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Gonzalez's Restaurant

4.6 (781 reviews)
ModerateMexican
Closed • 9:00 am - 8:00 pm
Updated over 3 months ago

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GONZALEZ'S RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Casual
Good for kids
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - Gonzalez's Restaurant

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Reviews With Photos

Enchiladas de Mole (IMPORTED) combo
William M.

It's always a wonderful surprise to stumble across an amazing new place (well, new for me). This tiny, humble, hidden casual eatery is home to some of Orange County's best Mexican food. The service is super friendly and prompt. The environment is simple and relaxed. Their huge menu has plenty of favorites and lots of less common dishes, as well. I had the Enchiladas Mole stuffed with fresh shredded chicken, wrapped in a moist tortilla and topped with their amazing sweet mole sauce. My dining companion enjoyed the massive Wet Chile Verde Burrito (actually only half, it was so big) with marinated pork and a mildly spicy, flavorful sauce. The refreshing horchata was perfectly sweetened. Can't wait to return soon!

Chile Verde Plate
Vivi L.

Gonzalez's hits the spot!! My friends and I came in end of March because I was craving Mexican food, and turns out they have $1.25 Taco Tuesdays! My friends ordered their normal "go-to" tacos of carne asada and al pastor, but the server (who also doubled as the cashier) recommended the cochinita pibil tacos and they ended up being the favorites! Each table comes with chips and salsa I ordered the chile verde plate (I think it was about $18) and it was delicious! The pork was super tender and the chile verde was bright and punchy. I added some squeezes of lime bc I'm a tart girl and it was perfect! The size was super filling; I normally finish all my food but had to take some to go. Oh, the rice and beans were amazing too! Also, my friend ordered the birria fries and oooo, I love that they use the skinny fries!! That's when you knooow they'll hit the spot

Caldo de Camaron y pescado
OC Resident R.

I took my sister here for her birthday because of the high 4.5-star rating, but unfortunately our experience didn't match the reviews. She ordered the caldo de mariscos and it was completely flavorless. The vegetables tasted old and were very soggy. I ordered the enchiladas de camarón with green sauce, and they were disappointing as well, the shrimp was overcooked and the sauce had a sour taste that didn't seem right. Even the pineapple water was way too sweet. We had to add regular water and extra ice just to make it drinkable. I was really expecting much better, especially based on the current rating. It's sad, but I still have a hard time finding a good Mexican restaurant in Santa Ana that meets my standards. Unfortunately, I won't be coming back.

Just an amazing Pambazo - Papa con Chorizo!  Get that sandy in your mouth ASAP!
John M.

Five stars, again. Service was great. Even though the place was full, on a Wednesday at lunch, the lone server was efficient and friendly. NICE! The Pambazo Papa con Chorizo is out of this world even though this is only the second one I've ever had. My first was here 1 year ago! Glad I had to come nearby for an errand I was running. I was so excited to have the chance to try this again. Immediately after sitting down I was brought a basket of chips and some salsa. Crispy warm chips and a delicious salsa that I wanted to take home!! The Pambazo is a messy sandwich to eat and I had red enchilada sauce all over my hands. I used 8 napkins and there is still a faint red tinge on some parts of my hands. Get it with the lettuce and cheese. Bread is fresh. Chorizo so tasty. Potatoes give it a great flavor and texture. I don't know what the sauces are that are served along side, but both are very tasty. One a res hot sauce and one like a creamy avocado. YUM! I asked for a refill of Diet Pepsi and the server came back with a huge to-go cup. Great service again! Come out and give it a try. It is so good you will try to find me and thank me in person. Go. Eat Well. HAVE FUN!

Chile Relleno a la Carte
John O.

These are the places I love - hole in the wall family run places. It's very much a home cooking kind of place. They have a wide variety of dishes with some things you don't see often like pambazos, pibil, sopes and huaraches. A group of us dined for lunch and enjoyed a variety of dishes. I had heard good things about their shrimp quesadillas so tried the garlic shrimp version. With the cheese it was like a big taco gobernador. My wife had enchiladas with both red and green sauce (Christmas!). The red was deep in flavor and the green definitely had a kick. Everything had a light fresh taste. At the end we were surprised with the gift of a plate of freshly made chicarrones. A nice treat and much appreciated. They had 3 tablespoons of salsas served with the chips. One was a typical fresh salsa, but in smaller bottles were a spicy habanero? Salsa and my favorite, the jalapeño crema. We'll definitely be back.

Pambazo with Meat
Arlene F.

Like nothing I've had before! Mexico City sandwich called Pambazo! It's delicious! Huge and perfect for two to share! Choice of meat and I ordered the cochinito pibil and it was yummy! Great friendly service too Came after lunch rush and Before dinner! Perfect timing! AC hit the spot on a hot summer day!

Omar R.

Finally tried Gonzalez Restaurant after years on my Yelp bookmark list and it did NOT disappoint! Their pambazos were everything I hoped for and the chilaquiles verdes were delicious too! Plus, the service was perfect. Worth the wait

3 Cheese Enchiladas added Slices of Avocado added 2 Eggs
Britney M.

Let's start with the show stopper- the shrimp quesadilla! The shrimp quesadilla was sooo good! It was loaded with cheese and the shrimp was cooked to perfection. And you get a lot of shrimp. My fiancé said it was the best shrimp quesadilla he has ever had. And I agree, it was great! 10/10 The cheese enchiladas with avocado added were great! Super cheesy and had good flavor. I also added eggs for more protein, and that really made this dish delicious!! 10/10 I will definitely be back. This place was amazing.

Caldo Mixto (Pescado, Pulpo, Camarón)
Jade T.

Wow, this place is amazing. I can't believe it's so close by and I'm barely trying it. It's kinda hidden, like you might miss it driving down Chapman but you need to give it a try! My husband got the pambazo chorizo and I got 3 street tacos - chicken, steak, and pastor. We also split the mixed seafood soup. Everything was amazing, service was also good, our person greeted us with a smile and seemed happy to help us the entire time. The restaurant is spacious and clean. We will come back!

3 Chicken Enchiladas combo
Victoria J.

Hidden gem! The restaurant is super clean which I admire. The service is top notch and everyone's very friendly. The horchata and the Tamarindo were excellent- the best I've had in awhile. I almost got some to go because it was so good. The food was very good and cooked fresh. Good flavor on the meat and salsa. I'll definitely be back - highly recommend you stop by, you won't regret it!! :)

The Gonzalez's enchiladas

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2 years ago

Not authentic Mexican food and was bad. The mole was so sweet and tasted from the can. The chilaquiles were so white washed..Sorry :,(

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7 years ago

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2 years ago

The food was not good here, too bad because this place has great reviews. Good service though

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2 years ago

Fantastic place with friendly staff and amazing food. Some of the best cochinita pibil I've ever had!

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7 years ago

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Page 3 of 20

Gonzalez's Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

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Do they have taco Tuesday & how much?

99 cents tacos: -Chicken -Al Pastor… 

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3.9(2.9k reviews)
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Overall a great experience…read more The pros: Came in on a Saturday afternoon and was sat down to be greeted by a lovely server. Had red and white sangria. Both were good but we both preferred the white. Queso fundido was good but didn't come with chips so we ordered chips and salsa. Mole tostadidas were delightful, full of flavor. Esquites: the bomb. Super flavorful and we cleaned the plate. Churrosnwere good, but the dipping sauces left something to be desired. A little runny and preferred the hot churro on its own. The cons: the only thing that was a little disappointing was the fact that they served us the end of a bag of chips. While the chips were fine, it was surprising that at a michelin star restaurant they didn't serve homemade chips. Worse still, we got the tail end of the bag of chips. The top of the bowl had regular sized chips but they were just hiding the smaller broken odds and ends that you find at the bottom of the bag.

My friend and I arrived around 6:30 pm as walk ins on a Sunday. We instantly were told the best…read morethey can do is sit us at the bar, but even the hostess looked at the bar and saw there were no seats available. She then offered us the "bar bench" and said we can still order food and drinks and would be able to move up to the bar when spots opened. I looked inside the restaurant and the tables outside and there was plenty of seating available in my opinion. I asked if we could just join the waitlist instead of sitting at the crowded bar, and we were told the waiter was 40 mins long. We said okay as we didn't mind waiting. Then as we sat on the curb to wait for an available table, the hostess came to us and said we could be sat at that moment but she NEEDED the table back by 7:30 for a reservation. We said no worries and got sat. The hostess emphasizes about 2 more times that we NEEDED to be done by 7:30pm. We kept an eye out the entire time for the empty tables near us to see if they'd get filled the time we were there and only about 2 tables did. The table behind us never did. About 15 mins after getting sat, the hostess came back and told us not to rush, but we already felt unwelcome/rushed as walk ins at that point. I understand the hostess was probably stressed with reservations, but we were the only walk in and there were plenty of tables available the 1 hour we were there. Mole enchiladas: The enchiladas were filled with just chicken. The chicken was dry and seemed to have been boiled with no seasoning. Wish there was some cheese or something added to the inside. The Mole sauce was good though! The platanos & rice paired very well. Frijoles Negros: we're bean lovers and ordered a side of refried black beans to share. It was more than enough The portions were pretty big (in my opinion) we each finished 1 enchilada, the rice & platanos, and half the beans.

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Santo Remedio - Tamales divorciados

Santo Remedio

3.9(900 reviews)
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Look if there's anything I know I know good Mexican food…read morewhy because I'm Mexican I eat Mexican food every day to me. I don't call it Mexican food. I just call it food cause that's what I eat for breakfast lunch and dinner so when I'm telling you that this place has some really good food trust me you want to come out and try it. Everything they have on the menu is bomb as fuck. Their drinks are bomb. The service is bomb. That's the reason I keep coming back all the way from the inland Empire to Orange to eat their food this is one of my favorite spots to come and join the rest of my family. We all come from different parts of Southern California just to eat here so if you're yelping and you're curious to know how good this place is stop it already just come in you won't be disappointed!! I do have to warn you that this is a Cantina restaurant so the music is loud but guess what? I fucking love loud music!!

Writing this review is a little difficult because the place has potential, it just needs a few…read moretweaks. To begin with, the place is SO loud it felt like I was in a club. Probably better for a nighttime gathering, but kind of threw off our brunch talking session. This is definitely a personal preference, but prepare to be extremely overstimulated. The place is absolutely gorgeous! Kudos to whoever did the interior decorating because everything is visibly pleasing. Even the presentation of drinks and food were great and "instagram-worthy". My friends and I did bottomless mimosas for $35 which is a fair price, but the rest of the menu was ridiculously overpriced. $15 Base for chilaquiles but it's a minimum of $7 to add protein (a very minuscule amount) AND an extra $4 just to add eggs?? Regular drinks were extremely tax as my friend's latte horchata was $12 and it was not good at all. The food was not bad, but the upcharging and skimpy portions definitely put this place on my "no" list. HOWEVER, if they just make minor tweaks with the volume, pricing, and food quantity it definitely could be a great place to go! The staff is friendly and the vibes are right, there just needs to be some changes for me personally.

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Avila's El Ranchito - Chilaquiles in green sauce

Avila's El Ranchito

3.8(880 reviews)
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Availa's El Ranchito (think this restaurant has another location in Tustin). This location is…read morelocated with a neighborhood and a "converted" church -- the irony here! Hahaha. First off, parking is tight and limited, with overflow spilling onto street parking. Once you get past the parking situation, though, the service is wonderful. As for the food, everything was good and authentic. However, I couldn't get over the fact that the guacamole appetizer costs $14. It was good, but honestly, not that good for the price. The plate is generous and we ordered our usual of burritos, quesadillas, tacos and huevos. My favorite is the Avila's chicken noodle soup!

First time here, and overall, we had a good experience. What I really liked was the service…read more Everyone was super nice and helpful, from the servers to the rest of the staff. Our water glasses were always full, and they kept the table clean as soon as we finished a plate. The food was good, but not the best I've tried. I had the Grande Taco Salad, and I really enjoyed it. We also ordered the seafood tacos, but unfortunately, the shrimp had a little bit of a soapy taste. We let our server know, and they were very nice about it and offered to get her something else. A note for anyone who doesn't eat pork: ask for the beans prepared "a la olla" instead of the refried beans. I asked our server if the refried beans were made with manteca (pork lard), and he confirmed that they were, so just something to be aware of when ordering. The restaurant itself has a lot of character. It used to be a church, so it has beautiful colorful windows with designs, lots of wood inside, and some huge, beautiful lamps in the middle. They also have outdoor seating, but it was way too hot to sit outside when we went. Overall, it was a nice first visit, especially because of the friendly service and atmosphere. I'm giving it 4 stars because of the soapy taste in the shrimp and because, while the food was good, I've had better Mexican food at other places.

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Moreno's - GRANDE COMBINATIONS (#11T - TACO & TAQUITO)

Moreno's

3.2(1.2k reviews)
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Dinner was here last night with my babe…read more The parking situation is awkward, as it stretches around the building, but wasn't too much of an issue. The front and entrance area to the restaurant are well maintained and give me a rainforest cafe type feeling. We had a lime margarita and strawberry mixed margarita, both of which were very large and very good. Complimentary chips and salsa were served, and the waiter was very prompt with water refills and service. The ambience and dim lighting make for a relaxed atmosphere. I had an asada burrito and babe had a combination plate. Both of which were very large portioned and tasted great. Will be visiting again.

1 star -- Family-owned for decades, and this is how they treat a 30-year customer…read moreI've been coming to Moreno's for 30+ years -- family celebrations, graduations, work events, etc. I was here two weeks ago. Today I came in with family, ordered about 15 minutes after happy hour ended, and asked the waiter if they could still honor happy hour pricing because we were only a few minutes late and we're longtime regulars. He said he'd ask the manager. Fine. He came back and said no. I told him, half-joking, that's fine -- I'd talk to the manager when we were done. I did not demand she come to the table. I did not make a scene. Two minutes later a woman I'd never seen in three decades of eating here walks up in a confrontational tone: "Is there a problem here?" She is Linda, her family owns the place -- she made that clear -- and she was acting as manager. She then said a lot of people claim they've been coming for 30 years just to get a discount. She questioned whether I actually had, said she has never seen me before. She kept pushing after I tried to shut it down so we could finish lunch with family. Aggressive, condescending, and completely out of line for a drink-special question I was already prepared to drop. We offered to pay for the drinks and leave. She said she didn't want our money. Something about her father dying a year ago and he wouldn't take it either. A family that's run this restaurant for nearly half a century sent out a manager I'd never met to accuse a 30-year customer of lying over fifteen minutes on a happy hour price. That is not hospitality. That is not how you treat people who have spent decades celebrating here. I will never eat here again, neither will my family. There are plenty of places nearby that still know what a regular looks like.

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Gonzalez's Restaurant - mexican - Updated October 2026

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