Taco Mesa Tortilleria Organica & Cafe — Restaurant in Orange

A friend brought me here to try what she called Mexican food that hasn’t been “white-washed”, since that’s all her husband can eat… lol. It’s a very casual atmosphere, with printings of various newspaper articles written about Taco Mesa and what the owner is trying to accomplish- good reading while I was in the can.

We went in with her raving about the horchata and aguas frescas- although I gotta say that the horchata was ok, nothing spectacular there, but their sandia (watermelon) agua fresca was better than other places. Luckily, they sell beers, too.

My friend ordered the blackened chicken burrito, while I ordered myself a “taco platter”:

Blackened chicken burrito- was an impressive size considering what you pay for it, can easily compete against Chipotle, both in size and taste. She was only able to finish half, including the few bites I had to taste it. Well-seasoned chicken, and grilled, you can never go wrong. With the sweet, spicy, and smokiness emanating from the chipotle sauce that marries well into the rice and beans that were served on the side. With a house made guajillo sauce(which is another name for enchilada sauce) ladled across the top like a blanket for the cheese to melt onto it. In other words, it’s a fat man’s wet dream…

Taco Patter- consisted of three types of meat on regular sized yellow corn tortillas, which made them twice the size of regular street tacos.

*Asada- Was nothing spectacular, but tasted better once you add your preferred selection of salsas, and needed a tiny bit of salt since the meat was slightly on the bland side.

*Pastor- Better than the asada tacos, but so far ranks 3rd on my list for the best pastor I’ve tried. Perfectly seasoned, can taste a bit of the guajillo in the marinade. The one that surprised me that most places don’t do that is traditional, is serve it with caramelized pineapple- which they did. The pineapple gave it just enough acidity to cut through the richness/fattyness of the spit roasted pork, with a slight sweetness to balance the heat when you add their salsa caliente to them with a squeeze of lime.

Carnitas Pibil- by far, my favorite type of taco there. Slow roasted pork shoulder topped with achiote/ annato seed based pibil sauce (which in a way, they reinvented the traditional dish called cochinito pibil). The pork was fork tender, doused with the sweet and tangy sauce that cut through the richness since carnitas are cooked in their own fat, that brought an earthy flavor to the taco in whole. Even though I might have stopped eating since I was getting full at this point, it did not deter this chonchudo from feasting on that last taco like it was my last meal, lol.

Will be back sometime time to try out the shrimp, and calamari tacos. Def sound like...

Taco Mesa is pretty good. They do a lot of things right. They do a great job of details but do miss the mark of a few things.

Their steak is on point. Love it. Their black beans are some of the best I’ve had In a long while. Their Aguas are well made! I love the unlimited refills.

They tortillas are non-gmo and made in store, that is awesome. I think their recipe needs some refining. The oil they use to make their tortillas is good but makes them very light and airy

While this isn’t bad - it’s a bit off when you want a vehicle of substance to hold the protein goodness.

Their al pastor needs a lot of love for sure. Their seasoning on the meat is definitely not authentic to street tacos

Though I appreciate the healthy approach to Mexican food that can be super unhealthy. There is an interesting line to tow between being too healthy and maintaining honor to tradition and ancestry.

For example spinach and squash have no place I a burrito because they remove from the well executed flavors of the steak and flavor fat from the avocado and well made black beans.

If the squash and zucchini are gonna be in the burrito - it should be pickled and marinated to complement and not complete with the other burrito actors.

Their cafe de la Ola needs to be smoother coffee

I like taco Mesa I don’t this to sound like a negative review - it just has some room to improve with respect to being too healthy while still maintaining traditional dishes

Love the organic fresh...

This place is as good as it gets. They have a big menu to choose from, but it's not too overwhelming, which is nice. The cashier recommended anything with the blackened chicken so I went with the Morenita, the blackened chicken quesadilla and holy guacamole was it delicious. The chicken was perfect. It is also huge! I was barely able to get the last quarter of it down. It might be good to split or save for leftovers. It also had more flavor than I was expecting. The menu just mentioned chicken, cheese, and onion, but it also had tomatoes, which was a pleasant surprise.

I can't wait to go back and try the rest of the menu. As we watched the staff bring out everyone else's dishes we couldn't help but notice how colorful and fresh everything looked. That place is pleasing to all 5 senses.

This place is a modern update for fresh and healthy versions of Mexican classics, while still being authentic. A must...