Taqueria Los Primos - Mexican, Sonoma

18375 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma CA 95476
(707) 935-3546
Parking: street parking

Last Visited: January 7, 2005

Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 1 to 2 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $ to $$

Francisco’s wife was raving about the Plancha pork at Taqueria Los Primos. She didn’t mention too much more about the other dishes to try, but it sounded worth checking out. Taqueria Los Primos is located in Boyes Hot Springs. They just got a new sign outside, but the bars on the windows are something I’m not accustomed to. Enter Taqueria Los Primos and you’ll see the counter which takes up about a third of the space in the main dining area. Next to the front counter is a refrigerator with a clear door displaying drinks and flan.

Signs hanging on the front counter indicate the specials such as flan for $2. Behind the counter is a window showing the kitchen. There is a room on each side of the main dining area. In the room to the right is a television on a high shelf. The white/cream paint in the room is peeling near the window sills. The paper menus sit in a plastic holder on the table along with the hot sauce and a napkin dispenser. The tables are brown formica and the chairs are maple. The floor is a reddish brown tile lined with runners down the main aisles. The look of the restaurant is a bit rundown, although there are still Mexican decorations – little figurines on the window sills and Mexican portraits featuring lilies and people. All of the portraits seem to be of larger figures with less defined features.

Upon our arrival, we received water without asking, chips, and two kinds of salsa – one fresh and one green. Receiving water without asking indicated good service. See more about service below. The chips were stale, but the salsa was okay. Tomatoes weren’t in season, but the fresh salsa had a nice flavoring. The green salsa was a bit spicy, but still okay.

- Plancha Pork - This was an excellent recommendation. Two slices of thin pork steak are barbecued in a chimichurri like sauce. The pork absorbs all of this flavor and the texture is tender and light. Very good. The pork is served with refried beans, rice topped with sauce, and lettuce topped with guacamole and sour cream. The guacamole is on the watery side, but the overall dish is good. Choice of flour or corn tortillas is available. I selected corn tortillas and they were served hot. A great dish to try out. $7

- Super Burrito – Choice of meat, beans, rice, guacamole, lettuce, and sour cream are wrapped in a flour tortilla. I selected chicken. The chicken was extremely rough and the burrito as a whole seemed very full of liquid (perhaps from the watery guacamole). It was average, but filling. $5

Service wasn’t particularly good. Although the waiter was friendly, he was very slow. Even after folding our menus closed, it seemed a long time before he came to take our order. After we finished our meal, it was a long time to get our receipt, and we ended up going to the front counter for it. The redeeming factor from getting one to two stars is that when they’re paying attention, they’re more than awesome. At our table, a knife was dropped on the floor. Just as we got up to ask for a knife, the waiter brought one over with a smile. Aside from this plus point, service was disappointing.

If you’re going to try Taqueria Los Primos, try the Plancha pork. The beans are good too. I didn’t get to try much, but stick to those two items and you should be pretty happy. I also saw a lot of people pick up food for take out. That might be the best way to check this place out.