This is my favorite place to eat inside this mess hall. The food is always cooked to order and fresh and the service is impeccable. Always polite and with a smile. Very friendly and they make you feel at home. It's either Kayla or Julie up front greeting you and taking your order and I'm always glad favorite cook Jesus as well. I have to say my favorite here is their fish tacos. They're a great size and always cooked to perfection. They honestly are my go-to fish taco place out of all I've had. The cabbage and dressing that goes on top are a great addition. I always recommend the green hot salsa as well. Gotta be ready for a nice kick you'll get outta that. Around noon can get pretty busy during the week so be ready and patient. This is worth the wait! read more

See all

I kind of always suspected that I probably ordered the wrong thing when I last ate here oh so long ago, and the fact it has persisted and gets good reviews prompted me to give it another go. This time I have the American Waygu steak burrito and it was darn good. It was also $20 for something about 1/2 the size of a Chipotle burrito, but this is about the quality, not the quantity. The key here is the beef, nicely marbled cooked to medium side of medium rare, but very tender and juicy. There are other fillings, but the star here is the beef. The hot sauces were an odd trio. The mild was a decent (and not hot) chipotle salsa, and the hot was a not very hot red salsa. The medium was a pretty hot green salsa. So either they didn't make the hot one correctly (and if that is the case beware of it) or they mixed them up in the tray. read more

Wow Wow is the best way to describe this amazing taco place so good every taco I tried was melting in your mouth good amazing flavors. Wow I have not had anything this good in a while thank you guys this was amazing Highly recommend you guys should come here and try this food read more

Fonda Moderna - This place is amazing - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

A colleague recommended we go here for lunch. I hadn't gotten a chance to look at the menu ahead of time and was so happy to see so many great vegan options. They have four different vegan fillings that you can use and tacos or burritos which include squash, jicama Al Pastor, mushroom, avocado. I ordered the squash and jicama Al Pastor both tacos were super delicious and I would go back again. They also have a salsa bar so you can get mild hot and spicy hot sauces to add to any of your order. This location is inside a food court called the Mess hall. They have a decent parking lot which on a weekday was easy to park in. They have lots of different food options so it's great if you have people who want different types of food. So happy to see that they have so many great vegan options. As of the time of this review some of the other food options in the food court also have vegan options so that's great to see! read more

Fonda Moderna - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

Food: Honestly was very pleasantly surprised. Came here at 4pm on a friday, no lines or anything. We ordered the nachos and it was huge! Enough for 2 hungry people or 3 to snack on. Salsas are all home made, ingredients were quality, and chips were so crispy. Service: Counterserve, very quick, and they are constantly making homemade salsas -- so good!!! Atmosphere: In the mess food hall, you can get your parking reimbursed through an app read more

Fonda Moderna - Nachos - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

Visited the Mess Hall for the first time and this place definitely stood out with the number of people ordering from there. I highly recommend coming here during off-meal hours as I can imagine the lines being long with all the offices around and the typical lunch/dinner rush. As for the food, I ordered the Guisados Taco Sampler since I wanted to try EVERYTHING to see what I liked the best. Do note that the sampler has smaller tacos compared to the size of a regular taco order. They are pretty good about telling you this, but just in case. Nobody likes the feeling of getting less food. The tacos in the sampler special were all pretty tasty. Five tacos for $13 seems to be reasonable considering the high rent these businesses probably pay. I personally like all the flavors except for the Birria. Not sure if they just made it a little bit differently that day or if the recipe is different than what I'm used to. The Tinga De Pollo (chicken) was probably my favorite but I lowkey think it's the potatoes. I mean it's basically some carb on carb and the sauce is nice. Now the sauces! They have three different levels of heat for their salsas. The tacos do already come with sauce but if you are looking for some additional flavors do try them out. WARNING: the sauces are very spicy. I would like to think I can handle decent spice, these are just a tad bit more. The Jalapeño Salsa has a great flavor and I love the creamy consistency but is just too spicy for me. I ended up mostly using Mild Salsa. If you love spicy, perhaps go for the Diablo Salsa. Curious about how spicy that one is. The Mess Hall itself is really cool and free parking is nice. You can grab a drink from The Drink Bar and get food here. Good cocktails and tacos, I'll be back! read more

Fonda Moderna - Guisados Taco Sampler - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

The gourmet burritos such as the hangar steak, wagyu and surf & turf are always cooked to perfection. Although I will say sometimes the chunks of steak in the burrito are a little on the large side for me, but I understand that's tedious work and that this place is probably the most popular spot to eat at in the mess hall. Pro tip for those coming around lunch time is that they open at 11am and you can order online ahead of time even though it's located inside the flight. The chips and salsa are always so crispy and fresh. The agua fresca is refreshing and not overly sweet. The salsas are also very bold and just the right amount of flavor / heat. read more

Fonda Moderna - Surf and turf burrito - chips & salsa - watermelon agua fresca - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

5 stars for the bean and cheese burrito cuz it certainly rocked my world It's not on the menu, but for $8 or $10 for a kids item (as I was told) found that to be kinda pricey given the contents. But oh my goodness. This bean and cheese burrito comes with rice, I asked for light right cuz ~health~ It tastes different than any other bean and cheese that I've had, but in a good way. Kinda smokey??? Idk, but this was absolutely amazing. Very addicting and just amazing. Salsas Are available. Though they are very spicy, they didn't tickle my taste buds. Someone else might like them! The meal comes with thin crunchy chips, just my cup of tea :) Leftover burrito for the next day isn't as good, I'd recommend just stuffing yourself that first day. Thanks for existing! read more

Fonda Moderna - Innards - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

Fonda Moderna consistently serves the best tasting tacos in OC. Their meat quality, detail to cooking, care for their customers sets them high above the rest. The staff, Julie, Jesus, Eric, Juan and everyone who work there always takes great care of me here and the tacos are top notch! read more

The service it's great but the food it's terrible! I ordered a steak burrito $22.50 dls. the meat has no flavor and very hard. I will not go back for sure! read more

My review pertains to both Fonda Moderna and the Mess Hall. tl,dr: Nice! Likes: + The lobster and shrimp tacos were sooo delicious and crunchy! + The spicy sauce is also a yummy add-on. + We played ping pong while waiting. It was fun! No one else seemed keen to play games. Wonder why. + Ample but slightly crowded parking. Non-likes: - Bougie-wannabe customers. Arrogance ambience. - Many ppl visit the Mess Hall, so it's ~80% crowded (Fri noon). - Pretty expensive. After those two small-medium tacos, I could eat another 2 tacos. - Long wait for just 2 tacos, but thankfully you can grab games from the Drink Bar. I asked for Connect4, they only had ping pong. - There isn't a net surrounding the ping pong tables, so play gently. - Napkins and utensils are not readily provided; have to ask one of the retailers. - The hand sanitizer closest to the water dispenser was empty. The dispenser's push button is a frequent-contact surface. Notes: - Fonda Moderna has one of the longest lines at this Mess Hall. - You may notice the barrier arms at the parking lot entrance from G Maps. Seems they stay up during the day, so parking is free. I paid: $5 shrimp taco + $7 lobster taco + 7.75% tax = $12.93 read more

Fonda Moderna - You may notice the barrier arms at the parking lot entrance from G Maps. Seems they stay up during the day, so parking is free. - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

The food and services was all overall pretty good I would have to admit I do recommend coming here

This business is inside of The Mess Hall in Tustin and it's a pretty cool little spot. Background--The Mess Hall is like a big adult cafeteria with several options for eating/non-alcoholic drinks. Fonda Moderna is the Mexican spot in here and they constantly had a line while I was visiting! Everyone wanted tacos! I ordered the 5 taco sampler and I asked if you could choose the tacos that were included--you can't-- and I couldn't really understand what the tacos were when the cashier was trying to tell me.. she just read off them menu, but that gave no clues as to what kind of taco was on there. To this day, I still have no idea what I actually ate... maybe one chicken, possibly consumed some beets...some sort of beef with pinto beans? Not sure! The upside is that they were good tacos, especially for being fancy gourmet-like ones. They were a bit pricey, but after doing the math it's definitely just worth it to get the sampler for $11.99 because ONE taco is $4 otherwise. Also not sure if the non sampler tacos are larger, but the sampler ones were super small so if you got just 2 ala carte tacos for that price, so not worth it! Also I was debating getting chips and guacamole, but it was like $11!!!!! For an appetizer! Every appetizer was like $3 and I was worried that the portion size would be small so I skipped on it. The service was fairly quick, I didn't wait long for food even though there were a lot of people ordering from them. The place seemed clean and the whole Mess Hall establishment was being serviced constantly. The workers wore masks and there was hand sanitizer next to the cash register. This place was good, but it can get expensive quick! read more

See all

The burrito was good but for the price, it was expensive. Also, the presentation was poor. Don't think we will be returning.

Amazing tacos on flour tortilla for approx $5 each. Quick service during the lunch rush and free 2 hour parking. Need to come back to try the rest of the menu read more

Fonda Moderna - Al pastor and birria tacos - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

Last night the Big Ten club had an event at the Mess Hall. I was so busy socializing that I had not eaten and the restaurants were closing. I rushed over to Fonda Moderna and Juli was very nice about making me a last minute birria bowl which was delicious! read more

I had the taco sampler which was delicious overall albeit very small for the price. These are true "street" size on a 3" tortilla with a 2" portion of meat so 5 of them for $15ish was not very filling for the price. The flavors were good on most. The cochinita pibil and Al pastor were very good. The chorizo y papa was great but greasy running ask down my hands. Overall id eat it again if it was 30% cheaper, but not at the current price read more

not sure what happened here, I was a big fan of their tacos the first visit where most things were of good quality and care. This 2nd visit the quality nosedived. I got the lobster taco, filet mignon, and fish taco. Lobster taco came breaded and fried... and did NOT taste like there was any lobster in there. I was very confused.. The filet mignon taco was so bland I had to slather so much sauce to get any flavor. The least worst taco was the fish taco which was also breaded and fried but it had the most flavor out of the 3. Also their sauces are extremely spicy now, and lacking in flavor compared to last time.. What happened?!?! Total for these 3 tacos came out to about $40 and took a LONG time to come out (at least 15-20 mins with no other customers at the time either). My opinion of this place really changed completely. Maybe this food mall is just not getting enough business demand but the experience was not good for me to come back again unfortunately. read more

Came here on a Friday night for some chill vibes. I ordered the Al pastor bowl which came with rice, beans, guac, and chips. It was delicious! They did not skimp out on the meat (gave a hefty portion) and it was flavorful. The quesabirria was also very delicious. I thought it was also a plus that it came with a side of rice, chips, and beans. I highly recommend getting their green sauce if you are deciding which sauce to pick, it was so addicting to eat with everything. As for the service, the workers were very kind! I would recommend coming to this mess hall for good vibes, we were lucky today they had music playing outside! read more

Fonda Moderna - Al Pastor Bowl - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

Overpriced for the quality and quantity of food that is given . Ordered a burrito and was quite small with an average taste .

We came into the Mess Hall for lunch, and the young lady taking orders was so sweet. My son wanted to try the nachos, and she assured us that it will be safe for his allergies. He said to us it's one of the best nachos he had had!! The salsas are all delicious and customer service was wonderful!! read more

Fonda Moderna - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

Thank you to the Taco Gods for providing us with such an amazing place in a beautiful location!!! The family and I decided to try something new on Saturday evening and ended up in The Mess Hall at Flight. Being indecisive, we ended up ordering from 4 different places. Fonda Moderna stands way above the pack. In a time where the food industry is struggling to find good people we had SPECTACULAR service from Kayla. She was super friendly and knew the expansive menu in-depth. After a great conversation, we decided on a few tacos and an agua fresca. On to the the tacos, first think we noticed was that they were beautifully plated and HUGE! The Cecina Taco had flank steak, guac, beans, salsa and cheese. The steak was a very generous size, tender and melted in your mouth. 5/5! The Baja Fish Taco had a giant piece of sole with a really light but crispy batter. On top was a finely shredded cabbage slaw, salsa and a spicy cream sauce. The flavors were on point and wasn't greasy at all! 5/5 The Lobster Taco was the same as the Baja Fish but lobster instead of fish. Also delicious with generous helping of lobster. 5/5. The Agua Fresca was Watermelon Honeydew for the day. I don't like overly sweet drinks so I really enjoyed it. You could tasted the fresh watermelon chunks without a ton of sugar. 5/5. I can't wait to come back and get more of their tacos!! The flavor profile was the absolute best Mexican Food in the Irvine/Tustin area! Thanks for the amazing service Kayla and awesome food! Fonda Moderna for the win! read more

Fonda Moderna - Top Down: Cecina, Baja Fish & Lobster - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

This place has the GREATEST nachos ever served. They brought a tear to my eye. Also everything tastes so fresh and salsa variety is king. Been here a handful of times and quality is always consistent. Highly recommend! read more

The homemade tortillas really set the stage for their tacos. The meat has a great char grill taste to it. Didn't love the rice and beans so will probably skip those next time and add a second taco. Located inside Mess Hall kitchen with a handful of other finding options. Go check it out if you're near the Tustin District. read more

Fonda Moderna - Store front - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

I went to the Mess Hall Market to try Slapfish, but as the person working there seemed to refuse to pay any attention to us, we walked over to Fonda Moderna. I'm glad we did. What we had was the best Americanized tacos I've ever had (I like traditional, Tex Mex, and what-I-call Americanized tacos). We tried five tacos (shrimp, fish, wagyu, al pastor, and surf and turf) and the guacamole. Everything was truly first class. My mouth is watering as I type this and want to go back right now, but I know my wife would say, NO, we went there for lunch. They're close to my office, so I'll go there Monday. read more

See all

Came in at lunch time and got the birra taco which had an amazing taste to it and a fish taco which also was good. The homemade tortilla chips were great. Real good customer service read more

The food is spectacular! My husband and daughters stumbled across this restaurant and made it a point that I go asap! I went this weekend and definitely see what the rave is all about. We had their Waygu Mishima, filet mignon, NY steak and chorizo, Baja fish, Tinga de Pollo tacos and the nachos! Everything was incredibly flavorful and the meat was so tender. The flour tortillas are made by hand and literally melt in your mouth. My daughters finished it off with a Cookie Monster ice cream bar; I assume it is a seasonal item. It was delicious and creamy and filled with double stuffed Oreos! This place is a new go-to spot for my family. read more

Fonda Moderna - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

No more lobster! But their website hasn't updated yet. If you're going for the lobster, you've been warned

This was a neat find. This was my first time trying one of the restaurants located in the Mess Hall on Flight Way in Tustin. Service Nice and accommodating. Food I think two guisados is perfect to satisfy for lunch. The birria was my favorite. It is hard to choose which tacos to try because there are so many great options. They are kind of heavy but it would be perfect for a lunch on friday or weekend. I would definitely go back to try their vegan options. I love when a place doesn't make throwaway decisions about vegan food options and creates items that sound interesting and delicious. Ambiance I like the inside of this food court. It has high ceilings that makes it feel like an open space and there is a lot of seating. But like any food court in Irvine, plan ahead to avoid large crowds at peak hours. Parking I found a parking spot when I arrived close to 12pm. The parking lot is big but it can be a bit of a walk if its crowded. read more

Fonda Moderna - Two guisados for lunch. Tinga de pollo and birria. - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

Delicious taco spot with fancier/somewhat expensive tacos that you won't easily find elsewhere - they have classic ones such as Al Pastor, chicken, to vegan ones such as mushroom and squash, to unique ones such as lobster and wagyu steak! We tried 8 different ones and our favorites were the ones under "GUISADO" - stewed meat, especially the BIRRIA (beef) and COCHINITA PIBIL (stewed pork) ones that were super flavorful. The WAGYU MISHIMA one was also good, but quite fatty. However, we thought the classic ones were not as good as street tacos you can find in LA. Come to Fonda for those fancier ones instead! read more

Fonda Moderna - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

See all

We order from here fairly regularly and , to be clear, the food is always good. Just wanted to shout out the chef today for the food - the red sauce today had really nice jammy darkness that really worked. There was also a lovely raspberry chocolate tone to the burrito today that was just delicious! Thank you! read more

Super tasty burrito. The sweet potato is cooked to perfection. Warm and soft in the center and crispy on the outside. All the flavors : sweet potato, corn, pinto beans, lettuce, cheese and Adobo sauce go well together. The burrito also comes with fresh tortilla chips. And there's three different hot sauces on the side to choose from. The jalapeno sauce is too spicy for me, but wow... It really makes everything taste better. I only wish there were more veggies (fresh tomatoes, onions and cilantro) to add on top. Overall, it is a pretty hearty meal. I would come back to try other menu items. read more

Fonda Moderna - Sweet potatoes burrito - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

One of the better options at this food hall, but still just "a-okay". This place is pricey for tacos - one taco ranges from $4-7 depending on what you get. We tried the flank steak taco and the Baja (fish) taco. The flank steak was soo dry, and instead of slicing it up to make it easier to eat, it's just two chunks of flank steak inside the taco. The fish taco was okay, but wasn't super crispy or piping hot like some other fish tacos we've had. I also would've preferred corn over flour tortillas. They do have a mini salsa bar to the side, which is nice. read more

See all

Fonda Moderna is located inside the Mess Hall food court in Tustin. Simple you go up to the counter and order what you like and have it picked up when it's ready. Tacos make a great snack or entree. Decided to try two of my favorite type of tacos; the Al Pastor (with pork) and Fish taco. The fish is battered and fried which is my favorite kind of fish taco. Now to the taste part... everything tasted great! The balance of flavors with the pastor's sweetness, smokiness and the light spice went great. I could seriously have 6 of those by myself. I should have had the fish taco first since it got a little soggy as I waited to try that after the pastor taco. Either way great experience and a nice place to have food with friends or by yourself. read more

Fonda Moderna - Al Pastor and Fish Taco. - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

Not your traditional taqueria at all and as the name suggests it has a modern twist on Mexican/ Southern American cuisine. I ordered a mushroom vegan taco which hit the spot. $4 per taco and it filled me up just enough to get me full. Their tacos are bigger than what you would normally expect but that is a plus in my book. It was very flavorful and I liked the crispiness of the tortilla. My boo ordered two other tacos, not vegan, and also enjoyed his choices. The other non vegan tacos range about $6-7 per taco. His words to describe his order : JUICY and TENDER. I would definitely love to come back and try their other tacos as well. Pretty presentation and the prices a little bit more than what a normal traditional taqueria might charge, the flavor and modern taste justifies the price. read more

Fonda Moderna - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

I would give 10 stars if I could. I have never been a huge taco fan but after eating here, I am completely blown away. These are not your typical tacos. The flour tortillas taste hand made. The fillings are generous. My favorites: flank steak: cubes of steak cooked and seasoned to perfection birria: the most tender shredded beef in an amazing sauce cauliflower and mushroom: sautéed with spices, has a char flavor, super tasty sweet potato : smoky, like mashed roasted sweet potato with corn salsa The guacamole and chips are a must. And if you want some alcohol to go with your tacos, there's a bar in the Mess Hall that serves delish tamarind margarita. read more

FM is located inside of FLIGHT at Tustin Legacy. It's technically an office canteen. +++GUACAMOLE Hass avocado, red onion, serrano, cotija: It's a perfect dish with a very rich and bold flavor. It's perfectly prepared. +++Taco AL PASTOR, POLLO A LAS BRASAS, BAJA FISH Sole fish, cabbage, aioli, tomato salsa, cilantro: We had two rounds of those items. They're very tasty, small, and delightful. ---WAGYU MISHIMA RIBEYE STEAK Tomato salsa, chihuahua cheese, poblano, beans, cilantro: Not a fan. It tasted boring, and the meat quality was not good. If you work upstairs, this is definitely a nice place to have lunch/dinner. But it's not worth the trip if you are not around that area. read more

Tacos are the best we have had and the Quesa Birria is amazing. Service is fast and there is a lot of patio seating. A pleasant place to sit when weather is nice read more

Fonda Moderna - Birria de Mushroom and Baja Fish Taco - Seafood Near Me - Tustin, California

Great service! There is also a full bar. Good place to get drinks and tacos. Was also able to play ping pong there. Awesome food court!!

Best taco I've had in a long time. Definitely will be back. Highly recommended! Excellent service too. read more