Just moved to El Mirage and near the top of my to do list was finding a place with good, cheap Mexican food. There are a ton of places that show up on Google ahead of Paleteria Anais and most of them are closed down, moved away or look creepy (I'm looking at you, La Fondita). Drove by this place and decided to give it a try.
Great food! Best cubanas torta I've ever had. A lot of places kitchen-sink their tortas and you end up with a soggy mess that spills out of the bun. This torta was loaded with meat and all the fixin's but in proper proportions -- you can taste each ingredient and it holds together like a champ. Really good.
Got the flautas for my kids -- they're picky eaters and they crushed 2 each, that's a ringing endorsement.
Street tacos are top notch. Lots of meat, great spray of cilantro and onions and the green salsa from the cart in back is the perfect topping. Whatever else you order, tack on a couple tacos and you won't regret it.
The salsa bar has sliced cucumber instead of sliced radishes. Not sure if this is SOP or I just hit the right day but this is a welcome change.
Only down note was the nachos supreme. They use those crummy round tortilla chips that you get at little league games and school cafeterias. Those things are all salt and go soggy in less than a minute (I think they go a little overboard with the cheese to mask the taste of the chips). This was a shame because the toppings were great -- lots of meat, tomatoes and lettuce. Please change the chips!
Haven't tried the desserts yet but this is a great place for kids because they have a bunch of flavors of ice cream, milk shakes, agua frescas, shaved ice and more. Maybe this place gets overlooked because of the name and people think it's ice cream only? Palerteria Anais is really good Mexican food at great prices. read more