La Especial Norte

Great food and service. The chicken soup was really good and the carne asada burrito was also very good. It was spiced like I have never had before and I thought it was delicious!

This review is 30 years overdue. Why? Because I didn't want to make La Especial Norte more popular than it already is. I didn't want to wreck the SoCal beach neighborhood vibe that seems to be built into the kitschy decor. But I find myself leaving the area, so this review is one of the last things I need to wrap up. I will miss the soups, especially the tortilla soup pictured below. In recent years the soup has been served warm so I ask to have it hot. I add 2 spoons of salsa, and that elevates it to the best tortilla soup I've ever had - apologies to my wife who has tried to replicate it. Seafood dishes are wonderful, especially the fish tacos. Pictured below as well is the enchilada platter. The beef enchilada has shredded beef and not the ground beef so many other restaurants use. I always ask for extra cabbage slaw. This is the only Mexican restaurant I have been to that serves it. In fact, I think it's better to substitute the cabbage for the rice on any platter. Also, avoid the sour cream and ask for red sauce instead. Skip the margaritas and other mixed drinks, I don't see the value. Instead get a Corona or better yet a Modelo Negro. This isn't fancy food. It is basic food done really well. The portion to price ratio is fantastic. The proof is the number of families who jam into the place every weekend night. If you're wearing shorts, sweatshirt, and flip flops you'll fit right in. For a restaurant to be so popular for so long is pretty much all you need to know. Get off the 5, enjoy a slower trip on the 101, and stop in Leucadia for some authentic Mexican soups and platters. Muy gusto!

I wasn't impressed. The price was very expensive for Mexican food. The food was very Salty, the waitor an older man with a hat was bothered by us asking for our drinks, and my daughters quesadilla was at our table after everyone was finished eating. I never got the impression that our waitor was happy we chose this place to eat. We'd never been here before and I don't see us coming back. All of the food was very salty steak, shrimp, rice, beans all heavily Salty. Save your money unless you like spending $80 for 4 people, the water was the best part and the Mexican coca cola . My kids weren't happy and they usually clean their plates they couldn't stomach the food they all wondered if this was how people cooked the food in Mexico but I've had better Mexican food elsewhere. Beware