I'm so surprised about their low rating! Taco Rosa is part of the chain along with Taco Mesa (love their location in Orange!) We love this chain and are frequent customers. Their chips and salsa are some of our favorites, always super fresh and tasty. Their food is good quality, great portions, and made fresh to order. This location offers indoor, outdoor, and bar seating. The staff is friendly and attentive. Parking is easy as they are located in the Tustin Marketplace. I'd recommend stopping in for yourself! read more

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Taco Rosa's ambiance ~ STARS 4/5 there is plenty of natural light and romantic spaces to sit with a date or by yourself; the open concept could cause one to feel cold on a chilly Southern California day even with the outdoor heaters but there is space to sit in doors Service ~ STARS 4/5 my favorite server is the head bartender (darn, I forgot his name); the server at our table was kind and quick to help us with our order; one visit I had was a little awkward because the person clearing our plates was not able to recognize appropriate boundaries and was very flirtatious (he hasn't been flirtatious since) Food ~ STARS 3/5 there are many Mexican restaurants in Southern California that offer much better choices with flavor with Mexican food than what Taco Rosa provides. I've eaten the tacos, the chips with bean dip (yummy), the fajitas, quesadillas with chicken, pozole: delicious item (pork), and the flan, which is in the image that I've included. read more

Taco Rosa - Flan: thick as cheese cake and missing the consistency of flan, which is very smooth and creamy with a sweet, in milky flavor. STARS ~ 2/5 ~ - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

Excellent food, reasonable prices good margaritas very clean very authentic ambience great relaxation a plus atmosphere plus

My best friend and I came in for happy hour and got some drinks and split the guac, esquite, and chicken taquitos and WE BOTH got severe food poisoning afterwards that night. Avoid this place at all costs not worth it! read more

Authentic flavors and a great happy hour! The al pastor tacos and mole enchiladas were standouts, and the margaritas didn't disappoint. Service was friendly and fast, and the family-oriented atmosphere with warm lighting made for a cozy evening. Definitely worth a stop for the happy hour prices. read more

We received a coupon book for The Marketplace a few weeks ago from the Irvine Co. One of the deals that caught our eye was the one from Taco Rosa - Buy one, get 50% off a second entree that is of equal or lesser value. I ordered a Rosa Combo with a Blackened Steak Taco paired with a Mexico City Chicken Enchilada served with Mexican rice and refried beans. I didn't have much expectations but this dish turned out to be tasty. I didn't think I would finish my plate but I did . Hubs ordered the Rosa Moreno (Chicken Quesadilla) which he really enjoyed. We shared a Choco Flan dessert which was ginormous and very good. This was served with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the flan which is on top of a round brownie type cake. The portion is meant to be shared. read more

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Located on Jamboree Road just off the 5 freeway this is a solid choice for a nice casual relaxing dinner. Service is fantastic and the staff is all very welcoming and helpful. You can sit inside or on the outdoor patio where yes they have heaters for when it's cold outside. Parking is easy so no worries about that. I saw a couple of photos posted by another Yelper that made a comment about the food being too salty... I respectfully disagree with the comment and will say our food was seasoned correctly.. not too much salt. read more

Taco Rosa - They have a secret taco with no other information.. sounds fun! - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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We were regularly at Taco Rosa - almost weekly. We enjoyed the food and most waiters were nice. Until yesterday, an older waiter rudely questioned if we sat ourselves when another waiter asked us to do so. When we told him that, he decided to pick on our dog, who was seated quietly on a chair, which we had been doing every time for months now. The same waiter served us in the past with no problems. We could have put the dog on the floor had he asked nicely, but he continued to talk rudely. We lost our favorite restaurant because of one waiter who refused to be polite. read more

Wow, I had this bookmarked for a long time and finally had the pleasure to visit this little hidden gem. The ambiance of this place is the bomb and I loved the cute outdoor patio with the cool plants and the decoration. When I got here Happy Hour was still in full swing and I gave the house margarita a try and it didn't disappoint a bit. While I only had the blackened chicken taco, I was blown away by the taste and the fresh ingredients and overall the taco was very flavorful. For dessert, we picked the black flan which was to die for and I love the fresh strawberries with not too sweet vanilla ice cream. Service was top notch and I would not hesitate coming here on a weekly basis. 5 Stars for great ambiance, great food and friendly service. I'll be back Enjoy and Bon Appetit. read more

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Good lunch at Irvine marketplace. Carnitas are very good. The chips are amazing with some seasoning. Service is good. The area has a lot of construction but the restaurant is open. read more

One of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants. All of the entres are delicious and all of the ingreadients are super fresh.

The food here is generally mediocre compared to many of the surrounding Mexican restaurants. Service was decent. I think it's really expensive for what you're getting. They don't give any chips or salsa with your meal. It's quite expensive for something that is commonly free at many other restaurants. I don't think this restaurant will be able to compete for much longer. read more

My wife and I sat on the patio and enjoyed the late afternoon in a pleasant evening. Our server when asked had my wife's shrimp Enchiladas served with Tomatillo sauce. This was not on the menu but excellent. My Steak Fajitas were very tasty. Reyes our server was exceptional. I find the 3.5 rating not indicative of of our meal. We will retu read more

Haven't been beee in a long time but used to come here every Sunday for brunch. The food and service are still wonderful. Would recommend coming out here to eat as the new construction has likely limited their ability to get constant foot traffic. read more

Avoid at all costs. The waiter added wrong items to our order and made us pay for it. Food here is overpriced at $20 for a mid-tier burrito with a dirty feeling atmosphere. Heard the family sitting next by us complaining about how rude the waiter was. Felt like a scam. read more

One of the only Mexico City style taco places around, the tortillas are great and the steak tacos have the crusty cheese between the meat and tortillas like a lot of the spots in CDMX do We've also had the Al pastor and carnitas which are equally good. The combo with the taco, enchilada, and tamal (the singular of tamales is tamal and that always sounds weird to say) is highly recommended. Lots of different flavors The horchata is really good. Kinda 'spensive but when you don't drink like me you can justify spending some money on a fun beverage read more

Food was great! Good flavors, unique dishes, decent portions. accommodated a large group.

Came here for OC Restaurant week and opted for the 6 course tasting menu, which was a pretty good deal ($35/pp). We started off with chips and an assortment of dips (guacamole, salsas and bean dip). Then came the rest of the 5 courses; I went for the tamalito, fish taco, grilled red snapper, chicken mole enchilada, and churros for dessert. All the dishes were very good, well-sauced, and flavorful. The only dish I did not care for were the churros which seemed a tad stale and dry. My favorite was the Nixtamlized Sweet Maize Tamalito - with rajas, papaya butter sauce and relish. It had a sweetness to it that was unique and unlike many other of the dishes. The service was super fast, almost too fast! We got all 6 dishes in the span of 35-40 minutes, so basically one dish came out every 5ish minutes which did not leave a lot of open table space and felt like we had to rush to finish our previous dish so the new dish would not get cold. Overall a good experience, and will likely return for their regular menu options. read more

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Solid Mexican eatery with good dishes. Taco Rosa is located in the Tustin market place. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all when my coworker and I came on a Monday lunch. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor sedating, interior is dark with rose decor on the walls. Menu has a selection of appetizers, bowls, burrito, taco, and enchiladas. I got the Oaxaca enchilada ($17) and my coworker got the Rosa bowl ($23). The price is a little high for lunch and they don't provide complimentary chips. My enchilada was rich, but had creamy cheese flavor with bright tomato sauce. The beans and cilantro rice were solid! Tried a bit of my coworkers bowl, had well grilled chicken with lots of veggies, beans, and rice, in upgraded chipotle bowl. Overall, dishes here are well flavored and service is friendly. Would love to try the tacos here my next visit! read more

Taco Rosa - Oaxaca enchilada - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

Had the chicken enchiladas, Mexico City they were fantastic. The rice was very good as well and so was the chips and the different salsa they bring. Very nice employees make you feel at home and great ambience. Highly recommend and it may look like they are closed because of the current construction, but they are open read more

Taco Rosa - Great environment nice area clean - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

I love this place. It's not often that you find the owner greeting and hosting guests. The food is delicious and my family gets so excited when we say we are going to taco Rosa. read more

I was invited here by a friend to try their offerings for OC restaurant week. I think the only reason I was invited was because two people were required to eat it or something like that. My friend had arrived earlier so I had to look for them. A staff member asked me something related to this but all it was doing was distracting me, and I didn't have the social energy to respond at the time since it was dinner and I had used up my ability to talk earlier in the day. We were able to order the food quickly and it came out sequentially with little time in between items. We got the OC restaurant week item, so it was one thing on that offering at a time. While the food was good and unique (in that it was not likely one could order this at a fast food place) it was rather distracting to eat here as there were a lot of people laughing really loud and some guy next to us left his MP3 player on audibly. The music in the restaurant was probably playing too loud for him to notice, or he was doing it intentionally. I had to talk louder to my friend and point my ear towards them to hear what they were saying. Yet another reason not to eat inside, but I didn't make the decision to go here specifically. My friend paid. They had handheld point of sale systems. The restroom was pretty good. read more

Staff was friendly, attentive and food was delicious. Was able to sit outside which was nice. My only complaint was the perceived value/ quality vs what we paid. In short; it was a little expensive for Mexican food. The mole was good. read more

Taco Rosa - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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Had tacos and a couple drinks, espresso martini tasted like it was stale and expired. No chips and salsa, tacos were a 3/10. Will not be returning. read more

Always very nice and wonderful staff. I love the mole enchiladas. Nice patio and interior. It's a bit pricey and they charge for chips and salsa. read more

Yummy Mexican food specially the fajitas their ships is really yummy. The service was beyond. Our expectations atmosphere is very friendly.

I am unsure if it was just a bad day, but the food was not there. The rice and beans needed a little more flavor. The staff was super friendly and welcoming. read more

I liked the aesthetic and ambiance of the restaurant, which was giving spanish vibes. I gave it a 4 because I feel like the horchata could have tasted WAAAY better. It didn't taste much authentic; it tasted more watered down and dashed cinnamon powder on top. My food was good portioned but not worth the $19. I would have paid a solid $15 honestly. But it still okay. I think I liked the chips and salsa/ beans the best. This was my first time here, but I'll give it a go once more and try other things in their items. Possibly might come during happy hour. Also, our server did only come about twice and we did have to wait about 20 min for our bill. The place wasn't too busy but I understand that it gets busy and they can only tend to a table at a time. There's tons of parking outside the establishment, which is a plus, so no need to wait around for a spot. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this place a 7.5 read more

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Great food love the tacos and the enchiladas they're so tasty! Best to get the food to go the restaurant it nice but the scenery feels quaint but a bit out of place if one familiar with Spanish. read more

FANTASTIC! Decided to stop by Taco Rosa for OC Restaurant Week and wow was I impressed. I have never been here before, and my girlfriend and her family recommended it. I opted for the $25 Dinner for OC Restaurant Week which came with (my choice): Enchiladas Mexico city - hand pulled chicken topped with tomatillo sauce, melted cheese, crema, queso fresco, pickled onion and cilantro. Served with Mexican rice, referred beans, red chile limon chips, guacamole, salsa, and finished with churros and a baked cream cheese tart with vanilla bean ice cream. I give it all a 5/5! I was EXTREMELY full after the meal but it was very impressive! Love how they give you chips and guacamole. Was a fantastic meal and would highly recommend to try it out! Great service and great atmosphere. read more

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Moms Birthday Lunch I want to share my experience and tell everyone what a great place this is the restaurant was amazing. The ambiance was nice and the food was incredible yummy. They were so accommodating to allow us to bring Mom cake. We had a blast!! party of 12 read more

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We had a lovely family birthday lunch here. Service was friendly and excellent. The food was delicious. The chips are fresh, great guacamole, and the tacos are huge. Try the churros. read more

Taco Rosa - Enchiladas Mexico City - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

What a gem! I've had the pleasure of eating at Taco Rosas several times over the past few years and lunch last week was SUPERB! The flavors and preparation were spot on and it's time to put Taco Rosas on a regular visit! The Rosa bowl was superior with perfectly cooked steak and veggies made just how I like them. My friend had the lobster enchiladas and they were delicious! Service was great. read more

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This was a mediocre to poor experience that will never be repeated. Service = 2 stars Came in at 4:30; 2 people on patio and I and another guest inside. Assume only one waiter due to between meal rushes? Had to wait ages to ask for anything? Queso Fundido = 0 stars For me, I like liquified mix of cheeses to dip tortilla chips; pour over food. This was so filled with stuff, a useless fire presentation and frankly inedible. I took one bite and zero offer to take off bill. Fajitas = 3 stars They were adequate, needed more onion and didn't even come with side of sour cream. At these prices? They charged me extra for it. White wine - 1 star Minimal/poor selection. Chips/Salsa = 0 stars They make you pay $7 for what should be complimentary. Sure, there are "two tiny bowls of avocado/red salsas and a tasteless bowl of bean dip. Not worth it but you expect chips and salsa so it's almost automatic to order? They are laughing all the way to the bank. They don't deliver at all for what they advertise and charge. Such a disappointment. read more

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A friend invited me here spontaneously because she was craving Mexican food. Taco Rosa is located in the Irvine / Tustin Marketplace near the Edwards Movie Theatre. It's a very chill vibe and they even have an outdoor area. We opted to sit outside. I ordered the Ensalada Romana Salad with chicken while my friend ordered the Rosa Bowl with Chicken. The chips and salsa (3 different sauces) here is really good. Our dishes were good overall but the service is a bit lacking and the phone outside kept ringing which was annoying AF. Honestly good food and reasonably priced (but you do have to pay for the chips and salsa); it's the lackluster service that warrants the 3 stars. Parking is a bit limited because it's shared parking in the plaza... there is a lot of construction so parking is a bit challenging. read more

Taco Rosa - Ensalad Romana with chicken - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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We had a great meal there with our family. Food was great- very unique food. Not your typical Mexican food, but more flavorful and different. Good service and ambiance. We can't wait to come back soon! read more

Exceptional food and service!! I'm picky, and I don't do reviews very often. However, the food was so good when I ate there yesterday that I just had to come on a leave a review. I went with my husband and two kiddos (4 and 11). Every one of us enjoyed our meals so much including our 4 year who had a quesadilla and rice (she's picky about rice) to my husband who had their Enchiladas Pollo en Mole. They even make their Mole sauce in house. I had a Rosa burrito and was blown away. Their service was also on point!! I cannot wait to go back again and neither can the kids or husband!! The best! read more

Well, my family and I thought about trying this restaurant . So the interior and exterior were nice, but as for the food, unfortunately, it had no flavor at all. The pozole was like a thick soup, and the taquitos needed some flavor. I know it wasn't just me who thought this because there were 3 orders of pozole, and no one finished it. There was alot people coming in during lunch time only if they knew this isn't authentic Mexican food. Not even Tex-mex. Food with flavor would have been preferable . The only reason I drank half of my michelada was to try and get the food down. Well, you live and learn. I wouldn't recommend this place. Sorry read more

Taco Rosa - Bowl of Pozole and beef taquitos and a michelada - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

My coworker and I were meeting some colleagues for a business meeting nearby and afterwards, the four of us came here for lunch afterwards. The weather was really nice so we decided to sit in their patio, but the coverage was poor along the edge and the sun was melting me. Nevertheless with omicron and covid surges lately, the outdoor seating option was reassuring. Our colleague was our fearless leader and recommended their tacos, but mentioned that everything they had here was good. There were many appealing options, so we started off with their Chips, Beans & Jalapeno Salsa ($6) and added the Guacamole ($10), while we studied the rest of the menu. The chips and accompaniments were tasty but I'm not sure if it's worth that much. Most other similar restaurants with as tasty chips and salsa are complimentary. The group had some shrimp enchiladas, nopales tacos and one of the fajitas. My coworker's fajitas came out and she had to remember the staff that the tortillas were missing. She kind of needed those tortillas to eat the rest of her food. I wanted to try a bit of everything so I had the Rosa Combo ($16) that comes with the chicken or steak taco, and I opted for steak, and a cheese enchiladas with Mexican rice and refried beans. I really really liked their taco, but that's probably the highlight of the meal. The rice was mediocre and I only ate the beans to boost my iron for my blood donations. It was a decent meal, but I just feel like I have had better Mexican food elsewhere for more affordable pricing. I'm not even accounting this into the rating, but their waiters here seem really miserable. Our group of four had the goal to make our server smile or laugh during our team here, and we failed. Yikes! If I come back I might visit for their happy hour deals or if a colleague chooses to come here, but I don't feel like the pricing to satisfaction ratio is worth it for me. read more

Taco Rosa - chips, salsa and guac - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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I would like to thank Ruben and all of his staff for hosting around 60 people for my son's 1st birthday party. Initially we had planned to have it on the patio, but Ruben took the initiative and decided to have us inside due to strong winds and construction nearby. The food was amazing and my whole family really enjoyed the food. We'll definitely be back and will always consider Taco Rosa for future parties! read more

Taco Rosa - Great buffet setup for 60 people - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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