Taco Factory

Mexican food and Irvine are like any type of good food and Irvine, they don’t mix. So I will go easy on them.
This is your typical Mall Food Court Mexican joint in California. Throw some steak or chicken in a tortilla or a giant fried flour tostada bowl and you can somehow call it a Mexican restaurant. Nope. Not in my book. This is SoCal. How one city avoids having a decent Mexican joint is mind-​boggling.
In all fairness though, they do have a clean establishment. They offer a good array on their menu and the salsa bar allows you to customize your meal to your liking for the most part.
I was just trying to find something that won’t make me fall asleep after lunch so I just ordered a chicken salad. It was pretty much bare bones and I asked for no dressing since I like to use salsa and such as dressing if it’s available.
I piled on the pico de gallo and the salsa, as well as the cilantro and jalapenos since these were all available at the salsa bar. The roasted salsa was my choice but there were a few tasty looking choices.
The chicken was cooked okay. Nothing out of this world but at least it was seasoned. The togetherness of the ingredients of the salad was minimal but I didn’t get the dressing so I can’t really criticize since it wasn’t what it’s supposed to be. I can say that you can have a pretty healthy meal here because the salsa bar items really can fill you up without the calories and bad carbs.
Let’s face it. If you looking for good Mexican food in Irvine, then you really shouldn’t be looking for good Mexican food. Head to Santa Ana or Tustin or something. Not here. I give it 3 stars because of the location and the cleanliness and also the service. They try. It’s not their fault that they are trying to appease their crowd.
BTW, I think they changed ownership and are closed right now. They have a new name posted on the front.

Honestly I can’t believe people actually eat here. I read reviews prior to picking up dinner here last night. A lot of folks said that the food was bland. Which I thought, that’s nearly impossible — to make bland Mexican food.
Whelp. It’s true. It’s the blandest food I’ve ever had. I ordered the taquitos and they looked like pencils. That’s how tiny they were. And they tasted awful. My husband and I had two bites and thru it all in the trash.
I rarely give such negative reviews but I’m just in disbelief with this place. I really debated going back for a refund. But just decided to get over it and never go back.

Based on several visits, the most recent being today, I will say that hands down Chronic Tacos blows this place away!
I ordered a «Taco Tues» special .99 cent carnitas soft taco and a bean and cheese burrito and drink. The portion of meat on the taco was small but I noticed that’s they way they were for everyone else, so I knew what to expect. My problem was the carnitas were a boring, soggy mess. Good carnitas should be moist and have good seasoning. These were wet and bland.
Now, here’s where I dropped my rating down: At Chronic when you order a bean and cheese burrito (for the same $ 3.99 price) it is twice the size easily. This skimpy sized burrito was what I expect to get from Del Taco for .99 cents. With a drink my total lunch came to nearly $ 7 bucks but I was still hungry afterward. In short, I actually felt a bit ripped off.

You know how you go to tacos bell or del tacos and you open your burrito and put all the hot sauce you want on it. This place leaves your burrito open and you put whatever you want at the salsa bar and then they’ll wrap it up for you. I think its genius.
I got the fish burrito here and the fish is never dry. The black beans are really good too.

Very boring food. I had two chicken and 1 fish taco. But they barely had flavor. I wish I would have gone to rubio’s… I’ve had better from most taco trucks.
Clean place, and quick service… Just nothing special about the taco’s. I thought a place called the taco factory would have unbelievable taco’s. I was wrong!

OMG! This is the best burrito that I have ever tried! The portions are big and very generous with the meat! The carne Assad was juicy and tender very good well balance seasoning and their salsa are good as well!
This is definitely one of my to go to lunch spot @ work… whenever my diet allows me too!
Prices are reasonable!

Who do you think would win in a fight between a grilled cheese sandwich and a taco? — Andy Samberg
Sidney eats mediocre tacos in Irvine Part I
And I gotta go with the taco over the Grilled Cheese sandwich. Grilled Cheese, kinda big and lumbering. Taco, especially if it is soft, a little quicker and more flexible. Probably outlasts the Grilled Cheese in a fight especially once is starts using the tomato and bean fueled RPG.
Met a friend here for a free lunch on her expense account. Ordered taco plate with rice, beans and chips/​salsa. Best part of meal was definitely the chips and refillable soda (and the part about not paying for this).
Ordered two tacos… chicken and beef… both completely underwhelming for $ 10+. Rice and beans were also afflicted with same mediocrity.
I heard breakfast burritos are better… may try them again for that.
Tip: Chairs are heavy and tall. Watch out when you stand up to refill your styrofoam tub with diet soda like chemicals. It was a busy lunch and I knocked my chair over and almost conked some poor guy in the head with it. Would that have been called a Chaircussion?

Nothing spectacular about this place.
Service: 2-​stars. Granted I came on a Sunday afternoon and this place was pretty empty. It’s in the middle of a business park area so I’m sure the staff get pretty bored. But you would think that when they do get business that they’d be a little more attentive. I swear the one girl’s fingers were gonna fall off just sitting there tapping on her cell phone. How about wiping down some of the tables or the kitchen a bit early?
Food: Again… considering this is Southern California shouldn’t your Mexican food be better than this? I can’t say it was much better than you would get from a Taco Bell.
The only thing keeping this up in the 2-​star range is that there’s plenty of space and it was easy for me to park, get my kids situated, eat really quick and get back on the I-​5.
If you live in Irvine, avoid this place. I’m sure there are much better places than this joint.

The other week we visited Taco Factory, very likely for the last time. Their food is tasty, though not mind-​blowing.
I just cannot continue to give my money to the people who run the restaurant. The woman who owns/​manages it is an enormous bitch, even though we’re always very friendly and have been in often enough to earn some kind of friendliness. The younger woman who is often at the register is not bitchy per se, but is completely apathetic without a scrap of cheer.
We were getting a to-​go order, and while the woman was a stone cold bitch the whole time, the final straw was when my husband ran back in to get tortilla chips that hadn’t been included in our order, only to be asked for 49 cents or some piddling amount. If you dine-​in you get chips for free. Despite being regulars (I was even the Duchess for a time), despite being friendly, despite having previously had a favorable review, still 49 stupid cents. Nope! Not this day, nor any other.

Just a quick place to grab a burrito and fill my stomach. Nothing special and nothing to rave about. I came at an odd time so there wasn’t any wait, but I can imagine during lunch rush hour it can get quite busy.

Average Taco place is average.
Not bad, not great, average.
Oh and please note that all tacos ordered etc will be without anything but meat, cheese and tortilla so stock up on accouterments at the salsa bar especially if it is to go.

Come on guys, really? Maybe I should lift my feet up and let you mop under me since you’re in that much of an effing hurry to get out of here.
Came in 45 minutes prior to closing. There were two other parties besides us dining. 15 minutes into the meal, I go to get more salsa from the salsa bar. It had been stripped clean. I suppose I didn’t need more salsa. 5 minutes later I go to refill my drink. The employees had taken all the spouts off the fountain machine. On my way back to the table, I almost trip over an employee moving all the mats and rolling them up.
Huh. And they’re technically still open? I check the signage. Yup, still open. I ask the employee hiding behind the register… «You guys are still open, right?» She looks at me like I just asked her where she lives and how to get to her house. She nods pensively, almost in fear that I am about to order something else.
I really should have, and made her night.
Amazing.
Oh, and the food is really bland and tasteless.
Truly, I can appreciate wanting to get the ball rolling on closing procedures to make getting out easier. But shutting things down that blatantly is just bad show, folks.

I’ve been hitting this location for about five or six years now. Its consistently decent food. They have pretty good al pastor that makes for some great tacos.
The place gets jammed around lunchtime on weekdays like every place else in Irvine when the lunch whistle blows. But they do a pretty good job of keeping the line moving.
I like to get four or five tacos with one of each meat. The quality of teh meat is always good, its always hot, and the salsa bar is (almost) always clean and topped off.
When you order a burrito they serve it to you «open face» so you can dump whatever salsa you want on it then they’ll wrap it for you which is a nice touch.
Overall, Taco Factory blows the door off anything like Taco Bell or Del Taco, and holds its own against other places in its market. Try it, you’ll probably like it.

Since I work in Irvine, this plaza is pretty close to where I work! I’ve come here a couple times in the last couple of weeks.
They have the best nachos ever! They are almost like the ones from LA, but less greasy. They are good anyway!
Then last week, my boss had me run to get some tacos! And they were really good! I got a bunch of chicken tacos, and they were really good! I kind of wish they were bigger, but for 99 cents that’s not bad. :)

I love coming here on Friday mornings for Breakfast Burritos for the office. They are always super friendly and willing to accommodate my order of a dozen or so burritos. Very friendly, great breakfast burritos and fast too!

Decided to try this place after passing by it so many times while at the complex. The reason behind trying it? There were quite a number of people eating there, so maybe there’re onto something? Talk about being wrong! Either that or others have a strange taste in what they think is good.
Ended up paying about $ 10 for my meal. The tortilla was HUGE. At least Chipotle size. The amount of filling that was in the tortilla? That’s another topic in itself. It was not close enough to being able to fill a normal size tortilla. If that was not bad enough, there was no taste in anything. The meat was unseasoned. The rice was plain. The salsa was the biggest disappointment! In general, there is one thing that I expect to be at least decent in a restaurant which is supposed to be Mexican, it would at least be the salsa! It was literally chopped raw onions and tomatos, with an unusually large portion of onions. I’ve never seen salsa that had as much white in it as red. They were missing the other key ingredients to salsa — the lime, cilantro, chili peppers and a little salt. Even my Hispanic co-​worker said we would have been better off at Chipotle.
MInd you, I know I’ve been spoiled by the cheap Chinese café food in the SGV and the inexpensive Mexican food in the ELA area, and I know that I’m in the OC and I don’t expect the same quality of food for the bang for your buck. But I could have paid $ 10 for one taco from a taco truck and would have been more satisfied than I was with the food here.
After trying the food, we began to wonder if people were trying it for the same reason we decided to. Stupidity…

I really only come here for taco Tuesday’s. $ 1 tacos yay! I recommend the carnitas or chicken tacos. I don’t really like the Al Pastor. Never tried the other one, can’t remember what it’s called.
Once, looking for a «healthier» option, I got the factory bowl with chicken. It’s actually under the healthier options on their menu. Um. SO not healthy! It was basically ALL refried beans. And then cheese, sour cream, and guac. How is this healthier?! Ugh. I was so disgusted by it, I didn’t even finish HALF of it!
I’m all about second chances. So I went back and got the factory bowl again, this time, easy on the beans. It still tasted disgusting. No more for me! I’m sticking to taco Tuesdays.
They’re great for catering though, we’ve gotten them a few times for work — I think we got tacos, rice, beans, and chips.

I wouldnt say they are that bad like everyone else think.
I think its cool of them to hand the burrito to you to fill in all the salsas, before they wrap it. Saves that bite the burrito, pour some salsa, bite it again routine. I also like their hot salsa, and the Raja hot (some pepper and onion thing pickled).
Now here is the best part why I give them a four star.
I am a big fan of Breakfast Burrito, and I still think Taco Mesa, has the best Breakfast Burrito (that i have tasted among — roosters, and few other places).
My favorite version of Breakfast Burrito is ‘Egg/​Chorizo/​Potatos. No beans No nothing else.’.
THe breakfast burrito here always comes with refried beans, and to me atleast refried beans mixed with egg — seems to be a gross combination, never liked it and never will.
When i order i ask for Potatos instead of th ebeans, and the lady charged me 25cent more 3.99+25c+tax. I put enough of the spicy salsa, and it was almost as close to Taco Mesa’s Choris/​Egg/​Potato burrito.
If you try this let me know how you liked it.
The four star also includes the factor that its convenient to me that its very close by to my house, and you get to tell the cook how you want your burrito customized. and all that good stuff.

Just dropped by here today since I was having one of my taco tuesday cravings. They have a Taco Tues deal $ 1 per taco.
My own rating system for each dish is at the end of each menu description.
1 = Blegh… no taste, will not order it again.
5 = Yumm! Delicious! must get it again!
Tacos: I ordered 2 chicken and 2 al pastor tacos. The tacos were small, but I liked how the tortilla were soft, not too chewy or processed. I bolted right to the salsa bar and piled high on onions, fresh cut cilantro, limes, jalepenos, and salsa salsa salsa!!! ⁴⁄₅
Salsa Bar: My favorite part about taco factory was the salsa bar! the pico di gallo was chunky and medium spicy. The jalapenos in the pico de gallo had a nice spicy kick to them so beware non spicy eaters with your delicate taste buds. The spicy salsa was indeed spicy but bearable and had a nice flavor to it. i loved the huge variety of salsas, options ranging from spicy, medium, to mild. ⁵⁄₅
It was fast and tasty. I will definitely come back when I have another Taco Tues craving, or just a salsa craving… naturally!

Went here for the first time today because it’s next to the Sand Canyon Cyclery. Picked up their «Monday special» California burrito for $ 5 (meat, potato, cheese). Oilier than its equivalent carnitas burrito at Chipotle, but the fried potatoes might be the culprit here. The guy behind the counter had me add salsa at the salsa bar and bring it back to him to wrap the burrito, which I thought was a nice touch.
Overall, one of the better $ 5 lunches I’ve had in a while. Would have been nice to have some chips on the side a la El Pollo Loco, but my waistline is happier for it.