Taco Rosa

Probably my favorite place in Orange County. The food is always great and the staff really take care of you. Talk to my man Amador for the best drinks in OC.

My experience at this Taco Rosa location was a complete disappointment.
I came in with a buy one get one free coupon printed from
prior to ordering. After almost finishing our food, the manager, Pedro, claimed that my coupon was a photocopy and that it won’t be accepted. We explained that the coupon was printed from the website on a black and white printer. He proceeded to explain to me that printing from a black and white printer will print out the pink flower in their logo. We tried to explain to him that black and white printers do NOT print pink or any other color except black. He continued to argue with me that it will and that my coupon was photocopied. I was tired of trying to reason with him and just had to let the matter go.
The manager clearly has no understanding of how printers work and obviously considered me a liar. I also didn’t appreciate that the whole coupon business wasn’t brought up until we were almost finished with our meal — it would have been nice to have the option to leave and enjoy lunch somewhere else.
While that was upsetting enough, after we paid and walked out of the restaurant, we discovered white lint all over our clothes. The cloth napkins had left a mess all over our clothes.
This was a terrible experience. I would not recommend this location to anyone.

We have come here many times and seems in the last 6 months their happy hour discounts have gone from 50% to 40% to 30%. The house wine is low quality and $ 6.50. The salsa is watery as well. This is probably our 10^th time here but the third time in the last month. I still would recommend this due to the complimentary appetizer being very nice quality, their food is very good and the service is good.

An excellent food experience. Everything we had was so amazingly delicious! Looking foward to the time.

We had the Sunday brunch recently. The food was stone cold and and I’m not sure if it would have been good if it were hot. The service was not up to par and the management seemed unconcerned. We will eat at Avila’s in the future.

One of the better, authentic Mexican restaurants and a regular stop for the family. The service and food is very good. What stands out is they offer a small complimentary starter for each person that can range from tamales to a mini taco to get your taste buds going.
We usually sit in the patio area which is nice.
The parking is easy because it’s located in the corner of a shopping center.

Authentic tacos with nice outdoor seating. Great place to enjoy drinks and Mexican food

I was surprisingly pleased with taco rosa overall! I came once a long time ago and then recently came again with a friend for dinner on a Saturday night.
I was surprised that the place was pretty empty because the food is good in my opinion.
I ordered a 2 taco plate. One fish taco and one veggie. Both really good. I wasn’t a huge fan of the orange tortilla chips, they didn’t seem fresh… We also got the guacamole appetizer to share which was a big portion — loved it. Probably the best part of the meal.
For dessert, my sweet toothed friend convinced me that we have to get something so we got the churros to share. WAY too much sugar on there. Also, I like churros that are light and fluffy, this one had a hard shell. Seemed old.
Regardless, I would still come back for the appetizers and dinner. Not a bad place to go if you’re craving some Mexican food.

We used to go here all the time and the food was fabulous. For some reason the food quality has gone DOWN HILL FAST.
For an appetizer we ordered the Jalepeno Rellenos and they were cold inside almost as if they were microwaved after being frozen. I ordered the Carne Asada special. It came out as a very thin piece of previously frozen steak. Gross.
What happened to Taco Rosa!!!

Really loved their chicken taquitos (pollo) they are super yummy and delicious, disappointed with our server as he was upset with everyone and tried to be a smart a** but didn’t work. Other then the smart littler server, food was wonderful and I would go back!

I use to love this place. Their Sunday brunch was amazing. WAS!
Everything I mean everything was cold and old. Missing many items I once had. I will not be back. Sad because this was one of my families favorite Sunday brunch destinations.
Service was great. The bartender could not of been any better. The food was just horrible.
My last visit was over a year ago. What happened?

Best sit-​down Mexican Restaurant in the OC! Great food, good service, great atmosphere! We did have to flag down our waiter because he took forever to come take our order after serving us drinks and he was a bit strange but I’ve had worse service and I still had a good enough experience to keep it at 5 stars.
I had the Mediterranean Sea Bass Fajitas, which is good since lots of Mexican restaurants do not offer fish fajitas. I don’t know if the cost is a reason but the sea bass was $ 24 as opposed to the chicken, which was $ 17. I didn’t pay for the meal so it was worth it but had I been pressed for money, I would have just gone for the chicken. My friend had the chicken fajitas and it tasted fine.
The house Margaritas are great. They are served in large glasses so you definitely get a good amount. One or two drinks is probably all you need.
The food portions are very large, if you are not that hungry I suggest sharing a platter, especially since most come with both rice and beans.
A pet-​peeve of mine is when a Mexican restaurant doesn’t include free chips and salsa to start. To me, it’s not Mexican food without the chips and salsa. Normally it is a $ 3 charge so not horrible but still annoying.
The two times we went we were given apps on the house! The first was delicious potato taquitos and this time we were given cheese empanadas. Both of which were absolutely delish! Will definitely be back!

On May 8, 2015 I attended a graduation up the street from Taco Rosa so it was the perfect place to have dinner after. It was my first time at this restaurant. Located in the same center as a grocery store, parking is plentiful. We sat on the patio which was a little crowded.
Negatives: service was slow, slow, slow! We were seated immediately but it took a while to receive our drinks. Our food took so long to get that I actually thought that our server forgot to put in our order.
Postives: easy parking, server was friendly, the food was tasty.
We shared a guacamole appetizer and then I ordered a taco combo which came with two tacos and an enchilada. Everyone loved their food but it did not make up for the incredibly slow service.

Been here many times. Usually for a happy hour special or for taco Tuesday. Granted there are cheaper places to get Mexican but the food quality here is better and it tastes good. They bring out complementary chips and salsa and about 70 to 80% of the time I am there they will bring out a free taster appetizer for us to try while waiting for food. I feel like that is a smart business move, making guests feel special and not as anxious while waiting for entrees. Anything with their carne asada is delicious but unfortunately its never a part of their specials. Oh my, the chocolate covered churros are a treat! I always experience good service here.

We came here for Taco Tuesday + Cinco de Mayo and thankfully, we got a reservation. We arrived on time for happy hour for the drinks and the Taco Tuesday menu that runs from 3−10pm. We ordered several guacamoles for our tables, each serving enough for 2 people.
I had the blackened white shrimp and calamari tacos for $ 7. I’m not a fan of corn tortillas, but they make them fresh here and you can watch! The shrimp taco was amazing! We were never hurried despite it being busy.
Good food and vibes strangely located in a shopping center (ACE Hardware and Vons).

So, it had been about three years since my last visit to Taco Rosa. When I arrived, some seating areas had been modified and the food was in a different layout. Not surprising since they accommodate many more people than back then. I walked up and was told there would be a wait, which I could understand for a Sunday. I turned around to tell the others in my party, but to my surprise, the owner recognized me, asked me where I had been all this time and escorted me to immediate seating in the bar area. $ 25 got me all the food I could eat and all the mimosas I could drink! Such a deal for Newport Beach. The omelettes are fantastic. The enchiladas and flan are
as well. Always a pleasure and I will for sure be coming back. The rest of the brunch buffet isn’t super spectacular, hence the 4 stars.

I got a coupon for a buy one entrée get the second free, so I came to try this place out because it never caught my attention. After trying this place out, I was not impressed at all.
First, the service. Although we were greeted immediately and seated after waiting for 5 minutes, it took a while for them to even bring us a drink and for the waiter to come take our order. Overall, he was way too busy weighing tables to focus on just one, but damn it shouldn’t take 15 minutes to put our appetizer order in. Service here sucked.
Secondly, the food. Menu seemed good. We got the most popular item according to the waiter, which were the tacos al filete. Tacos al filete were good, but Brie on carne Asada tacos tasted kind of funky. The burrito I got was horrible and too dry. The queso fun dido was good until I got burnt pieces.
Overall, food was not impressive.
Parking here is in a shopping center and was kind of hard to find.

After trying Taco Rosa out, I’m fairly certain it’s the more mature older sister of El Torito. I came to this conclusion after coming here for lunch with a friend. There’s a nice outdoor patio area that I chose to sit at but overall, it wasn’t that busy and you can pick to sit wherever your heart desires.
The menu is so physically huge that I felt like a kid reading his first book. The selection is decent. I ended up going with the carnitas pibil because it sounded delicious. It came presented very well on a nice sizzling platter with rice, a tamale and some red tortillas. Unfortunately, the pork was dry. I had to drown it in the sauce that they provided so it would be easier to eat. I’m no pig expert, but I’m fairly certain slow cooked pork isn’t supposed to be dry. I mean it’s practically cooking in its own fat right?
My dish also came with some pork belly beans and guacamole. I have to say these were quite good by itself. Good chunkiness from the avocados and beans still had some texture instead of being way too mushed up like other places tend to cook them.
I decided to go with 3 stars here because my friend enjoyed her dish, which was the special of the day. I may have gotten some bad pork or maybe I have heightened expectations. Regardless, the server was very nice. We didn’t understand a word he said but very nice and he checked up on us multiple times to make sure our dining experience was good.

It’s been a while since I’ve been single, let alone been on a date. So when a cute guy invited me to dinner, I said yes. We shared margaritas (just ok) and a great amouse Bouche which was a mini sopa.
For our meal we ordered a number two and both spicy calamari tacos and langostino tacos. Best parts were the mini sopas and the calamari tacos!
Ambience wise the restaurant was mellow. Service was very attentive. But wow was the restaurant extremely hot temperature wise! All in all I had a great time and would return

Taco Rosa has reasonably priced Mexican fare that is better than anything else you are going to find in the area.
Mexican food in the bluffs area of Newport Beach is… rough. Getting a serious taco is a chore and I have still to find a mole that isn’t laughable. Rick Bayless has Red O nearby, but that is hardly «Mexican». So I have to admit with their indoor taco machine, varied menu, and all Hispanic staff I was excited to find Taco Rosa.
The bar is huge and largely vacant outside of rush dinner hours which is troubling. The service has always been spot on, without that feigned tourist style friendliness I so despise. They also offer a huge buffet on Sundays that I avoid because I hate buffets. The outside seating area is expansive and the whole restaurant is large, open and airy.
I love Ceviche. These guys have a GREAT pair of choices in Ceviche. The Octopus Ceviche is marinated then tossed in lime with red onion, serrano, tomato, and cilantro. They do a great job making sure that the Octopus isn’t gummy, a well founded fear of mine. The Camarón Ceviche (that is Shrimp son, get it together…) is more complex with lime (and I think) orange juice with cucumber, tomato, red onion, cilantro, serrano and avocado. The serrano peppers give this dish a slow burn, which I loved.
Their Carne Asada Tacos are righteous, as are the Langosta Lobster Tacos. My favorite has to be the Blackened Calamari Tacos that feature Chipotle sauce, cabbage, fresh cream and Cojita. Ugh, I am hungry now.
If you are in the area and feeling Mexican within an 8 mile radius, this is about all you have so partake my friend.