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Hole In The Wall Taco Grill Delivers The Goods
Taco Grill is one of those taco shops you love to see. A little hole in the wall restaurant nicely tucked into a non-descript strip mall on a sleepy street. Southern California has many many taco locations scattered throughout (I’m very lucky to have so many options!) and it can be difficult to stand out amongst all these great taco locations. With great reviews on both Yelp and Google I was looking forward to giving it a try and seeing if it’s worthy of a spot in the taco rotation.
Table of Contents
Taco Grill Experience
Located in Westminister, CA, I’d seen Taco Grill several times over the years driving by on my way to other places. I’m always intrigued by these types of hole in the wall places and always wanted to try it, just never did until the other day. I’m glad I did! The restaurant is indeed tiny, a handful of tables inside with a few tables outside in the front with a convenient salsa bar also located in the front as well. There’s pickled onions and jalapenos and a few different types of salsas to choose from.
The menu is quite large. There’s a large variety of tacos: soft tacos (chicken, asada, carnitas, al pastor, chorizo), blackened fish or fried fish, grilled shrimp or fried shrimp, hard shell tacos (chicken, potato, beef), nachos, quesadillas, tortas, burritos, and carne asada fries. There’s a lot to take in for such a small spot. This go around I was focused on the tacos though.
The Food
I ended up getting the asada soft taco ($2.75), blackened fish taco ($2.25) (which seems to be one of the most popular items at Taco Grill), and hard shell beef taco ($3.00).
Carne Asada Soft Taco and Blackened Fish Tacos 
Hard Shell beef taco The food came out quickly, probably within 10 minutes, even though the restaurant was quite busy, so service was great. The first thing I noticed was that the tacos weren’t huge, they’re pretty small in size. BUT they’re packed with meat and toppings. They don’t skimp here.
I tried the hard shell taco first. I liked the fact they provide a dollop of sour cream and guacamole with the hard shell tacos that you can include in the taco. It’s a nice touch. The taco had a good amount of tasty meat and ample amounts of lettuce and cheese.
What stood out most to me was how crisp and thin the taco shell was. It wasn’t oily at all either. It’s definitely one of the better hard shell tacos that I’ve had. it was very good.
The second taco I went with was the blackened fish taco. This had a big chunk of fish in it with lots of cabbage and pico de gallo and sauce. The tortillas are very fresh. Overall a very solid taco. Plenty of fish which is seasoned well, tortillas are great, there was a little bit too much sauce for my taste. It kind of overtook the overall flavor of the taco but that’s nitpicking to be honest.
Last up was the carne aasada soft taco. This is generally a staple as a must try taco for me at every new taco place I venture out to. This came with the basic onions and cilantro and those same delicious tortillas. Again, the asada is well-seasoned here and quite tasty. The meat was good as well. There weren’t any really chewy, fatty pieces to be found in this taco. I was a little surprised since generally there’s always a few pieces like that in the carne asada mix. I wasn’t complaining though, it was good.
Is Taco Grill Worth A Visit?
In my opinion Taco Grill is certainly worth a visit to at least give it a try. All the tacos are pretty small but packed with meat and toppings and the fresh tacos were really delicious. The hard shell taco was the real standout to me at Taco Grill. I loved the crispness of it and how it wasn’t greasy at all. I’ll definitely come back here to try some more food. I definitely want to try their burritos. Either the bean and cheese or the California burrito, I’m thinking, but I’ll definitely make room for that hard shell taco as well.
Taco Grill
Address: 8481 Heil Ave H, Westminster, CA 92683
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How Good Is Orange County Seafood Staple Bear Flag Fish?
The Background
Bear Flag Fish has been an Orange County staple since it opened its first establishment in 2007. Now with three locations, two in Newport Beach and one in Huntington Beach, Bear Flag Fish continues to prosper.
A part of the long term success, outside of the delicious food, is the freshness of the fish provided. The history of Bear Flag and how it came to be is pretty interesting.
I wasn’t aware, but evidently they have three boats they use to catch and serve some of the fish you find in their restaurants. Nor was I aware that they have their own local processing plant. Pretty neat!
The Experience
I went to the Huntington Beach restaurant which is located at the Pacific City outdoor mall right on Pacific Coast Highway. It’s a great location with it being located right across the street from the beach. You can grab a table outside and have a great view.
This location, amidst a busy outdoor mall crowd, is always going to be busy. The line when I went wasn’t too bad though since I went at a non-peak time (4ish).
The menu has a wide range of seafood options. From sauteed clams and mussels, fish tacos and burritos, cioppino, seafood plates, and sushi. There’s a little bit of everything for a sea food fan.
I’ve had the fish tacos here before but decided to go with the fish burrito on this day. Suitably called the Bear Flag Burrito ($13.25), it consists of panko-crusted white fish, white or brown rice (I went with white), black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, tommy sauce, and avocado.
The burrito is decently sized. Something that I appreciated was that everything was mixed well together. With some burritos it’s more layered with all the meat at one end and beans on the other so bites are lacking a mixture of everything. Not the case here!
Seemingly with every bite I got some fish, veggies, rice, and black beans. Seems simple enough but doesn’t always happen with burritos.
What immedietely stands out is the freshness of of the ingredients. Everything in the burrito from the fish to the veggies tastes incredibly fresh.
There’s a good amount of fish in the burriro as well. They don’t skimp here.
Flavor wise it’s good but seems a little lacking in flavor. The fish isn’t overly seasoned so there’s not a ton of taste there. The tommy sauce which is some sort of mayo mixture and hot sauce it seems helps but I needed some extra pizazz. Luckily, there’s plenty of hot sauce options to choose from, which I love, and always go great with fish tacos / burritos.
Texture wise there wasn’t too much here. Surprisingly, no real crunch separated itself from the rest of the burrito. I was hoping the panko covering the fish would be a little crunchy but it wasn’t. Texture doesn’t make or break the burrito but it would certailny help it stand out more.
The Verdict
Bear Flag Fish offers fresh seafood at reasonable prices with a deep pool of diverse items on the menu. The quality and freshness of the ingredients are the clear standouts. Although I found the seasoning and overall flavor of the burrito a little bland, the addition of hot sauce quickly remedied this.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable burrito in a great atmosphere with even better view.
