Pinches Tacos — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I would have preferred having gone to 🌮 Bell. I don't know how this place has so many reviews, good reviews! I think it's because the food is fresh and appears to be authentic but there's certain things about the food here that we did not like. And we had a large party and we tried different things. The other thing is that this place is very expensive and for the money spent here and food quality I would have preferred to have gone to Taco Bell.

First off nobody in our group really like the food. Yes it looked fresh but the main concern is that it just didn't have flavor or in my opinion it had a bad flavor kind of like a bad aftertaste. I can't say what it was, whether it's an ingredient that they're using or who knows what.

Do not get the carne asada burrito it is packed with rice and beans and the rice was flavorless water down soggy, there were 4 little pieces of meat in it and not enough to call it a carne asada burrito more like a rice and bean burrito with sprinkles of meat. The meat was also wet like if it was boiled and not cooked on the grill. The meat itself had a strange flavor as well. I was also expecting, for a $12 burrito, something Hefty but it was the same size as the Taco Bell burrito and actually a little smaller. Yes it had avocado in it but they used way Too Much lime that it overpowered the rest of the food. Maybe to mask the strange flavor.

I did try my wife's shrimp tacos ala Diablo. And they we're okay. Good size shrimp plenty of them but the sauce is definitely not one of the best sauces I've had. So they were okay but the sauce used in the tacos could have been way better.

This place is way overpriced for what you get. We ended up paying about $85 for four plates. Yikes. Taco Bell would have been better and cheaper. I'm not not discouraging anybody from going here but this is not authentic Mexican food it has a strange flavor wether from their spices or cookware that they use.

The restaurant name suits it well, Pinches "f@#$_&*" Taco's. Give or take on the F word translated but...

Yesterday, after a long drive and day that went from Orange County to Malibu then to Hollywood and back to Orange County, during our stop in Hollywood, my client decided to treat her assistant and myself, the driver, to this Mexican restaurant. Granted I had been here before to pick some food for her a few weeks ago when she was flying to New York, that day i only stopped to get her food and she swore that they were amazing. So yesterday I had high expectations from this place. As soon as you walk in, the place has nice decorations even though it's sort of small with very limited parking. The cashier was a nice fellow and took our order prefectly. I did noticed that my client paid $13 for my 3 tacos of al pastor, that is very pricey in my opinion. When the food arrived, the taco plates looked presentable. When I tasted them, they were not good at all. They meat was very salty and there was no adobo in the meat. The salsa was was bland with no flavor, a Pace Salsa brand would have been yummier. The rice was kind of dry and the beans were ok, nothing to rave about. Take in consideration that I didn't eat lunch and just a Kind granola bar before coming here, I was starving my intestines were growling, and I still didn't like the tacos, they were just not good. I cannot recommend this place, or might be good for someone that is not used to real Mexican food, or at least to someone that eats often at great Mexican joints. I believe there are better places than this joint.

PS even today while I was exercising, I still had the bad grease taste of the tacos. At least I...

These are unfortunately just Americanized street tacos.

While the use of Angus steak is respectable, it is truly a quality cut, you cannot serve Angus and call it carne asada. Angus unfortunately doesn't hold a marinade properly because of its thickness the way flank steak does, and as such, the meat lacked flavor. The adobada and al pastor meats weren't much better either, also seemingly lacking the flavor these meats are traditionally known for.

The lack of a salsa bar was appalling. What kind of a self respecting taco place does not have a salsa bar? I for one do not particularly like my tacos sauced for me as I like to determine the amount of and the heat level that will be touching my palate. Nor do I appreciate the guy serving me rolling his eyes when I ask for extra cilantro.

And lastly, the price. $3.50 to $4.00 for a taco is outrageous, especially with all the previously mentioned nuances. Pinches Tacos is definitely a place that lives off of its name and fame, because the quality of their product, in particular the flavor, is virtually non existent. I can now gladly cross them off my list as my first and last time spending my money at their underwhelming...