chicken soup, and maybe the Chicken...

My wife and I visited this place yesterday for the first time and did not have the best experience. The food tasted fine but my wife kept noticing short thick hairs (very similar to beard trimmings) in her Carne asada plate. I've worked in the food industry and if I find a single hair or even two it doesn't really bother me. It started to concern me when she kept pulling several of these hairs out. I call one of the women over to our table, trying to handle the matter without embarrassing them in front of other customers. I politely explain the situation to her and after a look of puzzlement, she takes both plates and we wait for several minutes and hear nothing. I return to the counter and she was busy doing something else but said the cashier would take care of me. When I get to the front of the line, the woman smiles and asks what happened. Still calm and polite, I explain what we found and she looked very skeptical. She first seemed to believe it was me who had planted the hairs- which were not even my color, and my wife does not have thick hairs like the ones we found. She then gives some excuses, saying it does not really look like hair to her and she asks why we ate half the plate before we brought it up. She then started saying they can't give refunds and that I would have to call the owner. I call the number without leaving and get nothing. I ask if there is someone else I can speak with, another number, a manager, anything. They keep giving excuses, such as they don't have anyone else I can speak with and that they do not know the managers phone number until finally another woman grudgingly hands me a phone with the owners son on the line. This gentleman was very helpful and understanding. He apologized and said they would look at the cameras in the kitchen. He explained they would refund my wife's plate and even give another item free of charge, although I kindly declined the complementary item. I'm mostly concerned with how the issue was handled than anything. Why did I need to repeatedly plea my case, citing evidence, as if I were on trial? I understand that some people will do anything to get free food, but not everyone is dishonest. If an establishment wants to keep customers returning, they shouldn't treat them as criminals. Why did it take the owner's son to provide a...

I am not used to giving reviews like this but today with this restaurant I’ll have to do the exception. I dedicated almost all my life to the restaurant industry and for that reason most people feel empathy for other people that work in the same industry. This was are first time coming to this place and we were not acknowledged at the entrance, sitting down or even when my wife still went to the restroom and came back we still waited for about 4 min more. Once I grew impatient because we were very hungry and having a wife carrying your child being hungry Is not nice. THEY WERE NOT BUSY AT ALL (2 tables that is what they had) to not give basic customer service. Until I got up and went to their counter and asked if I had to order there they said “we don’t take orders like that we take your order from here. My wife ordered her California burrito and I wanted to order a torta I asked if could combine carnitas and carne asada she gave this face of disgust and said NO (it was a elder women)I would have not minded to paying more for that but I felt uncomfortable after that. We sat down received our food quickly and I had a paper plate and my wife had her burrito wrap in paper and a napkin underneath that’s it no regular or even a paper plate. I went and asked for a paper plate for my wife and the younger girl with glasses and a pink bow in her hair it wasn’t what she said it was how she said it (I know we have bad days but she was taking care other people fine so…) she still came brought the plate and gave us more attitude. I have to give it to the kitchen good timing good flavors they are the only reason this place is worth coming back to those two “ladies” in the...