Been on my list of places to try for 7 years. We live in Brea but never managed to get out there. Worth the 20 minute drive? We generally drive the extra 5-10 minutes into downtown Whittier instead.
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It’s not special occasion eating, but I highly recommend stopping by if you happen to be in the neighborhood. The taco shell is light, airy, and crispy all in one bite…my favorite filling is the guisado (stewed beef). I think the chicken is too dry and the picadillo is too greasy. The tacos run for about $2-3 a piece and are made to order. You can get in and out in about 10-15 minutes…and head towards uptown Whittier in no time.
My husband loves this place, so moving was ideal for him.
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If bars count, I’m going with Trader Sam’s at the Disneyland Hotel. Second choice is False Idol in San Diego.
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Thanks we might go tonight if it doesn’t rain. My wife is a sucker for hard shell tacos.
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its different from a hard shell taco, at least to me it was. i still like it tho.
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It’s been years. I miss that place.
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@Hungrydrunk is right. While it is crispy, it’s not entirely hard shell. It’s a TexMex/San Antonio thing where they take tortilla dough and press it into a tortilla and fry it in a basket to give it the shape. It is much airier and lighter than a traditional hard shell taco.
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Gotcha. Never really had a taco in this type of shell. But we’re not going tonight. Google Maps says 35 minutes with traffic right now.
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I bet you were so sad when Portsmouth closed down. At least you kind of have a central location between OC/LA.
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can happily recommend the al pastor tacos from el taco llama. hard shell taco of the gods.
Heartbroken.
The same Portsmouth location is now Crooked Gaff Kitchen…still an oyster bar, but with more other non-seafood items. I haven’t had enough time to make my way over to try it. Supposedly, there’s a lot of the same staff front and back of the house as before.
the fried egg salad (#48) at ruen pair is tremendously good.
for me:
i’m really happy that badmaash and G&B are close to work; and that beer belly, wako and sun nong dan and langer’s are near home.
things i wish were closer: cassia, sidecar.
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I’ll trade you Cassia for Langer’s. 
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+1. I like and respect Cassia, but I LOVE Langer’s pastrami (and the fries extra crispy!). ::sigh::
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Restaurants close to me that I’m happy about.
All of these are a 15 minute or less bike ride.
Revolutionario Tacos
Chichen Itza
Holbox
Honeybird USC
Tire Shop Taqueria
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what exactly is the ground pork with chinese olives? I asked a waitress once about it and she recommended that we not get the dish. It didn’t seem like she didn’t think we could handle it but more that the dish wasn’t good.
And response to closest happy restaurants:
Thankful for being close:
Raku
tasty noodle house
Ta eem
luv2eat
Wish was closer:
Everything in SGV and torrance
Bestia
Gjusta
Holbox
East LA mexican food
Living in Vegas, I probably shouldn’t participate in this thread, but I just want to say that I feel very fortunate to be in the same city with Lotus of Siam, even if we live over 12 miles away.
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