There are sometimes when I head out to lunch and have no clue as to what I want to eat, last Friday was one of those times. I looked at my GPS told it to locate nearby restaurants and it pointed me to Ricas Tortas in Anaheim. Honestly if it wasn’t for my GPS I would have never even known that this place existed. Located across the street from a bunch of sanitation disposal bins in an industrial strip center Ricas would be easily missed by anyone that wasn’t paying attention.
I’m not sure if the location is a blessing to those that have found it or a curse to the owners. Whatever it is, they have done something right to remain in business for a couple year. With a name like Ricas Tortas one would assume that someone that does restaurant reviews would try what they must be known for, but I’m not known for ordering tortas. That said I first ordered a carnitas burrito, but quickly changed my mind and with a carnitas torta, regardless I wasn’t disappointed.
My experience with tortas is quite limited, I think my first exposure was that of the “tortas” or whatever they called them at McDonalds a couple years back. Other then that I may have had a torta or two in the past couple years. Let’s just say Ricas Tortas doesn’t need to worry about Micky D’s coming back out with their tortas, since the difference is night and day. My carnitas torta ($4.99) came with a nice assortment of juicy and crispy edged carnitas, topped with lettuce, tomato, refried beans, and avocado. The torta hit the spot in all the right places, the perfect mixture of warm goodness from the crispy parts of carnitas, to the slightly salt goodness of refried beans, inside a nicely toasted bun. I had to eat the thing with a fork a knife for fear of getting my shirt I wore to work dirty! The only thing missing was chips and salsa, but they don’t give them out free of charge, and the girl and the counter didn’t really understand me when I asked for them during my order.
If you look in the dictionary for the term hole in the wall, this is the type of place that it would describing, it’s small, it’s in a completely random location, and it doesn’t even look like a restaurant from the outside. But I’m glad I went inside!
Visit on 08/25/09 for lunch.
[xrr rating=3/5]
Ricas Tortas
2821 E White Star Ave # J
Anaheim, CA 92806-2519
(714) 630-0342
