La Chona Restaurant

La Chona Restaurant is just inside the San Pablo city limits, but we wanted to pretend like it was in Richmond. Like El Mexicano, this restaurant has a small cozy dining area, with a view of the open kitchen and prep area. Unlike Mexicano, the wait staff here serves you at your table with full menus and service. The staff are friendly and they have a good variety of food and beverages on offer, including beer and micheladas. As per usual, we sat down for our 3 taco sampler, Carne Asada, Carnitas and Al Pastor.

La Chona Restaurant

1848 23rd St, San Pablo, CA 94806

https://goo.gl/maps/fmj2SABC28yKX6Vs5

La Chona Tacos Regular (Top: Carnitas, Left: Al Pastor Right: Carne Asada)

Lauren (Carne Asada):
Usually not a carne asada fan (because I am not a beef fan), I was very impressed with the carne asada here.  The flavor was mellow, and well marinaded.  With a little lime, this Carne Asada taco was nearly perfect.  The texture was great too- it seemed they used high-quality beef that was tender and wasn't gristly.  Overall, I gave this asada a higher score than Simon which is why it is only 4.03/5

Simon (Al Pastor):
The Al Pastor Tacos were beautifully tender, there was no gristle and were wonderfully coated with seasonings. The seasoning was a bit too much however, with an almost overpowering flavor of cloves and or allspice. The toppings to this taco were just the standard onion and cilantro. The lime definitely improved the flavor, as did a splash of salt. The tortillas were pretty standard al vapor (steamed) and could have done with a little more toasting. Overall rating was 4.07 out of 5.


Simon (Carnitas):
The Carnitas here had good flavor, but really lacked the crispiness that makes a great carnitas taco. The meat was soft and almost mushy, and was dripping with tasty juices. Again, a little salt and lime was required on this taco. Trying both of the salsas added some good flavor, but could have been better, especially if the salsa were not so cold from the fridge which brought the taco temperature down. 3.33/5

Salsas (Both came out refrigerator cold, which dulled the flavor a little)

Salsas: Both the red and green salsas were good. Simon prefered the green slightly to the red 4/5 to 3.5/5 respectively. Lauren like them equally at 4.5/5 for both, but noted that the green needed more lime. The red was spicier than the green, though neither was too over the top to eat.

Chips (we ate most of them before remembering to take a photo)

The chips were good, but we knocked off a point since they weren't hot out of the fryer fresh. Good flavor and structure and held together well for salsa dipping. Chips were included in your meal here at Chona unlike at Mexicano. We rated the chips at 4 out of 5.

Menu Front

Menu Center 

Menu Back

Full La Chona Rubric