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Name Of Establishment	Cutija Taco Shop
Address:	5 West Pacheco Blvd. Los Banos Ca.
Phone Number:	209-826-8024
Website:	Unknown
Prices:	Low
Date Of Review:	April 2006
Check out the Official Merced County Health Inspection of this Restaurant - If that link isn't working try this link (note: these links are slow to load)
Our Overall Numeric Rating
Summation Opinion: Flat out excellent food for a great price. Aesthetically not the best place to take your prom date.

In early April 2006 we went to Cutijas on Pacheco Blvd.

At first glance Cutija's Taco Shop in Los Banos doesn't look like anything special. In fact the little building has a run down even shabby look to it. It's the type of place that we (sometimes fondly) refer to as a "Hole in the Wall".

Don't judge a book by its cover...

The little yellow and primer colored building is graced with a dilapidated looking exterior a hot metal awning with a less than stellar paint job and funny outdoor chairs (some broken) attached to white metal tables. The screened order window looks out on customers over a well worn counter that you must walk up to place your order from selections on the fading hand-painted menus nailed to a wall nearby.

This is not a velvet upholstered dine-in restaurant If you want to propose marriage over diner in a place with 'perfect atmosphere' perhaps there are better choices in town.

What Cutija's lacks in ambiance it sure makes up for in the tastiness of the food. Those willing to brave the aesthetic atmosphere will find that they are greatly rewarded with flat out excellent Mexican food.

Have you ever praised beans?

Cutijas has become our family favorite. In fact, for this visit, I was just overcoming a nasty cold and wanted some "comfort food". We eat so often at Cutijas and love it so much that it fit the bill. I was dying for some of their refried beans, which, in my opinion, are the best ever! Cutija's beans are now the measuring stick we use to judge the beans at other restaurants. The beans are very creamy and flavorful. There are still some whole beans, but they are cooked down and soft and the rest of it is blended together. They come with a large amount of melted, gooey cheese on top. My husband will often hear, "Well... these beans just aren't as good as Cutijas."

Cutija has the "typical" Mexican food menu: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more. Their prices are very reasonable and their portions are pretty big. Usually we have enough left after lunch to eat for dinner. Although I've tried their tacos (delicious meat on corn tortillas topped with goodies) and other fare, what keeps me coming back again and again is the Burrito Loco.

Going Loco!

Burrito Locos are BIG. Either have a huge appetite ready, or be prepared to eat leftovers later. Inside a giant flour tortilla (which is soft, warm and delicious) is a generous portion of carne asada -steak (usually cooked just right and seasoned) with rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes. You can order your burrito with other ingredients (chicken, pork, etc.), if you'd like, but we stick to our usual. The burritos are stuffed absolutely full.

We almost always order a Burrito Loco each, with a side of beans and rice to share. Predictably, I don't usually eat at Cutijas without a side order of beans. The kids usually get the rolled tacos topped with a dollop of guacamole on a bed of lettuce (you'll like the price).

Service is friendly and fairly quick. In fact recently, the woman behind the counter started writing up our order before we even said anything! I guess we are that predictable concerning the Burrito Loco.

We'll be back.

As for the rolled tacos, they come deep fried with your choice of meat and have a big heaping spoon of guacamole and all sorts of other fixings on top. They are crunchy, perfectly fried (not too crisp, not too soft) and not even too greasy.

Cutijas' rice is fluffy with a hint of tomato flavor and bland, but like you expect it to be.

Everything we've tried at Cutijas we have been very happy with. The things we haven't tried yet that we've seen, look great (like a big plate of nachos with tons of fixings on top). The prices are terrific and we think they have some of the best Mexican food around. This isn't what we'd eat for our anniversary, but it sure serves in a pinch for "every day" and for our family, at times, it's almost every week! Give Cutijas a try and hopefully you'll love them as much as we do!

Specific Opinions By Reviewer One
Overall Rating :	for WHAT IT IS Cutija is top notch
Food:
Service:
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:		None
Romance Factor:
Family Friendliness:

Specific Opinions By Reviewer Two
Overall Rating :
Food:
Service:	Always very friendly - has memorized our usual order
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:		None
Romance Factor:	Unless you take it home :-)
Family Friendliness:		Not applicable

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More About Our Los Banos Restaurant Reviews

In this section, the staff of Our Los Banos .com shares our personal opinions on the restaurants that we patronize in the City of Los Banos. We would like to stress that we are not professional reviewers, that we have had little or no training in the food arts, and that we are simply expressing our own personal views and opinions on particular visits that we made to the establishments under consideration.

Subjectivity. We make no pretense of the fact that we are not objective. As with art, food is a subjective experience subject to personal opinion and even whim. Some people love a particular artist's work while others can not stand what is put on canvas. Picasso comes to mind. Similarly people's appreciation for a particular chef's abilities are uniquely their own. While our tastes are very eclectic and we enjoy a tremendous variety of different types of food, we do not expect our readers will agree with all of our opinions and views. We DO encourage our readers to try each of the places that we have reviewed and then you can discuss (politely and in a positive fashion) your experiences and opinion of our review in the Los Banos Forum section.

Merced County Health Food Facility Inspections Site

Finally, we strongly encourage our readers to make use of a truly wonderful online resource we discovered last year. Merced County has put together a very cool Food Facility Inspection website which discloses the results of the County Health Department's last few inspections of each restaurant. The results are sometimes quite fascinating and are always interesting. Beware however you may not want to eat at certain places once you read some of the more dramatic entries. We at Our Los Banos .com very much appreciate and support the county of Merced putting these Department of Health food facility inspections online for the public to see.

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