Aliberto's California Mexican Food — Restaurant in Lacey

I have now eaten here several times. I am from the lower deserts of Eastern Arizona- just a stones throw from New Mexico and a hop and a skip from Mexico proper (if you wanna call Agua Prieta proper or not I’ll leave up to you, but nobody brags about being from where I’m from, unless it’s about them GTF OUT.. ;), and I spent several years working in Mission Valley in San Diego and living in a house on the mesa above the Sea World Aquatica water park and North Island Credit Union ampitheatre that was literally closer to my favorite taco stand in Tijuana than it was to Wal Mart, and Wal Mart was 10 minutes away... For anyone familiar with the area, suffice to say San Ysidro and Chula Vista were NORTH of where I lived, so...

All that to simply say this- authentic mexican cuisine comes in a wide and wonderful array of varieties, so as far as “tasty/ not so tasty” from a subjective viewpoint I am not willong to argue- I love the vast majority of all of it. However I will say this, and with the 38 years of experience I HEAVILY researched all that was available to me in the areas listed above-

THIS PLACE IS MOST CERTAINLY AUTHENTIC AND I LOVE IT AND HAVE MISSED IT SOOOOO MUCH SINCE I MOVED HERE I WANNA CRY!

Also, THANK YOU owners of this restaurant for deciding to put it here!!

It deserves and gets 5 stars for the food, period, and that’s the most important part of a place like this. As a matter of fact I have enjoyed it so much every time I’ve eaten there that I’ve finished it all before remembering to take pics for a review, so los cientos, I’ll try and remember next time. Best to see it in person anyway, because if you try and smell the picture it will most likely smell like your hands and pants pocket, and, well... yeah- there’s plenty of good reasons nobody names restaurants things like “The Sweaty Greasy Palm” or “Gary’s Inner Thigh Seafood Buffet”...

So go eat the food and enjoy some authentic cuisine made by people who have actually tasted it before and actually know how to prepare it properly. If it’s your first fore into the genre and you don’t enjoy it that’s ok, but I can assure you it is more likely than not YOU and not them, because they know what they are doing have provided consistent quality at least 7 or 8 times for me in the last couple months.

Finally, last but not least, the salsa is pretty dang delicioso! But seriously, buyer beware, es MUY PICANTE for the less experienced palate. I love spicy, always have- I grow many hot peppers, and a fresh habanero will light me up and make me sweaty and shiny, but I can eat one pretty easily without ruining my day, or even my minute. Their salsa isn’t raw habanero hot, but it IS hot enough to make me aware it’s reached my mouth.

Spicy food tolerance is subjective, and I’ve met people who can chew a ghost pepper and casually continue a conversation while I choke in agony and try not to murder them before I die, because I’m petty and think everybody deserves that level of pain when I’m in the middle of it- but USUALLY I’m the annoying guy talking and eating the stupid hot pepper in that type of scenario, so take this as a...

Not sure who is in charge here. I do deliveries from here often. I know there used to be a couple ladies that worked in the front & I haven't seen them for several wks so am unsure if they no longer work there or what is happening. I know the gentleman who is now working the front means weel most days but communication is definitely a barrier. There is a sign in the lobby that states " show phone prior to taking delivery orders." I recognize it was very busy today but I stood in the lobby patiently waiting to be addressed for 10 mins. The gentlemen helped the drive-thru & the ordering line in the lobby walking past me over & over again even addressing new people in the order line who arrived after I did. I eventually asked if I could grab my order (which had been sitting on the cou ter since I arrived) while he was filling his 5th soda since my arrival nearby & he rudely said "yea, go ahead" while flicking his hand in a shooing manner. As he returned to the register and took another order I let him know the order I had showed 2 horchata and 1 cup was clearly not correct. He stated "no horchata, es soda" I showed him my phone which matched the receipt on the bag & he walked away & repeated the same thing. I took the order as is as it was clear he was not going to fix it....

All of this is to say: If you don't want delivery drivers to verify the order with you & show their phone take down your sign.

I think everyone is patient (enough) when it comes to food locations being short handed but customer service should still be a priority & the service I personally received trying to collect & ensure the proper items were received was honestly terrible.

If the Horchata is not a possibility to receive with a 2 Sopes order & you only allow a soda (which is what I am assuming is what he was trying to tell me about the beverage being filled with a random soda instead of what the customer requested) Then update the online selection so the customer is not allowed to select a beverage that is not included.

I don't personally eat here so I won't go into the cleanliness but you guys need...

I ate here with 2 friends. We ordered a chimichanga plate and two monster burritos.

TL;DR The burritos were bone-in and tasted like garbage, and the chimichanga was microwaved (not fried) and stuffed with tortilla.

The monster burritos were something out of a nightmare, as they were seemingly assembled from one end to the other. The first couple of bites took you straight into lettuce (and ONLY lettuce), followed by sour cream cavern. It was then that the meat made an appearance, which was literally the worst we had ever eaten. There were only two choices for meat - Either "chicken" or "beef". You did not get any indication of the method by which the chicken or beef was prepared. We chose chicken for both, and it was the saltiest chicken we had ever eaten. It was as if the chicken was soaked in a saline marinade for days before being reheated in a microwave. To top it all off, there was a chicken bone in the burrito.

The chimichanga was not recently deep fried. The entire thing was as floppy as a burrito and was steaming, a good indication that it was either microwaved or heated in some other way. The inside was half stuffed with flour tortilla (not the outside, the stuffing inside), a quarter rubbery cheese, and a quarter meat. Unlike the burrito, there was no choice for what meat you'd get in the chimichanga, so we eventually found out that it was served with something like carnitas. Either way, being that literally half of the thing was made of floppy tortilla, I split it evenly down the middle and just ate the half with meat and cheese.

This is a horrible restaurant, and I hope that they hire a...