El Mexicano

El Mexican is a local mom and pop order-at-the-counter style Mexican restaurant. I'm 99% sure all the employees come from one family. Some nights the adults are there, husband and wife working together as though they were in their own kitchen. Other times, it is just a younger guy, and sometimes a guy and girl.

The restaurant is small, with just 10 tables inside and across the driveway a couple of tables in a covered area outside. Nestled between Ihop and a gas station, El Mexicano is easy to miss if your eyes aren't peeled. The restaurant is open every day until 10 except Sundays, when it is closed. It may look like it is sort of run down to you--and that may be true, but it is a very comfortable place to go--not the chairs, just the atmosphere. There is usually a Spanish soap opera playing inside the kitchen area. The seats are plastic with a green and red motif. They recently added some new fake plants around the room that I kept running into because they are oddly placed, but you get used to it. You can either eat there or take your food to go.

The menu varies from tacos to burritos to enchiladas. They have about 8 different kinds of meat to choose from. They have daily specials that come with whatever the special is rice, beans, and chips for about $1 or 2 less than regular price.

My favorite thing to get at El Mexicano is the Machaca taco dinner. The two taco dinner is the special on Mondays, but you can get it anytime you like. Machaca is a stewed beef cooked for hours with peppers and onions. The result is melt in your mouth beef and flavorful vegetables. The tacos are white corn tortillas filled with meat, peppers and onions, and a sprinkle of cheese that melts in. The beans are refried with a little cheese on top. The rice is your typical Mexican rice. My Mexican friends tell me it is just normal rice, but there is something different about it--like all the little rice kernels have been peeled an it is slightly browned and very flavorful.

The other diner I usually go with gets the Chile Colorado Burrito. This is another stewed beef dish except it is stewed in a tomato-based Mexican chili full of flavorful spices. The burrito is hearty with large chunks of beef. Beans are also included in the burrito. It always looks very filling. You can get burritos ala carte or in a meal. You can also get the meat on a plate without the tortilla part, if you want.

The only thing there that I don't like is the drink situation. The samples look like a medium and a giant size with a 30 cent price difference. The thing is, that if you get the small, it comes in a cup about 8 ounces--so just go with the giant size and don't drink the whole thing.

Because this is a local place, it is cash only. There's a Wells Fargo across the street in case you forget, and the gas station next door has an ATM machine too.





El Mexicano
911 N San Fernando Blvd
Burbank, CA 91504
Map