Loved this place that was recommended via a friend of a friend. I had the shrimp fajita taco (2)…read morewhich were delicious. Fresh corn tortillas, great seasoning, well cooked shrimp. And their salsa is delicious. Next time I'll be trying their molé! Casual dining with a comfortable atmosphere. Order at counter, they'll bring it to your table.

Where do I begin... First off, I'm highly disappointed and feel betrayed by the high reviews of…read morethis restaurant. I felt safe to eat here thinking it was more on the authentic side of Mexican food, but I have to remind myself to look at the reviews closely before deciding on eating at a place. I had ordered 1 Gordita, 1 Burrito Gordo (Asada), and 1 Huarache. The Gordita had probably to be one of the worst Gorditas I ate in my entire life. The tortilla was very hard and dry, practically snapping off when I took a piece off. The next was the meat... very, very dry and quite bland. I don't know how this restaurant cooks their meat, but I'm assuming they overcooked it by the lack of moisture. The cheese inside was also disappointing, not much flavor to it nor had a fresh taste to it. I tried saving the dryness of the Gordita by adding salsa to it, that didn't help at all. The green salsa wasn't spicy (or at least had a kick to it) and didn't really taste like tomatillos, so I tried adding the red salsa to see if it was any different, not really. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't really tell the difference between the two. Now moving onto our next dish, the burrito. I'll keep this one short. Asada was bland, dryer than a dessert, and even with the salsa and sour cream on it, couldn't save my mouth from the dryness I experienced. So if you read this review of mine, thank you, and I totally understand how hard it is to make Mexican food in this area considering a lot of the ingredients needed aren't easy to come by or the cuts of meat, so if you ever feel like eating Mexican remind yourself what can you eat here that you know I'll taste good. Kat signing out :3

Really good tacos! Service was really good and our server named Stephanie was very attentive. Good…read moremusic as well. Makes the experience really enjoyable. Thank you staff for a very good first experience. Will definitely be back.

Dropped a star :-(…read more We had our usual trio of tacos, out for the 6 there were 5 that hit the spot and one (my wife's) deep fired fish taco was comfortably on the overcooked side and the fish didn't taste fresh apparently ... To be clear, this is the first thing we have had at BA that hasn't been at least 10 stars so am really hoping its a glitch not a trend... We'll be back to make sure we were correct, its our goto Mexican in the area and that's against stiff competition so fingers crossed

This is a seafood destination. If you want Mexican style seafood then this is the place in…read moreSeaside. The prices are 40% less than any dish you can get in Carmel by the Sea and 25% less than Monterey. The 7 Seas (7 mares) is excellent, but so is everything. The service is quick and friendly. Chips and salsa are still free. The interior is clean but simple and with no frills. No white linens here.

The carnitas were very good not dry very flavorful would highly recommend with rice and beans also…read moregood Salsa is very good with just the right amount of heat not weak at all The steak ranchero also highly recommended Service was excellent If you are visiting from out of town like we were you should check this place out You can either eat there but we took back to our hotel room and they made sure we had everything we needed like tortillas extra salsa napkins I will be visiting again

In a very Mexican part of town in Seaside near Monterey. I don't live in this area but I knew, as…read morewhen I was driving looking for this storefront, most of the surrounding businesses were all Hispanic based. I kinda had a feeling I was gonna like the digs here. They grill here. Over this massive open charcoal/wood grill. 2 cooks back there, engulfed in a waft of smoke and fire. They must have put a fresh batch of meat on that grill as that grill top was covered every square inch. They only grill 2 meats: chicken on the bone and carne asada. They also grill whole red onions and serrano peppers to go with those char grilled meats. 1/2 Chicken Combo ($15/4*) Upon receiving, it almost looks burnt. But upon tasting no bitter burnt notes just extremely well manufactured char. The chicken is marinated in something. Probably a seasoning salt and maybe a touch of lime. Nothing is spicy or peppery just a salty, charred chicken flavor. I liked it but I think I like El Pollo Locos version a tad more. As that is more slowly rendered where the skin gets crisp and there's more of a buttery nuance in El Pollo Locos version. I hate saying I'm siding with a big corporate but chicken-wise they've got the edge. Now where this place beats any chain are in the sides and details. First the freshly charred onions and serranos that go with most meat orders are damn perfect. Soft and easy to break apart, inherent flavors intensified from the grilling and the char-y notes that you can control cuz you can add as much of the burnt layer or as little. And the rice, beans and salsas here are real Mexican cooking, nothing fast and ready made. Fresh from scratch with ethnic soul. Carne Asada Combo ($27/5*) This is a full pound of freshly grilled Carne Asada (thin and marinaded meat), no rice or beans just warm corn tortillas, salsas, pickled onions and those charred onions and peppers. Upon receiving I felt like a kid who got his first gift from Santa. First they gave me the warm tortilla holder and all the condiments. I could have made a meal with those alone. Then the biggest pile of freshly grilled steak I've ever seen get served to me at one time. The aroma was intoxicating and was superseded by getting a taste. A little heavy handed on the seasoning but damn did that grilled meat flavor hit you like a bat. Slightly smoky with charred hits and THE most juicy and tender carne asada I've ever had. Usually the preparation can yield tough and overcooked meat but not here, there is some wizardry involved. I was putting whole pieces of meat in a rustic cowboy taco and you could still bite through the taco effortlessly. That's some serious mojo they are messin' with. I actually found a combo for the perfect steak taco here. Warm tortilla base; cut up and throw some charred peppers and onions; throw enough carne asada on there to your heart's intent; a few dabs of their tomato salsa with the charred flecks; then finally a generous sprinkling of their pickled red onions to gild the lily. THE BEST carne asada taco I've ever had. And I've had hundreds if not thousands. Trust. We just finished a substantial hike and was on route to a camping weekend. Had enough leftovers that we didn't have to cook on the first night, just heated things in foil over camp fire. They conveniently catered and we relished and feasted. A fiver relationship if I ever heard of one.

Food was excellent and fresh. The service was quick as it…read moretakes for you to order. Ambiance was a clean place with a few tables. The take out orders were many. We will be back.

I ordered 2 super burritos and a side of refried beans from Las Marias today using Yelp to order…read morethe takeout order. I was down the street shopping and stopped in to pick up my order. I met one of the Owners named Maria. I told her I was new in the area, and she shared her restaurant is family owned and operated. She was very friendly. I'm from San Jose and have had great Mexican food. These burritos were very big and flavorful. She was very generous with the meat, Al Pastor and Asada. Seasoned well and crisped on a plancha, these were great burritos. Now I always get a side of refried beans to see how well they are made. The refried beans at Las Marias were outstanding. I will be back to Las Marias to have dinner in the restaurant. The restaurant is fairly large and well decorated with artwork and a full bar. I'm looking forward to trying more items from than their menu on my next trip.

Excellent service and really delicious food. Served hot and fresh. We were greeted by the owner,…read moreMaria who was very kind and friendly. She gave us some recommendations and we ended up ordering enough food for that night + the next night that we enjoyed at home. The chips and homemade salsas came out first. 3 different types (2 red and 1 green). All 3 were good but they are spicy. We ordered the mulcajete, crunchy quesa birria tacos, enchiladas, and a chille relleno à la carte. The mulcajete came out bubbling hot with tons of beef, chicken breast, shrimp, and all the veggies. My daughter said her enchiladas (1 chicken and 2 cheese) were extraordinary. The birria tacos were on par - she makes the tortilla with a crunch to it. They were wonderful. Everything else was also very delicious. The rice was fluffy and tasty. The beans were a little soupy but tasted great. I like my beans a little more dense and thick. I highly recommend visiting this restaurant. Make sure you introduce yourself to Maria. She's a pleasure to speak with and she serves tasty food!

great food and service ! Ordered the fish taco combo and it was delicious. The chips and green…read moresalsa were so fresh . Will definitely be going back for more.

This is our 3rd year having our kid at CSUMB. Every time we are always looking for a good place to…read moreeat. On this trip we wanted Mexican food, a quick search on yelp we landed on tacos California. Unfortunately if you try to view the menu or website from yelp you get redirected to a spam website so we were going in blind expecting Mexican food. Get there to find the standard Mexican plates and also burgers, seafood, steaks and pasta dishes. They make their fettuccine sauce fresh in house so my daughter got that. I tried the garlic shrimp and it was way better than expected. The place is small and parking can be tricky but it was easy enough to find and inside was clean and server was friendly. We ordered everything to go but were given fresh chips and guacamole while we waited. Guacamole was fantastic Ultimately came for Mexican but ended up with different seafood and pasta dishes and was pleasantly surprised. Food was good and worth trying especially if you're looking for variety and can't decide

Vacationing with my fam in Moss Landing and searched for breakfast burritos and oh my god!…read more The burritos weren't massively sized which I appreciated, but holy smokes did they pack a flavor punch! We got 4. 2 bacon 1 chorizo and 50/50 bacon/ham. Top 5 breakfast burritos I ever had. They have a green crema salsa that is mild/medium heat that is the most delicious sauce I have ever eaten at a Mexican restaurant. Service was very nice and friendly as well. Place looks like a happening spot for dinner and drinks with a full bar next door. Im definitely coming back. Maybe manana lol

Really good food! The Pastor was amazing-- The staff was…read morenice and there was plenty of indoor seating

SCW and I stopped into El Cantato while staying in Monterey Bay. This place was a priority for me…read moreas it's all plant based and Mexican. Parking is sparse in front of the restaurant but paid parking is nearby. We entered and wow, the place was busy. Not overwhelming but lots of people in the indoor dining area enjoying their food. The menu is overheard and we decided what we wanted and ordered. The employees were kind and helpful, we probably were the only people that didn't speak Spanish well in the restaurant but that wasn't an issue, SCW got the number 2 combo, I got the mole. Also ordered an appetizer. Seated and waited about 10 minutes and our order came out. Everything was freaking amazing. Such great flavors and so fresh. Even SCW who doesn't necessarily gravitate towards Mexican food made nom nom nom sounds the whole time. The mole was incredible, the best I've ever had. The whole time we were here it was an endless stream of customers, even late lunch hour. SCW was impressed by the contrast stream of people coming in. We even walked around the wharf nearby for a while and drove past again and it was still packed with people. Do yourself a favor and visit El Cantato. I know I will.

This is an amazing Vegan restaurant. I was in the area for the day and found this place. I haven't…read morebeen to many Mexican restaurants with any vegan options let alone a full Vegan menus. It took our party (8 people) a while to decide as we were spoiled with choices. But we had time as it was pretty busy for a Friday around 1. I ended up getting the carne asada nachos and the aqua Fresca that they had that day (mango and watermelon I think). Both were absolutely spectacular. The picture included might not show the best scale but I had 2 others helping me to eat this plate and otherwise I would not have been able to finish it (even as a larger man). The crunchy jalapeños with the chips, beans and guacamole were the perfect balance. As a meat eater, the texture of the faux meat was a touch odd, but the flavor more than made up for it. The staff was helpful and attentive even as they were balancing supporting customers, answer phone orders, and taking regular orders. My wife and will definitely be stopping by here more often!!