Tacos Y Carnitas Sahuayo — Restaurant in Santa Ana

In an area where good Mexican food is dense, this gem shines like the glistening of chiccharons freshly pulled from the vat. Like my boys Incubus said like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket.

Sometimes hole the wall places are hard to find, but not here. Look for all the pork names across the red building off Pomona West of Main. You must first differentiate between the carniceria or the restaurant. Both are mislabeled here on Yelp. The restaurant @ 165 has the correct name just placed over the old one, so you'll see taco, carnitas sahuayo and chicharrones in a jumbled mess and next door the carniceria @ 155 is Sahuayo meat market.

I know most people think they love carnitas because they think it's that stuff you get at Chipotle or it's that fried pork you get at other places, but my food game is on point and I've spent time around enough Mexican grandmothers who know that true Carnitas is slow cooked and in copper kettles made famous from Chihuahua. I'ts not pork butt like American BBQ'rs use, but pork shoulder, lard and spices. I've seen people use orange juice and coca cola for the marinade to try and get some flavors prior to cooking, both are good, but part of the process is the temperature, it's quite low and it's slow, but still fried, just not flash fried.

I love saying the name Sahuayo, but I love eating here more. They cook the whole pig, the bits and pieces of the face, ears, check, tail, feet if you ask nicely. They have a huge put they fry in, a BTU burner that's worthy and a flat top grill for plating and prepping their already cooked pig parts.

The menu is certainly pork centric so looking for barbacoa and other beef cuts besides asada is difficult. They do good taco's. Not the freshest tortilla's as they aren't hand made, the condiments aren't the star here, but they do an ok job of cilantro, rabanos (radishes), spicey carrots and with salsa's. Honestly their pork is so well cooked and with the right amount of fat and salty flavor you don't need salsa, which tends to be too acidic or vinegary. Taco's are easy to plate and ready, but their burrito's are lacking in construction and ratio. Nothing wrong with massive amounts of meat, but some offsetting color or texture would be nice, otherwise it's a dumpling, an enormous dumpling which needs sauce.

Service is ok, it might help if you can speak a little Spanish, plus you don't want to get caught as they are cash only, the market across the street has an ATM. I don't speak or didn't lead on that I do a little, but I order my food just fine. It's a little more café than restaurant and the prices are good considering you don't get pork cut or cooked like this anywhere else, not even around here.

Décor is basic and almost unfinished looking, maybe seems a little less than clean, but it's hole in the wall so it gets some slack cut. It's very traditional. If you like taco's and you like pork, all kinds of pork, come here. If my heart and my doctor would let me I'd come here just to eat chicharones, but there's not enough Lipitor to counter the divine swine...

I love this style of restaurant. You order first, get your food, serve your own salsa/cebolla&cilantro/zanahoria/limones, eat and then pay afterwards. And the workers here are just so friendly and welcoming to their patrons.

So anyways, this is a quaint, little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has great tacos (meat, in general) and I always only come for their carnitas. This place is across the street from the Superior, and not too hard to find. The tacos are $2.99/each, and while that might seem kinda expensive, there is enough meat for two tacos, in one taco. The meat and tortillas are prepared in the market next door, so everything there is very fresh.

Their carnitas are next to none. They cook their carnitas in a giant caso and honestly it's the juiciest, most flavorful carnitas I've ever had, and I have this experience every time I come back here. A little bit fatty, but just so freaking tender. Besides the meat, they have a small little cart-sized area for the salsas, onion, limes, carrots where you can prep your own taco (or they can do it for you), which is great so you can put however much you want on the taco. Their pico de gallo (I guess), is the best salsa to have with carnitas. Tastes great, and is somewhat spicy. Their red sauce is spicier. The thing I like most about their condiments is that they have sweet pickled carrots, instead of the pickled-tasting ones, and I go thru about 10 of those during my meal.

Good prices (cash only!), sensational meats, and a cool little place to have pretty...

Well my fellow followers and food lovers, this is one of those restaurants that looks like every taco restaurant you see out there and then you just drive on by because you say to your self do I want to take a chance on this one? you ask your self and so yeah, you find yourself in a line at taco bell lol. So let me tell you, you just passed a place that you would have loved the food, the service, and yes folks I'm going to say it the restroom were just how you wanted to see. Now back to the food I had my favorite carne asada tacos and I'll tell you what I could have made 3 corn tortilla tacos of the one I ordered I should have taken pictures so you could see for yourself, next time I won't forget to take pics because there is a big menu and it all looks and smells ssooo good and of course the taste yes it leaves you wanting more so you take some to go where they put your order to go in plastic bowls with lids and salsa. Enjoy your self next time you go there you won't regret it. So until next...