Navarro’s Taqueria

Just ahead of the pandemic, Mexican birria – heavily stewed meat coming from either cows, goats, or lambs, similar to barbacoa – started trending across Southern California, spawning dedicated birria restaurants and inspiring existing taco shops to update their menus. Unlike La Super Birria, which is pretty much exclusively dedicated to the meat, Navarro’s Taqueria opened in 2010 and serves many other proteins, ranging from al pastor, chorizo, fish, and shrimp to organ meats including cabeza, lengua, cecina, and tripa.

We’ve tried and really enjoyed the steak, chorizo, fish, and shrimp tacos – the pork al pastors could use more pineapple – but Navarro’s just happens to excel at birria and quesabirria tacos, which are some of the best we’ve found in Orange County thanks to tender beef, ample use of cheese, and perfectly crisped tortillas. Also great are the mulitas – taco sandwiches made by packing meat and cheese between two pan-fried tortillas – which moved from nowhere on our radar to become one of our favorites after visiting Navarro’s.