Some restaurants have a signature dish.
Others have a signature history.
Avila's El Ranchito has both.
The Costa Mesa location is part of a family restaurant group whose story began in 1966, when Salvador and Margarita Avila opened their first restaurant after bringing family recipes from Guanajuato, Mexico, to Southern California. The Costa Mesa location opened in 1977 and remains family-owned and operated.
Yelp currently shows the Costa Mesa restaurant at 4.6 stars with more than 2,000 reviews.
THE FAMILY RECIPE IS THE FOUNDATION
The restaurant's menu is built around recipes that have been passed down through the Avila family.
That gives Avila's a different relationship with Mexican food than a restaurant built around one trend.
The cooking is rooted in the idea of family recipes prepared for generations of customers.
THE HANDMADE TORTILLAS
For regulars, handmade tortillas are one of the details that make the meal.
The Costa Mesa location specifically highlights its handmade tortillas as a local favorite.
They are especially useful when ordering one of the restaurant's botana platters, which come with warm tortillas and ingredients designed for diners to build their own tacos.
BOTANAS ARE MADE FOR THE TABLE
Avila's botana platters turn dinner into a shared experience.
The platters include combinations of meats and toppings accompanied by avocado, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, pico de gallo and warm tortillas.
Instead of everyone ordering an individual entrée, the table can build tacos together.
That is a very Mexican way to approach a meal.
THE MENU GOES WELL BEYOND TACOS
There is plenty of variety for diners who want something else.
The menu includes traditional combinations, seafood, soups, salads, enchiladas, chile rellenos, burritos and house specialties.
The Costa Mesa location also highlights creations such as Botana Carnitas and Pepe's Special, dishes developed through the family's own kitchen experimentation.
FROM GUANAJUATO TO ORANGE COUNTY
The Avila family story is one of immigration, family business and food.
Salvador and Margarita Avila came to the United States from Guanajuato with their children. Their first restaurant became the foundation for what eventually grew into multiple Avila's El Ranchito locations across Orange and Los Angeles Counties.
The important part is that the family connection remains.
Each location is still owned and operated by an Avila family member.
A RESTAURANT THAT BECAME AN OC INSTITUTION
The Costa Mesa restaurant has now been part of the community for decades.
That kind of longevity is increasingly rare in Southern California restaurants, where concepts can change quickly.
Avila's has instead built its following the traditional way: familiar food, family recipes and generations of returning customers.
THE SOCALEAT TAKE
For anyone searching for Mexican restaurants in Costa Mesa or Orange County, Avila's El Ranchito offers something beyond a meal.
It offers a piece of a Southern California Mexican restaurant story that stretches back more than half a century.
The recipes came from Guanajuato.
The restaurant grew in California.
And the family remains at the center of it.
VISIT AVILA'S EL RANCHITO — COSTA MESA
Avila's El Ranchito
2101 Placentia Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(949) 642-1142
Hours: Monday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM; Friday 11 AM–10 PM; Saturday 9 AM–10 PM; Sunday 9 AM–9 PM.
Avila's El Ranchito official website
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