Sailing to Las Barcas

Las Barcas Gourmet Mexican Food

21032 Beach Blvd.

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

We get tips about places from everyone, and we are trying to get to them all. Right now I have a list of over thirty places people have told us about. My friend Stephanie gets credit for this one, and judging by the amount of people eating here at 8:45 on a Sunday night, I had very high hope for this restaurant.

Las Barcas is a Huntington Beach institution. Ask anyone in Surf City about Mexican food, and this place definitely gets a mention. Opened in 1987, by a couple from Argentina. They left their home country to come to HB and create a Mexican restaurant that features fresh and gourmet food, at reasonable prices. Now run by their sons, and still in their original location, lets see if they are still churning out great Mexican food.

We usually always get a side of guacamole to go along with our chips and salsa, and at Las Barcas, the side order only set us back $1.35, a real bargain. The guacamole was seasoned well, and was almost neon green. Very fresh, you could tell they had made this up recently. The chips were okay, maybe a little over salted for my tastes. I did not get a clear picture of the salsas, but they were okay as well. All of them seemed more on the mild side to me, but had a decent flavor.

This beautiful looking burrito was Katie's choice for dinner. She had the Shrimp Burrito with enchilada sauce and cheese added for an additional $1.35. The burrito contained  beans, rice, cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, smoked cream sauce, and a lot of shrimp. This burrito was very good sized, and they did not skimp on the shrimp. Katie enjoyed the flavor and freshness of this burrito.

As I am sure you have guessed by now, if you are a loyal reader of this blog, I always try a Carnitas Plate at any Mexican restaurant I am trying for the first time. No exception here. The carnitas here were very good. Crispy, with a little bit of chew to them. The pork could definitely stand on its own. When I first saw this plate, I was a little underwhelmed by the amount of meat here, but it made three tacos easily, with some to spare. The beans were very good, and the rice was above average as well. Solid plate of food here.

We had also heard about their fish tacos, so we of course had to try one. Above is the Grilled Fish Taco. Katie was very happy with this taco, calling it, "amazingly fresh, with great taste". The taco was stuffed, and the two tortillas held there ground and kept the contents of the taco inside. The fish was mild, the cream sauce was good, but I would have liked less lettuce on this. It would have even made the taco photograph better.

I could not let Katie out eat me, so I also tried one of the tacos here. I went with a Grilled Steak Soft Taco. This taco came with pico de gallo, lettuce and guacamole. This taco was good, but did not wow me. The meat was okay, and again too much lettuce on the taco. Solid taco, but a little over priced at $3.50.

La Barcas is a pretty good Mexican restaurant, and I understand all of the praise for it. The food is fresh, but I am not sure about gourmet. The counter guy was very patient with us, as we took in the large menu here. The restaurant area is a little cramped, and I have been told that it is best to call in orders ahead of time during peak times. The prices were a little on the high side. The shrimp burrito went for $7.75, and the carnitas platter was $9.50. I would not hesitate to eat here again though. One last tip, the shopping center Las Barcas is housed in is going through some renovations, so it might be a little hard to find this place, but it is definitely worth the hunt.

Out of five boats, (because translated from Spanish, barcas means boats), five being best to zero being worst, Las Barcas gets a solid 3 boats.

For more information on Las Barcas, click here: http://www.lasbarcas.com/