Wow how things have changed since my last review 6 years ago. The food itself is still excellent tasting, the carnitas are soft and I still stand by that they have the best mexican rice I've ever tasted to the point where I will come back just for the rice. Now the not so good. Prices have increased dramatically, I get that inflation has increased prices everywhere, but I feel like this place just took it too far especially compared to their competition not more than 5 miles away. Within a year their 1lb family meal increased by $6. It used to be the family meal was a pretty good value, but if you price everything out now, it's just the normal price of everything included in the meal, no savings at all. I mean a large rice is now almost $8! For rice! Another issue is portion. My last visit I ordered 2 tacos and a small rice. The rice container wasn't even filled all the way, used to be that thing was filled to the brim. The tacos were a little light on the carnitas is the kindest way to say it. It used to be the tacos were big enough to make 3 separate tacos, but recently it's about half of what they used to give you but at nearly double the price. I still contend that this is a good spot, they have a great salsa bar(dine in only), the tortillas are still taste homemade, and once again, the rice is worth coming back for. My suggestion would be just to buy the carnitas by the pound, get an order of tortillas and eat in to take advantage of the salsa bar instead of getting charged the ridiculous prices they're charging for those things. For a more affordable option, Carnitas Mi Rancho on Saviers. They're rice is not as good and neither are their tortillas, but the carnitas are on point and everything is still affordable. read more

This is the only place for carnitas en Oxnard --yes this is the best place to eat carnitas with hand made tortillas . I believe the just opened another location in Ventura, go try it out you will be very pleased. read more

Tasty, Authentic, reasonably priced, simple, and fast! Carnitas El Rey was everything I was hoping it would be. After reading some reviews online, I called in to place an order. I went by around 3pm on a Sunday and it was pretty crowded. I was the only white guy in the entire place, and clearly out of my element. However, due to the simple menu it was no problem placing an order. I was passed to a couple different people since quite a few of the workers didn't speak english. I ordered 2 lb combo and it was enough to last a family of 4 for 2-3 meals! The food was just really really good. I had run the M2B Marathon earlier in the day, and this was just what the doctor ordered. Although the M2B Marathon was very poorly planned and I barely missed by BQ, Carnitas El Rey made me feel much better. I look forward to my next time in Oxnard so that I can stop by again and double up. I can't stop thinking about the food and really need to get back! read more

Great food. Fast service. Good price. I always order the two taco combo. Soooo yummy! Highly recommend! read more

This place is great. It's carnitas estilo Michoacan! The owners are humble and often volunteer their time/food to church festivals. I really enjoy their homemade tortillas and the delicious salsas. What I love about the salsa is that it is not watered down at all . I highly recommend it. What's amazing about this place is that it started off as a home business and with hard work, delicious food - it had now grown into a few locations through VC. I think they're in Oxnard, Moorpark, Fillmore and maybe be in other cities as well. They sell food until they sell out and they often do. read more

This place definitely deserves the street tacos award! Their carnitas were incredible, like, I want to drive out to Oxnard at least 2x a month incredible! They were friendly, fast and efficient. One taco was filling enough for me, as they were massive. They're not skimpy on the tacos at all. The salsas complimented the carnitas perfectly. As we ate, the line kept growing to the point where it was outside of the door! Their food is delicious! The rice was also really good. I recommend everyone to take a trip down to Oxnard, look at the farm stores, hang by the beach, and eat some carnitas el rey! read more

Carnitas El Rey - The massive tacos and 2lbs of carnitas in the background - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

This place is awesome. For the amount of portions and taste to price ratio this place is at the top. Simple menu and quick service make for a great lunch spot. Ordered a one taco combination plate based on the size of tacos. Thankful for my decision as I was barely able to finish my plate. The carnitas were full of flavor. Admittedly some big fatty pieces but easily able to distinguish and remove if necessary. For a little over $6, this is a steal. Recommend if you have wandered into old Oxnard. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Taco combination plate - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

Too pricey. Their Jamaica drink was not my favorite. Overall the food was good. Service was also good

First timer! I had friends from Australia visiting and they wanted authentic Mexican food. They loved the tacos! They even had a vegan option for me! I definitely recommend this restaurant. read more

El servicio es bueno y rapido, y de la comida ni se diga, Simplemente las mejores carnitas que hay en el condado de ventura !!! read more

I go here all the time simply cooked carnitas tacos is all you're gonna get but you won't want anything else

Definitely the king of carnitas!! Awesome place! Fantastic food. We've been going there for years and now we are extremely excited that we'll have a new location close to us in Ventura. If you are visiting for the first time don't be afraid to ask them for mixed carnitas (all the different textures and flavors complement each other). We love the 2 lbs family combo, for $50 4 people eat well for lunch and dinner (we also eat more than the average joe, so make that 6 people... ). I can't say enough about their food, in fact, let me just go get me some Carnitas El Rey right now... bye! read more

Great tacos. One of my favorite places to eat love going here. Definitely recommend. Very nice place to sit down and enjoy food with family. Employees are very helpful and fast. read more

Very AMAZINGLY GREAT Mexican food. Very nice people inside too. Very friendly. Got a taco combo and burrito. Honestly, again, asked what was good. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

See all

If you are looking for carnitas this is the best place I have tried north of the border! There is always a line on weekends so prepare to wait. It's worth the wait though. read more

We should've known that with "carnitas" being in their name that carnitas would be the only thing they serve here. A little disappointed that there were no other meats to choose from, but once we sat down and ate it, I felt a little ridiculous, because it was soooo good. It was the star, and nothing else mattered. The tortilla they give you was really good, too, and their rice and beans. But I think dirt would've tasted just as good next to their carnitas. You have a choice of mixed parts or just the regular carnitas meat. The mixed has other parts that we opted not to have, even though we would've eaten it anyway. We just wanted to taste their regular carnitas. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

The tacos are amazing!! I only ordered one and it was like a burrito. I had the taco mixto and I was so satisfied. One of the best taco mixto I've had. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Taco mixto - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

I love Carnitas estilo Michoacan, the tortillas are good and salsas delirious, friendly service

Good and tasty Highly recommended!!!! Great place to bring the family food is mouthwatering and friedly service read more

We stopped by again to try. Not surprisingly is just as good as we remember if not possibly a little more impressive. I bought a one pound combo they came with six tortillas... Delicious! So the very next day we stop by again because I have a rental property by the beach and had an electrician coming do some work. I ended up buying 2 more 1 pound family Combo boxes. I gave one to my tenant and the other to my electrician. They both thought it was fabulous! My electrician told me he had heard about this place but had never tried it until now. As good as it is and as super-friendly as a staff had been... I can only give it 4 stars and not five. Their location and a dining inside is a bit of a penalty. Lack of parking and quality facilities for an "in restaurant" experience come up low. Otherwise for some really super delicious homestyle carnitas this place is the bomb! read more

See all

BEST. Carnitas. Ever... I will start with that. Carnitas El Rey serves the best tasting carnitas I've ever had. It's cheap, tasty and you will leave stuffed. We went there on the advice of my good high school friend who lives in the area. We were in town for the weekend to attend the Strawberry Festival and wanted to know a good place for tacos. He said Carnitas El Rey. I listened. It was an early Saturday afternoon. We found metered street parking half a block away. When you walk in, you smell the porky goodness in the air. You know right then and there it's going to be good. There were 2 lines leading to 2 separate stations. Each station can do it all. Make you tacos, or package you carnitas by the pound. They also get your sides and drinks at either station. When it was my turn, I went with one carnitas taco ($2.50) and one carnitas taco 'surtido' style meaning mixed meat ($2.50). The surtido order came as a recommendation from my good buddy to try it that way. You get the regular carnitas meat, some pig skin and offal. First of all, I was warned that these tacos are huge and to order only 1. Of course, I didn't listen & ordered 2 and shared a small side order of rice. The tacos ARE huge. They are the size of a picnic paper plate. Piled with a lot of meat and enough to fill you up. Just one taco. The carnitas was flavorful and moist. It was delicious. The tacos come with so much meat. You can have a meal with this over rice or 2 more tortillas to make more tacos. The mixed meat or surtido version was also very good. It had some skin, some regular meat and what looked to be intestine. It was also very tasty and gave you different textures. The flavors were of course more complex in the surtido version. Both were delicious. Both were so inexpensive. You sit there and wonder why you cant have a Carnitas El Rey closer to home. Service was super friendly, especially the young lady at the register. It was very busy being that it was lunch time but she thanked us for waiting and really made us feel right at home with her friendly attitude. CASH ONLY. Carnitas only. They do have restrooms. There is a salsa bar. Bottled soda/drinks or soda fountain are the options. Beer also... When in the area, I will for sure stop in again and have ONE taco and take a pound of carnitas home. read more

Outstanding carnitas, tortillas, beans, variety of salsas and Mexican rice. No nonsense type of place. Just delicious, simple food!

Great food , love the carnitas, I try to stop by at least once a month and feast like a king

Bomb carnitas! Their specialty is carnitas and they sell rice, beans, tortillas and salsa to go with it. Fantastic flavor! read more

Best Carnitas I have ever had!!! Highly recommended, I recommend you at least have a taco there, fresh tortillas and the portion on one taco is super generous!! Get a mixto taco you will not regret it. read more

Orden familiar 1lb de carnitas, arroz, frijoles, salsas y tortillas, Salsa bar for dine in, riquísimas carnitas. Se los recomiendo! read more

Carnitas El Rey - Orden familiar 1lb de carnitas, arroz, frijoles, salsas y tortillas, Salsa bar for dine in, riquísimas carnitas. Se los recomiendo! - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

Excellent carnitas, yummy rice and friendly helpful service. Carnitas El Rey has become a family favorite.

The tacos are delicious. Carnitas El Rey went to my daughter's school for a fundraiser and my family and I ordered tacos de carnitas. They were very flavorful. Customer service was excellent. Very kind and friendly. read more

Awesome food and service. Don't bring your vegetarian friends here. Best carnitas I've had in a long time. The reviews don't do this place justice. We need a scratch and sniff sticker for reviews lol read more

Been coming to this this place since they open food is good but customer service not so great anymore. I wanted a 1lb of carnitas and costillas were gone :(. I didn't like that when I was going to pay the girl weighed my order 3 times then mumbled something to someone else and went through my order and started pulling meat out when I asked her what was going on taught maybe there was something in my carnitas and she said nothing it just has to be exact weight ?? Not sure what that was about just taught it was weird and awkward I felt like I was stealing something that I was going to pay for. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

These guys do ONLY one thing and one thing very very good....pork carnitas Located in the downtown area of Oxnard and a very Hispanic neighborhood, these guys do a phenomenal Carnitas tacos....different parts of the Carnitas like the innards and the intestines and the fatty skin part and of course the meat but only pork...I had two tacos and a jarritos 12 bucks and it was absolutely delicious....Oh I got some rice too and that was on point....so if you ever get to downtown Oxnard, where all the Hispanics llive and work, this little place that has a walk up counter and a few tables is absolutely a gem....so give it a try and experience real Mexican Carnitas tacos...gracias amigos read more

See all

Update review, had stopped in a few weeks back while visiting a client -a definite must, since I'm not always in Ventura County anymore. Will happily confirm that everything I had said on my previous reviews is still on. And, I dare say, that Carnitas El Rey is serving the best Carnitas in VC, LA, & OC; yet to find any place that makes it better. The meat is clean tasting, very rich pork flavor that is so well handled that it is juicy from the first bite to the last. Order after order, I have had the same delicious taco for the last several years; a model of consistency and quality. Note: my preference is to go with the mix, a little of everything chopped up together; meat, skin, & off meat blended together. it's very rich when you have the collagen from the pork skin blended into the meat, but it is so satisfying when the taco is topped with a squeeze of lime and salsa. read more

Carnitas El Rey - da best! - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

We usually only come in & get 2 pounds of carnitas & take it to go! Since I'm an early riser I usually come in 1st thing in the morning & get them chopped up! Its a lot & we only get meat. The only thing I don't appreciate is being preassumed to leave a tip! (This is optional, not mandatory) I tip when I feel appropriate. Other then that its pretty good, not dry when you get 1st thing at opening! read more

Great carnitas and really large portion provided, I could only finish two tacos. Wish there was a bit more flavor, but the salsa bar is a plus read more

Hands down the best place to get carnitas just make sure you call ahead so you know what days they close early or what day they are close. Amazing food and tasty as well. read more

This place used to be very good I just recently purchased a pound of carnitas with half an order of tortillas and salsa, the carnitas were not hot and the tortillas didn't seem to be fresh made. Not the same place as far as food goes. I have to say the service was very good. This place used to be jam-packed with people, now it's completely empty, not giving you a very good feeling as before, the lines were out the door. Granted the parking is horrible. read more

I have been seeing this place on Yelp for a while, and I was finally able to invite one of my friends to come along to experience this. And, what a pleasant surprise to see another Yelper right out front! It was actually because of his review, that I chose this place finally for lunch. What you've read about the line is true: it is actually out the front door. But it went very quickly and I appreciated the toned-down menu. I made the mistake of ordering 2 tacos because I (again, wrongly) pictured Street Tacos. WRONG WRONG WRONG! Their tacos are GINORMOUS. Huge. Flavorful. Hot. Amazing. The staff was very helpful with my broken Spanish, and the girl who rang up my order was so friendly. I really appreciated that treatment. That is what customer service should be like. I got an extra tortilla and it was a little bit of heaven in my mouth. I'm not joking, either. I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone and everyone. You won't be disappointed. read more

Carnitas El Rey - Holy. Crap. AMAZING! 4/18/17 - Tacos Near Me - Oxnard, California

I'm big on sharing spots I always take my guests from out of town to, or visitors at work- Carbitas El Rey is always at the top of my list. Home in the wall location in Oxnard but worth the wait when finding a parking spot. You feel like family when you order and it's the best carnitas you will find. read more

Carnitas had tons of fat...It was super busy and very popular place but I don't like Carnitas with fillers.

This is an awesome place for breakfast. The carnitas always taste great. I love ordering the family meal that includes the rice, beans, and salsa. The red salsa is the best! Prices have gone up a bit. Still a great place overall. read more