Fiesta Mexicana Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Oceanside

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My friend and I traverse southern California, Nevada and Arizona selling steak, seafood and chicken off a truck. We hit most every dive bar and greasy spoon with occasional fine dining. I enjoy sharing them with you and appreciate your reading them. In southern California Mexican restaurants and taquerias are so common you barely notice them. I often wonder how anybody gets a small business loan when there is one on every street corner. It is really tough to stand out there are only so many ways you can make a taco, Fiesta Mexicana is such a place. I can not review a restaurant or bar in these times without also evaluating their Clovid-19 protocols, that is part of that all important first impression. Hats off to Fiesta Mexicana; Temperature checks, outside dinning only, mask requirements, ample germicidal hand sanitizer. This seems like a family run operation and they go all out to keep their customers and employees safe. Seriously, hats off guys. Fiesta Mexicana is located in the Stater Brothers parking lot on El Camino across from Killer Pizza from Mars. (also 10/10, check my review) There is plenty of safe well lit parking and if you are playing it safe it is easy to place a to go order, find a parking space, pick up your food and get on. Should you choose to "dine in" know it is outside only and they have limited seating but it is so worth it; their wait staff is friendly and super informative, able to help you make a selection. I swooped in to pick up some tacos as we were having a few friends over. I picked up five pork carnitas, five shredded beef, and five chicken tacos. All three selections were easy top five all time, good enough to earn an extended review. Pork carnitas ought to have a char on the outside while still being juicy and it is easy to end up with dry pork. Their carnitas melts in your mouth and the seasonings fill your mouth. I noticed our company close their eyes when chewing, it is that good. The shredded beef was so juicy and tender it delicious...freaking fantastic. I can't wait to taste their chili rellanos and enchalads... The best tacos I have ever eaten was Nicks crispy tacos in San Franciscos marina district; these are second; if you have never had a Nick's crispy taco you know this is high praise. I will update this posting when I go back for a more thourough menu deep dive, I for...

Our go-to Mexican joint is Ceja's, but living in Oceanside, we have several other restaurants around us and it was high time that we tried them.

Fiesta Mexicana is a small corner family owned Mexican restaurant located in the MarketPlace Del Rio shopping area near Stater Bros grocery and Killer Pizza From Mars. They have ample parking and huge windows so you can see just how busy they are at any given time.

They have two doors, but we walked in the door that was open - the main entrance. Today they were quite busy on a Sunday for lunch but we managed to get a table. Chair are padded and they do have booths as well.

After ordering we got the complimentary chips & salsa. Their red salsa is OUTSTANDING. We even ordered some to-go after we ate. They also have a much hotter green salsa.

We ordered: Tampiquena de Res Carne Asada Burrito Carne Asada Sopes Horchata Jamaica Negra Modelo

The bottled Negra Model came with a frosted mug too which was a nice touch.

The Tampiquena de Res was essentially a "bistek tampiquena", or carne asada steak, topped with pico. It came with rice & beans, and also a Mole Enchilada. The mole was a little sweet, and the steak was a little more done than I typically like, however both tasted good. The plate also came with fresh and piping hot tortillas.

My wife ordered the Carne Asada Sopes and we were surprised that it came with two sopes. She could barely finish one of them. My daughter ordered the burrito with rice & beans. Everyone liked their food. I actually finished my whole plate which is something I rarely do.

My only gripe was I asked for a drink menu, but they didn't have one? I asked if they had beer and our server listed the different options. It would be much easier just to look at a menu, so for this I had to dock a star. Maybe our server didn't realize they had a drink menu, I'm not sure. Now I learn they had margaritas too! #ugh

Service was excellent. When the salsa was getting low, they instantly put a new bowl on the table. We went through two baskets of chips since the salsa was THAT good. Overall, everything was quite good. With the exception of the drink menu issue, Fiesta Mexicana is a solid choice for Mexican food in this area. Next time I will...

We went to this restaurant on a friend's recommendation. It was terrible service. I ordered a bean and rice burrito that was supposed to have salsa verde on top, and guacamole inside. There was neither. I asked the server to bring me the salsa verde on the side so I could add it to the top, as it was forgotten, and after 5 minutes I got some. When I started eating the burrito, it was very dry. I realized there was no guacamole inside it. I asked the server why there was no guacamole inside the burrito and she said there was, it was just inside it further. I ate about half the burrito and still no guacamole. I asked the server again for a side of guacamole to replace the missing guacamole. She grabbed my fork and started digging around in my burrito on my plate, looking for the guacamole. She couldn't find it, so another server brought me a side of guacamole. Then they charged me for it. Terrible, terrible food and service. Will...