El Lucero

Just throwing my review even though this place has closed which i smile seeing this is a factor… this place was good years ago but the prices went way up and the quality of the food was getting any better. I am happy to say, I’m glad they closed down!

I’m going to keep this short and simple: years ago this place was absolutely amazing. Cheap and delicious I went for the first time in a year and holy cow they have gone WAY up in price and WAY down in food quality/​flavor. Very –very– disappointing.

As a mexican food fan I pride myself on knowing what legit mexican food tastes like and what has and hasn’t been americanized into so called mexican food. With that said I arrived at El Lucero and walked in to a fairly busy lunch hour, and welcoming wait staff. The delivery of the food took a little bit of time but shortly I was delivered my food by the new owner of the Restaurant that literally took over yesterday Monday Sept 9, 2013. He sat down with me for a few minutes showing the new menu /​ordering system etc that will be available next week and that the food was going to be improved upon from what is already pretty good stuff so I can’t wait to see what it will taste like then. Good local place for authentic mexican food, and I ll be sure to do another review here in a couple weeks when the new owner has a chance to implement improved recipes and processes. In the mean time its worth a visit.

Six years later and the only words that come to mind after reading my original review is… «Ditto». They are still serving the best damn carne asada wet burrito I’ve ever had. Ever.

I come from NoCal, a town where Mexican food is prevalent and hipster restaurants like most of the ones in Brea are rare. This restaurant is the only one in Brea that actually makes decent menudo and carnitas. The La Bandera burrito is too big to finish and it’s very, very good. Half chile verde and half chili colorado for those of us who want everything. The crispy shredded tacos are hit and miss. I’ve had meh ones here and really excellent ones. The chorizo and egg breakfast burrito or the machaca and egg breakfast burrito are excellent. They give you a choice of rice and beans or potatoes inside and the size is quite large for under $ 5. The salsa is always fresh and not too hot, not to mild. I don’t like dining in, but they are great with take out.
I am downgrading them to 3 stars because 3 of the last 4 times I’ve called them to place an order for pick up during their posted hours of business… THEY DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE! Grrrr.

Living right around the corner this place is great for my girlfriend and me. Breakfast burritos are very good and only around $ 4.50. But my fav by far is the wet donkey burrito… It is massive and tasty! Good service and clean.

I am a sucker for Mexican food, which is not so good for those watching what they eat. But hey, you gotta live a little. El Lucero’s food is really good and the staff is friendly. Their carne asada burrito is what I always get. It includes steak, rice (not many places put good rice in their burritos), salsa, cilantro, and sour cream I believe.
I only wish the burrito were a little bit bigger, as it is just a bit small. But overall, good quality Mexican cuisine.

Love coming for lunch — they have great specials. Their wet burritos are great! Really friendly service. We usually come as a group for lunch and they are able to take care of us and serve all together.

We eat dinner here a few times a month and generally find the food is fresh and very good for the pricing.

I’ve had their tacos and tortas and enjoyed both. Their tortas are big and juicy, which is how I like them. I think the prices are very good for the quality and amount of food, and that’s what I care about. I didn’t get any funky meat pieces in my torta or my tacos so that’s always a plus. I am very particular about meat textures, and I can’t stand biting into fatty or chewy pieces. I’ve never had complaints here. The chips and salsa are good and it’s a clean and mellow place to eat. I definitely would go for a laid back lunch or dinner.

Not bad, still want to go back and try a few more things.
First time I got a torta cubana. Took a long time, I think they gave people their food who ordered after me. Was not all that delicious.
Today I had a Mexican food/​taco craving and reluctantly came here. Got 1 crunchy taco with shredded beef (have been craving this since I ate at Armando’s in the SGV), and 3 soft tacos: carnitas, al pastor, and chorizo. I liked all 4 tacos, but the 3 soft tacos were better and had more meat. Definitely not bad at all! Came with chips and salsa too, which made it a filling meal for me.
Also, their salsa is not very spicy (I think). I cannot handle spicy foods well but am trying to build up my tolerance. Their salsa on the tacos and for the chips barely seemed spicy at all. Either that or my tolerance is going up.

I went here with my boyfriend for dinner one night. We both ordered the vegetarian burrito. The burrito was great, lots of different vegetables in it. The only problem I had was we waiting about 40 minutes for our food to arrive. Our waitress felt bad and gave us a discount which we appreciated but I don’t think I would come back here again. The food was ok, but wasn’t amazing.

I’d like to start off by saying, on occasion I’ve come here for a simple B&C burrito upon craving and they’ve never disappointed but I guess that’s hard to do with something so basic…
I recently had a very poor encounter with the manager/​owner whoever she was with a friend of mine.
We stopped at the liquor store next door to buy some cigs and both of us really needed to use a restroom. I remembered El Lucero was next door and figured we could check if they’d let us use their restroom. We go in and ask the young girl working up front if we could trouble her to use their restroom, she obliged and we went to do our business. As I waited for my friend I took a moment to notice what great artwork was in this spot and wondered why I didn’t come here more often. My friend felt the same way. On our way out we decide to grab their to-​go menu for future references. Right as we take them, there was an older lady, clearly a superior on site working the front now, and she BARKS at us «THESE BATHROOMS ARE NOT PUBLIC, YOU ORDER BEFORE YOU USE OKAY??!» extremely irate with us. I am seriously appalled and shocked by her poor behavior at that point, not only did we grab menus to possibly order something but we ASKED permission the MINUTE we walked in to order. Not to mention that there was only ONE table of a small family eat there at 7pm at night… did this broad seriously feel the need to scare off any extra patrons? I dont think so.
I had one point considered this a nice spot to get a burrito or maybe some albondigas if I’m craving it, but after that encounter I refuse to go back. There are WAYYYYY too many good taquerias and Mexican spots in the area to waste my $$ on this spot.

I thought the food was alright. Prices are decent. I mainly did take-​out so I can’t say anything about the service.

I always enjoy going here because my expectations are — this is a nice family owned place that tries hard, sometimes has good vs. bad days, and the food is never awful, sometimes amazing, and often above average for the price.

.:INTRODUCTION:.
Nestled in a small plaza between E. Birch and S Kraemer, this place is easily overlooked. Here’s the storefront picture:
. I didn’t even realize I drove passed this place every day until a friend posted pictures of this place on her Facebook account. It looked so good, so we found out where this place was. I’ve been wanting to find a BOMB ASS Mexican restaurant for a while now and didn’t feel comfortable driving out to Pomona. So on my way home one day, I stopped by and went inside.
.:THE ORDER:.
Super Nachos w/​Carne Asada:
4 Carne Asada Tacos w/​cheese, onions, and cilantro:
(sorry it’s blurry)
1 Carne Asada Burrito:
1 Horchata
.:THE GOOD:.
— Prices are fairly reasonable for Brea, but where I go, tacos are usually $ 1and taste better.
— The place is really spacious
— The owner is super sweet and accommodating
— Plenty of parking
— Horchata is really refreshing and good
.:THE BAD:.
— Lack of ingredients:
When I ordered tacos and requested for cheese, onions and cilantro, I barely saw any cheese. I saw one or two strips of thin cheese per taco.
The Super Nachos were disastrous. I wish they put the sour cream and guacamole on the side and added more cheese. The cheese was all dried up on the soggy tortilla chips, I couldn’t even pick anything up. Again, not enough cheese and meat on the nachos.
The carne asada burrito was more like a bean and rice burrito. They didn’t enough meat and greens, but instead, too much rice and beans. I was almost convinced that this was a bean & rice burrito.
— Meat Quality:
The quality of the beef was awful. Filled with cartilage and fat, most of the tacos were inedible. The Nachos also had the same problem. What a disappointment.
.:THE UGLY:.
— Seasoning: EVERYTHING (except the drink) I ordered was SALTY. The carne asada in the tacos and nachos were so salty, we had to wash every bite down with something sweet to drink.
I REALLY hate writing negative reviews for small businesses especially when they are super nice and sweet to me. Unfortunately, I will not be returning again.

The only thing I eat here are the Carne Asada Tacos. Delicious little tacos that you can eat in two bites. Wonderful little treats garnished with cilantro, onions, hot sauce and grease. 3 for about $ 5.95 and for the month of May, 5 for $ 6.75. Or something like that.
Nothing makes working at a shitty corporate office more worth it than these amazing tacos. I love you El Lucero. You are my wet dream.

New in town but we’ve been eating here at least 2 – 3 times/​month.
The prices are ok. They have daily specials listed when you walk in which usually make it easier for me to choose from since I’m not that picky and everything is good (bad Mexican food is not common).
I hear breakfast burritos good too, but I never order at sit down meals. Saturday breakfast is our fav! Chilaquiles, Juevos Rancheros… yum! Some can be a little spicy so ‘cuidado’. Last night I had a light dinner: 2 tacos + drink =$ 4.95. Were good, but I guess Ilike $ 0.99 tacos more for some reason… so I’ll stick to the plated meals & burritos for dinner. Soups change per day (Pozole Fridays).
Groups 2 – 6 no problem, 8 may be ok.
Seems to be family run so staff is limited, but fast & very nice/​friendly. Parking is ample/​free.
Chips and salsa is small 1-​serving bowls so always disappear quickly, but they refill just in time.
Restrooms always clean (please stop stealing the art whoever you are).
Closed on Sundays! Not sure why Jamie A. found them closed on a Saturday at 11am –that seems to be their busiest time.
Just a heads up: I don’t think they have beer or alcohol in their maragritas, but the Jamaica or Horchata drinks are good: serve yourself for $ 2.50. Buen Provecho!

The food here has always been pretty good and really cheap! The street tacos are really tasty. They are really small, so if you’re hungry, you have to order like 5 or 6. I usually order a la carte here because I have never been that impressed with their rice and beans.
One reason I love El Lucero is because of their chips and salsa, so I am disappointed to read Lexie’s review about the chip nazi situation. I haven’t been in a couple months, so I have yet to experience someone denying me chips with my order.
They do have good service. The waitresses are always friendly and helpful.

This has become a regular lunch place with work buds. Like El Pueblito, it’s authentic Mexican fare. They have similar menus but I give the edge to Lucero.
Standouts? I like their chile relleno, chorizo, cocido (Wednesday only — they have a soup of the day for each day of the week). Their soft tacos (asada and pastor) are popular with my buds.