RESTAURANTS / Max Jacobson : Searching Orange County for Those Secret Little Mexican Restaurants

On a balmy summer day, nothing beats slurping a slushy margarita while feasting on tacos al carbon or a juicy burrito.

Trouble is, there are too many Mexican-food places to choose from. Almost everyone, it seems, has his or her secret little haunt where the chiles are hotter or the tortillas are fresher. Also to be considered are the high-concept chains, the formula restaurants that manage to pack crowds in with cantina-style decor and copycat menus.

I recently spent an entire week traveling up and down Orange County, sampling the wares of various Mexican restaurants. My favorite three finds had one thing in common: hand-made tortillas. I think everything tastes better when sandwiched between these golden circles of corn flour, fresh and hot from their iron griddles.

A silly sign in Elizabethan lettering reading “Ye Olde Tortilla Maker” greets you as you enter El Ranchito in La Habra. Fortunately, the tortillas here are anything but old (or olde ). They are the best I tasted all week. I was guided to this place by two Mexican ladies I met on La Habra Boulevard who absolutely insisted I have lunch there.

The restaurant is strip mall-stunning, with regional Mexican decor (serapes, woodcrafts) and various bullfight posters splashing the walls. The thing to eat here is carnitas --chunked pork marinated in lemon and garlic--crunchy on the outside, fork-tender and dense with natural juices. Roll the meat in a tortilla and mix it with the restaurant’s dark, smoky salsa--rich with cilantro and chipotle peppers, it’s a salsa that would make the restaurant a fortune if it were sold to the masses.

Wash the carnitas down with one of the frozen margaritas--banana, peach or strawberry, sold by the glass or the liter. Of the three, I like the banana best. The taste of the fruit does little to overwhelm the natural aromas of the tequila, while managing to refresh and delight. The other two, made with fresh fruit, are more like ice-freezes.

Everything else I tasted here was forgettable except a good, tender carne asada and an exceptional albondigas , which is Mexican meatball soup. The meatball was wonderfully complex with cumin, garlic, and hints of herbs like rosemary and basil. Pass on the insipid beans and rice, or the monotonous desserts.

El Ranchito is moderately priced. Appetizers are $3.50 to $7.95. Main dishes are $4.95 to $8.95.

EL RANCHITO

1351H Beach Blvd., La Habra

(213) 943-6020

Open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m.

American Express, MasterCard, Visa accepted

Larry Cano has been associated with such upscale eateries as Cano’s, Las Brisas, and the El Torito chain. Manana in Fountain Valley, one of his more modest endeavors, has occasional flashes of brilliance.

The restaurant makes its reputation on fajitas , and deservedly so--they are really the only reason to eat here.

The adobe-walled restaurant has the usual array of theme Mexican appointments--a Tijuana-taxi atmosphere, wooden chairs, a brassy bar. Chefs make tortillas behind a glassed-in open kitchen. A salsa bar runs along its perimeter.

Meats are brought sizzling to the table in large iron skillets, and the smell alone is as intoxicating as a double shot of Cuervo. Cadillac fajitas , a combination of beef, chicken and shrimp, let you taste all three items at once. The giant portion will easily feed two. Skillets are loaded with trimmed meats, red and yellow peppers, tomato and onions that caramelize wonderfully on the bottom of the pan if you leave them for last. All fajitas come with good guacamole, fresh chips and a platter of rice and beans. My wife and I split one order and ended up taking the leftovers home.

Margaritas are excellent, too. Try “The Ultimate,” made with Cuervo 1800 and Grand Marnier, but be warned these drinks have plenty of kick.

Manana is moderately priced and the menu is large. Appetizers are $3.45 to $6.95. Specialties are $4.95 to $10.95. Fajitas are $7.95 to $10.95.

MANANA

17171 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley

(714) 963-8673

Open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday until 11 p.m.

American Express, MasterCard, Visa accepted.

After several days of noshing on Mexican nibbles, I didn’t think I could face another taco for weeks. Good thing I saved the best for last.

La Salsa, in Newport Beach and Santa Ana shopping malls, may be nothing more than a humble food stand, but I find it a remarkable place. The chain specializes in antojitos , which translates as little cravings . But practically speaking, antojitos means soft tacos, quesadillas and tortas (sandwiches).

The meats at La Salsa are marinated and then grilled, full of flavor, almost entirely fat-free, and of impeccable quality. (Watch the chefs chop and grill, and judge the quality for yourself.) The restaurant’s ultra-lean pastor , a Mexican version of barbecued pork, and its pollo , blackened chicken crusty with herbs and spices, fill a taco shell better than anything I can think of.

And every dish comes with cebollitas , char-broiled scallions, much better than the usual handful of iceberg lettuce that usually appears with tacos. Then there are the fragrant black beans, excellent rice and exotic drinks; you can slurp on horchata , made from cinnamon and rice, or jamaica , made from hibiscus flowers. Try the enchilada Suiza, a cheese enchilada smothered in a mild, green tomatillo sauce. Salsas come in gringo (mild) and verde (extra-hot) and are sheer perfection. Once a week there is an all-you-can-eat taco night for just $6.

LA SALSA

Location No. 1: Irvine Ranch Farmers Market, Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

(714) 640-4289

Open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Taco night is Tuesday)

Location No. 2: MainPlace, 2800 N. Main St., Santa Ana

(714) 543-9524

Open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Taco night is Wednesday).

Both restaurants: cash only