I have worked in the area for 5 years and only now stumbled on Cortijo Grill and their famous beef lomo saltado which combined succulent beef, rice, onion, tomato and French fries (you are reading this correctly) and other Peruvian spices. The portion was massive and I left completely full after arriving quite hungry. the service was very good as well. I had to wait to get seated but only because there was one server (however there was no need for two). The venue itself looks rather plain on the outside but when you walk in you see 5 or 6 tables for the restaurant itself that could each seat 4 people and then on the opposite end of the room you see event seating that could easily fit 50 or more people. This would be a fantastic place for people to have a small wedding reception after getting married at the Old Courthouse or some other place in and around Santa Ana. I am definitely looking forward to making another trip soon to Cortijo and may even try the chicken or shrimp version of the same dish. read more

This place has so much to choose from and it is very reasonably priced. I had the steak salad and it was very filling. I definitely want to come back and see what else I can try on this menu. read more

Cortijo Grill - Steak salad - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Your tastebuds will hit the jackpot here. We were craving Peruvian food, especially anticuchos, and did we score!! We just LOVE a hidden gem and Cortijo Grill is it. Yes, there's construction going on but it's definitely worth the effort. In fact, my Peruvian said we're going to be trying everything on the menu. So far, we're off to a fantastic start: anticuchos, tacu tacu with Lomo Saltado and tallarin verde with steak. Everything was perfectly cooked. The flavors amazing! This is what it's supposed to taste like. TIP: anticuchos marinate all day and are not ready until after 4 - and well worth the wait. In fact, they made a special effort to make some for us because we came in especially for them and were too early. Give this quaint neighborhood gem a try, and you'll definitely be back again and again. Just like us. read more

We finally got to try this place. I dont know what was happening but we tried to go a few times and it was closed. Glad we never gave up, their green sauce is probably the best we had in awhile. We couldnt get enough of it. We tried the Beef Lomo Saltado and Beef Tallarin Verde. Great portions but both were a little too salty for us. We thought it was just our dish but when we tried each other's dish, we both agreed that they both had too much salt. Luckily, we got a free soda when we checked in to wash the saltiness down. We hope it was just a fluke because we want to go back to try the other dishes. read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Relatively small but clean place. There is karaoke on Friday's and Saturday's nights. Based on the signs it looks very popular. The lomo saltado was well seasoned. I wish it would have had a little more juice but the flavor was right. Also, I understand that is hard to have multiple types of potatoes but lomo saltado should really use the equivalent to steak fries and not French fries. I like to come back and try other options to see how they do. The service was good. The waitress was attentive and the service was prompt. She checked on me 3 times which is more than you get at many places. read more

Cortijo Grill - Lomo saltado - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Got takeout lomo saltado with the hubby. It was good but there was way too much sauce that it made the fried super soggy and portions were a bit small for the price. The meat was flavorful and the rice was cooked well. I personally would want more vegetables in mine (only two slices of tomatoes in each of our dishes). Still very tasty but I think this is the kind of place you want to sit and eat at to get the best experience. read more

Cortijo Grill - Lomo Saltado - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

On my return visit, I opted for the pesto 'tallarin verde' with spaghetti. It was phenomenal, easily one of the best pastas I've had. Highly recommend this restaurant! read more

Cortijo Grill - Tallarin Saltado Pollo - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Ordered the Lomo Saltado for takeout and was a bit disappointed unfortunately. I like my food well seasoned and full of flavor but there was way too much salt in the sauce for this dish. It was very difficult to eat because it was like a salt bomb in each bite. Usually rice is able to balance the saltiness of a dish but since there was so much sauce, it soaked into the rice making it hard to enjoy. It would have been an enjoyable meal if it wasn't as salty as it was. The beef wasn't bad, the fries had a nice texture, and the onions and tomatoes were fresh. The portion was definitely good as well so it is unfortunate that they messed up on seasoning. Maybe I'll give them another try in the future to see if it was a one time mistake? I will update my review if that happens to be the case :) read more

Cortijo Grill - Lomo Saltado - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

The service good but the food it's salty dry and burned chicken and rice maybe cooked for long time ago read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

I loved the food, service and ambiance that this restaurant provided to me last night. We came for dinner and I had The salteado pollo with noodles and the hubs had lomo salteado steak with rice! Omg it was fire. I highly recommend if you like fresh ingredients and food to come here. Your taste buds will thank you! We walked out and didn't feel stuffed or over fed we felt just right and we will definitely be coming back soon. There's plenty of parking in the back, I heard the cashier say that there was karaoke at 8pm (perhaps next time we will come for that). read more

We were craving lomo saltado and this popped up on our Yelp so we decided to try it! Very interesting place (looks sketchy outside, inside of the restaurant is dark, and they have super loud live music karaoke at night). If you look past that, their lomo saltado is freaking delicious! The meat is tender and well seasoned, crispy fries, and their spicy sauce just tops it all off *chef's kiss* Also their customer service is a great and efficient. This place easily became my favorite Peruvian restaurant in OC. Highly recommend if you're in the area and want some bomb lomo saltado! read more

We arrived with our baby very hungry and asked our server Natalia to modify some food for our baby and she made it possible. She was very helpful with food recommendations. We had rice and shrimp, Leche de Tigre, calamari and Yuka, mracuya and chicha morada drink, and helado lucuma and alfajor cookies. The place is very nice and clean. The food have big portions and very delicious. Amazing service. I highly recommend this place! A hidden Gem! read more

I work in downtown Santa Ana and never knew this little place existed until I had a sudden craving for Peruvian food. Located off 17th & Ross, across from Big Savers Food. Parking is in the back. I called using the Yelp App and somehow the number didn't want to connect. I handdialed the number and someone did answer the phone. I wanted the Tallarin Saltado, the spaghetti noodles with chicken. The order was ready in 15 minutes, piping hot and smelled so good. It came with a container of the famous Peruvian green sauce. I took it home and it was made exactly how I wanted it. They use linguine instead of spaghetti, but no biggie. Plenty of chicken and 3 chunks of tomatoes. The sauce was a bit salty but since it was probably soy sauce, its not a surprise. Normally Peruvian places gives you a lot of food, like leftovers even if 2 people share it. This place? Not so much. I actually ate the entire container in 1 sitting. So either I was starving, or the portion I got wasn't so generous, especially for $14. Had it been a bit more generous in noodles, I'd gladly give it 5 stars. So it's a strong 4 star experience for me. read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Really darn tasty chicken!! If you are craving juicy tender cooked to perfection whole rotisserie chicken then this is the spot for you my friend! I had previously dined in and ordered their rotisserie chicken which did not disappoint! The portions are very generous if you are starving and they even have alcoholic beverages. This time I ordered to go and for only $20 you get a whole rotisserie chicken and two sides. I got their crispy french fries and salad. My food was perfectly packaged and when I got home I was surprised to see a huge box of french fries and salad! Literally this meal feeds four people easily! The chicken was cut into quarters which made it easier to enjoy and they even gave us 5 green sauce packs which taste delicious with the chicken and french fries! read more

CLOSED!! Signs say they are open during construction but definitely closed. Gates are locked!!! Message to owner: if you're closed on Tuesday like you say, then please update your hours on Yelp to avoid customers going there or ordering for pickup. Currently Yelp and Google says you're open 11am to 5pm. read more

I'll update the post based on how the food is but service is awful. We called in an order for pick up. They said it'll take 20-25 min. We show up 25 min later. They don't have our order ready and they can't find it. So another 20 min later after waiting in the car we go pick up our order. We ask to use the yelp promotion for a free soda and the girl at the register says she can't give us the free soda Bc the manager isn't in. In addition she hits us with a "convenience charge" not informing us beforehand she will do so. read more

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Again.. ordered from them online at 8:50 pm On Saturday night... took my money.. it was closed at 9:21 when I thought my order would be ready. read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Service was fantastic. Food was amazing definitely will come back and definitely o recommend to everyone to come try. read more

Cortijo Grill - Papa a la huancaina - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Rice is ok. Green sauce could use some seasonings. Chicken was a bit dry, like it had been reheated. Side salad was tasty, but I can see how others may think it's in the salty side. read more

I've been around the block when it comes to Peruvian food. Being Mexican myself, it feels blasphemous to say just how much I love Peruvian food. I have been everywhere from San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, and Miami trying out Peruvian spots because as we all know, every house cooks with a different recipe. THAT BEING SAID, if you know how Peruvian food is, you KNOW what Lomo Saltado is supposed to taste like. Man oh man, have I had some bad Lomo Saltado. After moving to Southern California and trying 3-4 different Peruvians spots, I almost gave up because I just wasn't satisfied. So here we are today, giving Peruvian in the area one last shot, and I come across El Cortijo. I decide hey, 30 minute drive there and back, if it's good food I know it'll be worth it; so I set off on my journey for a decent lunch. Upon getting here, I'm able to tell just how good this place is because of the smell. There's an unmistakeable, mouth watering, mind controlling smell about good Peruvian food. I get further in, and I'm pleasantly surprised that I can actually see the kitchen, meaning I KNOW they're not reheating food in a microwave, not using old ingredients, or serving me yesterday's food. I ordered my Lomo Saltado, steak of course, and got to sit and talk with the staff. Let me tell you, this place feels like home. It really feels like I walked into my Tia's house and I'm waiting for her to get done cooking. The staff is so incredibly nice, but they're also HUMAN. None of that fake customer service happiness you get in a chain restaurant. But on to the food..... I don't even know how to express just how good it is. I can't get over how good my lunch just was. This is everything I've been missing for the last three years, my hungry belly never being satisfied, going from place to place just looking for a decent steaming plate of SALTADO. I'm a bit of a cook myself, and I know when I taste a recipe that's so good I have to ask for it, and I had to ask within TWO BITES, what the heck is in this that's so good?????? The staff informed me there is a special ingredient in their arsenal, something so simple yet so powerful in a flavor palette that I'm upset for never thinking of it. I won't tell, you have to come in and ask for yourself! The entire experience here was already a 10/10, but then I got to know the staff over my meal. I came to discover that my waiter was a cook himself, had been dreaming of a place of his own since he was a kid. Then, I found out they had something new and special available, something they were still testing with the locals and getting a feel for how they like it. After some investigating, I learned MY WAITER came up with the recipe. Something personal, that he's been working on by himself for years. I knew I had to try it. Let me tell you..... I have never tasted a more succulent, flavor filled, satisfying bite of chicken. This chicken has been roasted and marinated in some sort of sorcery, because I had to get one to go to take home to my picky boyfriend, the kind that doesn't even want to look at a tomato let alone get cilantro on his tacos or beans with his burrito. AND HE LOVES IT. This lets me know that this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY PLACE. Even for picky eaters! Something delicious for everyone! Please for the love and respect for yourself and your taste palette, try this place out. They have luckily been floating during the pandemic, but they deserve so much support from the community. I drove from Irvine and I'll continue to do so! Did I mention FULL BAR? Did I mention OPEN UNTIL MIDNIGHT????? Hands down. Just go. Lose yourself in the flavor, and feel gravity working extra hard to keep you in that seat eating, because I really have no idea how I was able to stuff so much knowing I was so full. I'm gonna tell my grandkids about this place. read more

Cortijo Grill - Half chicken with fries and rice - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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The food is delicious, very good prices, a clean environment, clean bathrooms... Acceptable attention! I will be back! I ordered linguini a la huancaína with lomo and was delicious! read more

Cortijo Grill - Tallarin Linguini A la Huancaina Con Lomo - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

When we're craving lomo saltado, this is our go-to spot. After being spoiled by Mario's when we used to live up in LA, we were looking for an OC equivalent. Well here you go! Fries are crisp, thick, and ready to soak up those meat juices. The cut they use here is tender and just perfectly marinated. And just the right portion of meat...balances nicely with the sauteed veggies and carbs. Yes, there is right ratio :P Glad we found this place, nestled in Santa Ana. Plenty of parking. Only have tried to-go, but looks like their indoor dining is opening up again! read more

This place was amazing ! I do not understand why it wasn't packed on a Saturday night. Anyway I had 1/2 chicken with 2 sides, my friend had Lomo Saltado and they were good! read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I recently started working in Santa Ana and have been driving around the city trying to find lunch options that don't resort to fast food chains or the downtown (only because of the crowds and wait times). Driving down 17th St I found this place. I haven't had Peruvian food in awhile, so I decided to give it a shot. When you walk in it doesn't look like much. They're not a busy place and it's very quiet. I asked about lunch specials and was told they don't have any. I ordered the Lomo Saltado and it came out piping hot! It was very yummy! My only dislike with the food is with their aioli. I've always had spicy aioli and theirs was very mild, but still very tasty. The staff was very friendly and the food was great. I will come again, but with no lunch specials I don't know how soon that will be. read more

Cortijo Grill - Lomo Saltado - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Decent food. Pricy for this sketchy area of Santa Ana. I would not be comfortable going as a solo female traveler/diner. The ceviche was good but a shame they were out of octopus so we couldn't try the appetizer we wanted. We went right when they opened so can't comment on the loud ambiance in the evening but it was very quiet when we went. read more

Nice, Peruvian Gem! What a hidden treasure! Overall I rate this dinner with my galpals as - PURE AMAZE-BALLS to the Nth degree! It was beyond 5 stars!!! SERIOUSLY!!! First off, the portions leaned on generous, and pricing was very reasonable. Service was solid (friendly and kind). Now for the stellar food: (1) The Beef Loma Soltado was off the hook delish. Think Korean Bulgogi, amped up with 100x more garlic singing thru the entire dish and esp. the sauce, with a touch of roasty toastiness too. - The dish was stellar, but the sauce was so good, I reverted to my childhood days and spooned just the sauce over my rice and it was heavenly! (2) Sea bass in a fish broth, with yucca, tomatoes and red onion. Our waitress told us it was cooked with saffron. For $16, the portion was so great! What a nice value! - The soup broth alone was worthy of 5 stars - But there were generous portions of sea bass too, yucca cooked to perfection - This dish comes with a side of buttery white rice - It will make you smile (3) I don't eat raw fish, but my friends really enjoyed the fish ceviche - Plating / presentation was beautiful - There were roasted corn garnishes (2 kinds) on the plate that I tried that were so good - It was all gone in the blink of an eye, so I can only assume it was great! The place is very clean. Staff is very friendly and accommodating. I officially declare this as my GOTO SPOT for Peruvian from now on! Mon-Fri they have a crazy $5 special on tacos. They also have happy hour on drinks. SUCH A GEM OF A PLACE! LUVVVVED IT SO MUCH! read more

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Firt time getting Lomo saltado at this place, order 2 Lomo saltado to go The meat dry, hard to chew on Terrible meat, we couldn't eat its waisted of time and money I was the first customer so I think they use leftover. Call them to let them know No good attitude fron the attendant I ended buying food at a food truck Sad read more

Not authentic Peruvian food, lomo salta do did not taste like lomo saltado, it tasted like an average sauté beef cuts. It was meh! Skip this place if you're looking for the real Peruvian flavor. read more

Good Peruvian fix if you have a craving. The Lomo Saltado has a great overall flavor with the the right meat texture and quality (some fancy ribeye and filet mignon options at other places is not the right texture or quantity let alone price). Order it juicy to ensure you have enough sauce for your rice and fries. Great value at it's price! We also had the Tallarin with pollo which had a nice breaded filet seated on a bed of noodles that was tasty. If the green sauce was a little more creaminess to it this would have been REALLY good. The staff were very friendly and even offered us free drinks...the restaurant was very clean and social distancing was inforced which made for a safe dining experience! We'll surely be back! read more

I LOVE Peruvian food, and I'm working my way through spots in the OC--what's great about this place is that it's purely Peruvian, as opposed to a fusion spot that serves lomo saltado. It features classics (of course, *like* lomo saltado) and tastes authentic. There's also free bread, served with excellent aji verde. Super solid fragrance and spice. I ordered an appetizer and entree to share, to-go. Pleasantly surprised at the caliber of seafood in the jalea, which is like a mixed fried seafood platter. I mainly ordered it for the yucca, because I was pretty disappointed that the appetizer menu didn't sell *just* yucca fries. But, the seafood was actually fresh and tasty, served with housemade tartar sauce. I enjoyed the fried mussels in particular. For entree, I ordered my favorite: lomo saltado with linguine a la huancaina. Huancaina sauce is a cheesy, rich sauce with aji amarillo chilis and queso fresco, and it acts as a more umami alfredo sauce in this cuisine. I definitely order linguine a la huancaina at every Peruvian spot to test the waters. Maybe it was the to-go quality, but the pasta sauce wasn't super rich, like I'm used to. I found myself wanting a little more in terms of flavor. On the other hand, the lomo was a little too saucy, and ended up soggy. I want to try more dishes here to get a better feel for its potential, but sadly, my favorite dish wasn't the best. I'm still giving it 4 stars for the great seafood, and the overall flavors at hand. The lomo was nicely seasoned, and I loved the aji verde sauce. I'll likely venture back to try other classics. read more

My wife and I were around Santa Ana and we were just googling the nearest Peruvian restaurant and came across this one looked at the reviews and it looked like it was great. Once we got there it wasn't so welcoming. We ordered our food my wife ordered a Lomo Saltado without tomatoes and I ordered a Arroz Arroz Chaufa de Camarones. They were bringing out our order first they messed up on mine and brought me The wrong dish had to take it back and remake it. My wife's Dish Lomo they put tomatoes in it took it back and just picked out the tomatoes and brought it back to her. Her food wasn't even hot it was served somewhat cold. The rice was super mushy as seen in the photo. The french fries that they put in it look like bagged french fries from McDonald's. The Quality of the meat was awful for $18 not worth it. I'm sorry we were very disappointed. We paid 57 for a meal we didn't enjoy one. I've been to plenty of Peruvian restaurants and have never had my food taste this awful. My wife literally only took three bites if that out of the food and stop touching it. Waste of money. It ruined our day. Improve your flavor and Quality of food if you're going to be charging that much per plate. read more

Cortijo Grill - It was like the Lomo Saltador rice wasn't fresh and the end of it pot - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I ordered from this place online on Friday. On yelp it said that the place was open until 8 PM. So I ordered takeout so that way I can pick it up at 6 PM. When I drove over there I found that the restaurant was completely closed. I double checked on yelp to see that I was at the right location, and saw that my order was ready to pick up. So I called the location but the phone was disconnected. This place has been closed for a while I'm guessing due to the pandemic I'm assuming. Which is a bummer because I was looking forward to having some Peruvian food that night. Thankfully GrubHub was able to reimburse me for my order that I never received. read more

Cortijo Grill - The restaurant at 6:15pm on Friday. Yelp says it's open till 8:00pm. - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Nice staff and parking was easy. Lomo saltado- pretty good, meat was a little over cooked though Pescado- sea bass ceviche was okay, there was a good amount of big chunks of fish but something was missing so the flavor wasn't there. I've had better at a place in Buena Park. read more

Cortijo Grill - Lomo Saltado- pretty good IG: veryhangrymary - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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this place is not great on the food. The 2 stars are only for the service. The ladies were very nice and attentive. This is the weirdest peruvian food I have ever had, ALL of the sauces in Saltados were SWEET. It was literally teriyaki sauce that was both wayyyy too sweet and too salty. The mariscos saltado was hard to eat and it was not fresh. We will not be coming back. read more

Lomo Saltado very tasty, pleasant service, the bathroom is clean and has everything you need, even light music read more

Cortijo Grill - Cortijo grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Rating: 3.5 - 4 I was craving Jalea and really wanted to support small mom and pop restaurants in this time of coVid. The restaurant is located right off 17th in a small, older strip mall. They have a number of tables set up outside facing the street to accommodate for outdoor dining. On to the food. Their Jalea was good. Seafood vwas fresh and tasty. Good mix of different items: shrimp, fish, mussels, calamari and of course, yucca. Portions are smaller, but their batter is light and crisp. The dish is filling and enough for 2 seafood loving diners. Overall, tasty Peruvian option in a area abound with Mexican food. read more

Cortijo Grill - Jalea, with all toppings on the side - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Came here for dinner to celebrate my husband and MIL's birthday. The dinner was delicious and Natalia's service was wonderful. She was very attentive and friendly. She also brought out some birthday treats with a sparkling candle which was a great surprise! We will definitely return! read more

Food was okay. Friend ordered carne asada fries that only have meat and pico de gallo on it. You can request sour cream and green sauce. Meat is super salty, but fries are okay. The place is sketchy in general. Music blasting outside in the parking lot. Why? Inside it took awhile for service, the floor was sticky and wet. There was a wet floor sign next to a bunch of wet towels! Gross! Salsa bar had NO salsa. Once food was ready for pickup, worker suggested next time to order the rotisserie chicken.... She highly recommended it. Come to realize there's a bowl near the oven full of their rotisserie chicken just sitting out!!! Trying to sell chicken they cannot get rid of?! Not returning.. read more

Cortijo Grill - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Delicious home cooked meal. Great dining experience. Hospitable, friendly staff with great customer service. Highly recommend read more

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This place is one of my favorites the ceviche Mixto is so delicious here :D very tasty they have karaoke the weekends and is really nice environment:D definitely great :D and read more

Cortijo Grill - Ceviche Mixto - Peruvian Near Me - Santa Ana, California