Birrieria Apatzingan

The food is delicious here! I come at least once a week and every plate taste like a home cooked meal. The service is good and I’m very surprise this place isn’t jammed pacjed.

My mom and I go here a lot. The service is great, the portions are decent, and the food is good.
I always get the huchepos– corn tamales with green salsa, Mexican sour cream, and cojita cheese. So delicious.
They also have good selection of homemade aguas frescas.
I’d say if you’re in the area, give it a go.

Beware! $ 10 minimum to pay with credit or debit card. WTF? Cash only or no food. I did not order. This place does not feel right. I will go elsewhere. It was empty only 1 person eating, why?
Like mom used to say
If you go in a Mexican restaurant and there are no Mexicans eating there, go elsewhere!
Thanks mom!

I have tried on numerous occasions going to eat there, but they are always closed.
I’ve even called around 4:00 pm and they tell me they close at 7:00 pm, even though it states that they close at 9:00 pm. And I will go there at 5:30 pm and they are closed.
I really wanted to try this place out, but I’m done driving 30 minutes to this place so they could always be closed.

Authentic Mexican food! Feels like home! The owner is always on site cooking and taking orders. It’s one of cleanest Mexican restaurants in the valley.

Loved the food, and the service. My parents had Birria and the Menudo, I had the camarones and my kids had the tacos … All the food was very delicious. Will be returning :) also the hand made corn tortillas were Da BOMBBBB!!!
Give them a try you won’t regret it …

Your not gonna get Carne Asada tacos anywhere better then this place. Large portions served on delicious home made tortillas. All their items on the menu are authentic and the best you’ll find anywhere in the valley.

5 stars for fresh made tortillas! The combination of fresh made tortillas with delicious birria is delicious. Took me back to when I had the same food at San Juan de Dios in Guadalajara. Incredibly nice staff. I will be back with my wife, mom and sister.

Really good food I drive a while just to get this awesome food also the service it’s really good they serve morisqueta and enchiladas just as they do in my home town in apatzingan ALSo known as the cena that’s whats keep bringing me back

The food is ok, not a lot of choices but the service was so beyond terrible that I would never recommend this place to anyone. Even my worst enemy.

I gave this place a shot after reading Ken L.‘s review below and MAN does that boy deserve some props – thanks, Ken! It was every bit as good as he claimed and then some. Unlike Ken, I can’t claim to be an expert on birria or Mexican-​style chivo but I know good FOOD when I eat it and this was the stuff of dreams – cravings, even.
I had the chivo soup and it was rich and full-​flavored without ever being greasy or heavy. Served in a big bowl with big chunks of goat meat, it was sumptuously spiced as served. You’ll get some onions, cilantro and lime wedges along with it, too, and this perfects what is already delicious. As Ken has already pointed out they make some amazing corn tortillas – the best I’d ever eaten. I broke up one and dropped it into the soup, using the others to make some mini goat rolls – awesome. I also got two al pastor tacos and they, too, were excellent. The dining room featured some old photos of Mexico from the turn of the last century and I found myself wishing Pancho Villa had been successful invading the USA at least as far as the San Fernando Valley, in which case we’d have had better Mexican foods for over a century. I work long hours nearby so I find it truly dismaying how many terrible, mediocre and forgettable restaurants there are but Birrieria Apatzingan #2 ROCKS. By comparison to the local norm it deserves SIX stars. So you can imagine how I felt when the Del Taco across the street, seen from this Apatzingan’s big picture window, was doing a LOT more business than they were. I hope this place can stay in business because I was here at dinnertime and was the only customer. If I were you and if you’re curious about trying this place for yourself, go now because it might not last much longer if business doesn’t pick up. Que lastima!
A few other random observations: there appeared to be only one woman working here and she was super-​nice. Tip her and maybe you WON’T get the rectal cancer that all cheapskates deserve. Put that extra 39 cents in your pocket after paying and you might be taking your chances. You follow? Breakfast sounds awesome here and I will try it soon and report back. The dining room here is pretty big and it might be a GREAT place to throw a party – certainly it wouldn’t cost very much to rent it out and if they can cater your gig you’ll have awesome food at an awesome price.
UPDATE: I’ve been back several times and EVERYTHING I’ve tried has been consistently top-​notch. Also, lunchtime is much, much busier than dinnertime, so hopefully, they’re making out well enough to stay in business. They also started taking credit cards, which is double nice. ROCK ON, Brrieria Apatzingan #2!

Yes, I have an Asian last name, but I know good birria. Let me explain.
I am an honorary Mexican, having been ordained by my friend from Central Mexico, and have lived in Los Angeles for most of my life, and speak some Spanish. But there’s more.
I teach special education, and not to toot my own horn, but… I totally bring it. I care greatly about my kids. The father of one of my students was so happy with how happy her daughter was in my class and how much she had progressed that he decided to make me birria. But this wasn’t just any guy making birria. This was a chef from a nice restaurant in Mexico City, where they kinda know good birria from bad. This birria seca (chivo, of course) was *magnificent*. Piping hot and fresh, unbelievably tender succulent meat, amazing sauce… this was an absolute delight. Flattered that I liked it so much and grateful, he occasionally came over to cook for my staff even after his daughter had graduated. I’ve been lucky with my birria.
But after he moved many years ago, I was birria-​less. Distraught, I searched frantically, looking for a birria that could match it, eating at restaurants, trying their birria, but always leaving disappointed. Too tough, not enough flavor, just really not made right, poor cuts of meat, gristly, boring. Disappointing.
Until today.
Now, I’m not going to lie. Birrieria Apatzingan #2 (#1 is apparently in Pacoima) is not as good as the birria I had years ago. That was beyond heavenly. But the birria here is bursting with flavor, and finally, also tender and succulent with excellent sauce. I got goat, but if you can’t get past this, they also offer beef. I washed the birria down with jugo zanahoria (carrot juice). The plate comes with rice and beans, both good. And it came with four fresh handmade tortillas. And did I mention that the tortillas are freshly handmade? But truly, it’s the birria that wins high praise and inspires this Unilocal post.
Sounds good, right? It gets better. The people are super nice. The chef came out and asked if the food were good (she apparently speaks Spanish mostly since she kept talking to me, an Asian guy who was talking to the waiter in English, in Spanish). I said yes. I not only said that, but also said that she made my favorite birria in the city. She looked very happy, and came back with a little bowl of chile molcajete for me to try. This too was good, but I preferred the birria, which perhaps says more about me than the dish, I don’t know.
Birrieria Apatzingan #2 is on Saticoy Street just west of Balboa Blvd. on the north side of the street. There is parking in the back. It’s a decent-​sized restaurant with high ceilings and orange and yellow walls. They serve beer and also have seafood, Apatzingan-​style soups, tortas, gorditas, burritos, tacos, dishes with nopales, breakfast, juices, horchata, and more. And they have champurrado, which earns points with me. I didn’t have champurrado because today was hot, but maybe later. The prices are definitely reasonable. My birria seca with chivo was $ 8.50, including the rice and beans. The menus that I saw are in Spanish, so if you don’t bring Spanish, bring a little pocket dictionary with you or ask the waiter. They also take only cash.
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UPDATE: You know a place is freakin’ delicious if I circle back to give it another rave review, almost exactly a year to the day later. Is six stars possible?
Just a few minutes ago, I had the birria again. My Spanish is okay, and I sometimes have trouble with regional specialties, but anyway, I ordered the birria de chivo. Some minutes after, the very kind lady brought out a glorious piping hot bowl of birria swimming in mouth-​watering soup, with juicy flavorful chunks of meat, some on the bone, most not. You just don’t want to waste a drop of this yummy concoction. I don’t know if it’s my imagination or what, but I think this dish may have even been better since the first time I came here.
Accompanying this was a plate of cilantro and diced onions, a salsa for the birria specifically, and four handmade corn tortillas. These are some of the best tortillas I’ve had in Los Angeles, tasty and substantial.
I drank this with agua de tamarindo, which was tasted fresh and delicious, and was surprisingly large for only $ 2.50.
I don’t think I mentioned how good the chips are either. Tasty, with a nice lightness to them. I devoured these too.
I was happy to see that each time I come back, there’s more people coming. I hope this place is around for a long time.
As I mentioned before, the people don’t speak very much English. But please please please do not let this scare you off. They are so kind, and they do speak a bit of English and will help you. But more importantly than that, you want great food, don’t you? Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be reading this. This is not only a very specific regional specialty, but it’s darned great food.