La Fogata

Good food tastes great post-​hike in nearby Pinnacles National Park. Good gets 3.5 stars plus .5 star for great value.

So I heard about this place for traditional Mexican food and went on a whim. A small, humble place that feels like home; like mama cooking in the kitchen. I tried their Molcajete dish– with strips of carne asada, chicken slices, nopales, slices of fresh avocado, queso fresco with a delicious red mildly spicy sauce and hand made tortillas. Oh my goodness, t was incredible!!! Even all the way from San Jose (45 min. away) I come for this dish because you simply cannot get that dish with that quality any where else. The pricing was so reasonable. Please don’t ever stop making it Fogata! I recommend this to everyone! My husband ate of my plate the entire time so he gets to order his own next time. He tried a breakfast burrito, which he said was really tasty and I remember being huge. Another time he orders a breakfast egg dish, also really yummy. You can’t can’t go wrong with this little gem of a place.

Just ate at La Fogata for the first time. Super delicious home made Mexican food! Ana helped us and recommend the hand made tacos, super delicious that I placed an order to go for my mom to try them. The restaurant is simple, clean, great customer service and good! We travel a lot from Sac to King City, now we have found a place to eat on our way home.

Terrible food. Terrible service. Will not be returning. No flavor in the rice or beans. Smallest dry enchiladas I’ve ever seen. Tasted microwaved and beyond dry. Server forgot to bring out drinks and silverware until we asked after we had our food. Even charged extra for a refill of chips and salsa. Server only cared about watching her soap opera than serving her only table.

If you like mom and pop places — not fancy but home-​cooked authentic — this is the place to go after a fun hike at Pinnacles National Park. Their salsas are made right there and so good that I would order a container to go. Their dishes are savory. It’s a small hidden gem in a small town. I would say there was a significant change for the good in the past 2 years and reasonably priced.

Stopped here with the family after a day of hiking at The Pinnacles. Needless to say, we were all starving. Immediately was served a basket of chips with the most amazingly fresh and flavorful salsas, both red and green. Yes, it’s true, the meals came out one at a time but we didn’t care. They were worth the wait. Cheese enchiladas in green sauce, chorizo burrito, machaca con huevos, chili relleno, molcajete. Everything was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Lots of yummy sounds and happy faces at our table. I will venture to say that this was done of the most amazing Mexican food I’ve ever had. Can’t wait to go back!

5 tacos for 5 bucks! Just load up trucks.

This place recently changed owner. It retains the same menu plus a breakfast selection that has never been offered before. To be honest the food is fair and in no way inspiring. The service is lacking due to the inexperience of the wait staff, food comes as it is prepared (one by each) and you may find that you dinner is cold by the time the others have arrived… The chips were stale (my guess a big Costco bag) and the salsa nothing more than tomato sauce from a can… My friend did say the mole’ was very good… I say give em’ a chance to get settled and work out the bugs (Not real ones). My tastes tend to run to the authentic and this place has a looooong way to go. RB

great value, excellent food, good service!

This place is where flapjacks used to be. The strength of flapjacks was the fun and friendly and quirky owners and the food was good. This restaurant is on my way home from work… and it would be great if I could stop and get food on the way home (the cook at the Paicines store knocks of too early for me to get food there) So, I was excited about the prospect of the food there… So, I stopped there tonight hoping to grab some food to go and know I have a great new place to stop once or twice a week…
I go in. two tables have patrons and there is a guy behind the counter. I walk up, smile and look at the menu… the guy never even acknowledges me! he wont even look up. finally, another patron comes up and asks for salsa (he had apparently already requested) and he hands it to him…
I wait another couple of minutes and finally… I just turn and walk out. I WILL NEVER RETURN and any chance I get (when the locals out here get together they talk) I will recount the experience and what a complete JERK the shaved head guy was.
You can only be an unfriendly person in the country for so long… the tourists may pay some of the bills, but I would have been a great regular and a positive voice about the place (provided the food was good) WHICH I NEVER GOT TO TRY.
If you read my other reviews, I’ve never had to write a negative one… but, now I have.
If I could give them a ZERO, I would. MAJOR FAIL.

Best mole in Tres Pinos, near Hollister! Had the chicken enchilada with homemade oaxacan mole, and the food was delicious! Mole was a bit spicy and the enchilada was stuffed with chicken. Apparently, they eat their mole 15 times spicier at home. Would like to be invited to eat at their home! The staff was very friendly. If you need to grub after or before hiking or climbing The Pinnacles National Monument or if your’e driving along 25, stop at La Fogata for some delicious Mexican food.

Stopped by La Fogata for brunch and a drink on my way passing through Tres Pinos from Hollister. La Fogata seems to be a chain of mexican restaurants in the Salinas valley and San Benito county. Previously, I have eaten at Tres Pinos next to the old Inn, but this was more of a casual stop for a quick bite before my drive along the 25. The place is small and quaint, the staff is extremely friendly, and the food is delicious. I ordered up a basic breakfast burrito with chorizo con huevos, papas, beans and cheese. I ordered up a Chavela once I spotted it on the menu. It’s not the same as the Super Chavelas we get in San Jose, but it was a tall glass of Modelo, clamato, and white wine. I sat outside in the nice weather and watched all the people that were passing through Tres Pinos. The food was delicious, good sized portions, the salsa was homemade and the chips were not of the store bought variety. The Chavela made the meal complete. If I’m ever driving through and feel like Mexican, then I’d stop at La Fogata, even though there are surprisingly quite a few options to eat in this small township. The owner is friendly and gives it that nice small town touch.