Tortas Ahogadas Las Originales

A coworker had recommended this place for lunch. So my girls and I checked it out. It’s one of those hole in the wall joints that you’ll totally miss if you’re not specifically looking for it. From the outside it looks like some kind of ranch or barnyard with bright red wood walls. Inside the store was fairly clean. We just could not get over the stench inside the store, like a port-​a-​potty. It was disturbing. The waitress hardly spoke any English. Nevertheless we ordered tacos, taquitos, and enchiladas. Not very impressed. Tasted like your average taco joint. I think if it didn’t smell so bad the experience would have been 3 stars and maybe the food might have tasted better, but I was totally turned off.

I’m not sure what happend to this place. It had been a while since I last been here and noticed they changed the sign. Well, it wasn’t just the sign they changed, but the service and food was completely different. It was my favorite place, but I wouldn’t come here again. The service was slow and not friendly. The food just tasted different and not worth the drive coming from Glendale.

Food is too greasy. I got carne asada tacos and they dipped the tortillas in oil. Meat was flavorless.

Although this place is near where I live and has been bookmarked for quite awhile now, it took seeing my good friend/​co-​worker Alfonso bring some of the food from this place to work to finally convince me to try this place out.
Located on Woodman Ave. just behind the 7 – 11 and an auto parts store on Osborne St., this place looks rather ghetto, as its squeezed into a tiny plaza that’s home to a dog groomer, medical marijuana dispensary, salon and a few other shops I can’t remember. The inside looks like it could use some modern updating, but at least there’s a flat panel TV where you can watch the Spanish language news, as well as free Wi-​Fi.
Every single time I’ve been here, its either been empty or only a couple of people were actually inside and eating. The employees I’ve met here were definitely nice, considering I’m probably the only non-​Latino dude who’s ordering food from this place.
Parking is a little tricky, as you enter a somewhat narrow pathway to find shared parking in this small complex and then you exit through the narrow alley in back which wedges you between some homes and the McDonald’s parking lot on Osborne. Not only that, but at certain times, its gets pretty packed and cars have to double park, so if that’s the case, come back when the lot is less busy or just park elsewhere and then walk back here.
The main reason I wanted to try this place was obviously the Torta Ahogada (the «drowned sandwich»), but seeing they have other options, I felt like seeing what other items might be worth trying here.
Torta Ahogada ($ 6.60) — The namesake of this place, this sandwich consist of carnitas stuffed inside a sourdough roll and «drowned» in two sauces (tomato based and arbol chili based) and topped with pickled red onions. This is a truly awesome sandwich and even better for those who love spicy food, as each bite made the chili sauce more prominent and left some lingering heat in my mouth and on my lips for some time. I can’t say if its truly legit, since I haven’t gone down to Guadalajara to try it out in its birthplace, but its an awesome, spicy sandwich that will satisfy any appetite for those who love very spicy Mexican food. Highly recommended.
Burrito Ilegal ($ 6.10) — A heavy burrito filled with meat (in my case, carne asada), rice, beans, cilantro onions, topped with panela cheese. I ordered mine wet, meaning it came with a tomato based thin sauce. It was good and filling, to say the least, though I found myself not caring for the sauce to top it with.
Fire Burrito ($ 6.10) — Basically the same as the Burrito Ilegal with the addition of lemon and a spicy sauce which gave it a nice, spicy flavor. It also came with a small amount of chips making it very filling. Definitely worth trying.
Quesadilla ($ 6.25) — A large tortilla filled with lots of meat (carne asada in my case) and cheese and topped with shredded lettuce and sour cream (which I told them not to add). Its hard to go wrong with this if you want something simple and filling.
Tacos ($ 1.65) — kind of tiny for the price, but full of meat. The tortillas were hot and very greasy and filled with meat to the top. I had it with both carne asada and al pastor, but carne asada was my preferred meat for it. Its not bad at all (its definitely better than the dry meat served at the Tacos La Fonda Truck) but I believe it could benefit from some sort of salsa.
Flauta ($ 6.60) — 4 pcs of fried rolled up tortillas filled with shredded chicken. By itself, its rather bland, but with the salsa verde they add, its just slightly better, but still not amazing and definitely not worth the price.
Horchata ($ 2.95) — For the price, you get a decent sized drink. Its pretty good with noticeable hints of cinnamon there that might turn off some people, but for me I actually liked it.
Like many taquerias, there’s a small salsa bar on the side that has the typical stuff: salsa roja and verde, cilantro, onions, lime wedges, chili peppers and radishes. I tried both salsas and they were both ok, but nothing special about it.
Although the ghetto location with crappy parking and outdated interior could turn some people off, the food here more than makes up for that, as you can enjoy excellent Mexican food instead of Taco Bell or Chipotle. I highly recommend this place if you love spicy Mexican food and don’t want to wait for a late night taco truck and/​or if you want to try the awesomeness of a torta ahogada without having to fly down to Mexico. I’ll be definitely coming back here soon.

Every time I go to this place the food gets better. their burritos are really delicious! and their tacos & tortas ahogadas are very good as well. Very friendly service & they don’t take for ever like other places I’ve been to. If you want authentic Mexican food you should come here! :D

Good stuff! Had the house specialty which is a torta ahogada with pork, got mine with the chile on the side (I like some spicy but had never had one of these and I wanted to be sure to envoy my food) and it was great. The chile is very tasty and especially hot so I was glad I happy I was able to add as much or as little as I could handle. Also got an agua de melon (which was tasty) & a taco de pierna, reminded me of my moms cooking. Service was fast (did go on a Monday) and very friendly. Will definitely come back with the family.
Oh! On our way out we had a taste of the atole, will definitely stop by another day and order that!

A friend introduced me to this place.
It’s a whole in the wall, but it comes thru. I always get their special torta .Im an absolute sucker for anything spicy & this gets the job done, even though Im breathing hard & even my brother has broken a sweat from it, you can’t help but want more. !! Love this place, good food, nice people!

I took my in laws to this place thinking they would serve great food, I saw this restaurant on TV (univision) but honestly the food is not good at all and the service was so bad that i had to get up and bring my own forks and napkins, i also had to bring a high chair for my 1 year old daughter. this place is so terrible and the waiter that served us was very unprofessional. i will definitely not recommend this restaurant to anyone and believe me i will get in contact with the owner. This place just made me look bad with my in laws!!! Este lugar vale vergas!!! Se Los juro!!! No lo recomiendo y las meseras valen mierda!!!

Goodness, in my opinion: The best tortas ahogadas ever!!! The special sauce was so good and spicy I cried, I had to share with my friend because it was too much of a goodness… I felt dizzy of how spicy it was on my tongue, almost dangerous but I was fine at the end. Loved this llittle spot.

The best tortas ahogadas I’ve ever had, my favorite part the bread and pickled onion… yum! It’s like a french dip sandwich, but mexican version. Delicious. The reason I didn’t give them 5 stars is because they need to clean their tables and floor more often.

They said original food, yeah right original crap!
We got here and ordered a small order for two to go and later a family of four walked in and sat. They managed to serve them first while we waited and somehow the family finished before we even got our stuff. Watafak! we got home and well i must say the torta de alpastor ahogada was pretty bombay, the carnita tacos were wack and so was the flan. We’ve tasted waaaay better. Nasty ass mexicans! Just kidding! Vivah lah rasah!