La Chiquita Restaurant

La Chiquita Restaurant is quite a find for a delicious authentic Mexican meal.
Sammy provided the tacos for my 25^th anniversary business open house a few years ago to rave reviews. Several times when clients have suggested they can’t wait for my 30^th anniversary, I tell them they don’t have to and I point then toward La Chiquita.

Walking in this place made me feel like I was walking in my friend’s home. You can tell from the patina in the furniture many home cooked meals have been served here. Our server was very helpful with suggestions and added some history of the place.
The food arrived quickly, piping hot and tasted very, very good. I love giving the mom and pop establishments like this the praise they deserve. If I’m in an unfamiliar place, I ask the locals where they love to eat… that’s how we found this gem.

I love this place. It’s not fancy, and frankly that is part of the charm. The food is great, and tips are appreciated. Revel in the authenticity. This is a hole in the wall. Enjoy.

I have been going to La Chiquita or «Joes» as we call it for about 33 years now… yeah my whole life. This was a Friday night favorite for my family. Things have changed a little over the years, but it is still delicious.
Normally I go between a number 1 or a number 4. The enchilada sauce is amazing. I have even used it on my own homemade enchiladas.
People seem to be complaining about the grease in the ground beef taco, um… I love when I take my bite and the grease runs down my hand. I don’t go for Mexican food and expect it to be healthy.
The salsa is awesome. Someone complained about the bottles that it comes in and the real inconvenience was that he had to squirt some on each of his chips. I fail to see the problem here! Why not just squeeze a ton of it on the chip plate?
La Chiquita is good food at a hole in the wall establishment that won’t break the bank. If you don’t get why a lot of people like it, go to Rubios or Ricardo’s are exclaim about their «authenticity» or lack of flavor. This will always be a bit of home for me.

Came here yesterday with my fiancé. We’re not in Santa Ana often, so I wanted to make the most of it and have some hole in the wall Mexican. My guy used to come here when he worked for SAFD and said this place is legit and is patronized by Judges and attorneys from the local civic center. Well, La Chiquita fits the bill perfectly. Granted, they don’t have street tacos, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less authentic. The fried tacos are just like the ones you’ll find in most Mexican home kitchens. And, I agree that the chile relleno is very good and the sauce is divine and plentiful. My guy ordered his favorite, chile verde pork. It was very tasty. The beans are sooooo good too. Love the lard. And, totally love the chips with cheese. So what if they are store bought. They sure don’t taste like your typical Mission brand. We will definitely come again when we are in the area.

From 5 stars to 1. How sad it makes me.
Started going here in the 60’s. Yes, I’m old in years not in spirit. Joe was a wonderful host and human being. Sadly he has gone to his rewards.
I fell in love with their sopito and ordered nothing but for decades. Moving to northern California I always went here when in Orange County. Last week was no exception.
I ordered cheese crisps for my wife and me. They came out and then we proceeded to order our sopitos. Waitress came back a few minutes later and told us the regular cook didn’t show up and the only two sopitos of the evening had just been ordered by the next table. She said the cook didn’t know how to make them.
Paid for our crisps and left, never to return.
R.I.P. Joe. You would be ashamed at what your place has become.

Authentic Mexican food right in the heart of Santa Ana. In a little residential zone. It’s an old, tiny house that’s been converted into a restaurant. Chili Verde Chicken Burrito was pretty good. Their hot sauce is a bit too salty. Definitely going back.

I’ve been eating here since I was in elementary school, I’m now 47, and it’s the same great food and service.
Sammy, the owner, is a family friend and has catered several events at our house.
It doesn’t matter what you order you’ll like it.
Our whole neighborhood eats here and has done so for years.
If I could give La Chiquita 10 stars I would.

Excellent service. But the food cost them some stars.
I would’ve gone easier on the rating if they didn’t have the claim of «authentic» or «real» mexican food, because it isn’t.
If they would’ve spent less money on ballet folklorico dresses and more on better ingredients then they’d win me over. The overall taste of the food wasn’t bad, but sub-​par for a sit down restaurant. Btw, authentic tacos have onions and cilantro; not lettuce.

Really great food — can’t wait to try the five Pound burrito!-Service was really good too — they have a good menu and the prices are very reasonable!

The best chili relleno you will ever eat in your life. Ask for extra sauce. Get a side of sour cream, and enjoy. You’ll thank me. Seriously, the best one you’ll have ever.

great food great service … owner, Sammy … very cordial and friendly — will be back

I heard rave reviews on this place so I decided to go. On my lunch. Yuk! Not authentic at all. I guess if your not Mexican then you don’t know what it’s suppose to taste like and that’s why some ppl give it 5 stars. The chips are store bought, not fried like they are suppose to be made. Salsa is not spicy at all and Get this, they charge for their shitty salsa! Taco truck next time, this was blah !

We love to eat here great food we order are food and pick today thank you for a good dinner will be back soon.

This place has been sacred in my family since the 60s! Long before I was born. When I graduated high school in New York, we had their enchiladas and special sauce shipped for my graduation, and Sammy (owner) is going to cater our wedding. It isn’t a meal, it’s an experience. Great food from a family run establishment. This is where we go to celebrate; the tradition continues.

my advice before you look at all the stars for this place … go online and check their last health dept visit details. they turn off their fridge!!! ekk! I bought food to go and found mold…

Very disappointed. Have been wanting to eat there for a while. First and last time. La Torta Loca is more authentic and more family oriented just a couple miles away.

I really can’t resist giving this place 4 stars. Something about La Chiquita that just wants me to keep coming back, no matter how much I think the food is just slightly above average.
The location makes this a great hidden gem. The owner and his staff are super friendly and the ambiance is 70’s/80’s with older tables, chairs and décor.
Food here is decent and stays traditional to the Americanized Mexican food craze that many older establishment built up in the 70’s — combos of enchiladas, tacos, burritos, chile rellenos, etc., with rice and beans rule the day. There are few more traditional dishes too, so it’s not an entirely Americanized joint.
One thing that I’m not totally keen on is the chips. They are the Mission brand tortilla strips. I’m a big fan of homemade, freshly cooked chips… but you won’t find them here. What you will find is an appetizer that takes the chips and loads them full of cheese and places them under the broiler for a few. Yum! Plus, they have their salsa in a old school squeeze bottle. No dipping your chips here… just pour away. The salsa is always cold too.
La Chiquita is a solid place for good, decent food for a great value. A table of two will get out of there for around $ 15 – 20.
Side note — if you are interested in their burrito challenge, they have a 5 pound beef burrito that has been described by the owner as the size of «a little baby.» If you complete this feat (only a few have), the burrito is on them, plus you get a free t-​shirt a photo on their wall of fame (shame). Enjoy!

In Orange County, it’s really hard to find good tacos.
This place has awesome ground beef tacos! I’ve been searching all over O. C for comparable ground beef tacos like Malo’s in Silverlake (in LA). And this place is pretty close to the infamous ground beef and pickle tacos that Malo’s has.
I also tried their potato tacos, but it isn’t as good compared to Malo’s potato and cheddar taco.
I haven’t tried anything else but will definitely be back to try more items on the menu!

We had met some people at a bar who were raving about this place, so we thought why not give it a try. It is located in a residential area in Santa Ana, took a while to locate it even with GPS guiding us.
Upon entering I was really hopeful because it was a hole-​in-​the-​wall type of establishment. We were seated and I started perusing the menu almost immediately.
Since it was our first time, I wasn’t sure how big the portions would be. We ordered the enchilada plate, quesadilla, carnitas taco and a bowl of albondigas soup. The chips were Costco strip chips — salsa was nice with a good kick to it – generally, I find that complimentary salsas lack flavor, but this one was pretty good.
When the food arrived, I was kind of shocked to see such a HUGE bowl of soup. Honestly, if you were one person ordering this, it is a little too much! I found out later you could have a half portion of it. I liked the broth portion but the meatballs themselves were not that impressive. I’ve certainly had better tasting albondigas elsewhere.
The quesadilla was pretty good but extremely greasy. In fact, almost everything was laden with grease. My carnitas taco was so greasy that when I bit into it, spurts of grease flew out. What was mindboggling is that the tortilla was fried adding to the greasiness of the entire thing.
The entire time we were there, I was trying to figure out the reason behind the popularity of this place and all the raving reviews, and after sitting there and watching the clientele pour in, I knew why.
Service was friendly which made up for everything else that was lacking. Unfortunately, even so, I’m not able to give them more than 2.5 stars. This is just not a place I would come back again for the food alone.