Man, I don't like writing negative reviews, let alone 2-star ones. One star is easy, you go to a place no one is expecting to be any good, the experience is so bad that it's funny, and you go out of your way to try to be comical in your abuse. But when a place is just downright disappointing? Where it doesn't even measure up to the level of "m'eh" ... where you end up wondering how it's stayed open for so long? One would typically have to go somewhere as far as Kansas to find Mexican food of that caliber. And yet, here in San Marcos is Oscar's.
Usually, with places like this, you take the Yelp reviews in stride. You ignore the crying Karens who experienced the horrors of waiting in line for 15 minutes or were asked to wear a mask. You wave away the 5 star reviews from people with less than 10 reviews to their name. Then you take all other ones with a grain of salt; I mean, my own father gave this place 4-stars and only tried their rolled tacos ... the plastic sheen on that processed cheese still reminds my of my Zartan GI Joe action figure from when I was a kid. With all that, and after seeing Oscar's so often as it occupies its prime spot on Rancho Santa Fe, the family figured we should finally give it a try.
I had a basic Bean and Rice Burrito. The refried beans were very bland, no salt, very little flavor from anything the beans may have been soaked in, and no seasoning from onions or lard from the frying. The rice was mushy, with no good separation that comes from toasting the rice before cooking, and felt like it was just boiled in chicken stock with no other care or additional seasoning.
My wife had a California Burrito which she found to be about as dry as a brick. The carne asada had all the fat and juice overcooked out of it and the fries had little salt on them. She was only able to eat about half of it and the second half that she had the next day had to have salsa and sour cream stuffed into so she could choke it down.
My son enjoyed his Rolled Tacos and they looked fine. Though, he did admit that he preferred the ones he's gotten at multiple other places instead of Oscar's.
The Guacamole looked and felt like it was pureed, thin and goopy, as opposed to being thick with chunks of salsa or heavier avocado. The same went for the Salsa Verde, which was essentially green tinted water that had some heat, but little flavor. The last thing on our table was some Caldo de Res, which turned out to be water boiled with cabbage, carrots, and whatever beef didn't make the cut in a carne asada burrito. No searing of the beef before cooking, no use of stock beforehand, no tuétano in the soup ... seriously about $9 for boiled, leftover meat scraps.
About the only good thing I can say about our dinner was that the chips they included were nice and warm.
All that for a price about 30%-40% higher than much tastier places elsewhere in the city. If Oscar's had been much better back in the day, it may be time to dust off those old recipes. Until then, while the food maybe considered edible, it sure as hell isn't worth going out of your way to get. A very weak 2 stars from me. read more