Visited my mom in central Orange County. Went to eat at two places with some family. Zubie’s Dry Dock in Huntington Beach and Tacos Madre is Costa Mesa.
Zubie’s is an old school place, bar and reasonably priced eats with ginormus servings. They’ve been around since the 70s/80s, but moved to the current locations in the early 90s. When I say old school, the clientele matched that, as in salt and pepper set. Went to the old location as a youth, brother use to work near the current, so he’s been often until the past 8 - 10 years. They serve a crazy amount of options, and have a rotating daily special. Fish and Chip were the daily special, so ordered that. $16 and it came with salad and veggies, along with 4 pieces of FnC. Not greasy and known of their FnC. Sister got the prime rib ($21) and it came with a big hunk of PR. For reference that plate is basically a 2’ serving platter.
Also went to Tacos Madre, in Costa Mesa, a couple of miles from Zubie’s. Found it randomly online….overall a very good taqueria but the Baja fish tacos on taco Tuesday can’t be beat, giant tacos for half off at $3 each. As good as any Baja fish taco I’ve had and crazy prices on taco Tuesday. Order a bunch of other stuff (all good) but the Baja Fish tacos are why I’d return. Can’t get anything like that in NorCal. Sorry, no pic, ate too fast.
Less than a mile away is the new Mercado Northgate Market that got a lot of press. Won’t go into it but will say it continues the trend of ethnic supermarkets going upscale, like H Mart and similar. Nicely designed and new, and you can get basically any type of Mexican food there. One thing that stood out was a chilaquiles bar or station where they make a plate from ingredients you choose. Also the grilled chicken meal is a good deal and tasty as any similar.
You’re right, San Jose has excellent Mexican food, due to the population…many hidden mom and pops and never reviewed. The lack of reviews on HO and the old chowhound of Mexican, mom and pop places in SJ always surprised me. I may have been to Dia de Pesca but can’t remember. I looked at the iGuey menu…pricy, even if on the fairly priced side.
In any case, part of the issue is competition….SoCal and LA has a lot of places that serve Baja fish tacos….a LOT, and because of that prices tend to be low….like a $3 BFT on Tuesday, or $6 regular, there’s really no comparison IMO. No way any place in NorCal is priced that way, and they were as good as any BFT I’ve had.
Here’s a photo from Taco Madres borrowed from Yelp. Even at $6 bucks, it’s an deal and twice the size of anything I’ve seen in SF or the east bay. Eating two is a lot. 2 for $6 is crazy.
The bau area is looking widespread baja fish tacos but everything else wrt tacos can compete with southern california. I am just starting to explore slowly taco shops here on the peninsula and south bay (and Mission) (often more focused on late night snacks after cocktails) and it is surprising how little is published anywhere (HO or “regular” papers/blogs etc)
The Bay Area is catching up with SoCal on BFT as regional Mexican food becomes more of a thing…but that hasn’t always been the case. It’s been the past ten+ years or so. I think Cholita Linda was among the first to raise the bar in the Bay Area. Before that it was Rubio’s. And there is definitely a price disparity. I’ve never seen BFT discounted on Taco Tuesday in NorCal….but see it all the time in SoCal. BFT are treated more as a speciality in NorCal and the prices show it. What can I say, SoCal Mexican food is like NorCal Chinese food, lots and lots of competition, which drives down price and raises quality and locals know. It’s a population thing.
Actually, San Gabriel Valley Chinese has passed the Bay Area in Chinese but many still think the best place is in the BA, Koi Palace. i think Bay Area Mexican is fine but no way it can compete with SoCal on volume and variety high and low.
You also have to specify more which part of SoCal - SF can’t compete with LA (hardly any city in the US can with its many cuisines). But after living in SF and SD (and a lot of trips to OC), Mexican cuisine (and tacos specifically) in SF is on a similar or better level than SD or OC
This reminds of the burrito wars of the 00s….silly stuff and pointless.
BTW, I never said SF can’t compete with LA on Mexican food. I said I’ve never seen a very good or excellent BFT in NorCal or let alone for $3 bucks, and that SoCal excels at it. That’s it. Didn’t mention any other specific Mexican food. Everything is projections and imagination.