For variety, another place I like to go to in
Laguna Beach is Avila's El
Ranchito, also on
PCH. There are a lot of small restaurants in general on
PCH, but this is always a nice comfortable place to get a wide variety of more authentic Mexican food, more than your average Mexican joint. It seems that they have about ten restaurants scattered around Orange County, all family owned, which I always like supporting a bit more (Supposedly, all the recipes are based on Mama Avila's old recipes...can't really verify that, but it makes for a good story, regardless). They also have a coal brazier outside, which is a nice touch, especially since it is right by the coastline.
They always offer free chips and salsa,
yay! (although their salsa is a bit too spicy for me - I don't like very spicy foods).
Chingolingas - a flaky pastry filled with chicken, along with rice,
refried beans, and guacamole.
Carnitas, along with the ever present rice, beans, and guacamole.
Steak picado (beef stewed with bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and some spices). I always appreciate stewed meats, and this was no exception. Served with...yes, you guessed it, rice, beans, and guacamole.
One of my favorite Mexican dishes - sometimes, there is nothing better than a simple carne asada. I would like to know what they marinate the meat in to make it so tasty. And of course, one last time, let's all say it together: served with rice, beans, and a side of guacamole. I don't mind that the dishes are kind of uniform though - sometimes, simplicity is a good thing.
They do offer desserts - Mexican flan is always good!
They also offer churros, which I love in general...can't beat a warm and crunchy pastry dusted with cinnamon and sugar. This dessert would be perfect, with their pairing of the churros with some chocolate sauce and ice cream...but why stuff them with strawberry filling!? =P *sigh*
On Decker Blvd. (which was recently relabeled the new “international corridor" by the City of Columbia) sits a small little restaurant, Taqueria Guadalajara. It is as close as a person in Columbia can get to one of those street taco stands that you might find while walking around in any city in Mexico. If that description doesn’t appeal to you, or you like your Mexican food with lots of cheese and sauce, then this isn’t the place for you. But, if you like simple, traditional Mexican food, it is a place you should try at least once if you have one of those “taco” cravings. It offers really simple, but fresh and absolutely flavorful traditional Mexican tacos and burritos, and not much else =).
If you are going to look for it, the above photo of the restaurant will only be so helpful…in reality, you should look for the really prominent “Sandwood Plaza” sign while driving on Decker to find it. The plaza is split into two ends – on the northern ends sits a pretty decent Korean market and a Korean restaurant, D.J. House (not bad for a quick Korean food fix, but Hero is better if you have the time to sit down and eat, IMHO). Taqueria Guadalajara is tucked away in the corner on the southern end of the plaza. 
The entire menu is on one sign in hanging in the restaurant. As the sign indicates, this hole-in-the-wall really isn’t one of those places that offers very much variety: You can get a taco or burrito with one of seven meats (listed on the left hand side of the menu, translation in parenthesis): asada (steak), barbacoa (a stewed/steamed beef), lengua (beef tongue), tripa (beef tripe, aka stomach/intestine), pollo (chicken), al pastor (a marinated/spiced pork), chorizo (spicy sausage). The rest of the menu says that they offer soups, quesadillas, and at the end of the week, they offer menudo, clam soup, and a seafood cocktail. It seems that they also offer tortas (a mexican-style sandwich) in either ham or some other style that I am not familiar with.
All of us came for the tacos though; I ordered a carne asada burrito and two tacos, a taco al pastor (pictured above on the right), and a barbacoa taco (the last photo). The taco came open in a corn tortilla, with just a sprinkling of cilantro and onion on top of the meat, which is the simple, traditional way of serving soft tacos. The taco al pastor was incredibly good - the meat was wonderfully spiced and flavorful, with hints of garlic, salt, pepper, and the other mexican spices used to flavor the pork. Had I known it was so good, I would have just ordered a whole bunch of tacos al pastor, and been incredibly happy. =).
The style of the burrito was very simple, just onion, cilantro, and the meat, in this case, carne asada. The meat was decently juicy, and nice and flavorful. I preferred the tacos, but I suppose it would depend on what you felt like that day.
Although this is one of the more badly centered photos I've ever taken, here is a shot of the barbacoa (stewed/steamed beef) taco. The barbacoa had a very mild beef flavor and was incredibly soft in texture, almost falling apart. A great meal, and I am glad that places like this exist in Columbia! =) 
