Such good food. I got the carnitas plate and my buddy got these little riblets. I forgot what they were called. They came in a green sauce. I tried some and they were delicious. My carnitas plate was so good. I like my carnitas on the fatty side but today they were the lean pieces and to my surprise, they were still really good. Their tortillas are on the thick side and I really enjoyed them. Their beans and rice are on point. The service here is awesome. The ladies made us feel like we were guests in their home. We got there for an early lunch and asked if we'd like the AC on. Of course we do! I wish there were places like this closer to my home. Now if only they had fountain drinks... namely Coca-Cola products... read more

My car was towed to G.S. California Towing across the street, so I walked over here to grab lunch once I finished signing my release forms for Geico. The first thing I noticed was that there didn't seem to be any air conditioning, and it was extremely hot inside. Ordering was also pretty frustrating. I asked if they took "tarjeta" (card), but it took a few minutes and two employees before they understood what I meant. Even after pointing to the item I wanted on the menu, there was still some confusion before my order was placed. On the positive side, everyone was friendly, my food came out quickly, and there was hardly anyone there during lunch. The carne asada was delicious, and the taco tortilla was fresh and flavorful. The cheese enchilada was just okay and much smaller than I expected. My plate came out to just under $20, which felt overpriced for the portion size and overall experience. Better communication with English-speaking customers would also make the ordering process much smoother. Overall, the food was good, but the value and service experience left room for improvement. read more

El Picante - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Love it!! If it's busy, it's worth the wait! Love the asada tacos and fresh toppings. read more

El Picante - Shrimp tacos and carne tacos - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Fav spot in Santa Ana food and micheladas are amazing, always appreciate the chips and salsa when we arrive

Everything was super fresh and delicious! They were very speedy when preparing my Togo order but had lots of seating too. The menu is huge! I wish I had tried it all. Went there specifically for the pambazos which was very tasty. read more

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This place is low-key a little expensive but it's good. If you live close by, you can come here and drink all you want, eat delicious food, and then you just walk back home. They don't sweat you about how much you're drinking. The jukebox is a quarter a song which is better than most other places because other places have Touch tunes and AMI which is ridiculously high. read more

This place is one on my favorite spots. Chilaquiles to die for.. sopas and hand made tortillas. In don't think there is one thing on menu i don't love. Its like your mama made you food. read more

El Picante - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This place is okay, but I wouldn't go back here again. The salsa was not to my liking and they didn't have ingredients for the guacamole I ordered and I had already gotten my hopes up that I'd be eating guacamole. The food was not the best, but I did like the cantaritos they sold. read more

You have to try their aguas frescas So refreshing and compliments a good Mexican meal. Try their chili relleños. Plus, Handmade fresh corn tortillas read more

Very good simple food. Pambazo sauced bread with potato and chorizo. Really tasty Shrimp tostada. Hard to eat but really really tasty Chavileca. Really hearty two tortilla quesadilla. Hand made tortillas are the bomb Amazing aguasfrescas Michoacan enchilada I didn't see the point. Meat on top of a tortilla. Well prepared but not such a brilliant dish. Birria. Very savory and a tad salty. Good. This place doesn't get as much love as it deserves. It looks plain but everything is very well prepared. read more

bad experience, waitresses and the owner of the place that her priority was to collect the amount of the bad food...What a shame they didn't replace the beans that came out. a piece of plastic ..and the chamorro de borrejo was just pure bone read more

Hand made tortillas.... You don't come by that anymore! Great tacos and pretty darn good / fresh seafood, and the staff is super sweet. read more

El Picante - Hand made corn tortilla /asada tacos. - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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This is one of the secret holes in the wall with a great authentic taste and home good Mexican food I have been coming here for years great breakfast place after church and also if your into fresh made juices and shakes of all type. They have recently closed the Main st location due to a lazy landlord but this location is as also serving the great chilakiles and the PEPINO WATER or cucumber water is always amazing. So try this place at least once you will not regretted as for LA DONA she will take good care of you just like moms would. GRACIAS por todo Donita enjoy all you YELPERS. read more

This restaurant is one of our family favorites. Homemade Corn Tortillas are delish! My hubby always gets the Pechuga asada and I get tacos and sope, always good to eat. This restaurant has not let us down, and the staff are friendly and the service is great! TRY IT! read more

We just discovered this place about a month ago and we've already been back a few times. The food here has that homemade feel and the ingredients are fresh. So far, I've tried some of the basics, such as tacos, burritos, and flautas, and they've all been good. We've also enjoyed their breakfasts here. The prices are very reasonable and are probably better than a lot of sit down Mexican restaurants. The location itself is clean eventhough some people might be mislead by the location. The shopping center itself is close to an industrial zone, so it's easy to assume that the place is going to be run down. The place is well kept up inside. It's small, but there are some tables and the place has a warm feel to it. Also, you get to taste the handmade/homemade tortillas! Oh, yeah, the jugos and licuados (juices and shakes) are great too! I liked that for the kids breakfast meals, they even include a mini-juice shake with some of the orders. My three year old daughter loved it. Overall, if you're looking for a place with some great Mexican comfort food, I highly recommend this place. I'm glad we live close by to it as this might just become our go-to place. read more

First time coming in today on our way back from the beach. My gf had the pambazo. It was made on a huge telera roll. Bomb! I had the chicken enchilada and taco combo plate w rice and beans. Tacos w handmade tortillas are the best! Probably one of the best aguas de piña I've ever had hands down! Down to the complimentary chips and salsa along with friendly service everything was great. Will definitely be coming back! read more

Ok I'm Mexican who grew up on the boarder. Every weekend we would head to Mexico to party. Afterwards we would have tacos. That's just how it goes down there. Now I live in Irvine. I work for Directv so I'm constantly looking out for great Mexican food. All the being said this place is almost like those tacos. AMAZING! It's a hole in the wall great spot. read more

This place used to be good but today was my first time coming back here in 4 months to find out that they charge you extra for limes and handmade tortillas!! The tortillas were the reason why we used to come here all the time but now I'm sorry to say we won't be coming back! They pretty much charge you for everything and they don't give you free guacamole with your meals. read more

We love this place, we have frequented this establishment for several years even before they relocated to this location. The food and service is great and they are in the process of getting their liquor license. Overall great place although a small restaurant. read more

El Picante - This place is great, we have been coming here even before they changed locations. - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Great food, decent prices, friendly staff. Love this place! Oh and tortillas made by hand! read more

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Delicious!!! Good service and good food. It was a good price for amount and quality of the good. Clean place. We ordered: Chicken Taquitos - very good Milanesa - wow!!! Delicious!!! Molcajete Regular - so much food! It had carne asada (delicious), chicken (really good), queso fresco (yummmm), nopales (very good), and chorizo (very good). And all of those orders came with rice, beans, salad, and guacamole. My favorites were definitely the milanesa and carne asada! I'm definitely coming back. read more

I am not surprised everyone gave el picante 5 stars! The food is great and good service. The decorations are fun and air conditioning is great on a hot day. We love this place! read more

El Picante - Aqua de limon! - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This is by far the best, most authentic, freshest Mexican food I've found in Orange County. The tortillas are homemade right on the spot. Best sope!! I can't get enough of the sope, reminds me of how my friend made for me at her home, so good! I just wish this place was closer to my house, but it's worth the drive. Keep up the good job El Picante!! I'll be back for more :) Oh, and the Horchatas are super yummy!!! read more

The molcajete was good. We would go back. First time going with great friends. Portions a really good. read more

El Picante - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I'm going to give this place 3 stars only because the food is tasty, but for me service is a huge deal since I work in the industry. When we got there no one greeted us and I had to ask if I could just sit myself, I had 2 kids with me but I wasn't given a kids menu so again I had to ask for it, my kid ordered the 2 tacos from the kids menu and chose chicken, I asked if it anything would be spicy on that plate and the lady that was helping us said no, food arrived and chicken was spicy, beans on the kids meal were spicy, apparently they cooked them with Chile de Arbol, and again that is fine for me and they were tasty but not for a 5 year old and if she would of mentioned that I could of ordered it with no beans and more rice, the kids meal comes with a horchata and I asked for an extra cup so I could just give my toddler a little taste, she brought 2 cups one full and the other one with just a little bit so I said oh cool she already split it the drink. I also ordered an horchata and I had drank about half of it and she came by to see if I wanted more drink so I thought ok I guess free refill? She didnt say she would charge me for a full drink, I still had about half a cup and she just topped it off. When I get my bill she charges me 3.99 for my refill, and 2.99 for my toddler not even half of a kids cup, I asked her about it and she said oh it's because he didn't ordered food, and I was like yes because he isn't hungry but I didn't ask you for a drink for him, I just asked for an extra cup so my other kid would share with him, and there I am thinking she was being nice and I was charged 7 dollars more than what it was supposed to be, and I'm ok paying for things but please let me know ahead of time so I dont end up feeling ripped off! read more

I came here about a week ago to eat with a couple friends and the food was a disappointment. I ordered a wet burrito with "everything" but all it had was beans, rice, meat, sauce, and some cheese on top. I almost didn't want to pay for it! I love my cilantro, cebolla, and salsa!! The service wasn't that great either, we were slightly neglected after what seems like relatives came to visit and even though we were the only party in there, we were without drinks until our food came. Plain and over priced. read more

The prices recently went up. It's been a few times that I come in and I end up leaving because the place is too hot, they don't turn on the A/C unless they think it's necessary I guess. In my opinion, the food is not as good as it used to be. Do I recommend this place? Not anymore!! read more

El Picante - Chilaquiles $7.50 - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

This place has very bad service. They don't care giving out rotten strawberry shakes. So, I went to this place. I asked for a strawberry Shake. It was brought to my table and after the first zip I knew right away the strawberries were bad. It's common sense, the human tounge knows when fruit is bad. So i told the cashier and she said, "Oohh, the taste is different w/this shake b/c I just got a new brand of strawberries. I told her once again, the strawberries are bad, and she kept insisting on the brand. Unbelievable!! So she ended up charging me 8 dollars for a bad shake. BAD EXPERIENCE!!! read more

The bomb cucumber water breakfast is always the bomb me and my family love it love it home feeling

The food was really good here. Definitely going to be coming here more. There fresh aguas are made fresh to order. The food taste like quality good food; that's not found often today. read more

Pretty good food for the price. The service was good and the place was clean. I had a shrimp cocktail and it was filled to the top with shrimp. read more

If I can give zero stars I would. This place is horrible. The lettuce they have is old. Some of the oysters did not work anymore. And that's that it took such a long time to get the food. And it is way too over priced. read more

Sit in restaurant and they didn't bring at least a cup of water while we waited. On top of that it took them another 15 minutes for them to approach the table and take the order. Food was not 5stars, it had no flavor. Overly priced for what they gave. TV was too loud . If I wanted to watch a novela at full blast I could've stayed home. Don't recommend it. read more

The carne asada tacos are delicious. The best part is that they use homemade corn tortillas.

Food is delicious! Hand made tortillas. The flavor from the food is so good. Best Mexican restaurant I've been to so far! Taste like its made fresh even the beans they don't taste like canned beans like most restaurants do. I recommend read more