I really have mixed feelings about this place. It's a hit or miss depending on who is working and how they feel about you. Sometimes they barely give me any guacamole or my taquitoes are not cooked fully crispy. Their guacamole is good when its  a fresh batch in the metal container; when its not, its not. I gave two stars because they usually put a sufficient amount of chicken into their taquitoes and 75% of the time it is good chicken and they don't forget to take the pieces of fat out of it.
HEADS UP: they microwave all of their enchiladas in the microwave, and they put it straight into styrofoam (melting the styrofoam) if you get it to go. They also microwave their mexican fries and many other things.
My grandma over the past year has ordered enchiladas (this is before we knew they microwaved them) and many times, the enchilada has nothing or just a TINY SPECK of cheese inside.
In my opinion, it's gone down in quality and it's not that good anymore. Especially when you realize that they microwave their food in front of everyone (the microwave is on the far left when you walk in. watch for them microwaving the food).
I'm not exaggerating on any of this, especially for the microwaving food--go see for yourself.
I'm picky when it comes to mexican food, because my grandma who is mexican makes BOMB mexican food. The only mexican food place that is good enough for my standards is in San diego (it was on the food network too).
This place offers great food at great prices. Â They have wonderful Potato Tacos that are 2 for $1.00. Â Their beans are to die for. Â The Carnitas Quesadilla is excellent. Â They also have a bakery with wonderful pan dulce. Â Definately need to check this place out. Â And once there you have to try their agua fresca! Â Highly recommend this place, the food and the service.
Review Source:Holy Guacamole! This place is dangerous. Delicious authentic Mexican food, super cheap, and not some dirty hole-in-the-wall either. You know it's real deal when they have all those homemade juices in those clear blue beehive containers, yummy! I like the mango.
The ordering process here is similar to a chipotle. You place your order to left side of the counter and then move over to the right where the same person who took your order reappears with your food and you select your toppings. If you say everything or todo, it doesn't compute with these guys, so just listen and select everything one by one.
The carne fries are ridiculous!!!!!! Don't order them if you have any history of heart disease in your family. The torta is amazing too, the bread is fresh and not too thick. I especially like the shredded beef on anything. Enjoy!
I'm from LA, but moved to the OC a few years back. I heard this place was the best around. Came last night and it was more like the Worst around. I ordered for my family 1 bean and cheese, 3 sopes con asada and an asada burrito. The people here were rude, didn't speak up, and when I was ordering, the guy looked at me with a blank stare. I even repeated the order in Spanish and he just stared without saying a word. I looked around to see if I was cutting in line, or thought maybe I'm not speaking loud enough, but then he looked at me and said ok. I'm guessing an owner or someone was there and maybe that's why they were acting weird. When I went to pay, the girl that was there to greet me was being sternly talked to about how to label the orders with her initials. It was uncomfortable to stand there and wait for her to take my money while she was being talk to. The guy behind the counter began to make our food, but only half the order. The sopes took longer so before he started to prepare everything I told him I would like it all together so we can eat together and no one's food is cold. Well, I guess that was too much to ask. After looking for a table, I went back to the counter and saw half my order sitting there on a tray. 8 min later my sopes were ready and we began to eat. At 1st I was impressed with how large the portions were, but then when I took a big bite out of my asada burrito I was wishing I was at taco bell. The meat wasn't meat at all... it was fat and bone (or something hard) I thought, eeeh, maybe they missed a few cuts, but then soon realized the whole burrito was a waste. I even hurt my tooth on my last bite. The cheese in the bean and cheese wasn't melted and was hard. I guess because of all the hype I just expected more. I guess some people just don't know what they are REALLY missing if they think this place is good.
Review Source:Being a transplant from Austin, Texas, I have long been on the search for some REAL Mexican food, here in SoCal. Â As soon as I read that El Molino not only had their own bakery, but also homemade horchata, I immediately dragged my family to the Mexi-Bakery-Mart-Restaurant.
The left side of the establishment is their bakery, stocked with authentic Conchas (Mexican sweet breads) and custom-made cakes. Â They also have a beautiful stock of pinatas for sale, displayed festively across the ceiling. Â The right side of El Molino is their restaurant, nicely complemented by an impressive array of Mexican herbs, spices and peppers, next to shelves of tortillas and what looks like fried tortas.
They have a wide variety of menu items to choose from, and many of the items are kept hot in their serving line (like a cafeteria). Â You can order a la carte, but it's best to get a combo, which will include refried beans, rice, and any additional topping you might like, such as limes, fresh and chopped cilantro, mild or hot salsa, cheese, or sour cream.
I got the Tamale + 2 Tacos Combo. The pork tamale was a little dry for my taste. Â Too much cornmeal that was too crumbly. Â The carnitas was delicious! Â Tender, flavorful, fall-apart at the pull of the fork, held in soft, chewy and pliable corn tortillas, and topped with some sort of red sauce. Â The chicken taco was also a little dry. Â I had to mix salsa into the shredded chicken to give it more moisture and flavor.
Their salsas seem homemade, and they're flavorful and not watery. Â Pairs beautifully with their thick and crunchy tortilla chips. Â LOVE their horchata, which was cinnamon-y and not too sweet (refills are $0.81). Â Next time, I want to try their agua frescas! Â They also have a fountain drink station, for those wanting other beverage options.
It's only been a week since we found this neighborhood gem, but I've already been craving our return! Â This family-run, local, Mexican diner truly is a "gold mill!"
We found this when we were staying at our time share in Dana Point. Great Mexican food at reasonable prices. I had the #9 combo which had a chimichanga beef burrito, bean and rice. Delicious. My wife had the #4 combo with a beef tamale and two enchiladas. Also delicious. We will definitely be back.
Review Source:Man this place is good! Â For my taste they have the very best carnitas in town and I got hooked on their chilaquiles for breakfast, but that is the carb hound in me coming out. Â The food is made and assembled right before your eyes, the staff is friendly and the prices are fair. Â What more could you want?
Review Source:I walked by and saw that this place was busy and then I thought, "It's Taco Tuesday! Yay!" There were about 5 guests ahead of me and I wondered what was holding up the line. It was because they prepare your food right in front of you. It reminded me of Chipotle, but with authentic Mexican food. Even better. They offer a wide variety of Mexican fare and everything looked delicious. Tacos, sopes, burritos, tostadas, tortas, crispy shell taco salads..it took me awhile to decide. I opted for asada tacos and a chicken burrito. The chicken had some flavorful spicy sauce to it. The rice and refried beans were fresh so it was good. Horchata is excellent! They have a bakery attached to it so you can get breads and cakes too.
Review Source:The natural drinks are real good, watermelon, melon, horchata, lemonade. I usually order the carne asada taco or just plain bbq chicken. Note, most of the customers are hispanic, so you know the food is good. They also have a bakery on site, try their flan, OMG, so good!!! If you eat inside, only barstools along the window. Outside are tables on the walkway, so I always take the food to go and eat at Los Rios Park.
Tacos: Â * carnitas taco - yummy!
* carne asada - pretty good!
* !
*
Being an SJC local, born and raised, lived there for most of my days, there is a constant battle raging inside me for the best Mexican food in San Juan. It's pretty much either El Molino or Los Golindrinas. If you're looking for an authentic Mexican bakery El Molino is tops, crazy cheap, crazy tasty. Overall, it's a definite must eat place in SJC and one of the better, more authentic Mexican spots around. Solid family owned restaurant that has been a San Juan staple for many years now.
Here's my break down.....
El Molino = best carne asada, authentic soft tacos, drinks (horchata, jamaica, etc.).
Los Golindrinas = best carnitas, burritos, chips, guac, salsa in town.
El Molino has excellent Mexican food! We've eaten there on many occasions and everything is always good.
We recently went for tamales and flan and both were excellent. Their flan was rich and not too sweet. Plus, you can beat the price.
This is where the locals go for authentic Mexican food and I can't wait to go back again!
We weren't sure what to expect when we pulled up to this place, but we were pleasantly surprised to find a spacious place to get a variety of Mexican food for great prices. The kids each ordered the $2.99 breakfast plate (it was cheaper than the items on the kids menu!) which included 2 eggs, 2 bacon slices, 2 sausages, toast (torta) and hash browns. The variety was great as the kids were able to pick and choose what they liked on their plates. I got the chicken chimichanga and my husband got the 2 tacos combination plates. We also got an iced coffee and a large banana agua fresca all for under $25. Great price for a family of 4. The food was decent - nothing spectacular, and definitely nothing to complain about. The eggs on the breakfast plate were cooked perfectly over easy... I stole some from my kids' plates and it was definitely delicious. Overall, very reasonably priced and solid.
Review Source:El Molino De Oro has struck gold in my books! One of the best things about San Juan is getting great authentic Mexican food for cheap and Molino De Oro does just that.
You pretty much know the place is going to rock when you step inside ans see what is pretty much a deli case but packed with various Mexican foods and ingredients. We came here looking for some tacos and boy did they deliver.
I ended up trying:
* carnitas taco - yummy!
* carne asada - pretty good!
* al pastor - my favorite!
* chicken taquitos - I always get taquitos in order to try the guacamole and it was f'in fantastic!
My only regret was they didn't have any more of the chili verde for me to try. No worries. That means I need to come back so I can give it a try. Inside and outside seating, great authentic Mexican food for cheap, and that means you know I will be back! 5 stars!
Located in a strip-ish mall, I was looking forward to grabbing some Mexican food. I ordered my favorite, a tamale and I know that food can vary from place to place, but this was slightly different than the tamale's that I was used to. It was good in it's own way. I want to say that I'd probably try something else next time. Additionally, we even bought some of the potato chips off of the rack and they kept their crunch well throughout our trip. They were way better than any of the regular store bought kind.
I think the highlight of this joint is their bakery, which is adored with a fantastically colorful rainbow of pinata's streaming down from the ceiling. A side from that there are cabinets and cabinets of pastries lining one side of the bakery. You can just stand there and see everyone drool over the amount of different and delicious pastries inside. For some reason, the mix of Mexican food and pastries inside here is wonderful.
It was pretty busy around lunchtime and it seems that most of their business is take-out anyway. There are places to eat inside and out. Parking shouldn't be an issue.
I never used to eat here, I only loaded my breadbox at the bakery (the bakery side makes breakfast bolillos - if you get the chance, try #12). However, having lived here my whole life I couldn't avoid the food forever, and I'm so glad of that! El Molino makes fantastic burritos, they're sized right between stomach bursting and too little. The prices more than reasonable, and the girls behind the counter are so sweet.
The food is excellent and the most authentic Mexican food in the area. Oh, and I can't even tell you how many times I've had parties catered by this place - totally the way to go.
Most authentic Mexican food in south Orange county. I come every Sunday morning with my parents and we always leave happy and full. The Aguas frescas are delicious (try mixing 2 together!), the food is  amazing and delicious-seriously like a fiesta on my tongue, and there is a panaderia (mexican bakery) right across from the dining area. My personal suggestions are the tortas or heuvos rancheros. They cook the food right in front of you so you have total control of how much of what you're getting; It is a very clean establishment that is not snobby, not grungey but not pesos-cheap(you get what you pay for); and there are so many delicious pan-dulces to choose from (for very cheap!).
Come one day and give your tastebuds a treat, then go for a lovely stroll through old san juan (The SJC Mission and Los Rios District are just around the corner!)
P.S. Lots of TV's so you can watch your futbollll!!! GoAL!!!!!!!
Introduced by my current boss- I beg him atleast once a week now to grab company lunch here.
Just conviced my bf to stop by here for a late Sunday lunch and have Mexican for the first time in ages together.
Everything we order was supper yummy:
- Tacos a Lingua (3)- our favorite!
-Beef Enchiladas (2)
- Beef Tamale (1)
-Horcata (LG)
All for for around $13.00- about what it costs for an entree in a full service restaurant.
Have not had a chance to try anything from the bakery- but will sometime, if I can get myself to wake up earlier in the morning.
So far this is my favorite restaurant in Capi. Just try it out, your meal  will not be disappointing.
El Molino is fantastic! I get the breakfast burrito, tortas, veggie burrito, or one of the meat burritos generally. I can't speak to many of their other dishes.
One good sign is that most of their clientele is Hispanic, so you  know for sure this isn't taco bell. Service is fairly spotty honestly. They have a lot of different people who work the service counter, and some of them are a lot more helpful than others. Similarly, some of their employees are more generous with ingredients than others, so one day a burrito will be amazing, and the next day it will only be above average.
But you don't go to a place like this for stellar service. You go for burritos that rock your world. El Molino delivers just that. It is my 1 stop shop if I have a mexican food craving....which is generally once a week...
I ordered the asada burrito. Â This must have ordered the wrong dish because this was not good at all. Â The small burrito was full of very salty steak meat which tasted like it was sitting around for a long time. Â There was no salsa bar so this was a negative as well. Â I also ordered the horchata which was horrible. Â It tasted like an overdose of sugar and cinnamon. Â
After this experience, I still needed my dose of good mexican food. Â So down the street we went to El Campeon.
I'll be honest - I'm a total gringa whose idea of a Mexican culinary adventure is eating at the local El Torito (give me a break - I have a sensitive system). Unfortunately for El Molino De Oro, I think El Torito won again.
We were introduced to this place by a friend who loves this place (and whom is very cheap, which might explain why he loves this place so much). The portions are large and, as previously noted, inexpensive. I found them, though, to be a little bland and dry. They do offer their own salsa, so that was redeeming.
Next door to the restaurant is their bakery. Holy he** it looked good. Shelves and shelves of sugary sweet carb goodness for pennies on the dollar. Looks can be deceiving - everything was soooo dry, we ended up throwing our two bags (oink) away. Â :-(
El Molino de Oro is a brilliant restaurant with an ample dining room and fantastic food. I'll admit, perhaps regrettably, that the quality of food is not as good as it once was, but it remains one of the best Mexican restaurants in south Orange County.
All of the tacos are terrific and can be ordered as part of a combo with rice and beans. This two taco combo is quite a bit to eat, and I always struggle to finish it. To be honest, the taste is all that keeps me going when I feel that unmistakable fullness coming on.
There's a great atmosphere and a delicious bakery connected to the restaurant that specializes in a variety of cookies and several other Mexican baked goods.
I absolutely recommend this restaurant, as it's a place close to my heart that I will continue to patronize for many years to come!
Don't get me wrong, I love family owned hole-in-the-walls as much (if not, more) than the next Yelper.. However, I hate to bring bad news, but El Molino De Oro is nothing like it used to be about five to ten years ago.
You can see for yourself, a once popular gourmet fast-food Mexican restaurant packed to the brims is now empty even on weekend evenings.
It's pretty sad that their tacos are now dry and there's hardly any turnaround with the meat options so they sit out in the metal bins for hours on end.
I used to remember them making their own tortillas also, but now they bring them in from some warehouse in LA.. it just isn't the same.
Even Pedro's, without proper seating, is a better option than this.
Everyone in my family who live in South OC rely on this place to provide the food for parties and get-togethers. They have a spicy chicken entree that's the stuff dreams are made of, although I can't remember what they call it. Their other fare is excellent too, except that their asada is weird. It's too dry and has no onions or jalapeño slices in it. Very plain and bo-ho-ring.
This is one of my favorite places for chiles rellenos in So Cal.
Their rice is a bit bland, although it does have a hint of garlic, and their refritos are pretty good.
The attached panaderia bakes up the best chewy coconut cookies I've ever tasted.
5 stars for a little hole in the wall?
To quote Meg Ryan from her scene in Katz's Deli, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Â
Then to be followed with one of the classic lines of cinema: "I'll have what she's having."
I came across this place a few years ago when walking around in the area. Â It is some of the best Mexican food I have ever had and is very reasonably priced. Â
I'll stop here anytime.
AL PASTOR - my biggest weakness. Â I just can't say no. Â Some of my fondest memories in Mexico was eating el pastor tacos straight off the rotisserie with spicy condiments. Â Beers and el pastor - does not get any better folks. Â This is one of my favorite Mexican food place in OC. Â I have been coming here for the past 5 years and they used to have el pastor on a rotisserie. Â The place has the good ole fashion Mexican food as I remember in Mexico. Â
There are other things on the menu that are pretty good but my all time favorite is el pastor. Â El pastor burrito or tacos with extra onions, spicy sauce and guacamole. Â Yummy. Â Actually, their chicken soup is awesome - big chunks of carrots, potatoes, and chicken. Â
Whenever I have a craving for a good Mexican food and too lazy to make a run for the border - you will find me here.
Cheers,
This small, family-run restaurant has some of the best mexican food in orange county. Â The nachos are probably their best item but the carne asade burrito is pretty tasty as well. Â
Whenever I have gone to eat here, the place has not been very crowded and my food is always prepared fast. Â
The bakery attached has some of the best pan dulce around. Â Its also pretty cheap!
The best mexican food in South OC, period.
This family-run place has great, cheap mexican food - what more can you ask for? Â I generally lean towards the burritos, huge, messy, and tasty as they should be, but they have a pretty complete menu. Â I tend to prefer carnitas over carne asada, and th stuff they make here is awesome. Â Machaca and papas con chorizo are my favorites for any time of the day, try it and you won't be disappointed. Â They have a selection of aguas frescas that changes daily, and every one we've tried has been great.
This place also has a panaderia attached, so you can satisfy your sweet tooth and stuff yourself that much more - don't fight it, it has to happen here.
When I come here I feel so conflicted.... do I have a tacos or enchiladas or menudo?! Do I want to drink horchata or jamaica or strawberry?! Should I leave room for a concha or some bread pudding?
This place is a Mexican Bakery/Tortilla shop turned Deli with plastic tables and chairs to sit and eat if you'd like. So now you can go get your fresh sweet breads, Italian loaves, or tortillas, AND have some yummy Mexican food while you're at it. It's not exactly like Grandma's home cookin, but then again, who's is?
What this place boils down to is Good ole fashioned Mexican greasy goodness!
San Juan Cap is also a wonderful town to spend a day. Come see the mission, walk around the shops, and then be sure to stop by el molino de oro for lunch.
Happy eating!
This is my first review on Yelp so I want to be conservative and give El Molino 4 out of 5 stars, reserving 5 stars for someplace I have yet to discover, maybe where they give the food away for free, or it's on the beach somewhere in Costa Rica or something like that.
El Molino is a traditional taqueria where many of the locals, both Hispanic and otherwise, like to go for burritos, tacos, etc. It's great for takeout, but they also have tables where you can sit down, inside and outside, after ordering from the walk-up counter.
The meats are excellent. The best is the carnitas. Also good is the chile verde, which is pork in a spicy green sauce. Burritos or tacos with these are awesome. You can get rice or beans or both in the burrito. And cheese, cilantro, onions, hot or mild salsa (both are great -- mix the two for 'medium').
One of my favorite burritos is a chile relleno burrito with rice and beans. Very tasty!!
The burritos are big, so don't order more than one unless you have been stranded on a desert island for several weeks.
In the winter, it's great to order a hot champurrado, a drink made with rice flour, cinnamon and chocolate, kind of like hot chocolate but with more substance.
El Molino also serves chicken mole, more traditional meats like cabeza and lengua, and other things I haven't even tried because I like the burritos so much.
The Mexican beers are $2.75! They usually have Pacifico, Negra Modelo and sometimes Dos Equis. $2.75! They have all the traditional Mexican fruit drinks and horchatta. Champurrado is like a thicker, warm horchatta with chocolate.
Prices are very reasonable. I don't have a menu handy at the moment, but my wife and three young sons and I had dinner, including 2 beers, for under $30.
Also nice is the adjacent El Molino De Oro Bakery where you can get dessert-like stuff. The flan is great ($2) and the single cake slices are a huge hit with the kids (also $2), and there are lots of different gigantic cookies, as well -- all reasonably priced.
This is a family run operation that has been in business in this location for at least 15 years.
We recently used the El Molino catering service to order carnitas, carne asada, chicken, etc. etc. with tortillas, salsa, chips, rice & beans, to feed about 75 people, and the food was a big success. People especially loved the carnitas.
Being originally from Southern California, my family now lives in Pittsburgh, PA, a place notorious for its lack of authentic (i.e., good) Mexican food. Whenever I am visiting the rest of my family and friends in So Cal, I go to El Molino De Oro as often as possible.
Check it out!
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