El Cholo-La Habra

El Cholo
840 Whittier Blvd.
La Habra
562-691-4618

El Cholo has been around since 1923. They also have locations in Pasadena and LA, which I believe is the original location. The La Habra location looks like a mission, complete with the bell tower. It's a very popular restaurant with a fairly small parking lot, so park on Whittier Blvd.

I had the chicken chimichangas for $14 tax and tip included. The chimichangas weren't the traditional burrito deep fried. They were shaped as egg rolls and then deep fried. The filling was just chicken which was boiled and bland, just no flavor to it. The tortilla was flakey, crispy and light and I would rate the tortilla better than Casa Jimenez. But the chimichangas at Casa Jimenez, which was stuffed with flavorful beef, beans and rice, was overall much better.

Service was fast and friendly. But it's a very busy place and it can be quite loud in there.

I wouldn't go back to El Cholo. The food is good enough but nothing special. I think the main problem with El Cholo is that they cater to a mostly gringo crowd. A sure sign it's an average or worse Mexican restaurant. Even if I was in the area, I would go over the hill to Casa Jimenez, which has better food and much lower prices.

Casa Jimenez

Casa Jimenez
15844 Gale Ave
Hacienda Heights
626-336-5668

Casa Jimenez has many locations throughout LA. I was told the Hacienda Heights location has some good specials and good food, so I decided to try it.

They have an all you can eat special for $7.50. You order three items to start and then you can order whatever else you want. They have a wide variety of items, from tacos to burritos to chimichanga to chile colorado. The best thing is that they aren't sitting on steam trays but cooked to order.

I only ordered two items, beef chimichanga and the carnitas to start. I really like the chimichanga. Unlike another Mexican restaurant I went to, this chimichanga was acutally deep fried. It was filled with tons of shredded beef and beans. The fried tortilla was flaky and crunchy. The outside of the carnitas were very crispy, almost like bacon. But the carnitas tended to be dry, though tender.

My next order was a chicken taco and beef taquitos. The chicken taco was filled with chicken, lettuce, and topped with cheese. The chicken was kind of bland. The lettuce and cheese was fresh but overall the taco was dry. The taquitos was just beef rolled into a tortilla and deep fried. Pretty good.

Then I had a small portion of the Chile Colorado, which is a red chile sauce over beef. It was very mild, not spicy at all. The beef was tender. Reminded me of beef stew.

Service was below average, even though the place was pretty empty. I had to track down the waitress for my next order and to refill my drink. She also did not take the dirty dishes away. But the most galling part was the bill. The price is $7.50 for the meal. I only ordered water to drink so that of course is free. I didn't order anything else. There is nothing on the menu about an extra charge for salsa or gucamole or sour cream. I also wasn't asked if I wanted either one. So my bill came out to $8.42. $7.50 x .0875 is about 66 cents, so the bill should have been $8.16. Why the extra 26 cents? I know that may sound petty but restaurants should calculate your bill correctly. There is reason to screw somebody like that.

I did like the food and thought it was a good value but why try to rip people off? I don't want to create a scene, because I feel somebody who is reviewing food should try and be anonymous, so I didn't ask why it cost more

The Whole Enchilada-Closed

The Whole Enchilada
1114 Diamond Bar Blvd.
Diamond Bar
909-861-5340

A local alternative to the Mexican chains, The Whole Enchilada offers Mexican food at good prices.

I ordered a carnitas chimichanga for $9.19. The chimichanga wasn't even deep fried, it was very lightly toasted burrito. The carnitas was very salty and the colorado sauce they put on it, which is really an enchilada sauce, added nothing to the flavor. But I still couldn't get over the fact that the chimichanga wasn't deep fried. I didn't order a burrito, it's a chimichanga which has to be deep fried.

The rice is nothing to write home about.

Service is good and fast. It can get crowded for dinner but people eat quickly.

I have never cared for The Whole Enchilada. Yes the prices are better but the food is below average and I would gladly pay more for a better meal. Back in June, I met some people at The Whole Enchilada and I didn't eat anything both times