333 East 17th Street
Costa Mesa, CA
The term hidden gem gets thrown around a little too much these days. It's definitely a term that has gotten watered down a bit. For me, I feel a restaurant can be defined as a hidden gem if it is in an obscure location, not widely visited by a lot of locals, has been largely ignored by the local food press, and of course, if they serve great food. Tres Muchachos definitely fills the first three requirements as a hidden gem, and I was hoping that they would fill the fourth by serving some really good food.
You can find Tres Muchachos on 17th Street, in the back corner of a small strip mall which also houses the very visible Pancakes R Us, Tabu Shabu, and Oak and Coal, which is a Japanese restaurant that I placed on my restaurant wishlist while waiting for my always tardy cousin Jenny, who was joining us this evening at Tres Muchachos. Hidden location, check.
With only 140 reviews on Yelp, Tres Muchachos also crosses requirement number two off of my hidden gem list. They opened just a month before the world shut down due to covid, which might be the reason they have such a low presence on that customer review site. People also might be a little confused by their name, which implies it's strictly a Mexican restaurant, but they also serve Mediterranean food, and just for an added curveball, they serve brunch all day, every day. So if you are feeling like a breakfast burrito or chilaquiles on a Tuesday evening, this might become your spot.
The Tres Muchachos menu is divided into starters, salads, tacos, sandwiches, mains, sides, and desserts. Starters are all under $20, while entrees hover around the $25 mark. Tacos come two to an order and will set you back $16, but they also come with a mixed green salad. After a little chit-chat with our cousin, we made up our minds on what to have. Let's see if Tres Muchachos can solidify their standing as a true hidden gem by serving up some good grub.
We started things off at Tres Muchahchos with two appetizers. My favorite of the two was the Zucchini Fritos ($12). This version of fried zucchini had a very pleasing and crunchy breading which did not overpower the zucchini underneath. This was enhanced by a very good ranch dressing, which they make in-house. Even though I liked the zucchini better than the Spinach, Garlic, and Artichoke Hummus ($16), this is still a starter worth ordering. The flavor bounced off my taste buds, and I appreciated the large pieces of artichoke included in this. A few more chips served with this would have been appreciated, as we had way more hummus leftover when we ran over the tortilla chips.
Jenny will start off the entree portion of our evening with her Crispy Pollock Fish and Chips ($18). I can not recall a restaurant offering pollock as their fish and chips, but it was a nice choice. The panko breading provided a nice crunchy outer coating without that greasiness that you usually get at other places. The fish underneath was tender and flaky, just what you wat when consuming fried fish. Again, the sauce here shined, as this was a delicious tartar sauce with plenty of herbs included, which I could not get enough of. Nicely done. The fries were nice and crisp, and they went well with the tartar sauce.
I selected the Roasted Porchetta Sandwich ($25) as my meal at Tres Muchachos. This sandwich combines pork tenderloin and pork belly, so you get varied textures in each bite. It's dressed with pesto and lemon vinaigrette tossed arugula on toasted ciabatta. I enjoyed the pork in this sandwich, but I wished for a bit more pesto on here and maybe a little less in the way of the arugula. Still, a good sandwich that had levels of flavor coming from each direction. This was served with fingerling potatoes, which were fried nice and crisp, but should have included one of their fine sauces to boost them up a notch.
Last but not least, Katie opted for the Fish Sandwich ($16). Again, they use crispy pollock as the vehicle here and then add Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onion, and their house-made aioli to the brioche bun. Katie loved the crunch of this, but it needed a lot more aioli, or maybe since this was a fish sandwich, some of that really great herby tartar sauce that they serve with their fish and chips plate. The hand-cut fries were better than my fingerling potatoes. Seasoned nicely, with a nice crunch.
If you check out the Tres Muchachos Yelp page, you will see multiple pictures of layered cakes that they used to serve for dessert. Our server explained that when they first opened they had a partnership with a baker, who would bring them in for them. Sadly, they don't have them anymore, so we picked this Belgian Chocolate Mousse ($12) out of the five dessert choices offered. This was a little lackluster. It was very tiny, so the three of us only got one and a half bites between us, and the raspberry flavor really overpowered the chocolate. We would definitely try the churros on future visits.
Even with a few missteps, Tres Muchachos was definitely worth the visit, and they also checked off all the boxes that I have for being labeled as a true hidden gem. I'd come back for sure to try more of their menu, like the numerous tacos that they serve, or their delicious-sounding pork mole dish. The service was nice and cordial. I thought the price point was a few dollars too much per item, but that seems to be the way of the world these days. Tres Muchachos ended up being a restaurant worth seeking out.
Out of five chocolate bars, (because the name of this restaurant conjures up the classic Three Musketeers candy bar). five being best to zero being worst, Tres Muchachos gets 3.5 candy bars.
For more information about Tres Muchachos, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.tresmuchachos.menu/
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