Carnitas Uruapan
2106 West 5th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92703
I always like it when we get new people at work. One reason is that I have been there for almost 36 years now, and any chance to change things is welcome at this point. Another reason is that there's a chance that this new person will become a friend, and we can bond over food. That happened when George showed up to replace our outgoing meat manager. We instantly connected with food; even better, he wanted to share one of his favorite places with me, Carnitas Uruapan in Santa Ana.
George and I met here at 9 a.m. on a Thursday. He likes to get here early to beat the rush, which is fine with me. It's situated in a mixed residential and industrial area west of Downtown. They have a small parking lot, which fills up quickly during peak meal times. I avoided it and parked on the street in front of the small, red and white painted restaurant.
Since the pandemic four years ago, there's been no seating inside the restaurant. They use the empty space now to snake the line. We were early enough to be able to walk right up to the case above. The guy behind the counter was slicing and dicing the pork and separating it into sections. He also packages it, and another lady makes the tacos, burritos, tortas, and combo plates. You then move to the register, where you get your drinks, pay, and pick up your food. Your last stop is the salsa bar, which should be ignored. Some delicious salsa here, maybe even the best I've had in years. They offer green, orange, and red salsa. The orange was spicy but oh-so-good. Unfortunately, I was so excited to eat I failed to take a picture of the salsas, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
The menu here features lamb, goat, and different kinds of beef, but most people focus on what they are known for, the carnitas. Most restaurants only list carnitas on their menus, and they make it using only pork shoulder. Carnitas Uruapan uses the whole pig to make their carnitas; different types are available. They have maciza, which is just white meat; there's also surtida, which is a mixture of all parts of the pig, and then you also can have pork rib meat and chicharon, which is deep-fried pork skin. The menu is not in English, so it's best to view their menu online and note what you want to order before showing up and slowing down the line. That's what I did, and the ordering process went smoothly. We grabbed our food and headed to the covered patio at the back of their parking lot.
One thing I learned about George on this particular outing is that he is one of the most vanilla eaters I have ever encountered. He likes everything as plain as you can get it. At Carnitas Uruapan, he'd get the Tacos Maciza ($2.90 for each taco) without cilantro, onion, or salsa. If he's feeling a bit wild, he might squeeze some lime on them, which he did not do while I was with him. He even picked out some more fatty pieces, which I was happy to take off his hands. He's always eaten this way since he was a kid. Some people grow out of it, but some, like George, don't. No judgment; he knows what he likes. It's best to move on.
Okay, here are the first two of my four tacos: the Costilla Taco ($3.75) and the Birria de Chivo Taco ($3.25). Both were excellent. The Costilla taco is made of rib meat, which is flavorful and rich. I don't know what they flavor it with, but with the cilantro and onion added, this was a winning taco, and I wished I had ordered an extra one. The birria at Carnitas Uruapan is not the Americanized version, which utilizes beef, but instead, it opts for the more traditional meat from a goat. Sometimes goat meat can be gamey and tough, but this was delicious. If you didn't know this was goat, you'd assume it was beef due to its seasoning and tenderness. I used the salsa sparingly with these two tacos because these tacos did not really need it. You don't see these unique tacos at your neighborhood taqueria often, but I'll be looking for them from now on.
I ordered the same Maciza Taco ($2.90) that George had, but I had them dress it with onions and cilantro. I took my first bite with no salsa, which was boring. The white meat was bland and somewhat dry. The taco was saved when I added the delicious orange salsa to it, which woke this taco up. The Taco Surtido is a mixture of all parts of the pig and has a tremendous amount of textural variation, which I found pleasing. If you are squeamish and inspect everything on your fork, you might want to stay with the white meat carnitas taco. I liked the pieces of fat and skin mingling with some white meat. It was a little greasier than the maciza, which added to the flavor profile. I liked it so much that I got it in the combo meal below.
As you can see in this picture, they do use all parts of the pig. This Surtida Combo Meal ($10.25) was jam-packed into the container. I ate this over a two-day period. It came with some very good corn tortillas, beans, and rice. The beans and rice were good but overshadowed by the pork, which made for excellent tacos. I'd also suggest the costilla (rib meat) as another great option for a combo meal.
Carnitas Uruapan is truly an authentic Mexican spot, serving carnitas as I assume that they do in Michoachan. I'm ashamed to admit that this was my first time having truly authentic carnitas. Most restaurants in OC do not make them using the whole pig, which I understand is only for some, including my friend George, who introduced me to this spot. There's room for both styles of carnitas, and I will continue eating both. Since this was my first time having authentic carnitas, I have nothing else to compare these to, but if you know of a place that you feel has superior carnitas, let me know where I should go next.
Out of five avocados (because the city of Uruapan is the center of Mexico's growing region for avocados), five being best to zero being worst, Carnitas Uruapan gets 3.5 avocados.
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