Q Tortas
220 South Bradford
Placentia, CA 92870
People are not too keen on going to the dentist. I get it. It's uncomfortable having somebody poking around in there, leaning back in the chair, and heaven forbid the guy has to break out the needle or pull out some teeth. Yikes. I've been lucky up until this point, knock on wood, I haven't had any big teeth issues. That's probably why I'm always pretty happy to head to my dentist twice every year. Another reason I'm not bothered about going to the dentist is that I usually treat myself to a meal directly after my appointment. This time I headed to Q Tortas in Placentia.
Okay, I did not head directly there, because Old Town Placentia was preparing for the 24th annual Tamale Festival and several of the streets around Q Tortas were closed. I worked my way around the street closures, found a place to park about three blocks away, and made a brisk beeline for Q Tortas.
If you are unfamiliar with this part of town, Q Tortas is situated just south of Chapman and Bradford Avenues, in what I like to think is one of the best Mexcian food corridors in all of OC. All in one square block resides El Farolito, El Cantarito, and Tlaquepaque. Some of the most prolific Mexican restaurants I have been to. Talk about a hard decision for dinner when you are in Old Town Placentia. I was hoping that my first visit to Q Tortas would rank right up there with these Mexican restaurant heavyweights.
Q Tortas has been around forever. I could not find out precisely how long, but most of the accounts I have found online say they are right around 30 to 35 years of being a family-owned business. The previous owner of the building had been Q Burgers, and instead of changing everything, they kept the Q part of the name and added tortas to it.
There's not much in the way of atmosphere here. The building and booths are definitely dated, I hear the drive-thru speaker doesn't work, the menu board is more reminiscent of an NCAA basketball tournament sheet you'd fill out for March Madness, with its brackets pointing to grouped menu items that are the same prices, and ordering is not done at the walk-up windows facing the street, but just inside the doorway.
The menu is what you'd expect to find at a lot of other places. Tacos, burritos, tostadas, combo meals, and even burgers are offered here. Nothing on the menu breaks the $8 barrier, with most items going for about $3. Definitely one of the most affordable spots I have been to in a while. I ordered a few things to go but took my pictures real quick before making my way back down the 5 Freeway to eat my selections at home.
When torta is in the name of the restaurant, I felt it might be a good idea to give one a try. They offer six varieties, and I picked the one that I found to be the most exotic, the Adovada Torta ($4.95). I learned online that adovada, also known as adobada is cubed pork marinated in a red chili sauce that also uses vinegar and other herbs. This torta then had onions and plenty of cilantro added to it. The telera roll used here was nice and crunchy due to a slight grilling it received. I expected the pork to be in little bigger pieces and a little more tender than it actually was. The adovada sauce was very good, with a tinge of spice, but nothing that made this anything more than mildly spicy. I ate only half of this and had the rest the next day, and maybe because it had even more time to marinate, it tasted better the day after.
Since the sign out in front of Q Tortas shows a man in a chefs hat shoving a pig into a big pot, it's a big hint that carnitas rule here. Numerous reviews on Yelp state that these are the best carnitas in town, which is a big statement to make with El Farolito situated mere steps away. So, a Carnitas Combination Plate ($7.50) was a natural choice for me. They forgot my flour tortillas, which is fine since I did not really plan on using them anyways. The carnitas were fine, but not better than the ones at El Farloito. A few pieces were on the dry side and I missed the crispy tips that you get at other places when you order carnitas. They could have been a little more flavorful as well. The rice was okay, but the refried beans were delicious, rich and flavorful. Double beans for sure next time.
Even though I was not overwhelmed with the food that I had on this visit to Q Tortas, I'd definitely come back if I didn't have time for a sit-down meal at El Farolito or El Cantarito, and just wanted to grab some food to go. Their hard-shelled tacos look delicious and I'd probably get a different torta on my next trip, along with an extra side of refried beans to add to it. Service was fine on this early afternoon, as the lady took my order and the food was out within five minutes. I'm already looking forward to my next dental visit, but more importantly, where I'll be eating right after it.
Out of five martinis, (because the most famous "Q" I could think of is from the James Bond movies, and 007's favorite cocktail is a martini, shaken not stirred), five being best to zero being worst, Q Tortas gets 3 martinis.
Q Tortas does not have a website, but you can see pictures of their food and find out more information on their Yelp page by clicking here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/q-tortas-placentia
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