I eat here about every six months and enjoy the ambiance with many hard-working gardeners, tradesmen, and blue-collar workers. There is a small crew at my house working on some plumbing issues and at lunch they asked if I wanted anything. I said yes. The go-fer returned with food from El Campeon. Food portions are ample and the food is reasonably priced, fresh, and authentic. read more

Carnitas taco was delicious always good food I also come for the sides of rice and beans good quality for a great price

5 stars alone for just the price! The portions are pretty good too! The asada burrito is good and comes with a side salad. It's about $10 and is very filling. read more

I used to buy carnitas by the pound here several years ago but stopped when they we undercooked and still full of fat that needed to be cooked some more, plus they didn't have that crispiness that makes them taste so good. Today we had tacos con carnitas and they were excellent. Today is Tuesday but mi novia lost the receipt so I don't know if they were $1 or not. They were still good if they were $2.59! Some authentic agua de jamaica would be nice but they only had horchata. They sell carnitas by the pound too. They do not have real al pastor roasts but do have chopped, uncooked marinated pork called "al pastor" that includes onions and pineapple. I'll keep looking for the al pastor roasts elsewhere. read more

So I ordered carnitas tacos and something else was inside.. like salmon looking( not what I ordered) thin sliced slime and or something? Is was hot (not spicy) so I was eating it and almost through(half-way) that's when I noticed it... I had already left and gone back to work... I am not sure if I will order from here again.. tbh.. if I do I am going to be right there when they make it.. let's just say it will be a while before I recover from this. When a customer asks for carnitas and says onions and cilantro- that is all that should be inside the tacos- nothing else, no surprises ...I Still prefer el Toro bravo.. the place could sure use some cleaning and updating... I feel sick read more

I wanted to try this Meat Spot for a While. Today I did I bought 3lbs of Ranchera Prime, the Texture of the Meat is Good, but the SEASONING it's little Onion or Galic strong. I also bought a Lengua Burrito it was OK. It had to much spices on something, don't know if the Rice or Meat. The beans were little to Dry. But there Ok. Price is Good but I think Robert Could Do Better.. read more

See all

Horrible customer service. All the ladies working there hate their job and take it out on people. Overpriced tacos five dollars each and they use leftover meat and old tortillas will never be coming back here again. read more

Cashier was incredibly rude, wanted to pay with tap and she tossed the machine at me and didn't even acknowledge the customers and was busy gossiping read more

Last comida está pasable, pero las empleadas tienen muy mala gana, groseras y con fea actitud.

Why shop anywhere else for fresh meat and veggies? Super friendly and knowledgeable, no problem chopping my stuff for tacos. read more

This place has the best fast Mexican food in the OC. The carnitas torta is THE BEST.

Awesome spot, I've heard about it for years, but I'm an el toro bravo guy. Live was crazy at el tori bravo do I came here and it was great! Had barbacoa tacos and carnitas tacos, both delicious. It was a cold day or I would've stayed and had more because there's actually outdoor seating. read more

See all

I've been looking for a great taco spot here in Costa Mesa. Decided to give this place a try. I've been here three times. The first two times I had nothing but tacos, I tried most of their meats and none of them stood out. I just thought they were okay. The portions were huge, so with three tacos, most people would be good. On my third visit on a weekend, I strictly went for the menudo. That menudo was really good, but at $14 for a large I might not come as often. I rather make the drive to Santa Ana for better tasting tacos. My search for good tacos in CM continues. read more

I eat bírria tacos daily. I travel all over for work, and so when I paid over $4 per taco, I expected good. First bite was into a bone. It's mostly gristle. Even smells funky like parts not meat. The ambiance in the place is asleep. The women can't make eye contact. It's unclear how to order. Not ok. Sadly. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Mostly gristle - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Great tacos!! I'm a big fan of the tacos al pastor. I highly recommend this business for their Mexican food and at a phenomenal price

Very mixed reviews about this place. Located near Victoria and Harbor, this freestanding building has been here awhile and it's age is showing a bit. It is a combination of a small Mexican grocery, deli and restaurant. They have their own small parking lot and all of their seating is outside on the front patio. It's in the shade a relatively clean. Inside, you order at the counter, then you can grab your drink or other grocery items, and pay at the grocery cashier line. Then you can grab your food back at the counter when it's ready. Not a lot of English spoken here but I got things figured out pretty quickly. Dan H. wrote about their carnitas so it was pretty easy ordering for me. I opted for the carnitas combination plate instead of tacos or a burrito. I figured I could assemble my own tacos from the plate and I'm happy I did, since I could control the amount of onions, cilantro and salsa. My plate was pretty decent sized for eight bucks, coming with a good stack of carnitas, piping hot corn tortillas, rice, refried beans, lettuce, tomato slice, sour cream, red and green salsas and limes. The carnitas were quite good but I was hoping for a little bit more char on the pork. It was very flavorful but certainly softer than I was expecting. Not fatty at all. I ended up with five good sized tacos and I loved the green sauce. I'm not sure if there were open trash bins nearby, buy it was a bit stinky in the sitting area which dropped things down a star but this is a solid, very authentic, Mexican meat market and deli. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Tried buche, cabeza, birria, and carnitas tacos. The tacos were huge. All were good. Guacamole was awesome too. I will return for a burrito shortly. Maybe even tonight. read more

They don't cater to customers, in tacos Tuesday ! They are far right rude even when you speak the language... so moral of the story don't go on taco Tuesday read more

Place is delicious but what's not so delicious is having not one but two pieces of big hair buried inside my quesadilla.... read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Loved this place was delicious... until i found two big hairs inside my quesadilla.... And it's buried inside so not from me forsure...... - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Good taquitos. Just a little neighborhood meat market. Alot of choices! If I'm in the area again I would go back. The chile verde looked good next time I will try it;) read more

Had to try this spot as it's just down the road from my house. The first time I visited was not a good experience ... staff speaks very little English so we were skipped over (while in line) because we had no clue what they were asking. After fumbling through that experience, I wanted to give another shot. Stopped in for an early lunch and ordered 6 carne asada and 4 al pastor tacos. These are some hearty tacos and I ended up getting enough for lunch AND dinner. Meat is flavorful and moist/juicy; tacos are simply done with onion and cilantro mix. They gave lots of salsa and found it delish with a little bit of red and green salsa. It is helpful if you speak the language but the food is so good that it's worth fumbling though the order to try this food. The hot table is in a small Mexican grocery store and I saw chicharonne with meat attached that I'll have to get next time. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Hot table ... food just coming out - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

See all

Went because it was recommended by my brother, the first time I ordered 4 tacos (chicken, barbacoa, pastor, asada) and to keep it short and sweet they were all Then.... the second time around everything changed, the barbacoa was chewy (like sugar cane you chew on) the chicken was dry, and the asada was flavorless as well as the pastor. Not sure, but I guess the consistency just wasn't there. Tried to give them another chance with the tamales but that was a huge mistake on my part! At nearly $4 a piece I don't think I'll be going back. So many other taco places to try, one is bound not to disappoint! read more

This is a very small grocery store & butcher. Selection: They have all the options you need to make a traditional Mexican style family meal: -Several types of peppers, lemons, limes, corn, herbs (i.e. cilantro) tomatoes, tamatillos, and some seasonal fruits. -For meat they have all the various common cuts of beef and pork options, but no fish and I'm not sure about fine cuts. -They have a wide array of snacks, drinks and beers. -Of course they have tortillas, unfortunately they don't have any homemade style corn tortillas. I would love to see them resold here. Service: All the staff is either in the butchery or at the 4 person register. So it's a little difficult to ask for help when it's busy. When purchasing, they have a reasonable minimum credit card purchase amount of $10 to avoid a fee of $0.50. considering banks usually charge a $0.35+2.5% interest on transactions, they're clearly not trying to profit on that fee. It's convenient walking distance from my home so I can't complain with its convenience and having all the basics. They have also always had parking when I drive. Location: They are somewhat difficult to legally get to because you can't make a left turn into their parking lot and there's no place shortly ahead where you can legally make a U-turn. I do both all the time however. The area feels a little dirty and run down and can be easy to miss without obvious signs. Overall I like this store and come to it half the time that I need those kinds of things. I'm worried about their future when Northgate opens up across the street. read more

Delicious, filling and affordable! Large, greasy, saucy portions, also ideal for parties and catering as they always have large quantities available and sell by the pound. The barbacoa is our favorite, followed by the pastor. Great variety of salsa and fast service. Not much in terms of ambiance and plan on taking it to go with plenty of napkins, it will be messy. Worth checking out! read more

Rude employees - except the meat section - but the rudest ones are the cashiers. They are slow and act as if if they hate working there. They are super pricey for a Mexican store and once Northgate comes to the neighborhood they will surely have to be a little nicer to keep business. I love supporting small businesses but given the choice I will hands down go to Northgate. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Entrance - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Ordered meat for grilling and by the time I got home, marinated it and ate it, was too late to complain; the meat tasted like nothing, had a funny smell (like game meat) and didn't matter what marinate we'd add, it didn't absorb any flavor. The staff is nice and if they wanted they could make the market more organized. read more

Seriously who told you guys green enchiladas are made with grilled chicken meat? UBIQUENSE green enchiladas should be done with boiled shredded chicken, not grilled meat, enchiladas are enchiladas NO Tacos please teach your staff how to do enchiladas read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Enchilada Taco - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Definitely a hidden gem. This is my go to for Mexican grilling meats. Their carne asada has an addicting taste. I want to eat more even when I'm full. The pollo is excellent, so much flavor. Not bone in but has an excellent marinade. This store is on the smaller side but has everything you'll need. read more

Good food and good prices, lovely little market. The workers are nice but most of them only know Spanish so its a bit difficult sometimes trying to talk to them with my broken Spanish but they are understanding. read more

The lady's are so rude they make you feel stupid When you ask questions if they can't put or add something even if it cost extra they give you horrible attitude. El servicio para el cliente es horrendo Las señoras que trabajan son muy rudas y groseras read more

I love this place!!! It's super affordable! Love their chips, carnitas, guac, salsas pretty much everything I've had there has been excellent and did I mention the prices are some of the cheapest around read more

I may be being generous by giving this place 2 stars. It's easy to miss, so keep an eye out for its sign! My boyfriend's coworkers insisted that this place had the best tacos in OC and of course, being taco lovers and missing our San Diego Mexican food, my bf and I decided to come here during his lunch break. But boy, was it a disappointment. We ordered two of lengua, al pastor, and carne asada. The lengua was the only meat that wasn't tough, but the chunks of meat were too big for me. For once, I actually imagined eating actual tongue pieces rather than thinking of it as just another cut of meat. The al pastor and carne asada were both salty, dry, and tough, although they did have flavor. The carne asada was similar to the kind of meat in carne asada fries. They do speak mostly Spanish, but all you really need to know is uno, dos, tres tacos de ____. Con (with) ceballos (onion) y cilantro. Or sin Ceballos y cilantro (without onion and cilantro). read more

See all

Seriously the Best of the Best, The hot deli inside the hard working Women the Honesty . I ordered 4 tamales cause it said 89cents a tamale but was charged abit over 9$ on my receipt, I returned but, not for a refund only to let them know of the menu above being miss marked ,hoping to save any further embarrassment , they insisted to refund me 5$ , The Food Here is absolutely Fantastic # 14 & 15 are my regular choice , Love love love this place A Mom & Pop Business at the highest level. Hoping They continue to survive by great patrons out there continuing to support this Place. So Stoked to Have them in my Home town read more

Pretty good, but maybe I missed something. My neighbor recommended them for a bbq we were all throwing. He told me to ask the butcher to give the carne asada extra seasoning and pack it in orange juice. I ordered the pollo asado and carne asada and asked for the extra seasoning. The butcher told me it was already seasoned, packed it up and sent me on my way. I was like,"Cool. Problem solved." When I brought it over for the bbq, my neighbor was like, "Bro, you didn't get the extra seasoning." Both meats were just ok. Not bad, but not Javier's quality or a taco guy's flavor. Maybe it was my fault. That's why they get 4 -stars instead of 3. read more

So far so good. When I read the reviews, they said that they don't speak English when you order. Like most places around here, they speak mostly Spanish but will entertain English. I figured this place was the same, but when I ordered "3 asada tacos" she shot back with "tres tacos asada?" I immediately returned with "si" the. She asked if I wanted onions and cilantro (I think, it was in Spanish). So that's how it goes. I was the only white guy in there. You get your ticket and pay at the register like you are buying groceries. They have lots of hot food. Sitting outside it smells like what I remember eating in Mexico smells like. Got my 3 tacos. Huge. You need 2. They are some photos of 3 tacos in a tray, but that's too many. Get 2. You'll be happy. Get a coke too. Sit out front. Eat them. If say best taco in the area. Not necessarily all of Costa Mesa, but within walking distance of my place (which is behind Home Depot). But go here. It's fun. You'll like it and be happy you did. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

horriblemente no recomiendo este lugar a nadie el servicio que dan estas seńoras que trabajan ahi es muy malo soy un cliente por mucho tiempo y les comparto que no es una ni dos son mas de tres ocaciones que me dan lo que quieren pero hoy si se pasaron pedi un menudo para llevar con pata y miren lo que me pusieron pague casi 15 dolares por puro caldo y tres boronas de carne read more

El Campeon Carniceria - menudo - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I have either lived, worked, or been a student in Costa Mesa since the 80s. I've tried every restaurant worth trying in the city, and El Campeon is my favorite Mexican place. Friendly service, delicious food, reasonable prices. I hit the line, speak a little Spanish, grab my food, and bail. Burritos, tacos, combo plates, you name it, it's all good here. If the patio was someplace you could sit and eat and sip a beer, this place would rate five stars, but it's not, so it's a solid four stars. Enjoy! read more

The take out hot food and salsas and sauces are epic. The meat market is solid, especially the fresh pollo and carne asada. The cashiers aren't the friendliest and can sometimes throw shade. Overall an authentic choice but be ready for a less than stellar and rushed, sometimes rude feeling check out experience. read more

Tacos are great. They are friendly in here! It's located inside a small Mexican Super Market. There are a few tables outside. This is my 2nd time eating here... My first time was late at night. The 2nd time was a quick grab and eat cuz I was on my lunch break. Order your food from one of the staff working the hot food area. Get in line at the markets cashier. The space is pretty tight in here. Makes it feel like you are in Authentic Mexican Market! ;) As soon as you pay. Your order is ready for pick up. Grab a seat and eat. Food is fresh! They also have some stews here. For my drink I had an orchata. ;) While in line, I also grabbed some pork rinds. Don't expect "service here," but the food is good and fresh... read more

I like this place when I'm in the mood for good, authentic Mexican food on the cheap! I'm a fan of the carnitas and carne asada tacos but the chicken is just average. They overstuff the tacos so you only need a few and you're good! The salsas they give you with your order are tasty but spicy! Service is pretty good but not always the most attentive. You have to order first, take your ticket to the cashier and then get your food. There's a $10 minimum to use a credit card. As for the market it seems to have good prices but I wasn't a fan of the meats I got from the butcher. Minus one star for that but I'll keep coming back for the tacos. read more

El Campeon Carniceria - Carnitas and carne asada tacos - Grocery Near Me - Costa Mesa, California