El Molino de Oro

El Molino de Oro is a popular restaurant in the area that may be a little overhyped. The food is good but the portions are off. Sometimes you get a large burrito and a well served menudo. Other times you get a small burrito and menudo with less meat and more broth. The bad reviews about this place having horrible management are true. The cashier women lack customer service skills and are always rude. The employees at the next door Panadería/Juice shop are the same way. Parking at this place is good and the shops overall have plenty of seating.

Molino de Oro continues to be one of my favorite spots. The food is always fresh and full of authentic Mexican flavor. Their prices are better than most places around, the service is fast and friendly, and the variety they offer is impressive. My personal favorite is the mole — rich flavor, great portion, and consistent every time. Suggestion for improvement: It would be amazing if they added white rice as an option. Even something simple like plain white rice, white rice with veggies, or white rice with lime. I think it would pair perfectly with the mole and many of their entrées. Also, small safety suggestion regarding the bakery section: They currently display some nut bread alongside other pastries using the same tongs. For customers with nut allergies, this could be dangerous due to cross-contamination. If possible, removing the nut bread or using separate tongs and labeling that section would help keep everyone safe. Overall, excellent food, great service, great pricing. Highly recommend Molino de Oro.

Great experience! First time here and really loved it. After burning 900 calories at the gym next door, I treated myself with an amazing taco salad with carne Al Pastor as protein. Great size and amazing flavors!!!!! This restaurant is must visit. Small and cozy and most importantly very clean. You can see staff putting effort in keeping it as it should be. Prices are competitive with a wide variety of menu options. There’s a bakery also where everything looks amazing, but that I will try that next time.

Good home-style food. Great portions. Clean ambiance. Friendly servers. However, every now and then you hear narco music, which cheapens the experience.

Amazing little Mexican restaurant with a bakery attached. Pan Dulce here is made fresh and you can taste it. Super good. The food here is also really well priced and the food tastes amazing. Lots of options and classics to choose from. The staff is incredibly helpful and the place is very clean.

Went there for a juice after dropping the kids off at school. The vampiro and jugo verde is what we ordered. Vampire was the best of the two but both were good and healthy option for a quick "Blended Bite" 🤭 we picked up tamales before but today we were being good. It's open for dine in and some tables are available outside as well. The restrooms are nice and clean. Lots of food options too. You can see some of their food items and thus love at first sight 😍. Great place for lunch. Next time I'm having a chocolate covered strawberry from the bakery side. 😋 There is plenty of parking.

My hubby and I were hungry for a breakfast burrito. We wanted to try a different place - I was leaning more towards a bacon and egg burrito with hash browns, but my hubby was feeling like a chorizo burrito. I checked Yelp but couldn't really find reviews for a breakfast burrito at the nearby Mexican food spots, so I suggested this spot. There really weren't any reviews for a chorizo breakfast burrito, but I did see they had it on their menu, we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, it wasn't that great. We really couldn't taste the chorizo and egg. It was mostly just a bean and onion burrito, which really over- powered any other flavors. I really can't recommend this chorizo breakfast burrito - even if you were to ask for 'light' or 'no onions', this would mainly just be a bean burrito, with some small chunks of chorizo. An extra star for the pan dulce - it wasn't the best I've had but it was ok - fresh and they didn't skimp in the fillings for the empanadas.

Food was perfect the bread hands down got the sausage egg an bacon they put the beans an cheese I promis you It was so soft an flavorful if you in the area an you hungry don't sleep on El Molino DE Oro the food is hella good the the prices make it even better 10 out of 10!!!!

LOVE this place... mostly have breakfast here..menudo con Pata is my go to. Kids love the bolillo breakfast sandwiches. Carnitas are a great at lunchtime. Chilaquiles are good. Plenty of options. Connects with there bakery for Mexican bread

If you are hungry for breakfast and you spot a busy Mexican place, open early, with guys in fluorescent long sleeve shirts standing in line, you must stop. The food is going to be good, cheap and filling, All the breakfast specialities are well under $10. Chilaquiles, breakfast bolillos, tacos, tacos dorado de chorizo, etc. Fresh aguas frescas (that's redundant) and an entire bakery section of Mexican sweet breads and pastries. Today I had a machaca bollilo, it had beans, shredded beef and real egg on a soft roll, It was as filling as a typical breakfast burrito and less than $5. I have been here several times and it never disappoints.

El Molino de Oro is one of my favorite places to eat. Their tacos and burritos de lengua and buches are amazing, full of flavor and always fresh. The service is great, everyone is friendly, and the restaurant is always clean.

My lady and I were hungry, and she recommended El Molino de Oro. They have two sides. One for pastries, and the other for food. I didn't visit the pastry side, but it was packed. The food side was packed as well. My lady ordered some breakfast items; I had an Asada taco and the 3-cheese enchilada combo. She had some Mexican beverage I had a can of Coke. I wanted a fountain drink but the machine wasn't working. I think it will be fixed after the repairman fixes the frosty machine at McDonalds. I loved my food. As simple as cheese enchiladas are some places just don't get it. The are perfect here. The Asada taco was loaded with meat. I used some of the meat in my rice and beans. My tummy was very happy. My lady also loved her food. I really recommend this place and I'll be back soon.

One of my favorite Mexican food spots in Orange County I like to come here after the gym if you're looking for organic handmade tortillas this is the place there. Carne Asada tacos are really hefty if you're used to eating 4 to 5 standard size tacos you'll honestly be satisfied with 2 to 3 on weekends they serve posole and Menudo. I always pair it with their banana Fresca, which is honestly probably the only reason I will drive 25 minutes to this location. It's really good and service is fast The only trouble I have is deciding on what to eat. So far, I've had the ceviche tacos and soups all really good.

**Update** My girlfriend and brother called to complain since the worker had been racist and told me to go elsewhere to an asian restaurant to get soup when I asked for caldo de reyes. The "manager" or whoever answered the phone said they would let their boss know but we haven't received any update or anything from them. Horrible customer service and bad ownership I guess?? Why would you ask for our numbers to write down and then not even update us with anything? Did you even tell your boss? I would give 0 stars if I could. Unacceptable.

Fresh authentic Mex delicious comfort foods. Midday flbreakfast burrito eggs beans cheese and carnitas filling and satisfying. That's my setup delicious spicy red and green salsas a chili toreado grilled jalapeno and onion garnish ask for it. Service is friendly and quick. Seating inside and out front a comfortable clean environment.

I can believe after all this years in Orange I just find out the food in the place. Where to start best authentic Mexican flavors. Amazing tamales! Will consider the best tamales I try In California! Tacos are great, mole, Chilaquiles, fresh fruit waters, fresh Juices, pozole. Plus if you are for a sweet tooth the bakery has amazing Mexican pan & cakes. Prices same amazing! Don't miss this jewel! Highly recommended

Tacos with Flour tortillas is a sure way to make me come back. I prefer flour tortillas and I got two el pastor tacos, a container of birria, some mole and it was all delicious. The restaurant has a great decor and it is very clean and nice and the staff are very friendly. I will be going back for sure.

The food's amazing, and some staff are very nice except for this one older lady that seems pretty miserable working there? She got my order completely wrong and gave a face when mentioned. But most staff is very great and helpful

Wow, the food is good here ¡Mui Bueno! This place is perfect because they're open very early for breakfast. If you can't catch a local food truck, you can always count on this place to give you the Mexican breakfast you desire. The service is quick and organized each person takes your order and completes it almost by the time you pay I've been to some creepy taco places, but this place is nice and clean and you know it's good when there's a line out the door early in the morning.

Ordered over the phone. Al pastor fries and got carne asada fries. No other topping on it and its blend. Not worth $10. would not come back.

I am writing to express my profound dissatisfaction with the level of customer service I received during a recent interaction at your location in Orange on 11/18/25 at approximately 6:30 pm I asked for a jugo verde they told me if I want the jugo I have to wait 30 minutes it is ridiculous this isn't the first time 10 minutes 15 minutes ok I understand but now 30 minutes I nee to move on after spending more than $400 a month for the last year grabbing toillas,pan,food and jugos I'm going to do everything possible to not going anymore I love the food but they don't care about costumers

The food tastes something straight out of my grandma's kitchen. I would have taken pictures, but my mother and I completely cleaned our plates before I could even snap a pic. Everything tastes so authentic my mother says she will be back for their homemade tortillas. She says the place was warm and inviting, and there was a customer ahead of her even recommending the potato taco I have ordered. I was late on picking up the food and even then the food was still exceptional. I ordered the vegetarian torta, potato tacos, and my mom got the enchilada plate with red sauce. I highly recommend it all so delicious and I will be back!

The bolillos are just as impressive: warm, crusty on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and absolutely perfect. You can taste the freshness. Just get ready for the Saturday morning line. The staff are also very nice.

Really wanted to like this restaurant because it was so close to home, but it was very disappointing. This is a review for the tacos only! We noticed that not many people around us ordered tacos after receiving their meals. Clean ambiance with a bakery connected inside. TACOS - Carne Asada 2/5: The carne asada was so dry! No oil or any fat on the meat. Tasted like a healthier version of ground beef. - Al Pastor 2/5: Great flavor but also very dry and chewy. - Lengua 3/5: This was the best meat out of the three. So tender and soft but it lacked in flavor. **The one thing that saved the tacos was their green salsa. Different than the typical tomatillo but very limey and it had a kick. The restaurant had potential and there was always a consistent line. Might have to come back to try the non-taco dishes.

Champurado here is great! Only complaint I have is the bad customer service from the older lady who's there in the morning. She wears a waist trainer, glasses and has short hair. She skipped me and said I wasn't next in line when I was. On another occasion she had me waiting for over 10 minutes on tamales when she didn't have any orders

Parking is tight. We ordered & our food came out fast. Ordered red & green chicken enchiladas. The green sauce is spicy. The red ones were cheese it's Mexican cheese so not melty. Flavors are food served with lettuce and cream and tomato topping. Also rice & beans included. Also ordered a machaca burrito. It has beans and eggs with machaca but not much meat more egg. The best of it all was green pork tamale. The masa was tender, the flavor of pork was Soo good. I'm literally heading BK just for tamale. The bakery is on the left and smelled delightful. This place isn't a fancy restaurant more like a quick stop Eat and go. The coffee is serve yourself but it was good hot coffee. Add your own creamers & sugars. Good selection. I really enjoyed this quick breakfast. Thank you

Qué decepción de experiencia en El Molino de Oro! Llegamos y nos formamos pacientemente, pero a pesar de que claramente estábamos esperando nuestro turno, nos ignoraron por completo. Me vieron, pero ni siquiera tuvieron la cortesía de atendernos. Decidimos intentar ordenar con la cajera, pero en ese momento llegó una señora detrás de nosotros y, sorprendentemente, an ella sí la atendieron de inmediato! En serio? Así tratan a sus clientes? Pero esto no es un incidente aislado. Soy mexicana, pero mi novio, con el que estaba, es asiático, y cada vez que vamos juntos nos tratan pésimo. Es evidente que hay un trato preferencial hacia ciertas personas y una actitud discriminatoria hacia otras. Esto no es solo mala organización, ¡esto es racismo! No hay excusa para este tipo de comportamiento. No recomendaría este lugar a nadie. Pésimo servicio, pésima actitud y, lo peor de todo, un ambiente claramente discriminatorio. ¡No volveremos jamás y espero que reflexionen sobre cómo tratan a sus clientes!

Excellent Chile Relleno! Carnitas Torta was good. Need to try tacos and maybe a burrito next time. The desserts looked awesome.

Delicious, authentic Mexican restaurant and pastry shop. The restaurant serves a number of dishes such as burritos, tacos, taquitos, tamales, etc. with a variety of meat (or vegetable) options; everything that I've tried has been amazing. It's one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in SoCal. They draw quite a crowd, but the service goes quickly (you line up to order at the counter). The dining area is relatively small, but quaint; there are also a few tables outside. The pastry area has a separate counter from the restaurant where you can select your pastries and pay. The pastries are also very delicious, with a variety of flaky pastries (some with fillings and some without), cookies, etc.

My hubby and I were hungry for a breakfast burrito. We wanted to try a different place - I was leaning more towards a bacon and egg burrito with hash browns, but my hubby was feeling like a chorizo burrito. I checked Yelp but couldn't really find reviews for a breakfast burrito at the nearby Mexican food spots, so I suggested this spot. There really weren't any reviews for a chorizo breakfast burrito, but I did see they had it on their menu, we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, it wasn't that great. We really couldn't taste the chorizo and egg. It was mostly just a bean and onion burrito, which really over- powered any other flavors. I really can't recommend this chorizo breakfast burrito - even if you were to ask for 'light' or 'no onions', this would mainly just be a bean burrito, with some small chunks of chorizo. An extra star for the pan dulce - it wasn't the best I've had but it was ok - fresh and they didn't skimp in the fillings for the empanadas.

San Juan location is absolutely awesome. I always get tacos de cabeza or lengua with red salsa. I've also had their bean and cheese. The service is awesome the servers are always super nice and always happy to answer any questions you might have . I will say it gets busy in the morning and lunch hour . The guy always gets the asada burrito and absolutely raves about it . They have outside seating and indoor seating . Come get your grub on .

Reliably tasty and fairly authentic mexican food. I recommend their caldo de pollo and their nachos. They have a solid selection of aguas as well.

This place is a joke not organized 1 bit you order then get ignored. Never coming here again.....

Good Mexican food but not great. Everything is super spicy like they think just make super hot so it doesn't need flavor. Ugh... Back to trecking in to Santa Ana for good Mexican food with flavor & chili.

Walked in with my girlfriend waited 5 minutes proceeded to not get served after waiting patiently.The guys served the person right behind us immediately. Don't come here unless you want to experience some racism! There was also a dead roach as we were leaving the door.... So might've been a good thing we did not get served. Be careful!

I am hesitant to post a review because I don't want this place to become overcrowded. I live on the East Coast but travel back here to visit my wife's family. Because I am on East Coast time, I wake up early and El Molino is one of the only restaurants open early in the morning. That said the food is excellent and the portions are generous. The salsa is fantastic! (The food may even be better than what my Mexican Mother-in Law makes. But let's keep that to ourselves.) As a white guy, I also love that the food is not "gringo-ized". The dining area is spacious, clean and welcoming. I'll be back later today for round #2.

Food and bread. Best of both worlds. Food has a lot of variety and very flavorful. Bread is always fresh and warm also have a variety of other deserts. Prices are amazing for amount of food.

I've been a regular at El Molino de Oro for some time, though my wife usually picks up the food. Over the past few visits, she's mentioned feeling discriminated against, saying the staff often seemed to skip or ignore her without any clear reason. I always brushed it off, thinking maybe it was just a busy time or not something personal. Today, I went in for lunch myself, and unfortunately, I experienced the same treatment. After waiting a few minutes in line, it was finally my turn to order. But just as I stepped up, the staff member walked away, handled some other business, then came back and blatantly took the order of the person behind me instead of mine. It wasn't subtle--it felt like I was being deliberately overlooked. Frustrated, I left the restaurant without ordering anything. Now I'm home eating a microwavable pizza and writing this review. The food at El Molino de Oro has always been great, which is why we've continued to return, but after today's experience, the poor service is something that can't be ignored. I hope the restaurant can address this issue because their food deserves much better customer service to match.

Food was great. It's traditional Mexican food, we had carnitas tacos and an enchilada, no complaints. If you're in the area and are hungry for Mexican food, stop in, you'll be fine.

Pan dulce is great. They have a great selection. The food side has a great options and the guys working the food line are super cool. Always on top of things and very quick with your order. My dad's and I favorite on the Weekend is the menudo.

This place is great I want to start off by saying that all the employees are really nice the food is delicious I got the chili verde plate and the Albondigas soup and my mom got a carnitas taco and carne asada taco plate she also got the Caldo de Res soup all of it tasted great everything was very fresh with great flavor . All of the pastries are really good I have had a cake and bread pastries I enjoyed all of them my favorite so far is the carrot cake. The inside is really nice very clean lots of seating inside and some seating outside the prices are good .

Went there on a lunch break with a friend. We shared the carne sope y chile relleno ...and both were excellent!

This place is soooo good. I took my dad and we got some sweet Mexican bread first. Then we went to the side where they have a full menu of different Mexican plates. I had a torta de asada. It was delicious! I love trying tortas from different places and this one is definitely top tier good. My dad got a chicken mole plate with was also delicious. The service was fast and friendly. The ambiance was family friendly. I would definitely recommend this place, especially because the prices are affordable!

My son turned me on to this place. It's a gem, the golden mill makes sense. Great quality ingredients, delicious food.

I had just finished up at my dentist appointment and I was in the mood for some Mexican so my girlfriend brought this place up. I was sold after looking at all the delicious looking pictures. Here's what I ordered: **#3 Three Enchilada Plate: I had a choice of several meats and decided on chicken topped with green sauce. My enchiladas were loaded with cheese, onions, cilantro, lettuce, sour cream, and salsa. It also came with rice and beans on the side. This was the best enchilada I've ever had at a Mexican establishment and by far the best beans I've had. The rice was meh but nonetheless, a great addition to my meal. Their red and green salsas were both amazing! (5/5) **Pineapple Spinach Agua Fresca: Oh so refreshing. Not the best I've had but still very tasty! They don't load it up with too much ice which is always nice. (4/5) Service by everyone was great. The food tasted fantastic and well worth the price as well. Place is really clean and the vibe is great. One of my best Mexican experiences to date and I can't wait to be back to try more of their menu!

Love the Vampiro juice and the green juice ! Healthy option here . Otherwise great Mexican breakfast burritos, pastries & full menu from tacos to enchiladas . Menudo on Saturday & Sunday , looking forward to trying it ! Nice atmosphere and relaxed atmosphere.

Literally never write yelp reviews but here I go. Ordered nachos and ended up getting 90% stale chips smothered in beans, topped with the thinnest layer of meat, guac, pico, small dots of sour cream and virtually no cheese. Don't understand this chips to topping ratio.

The food is very very basic. The taco shop down the street with Bell in its name has way more flavor. I ordered a shrimp quesadilla, and taco de asada... I guess I paid for convenience. It's when people pay for convenience your restaurant has an issue with tasteful items. Place is clean. Everyone is nice, I waited maybe 10 min for items to be cooked. I wouldn't go back. 2 Stars, 1 for cleanliness, 2nd for decent service.

Their pan dulce is pretty good. The variety they have isn't necessarily vast, but it's pretty tasty. I was excited to try some tamales, so I went ahead and got one of each. To be perfectly honest, they were a bit dry. Im not sure if it was just that day or in general, but the meat felt dry as well as the masa. I did see they had other food options, so thats something to consider. Lastly, the staff was great! They are very fast and efficient.

This restaurant was recommended to me by my employees, and I'm glad I stopped by. The bolillo breakfasts were good. Came back the next day with my dad and sister. We tried the bolillo with chicharon, noplaes con carne, cannula tacos, and fried chorizo tacos. All was delicious. The jugo verde, agua de guava, and arroz con leche were also good choices. The downfall was there are not enough seats for a Saturday morning, the oan dulce was okay and they didn't have any cookies on Saturday either. Overall, it's a good place to eat, especially if you're local to the neighborhood or work nearby.

Surprisingly tasty foods from a steam table quick serve restaurant. Friendly staff makes the experience pleasant and well as tasty. I got the carne fries which is served with your choice of meat plus cheese and spicy mayo. I chose lengua, as I tend to do when I see it on the menu. It was perfectly tender and very flavorful with the spicier than you expect mayo providing a jolt of heat. I also got ordered the ribs and nopales because I haven't had cactus in a while. Sadly the nopales was woefully underrepresented with only one piece visible in my serving but there were plenty of braised ribs served alongside Spanish rice and wonderfully lardy refried beans. Those beans were seriously good. The ribs could have been cooked longer since they were a bit tough but the gravy it was cooked in was really tasty, redolent of cumin and also spicier than I expected. I had actually come to check out the bakery side but there were a lot of people loitering at the self serve bins and I don't want breads badly enough to brave crowds in these COVID-19 times. I was going to order food and then return but got sidetracked. The checkout lady was super nice! There were four big jugs of aqua fresca by the register and one looked like Chinese mustard so I had to ask her what that flavor was. Turns out the yellow one was banana flavored not mustard, go figure haha. But the green one on the end did surprise me because it was spinach and pineapple flavored, I had thought it might be cucumber. I guess I looked pretty shocked at hearing the flavor because the lady offered me a sample. It was pretty good, very big on pineapple flavor and no spinach except in the color. It was too sweet for my tastes but I was glad I got to try it without having to commit to a big cup of it. Everyone was wearing masks, with the steam table worker wearing gloves. Inside seating seems to be verboten but there are a couple tables outside if you want to eat there. I'd definitely come back to check out some of the other options.

Love this place. When I moved to Orange I found this place on Yelp. I went to try it with my family and they loved it too. I had not gone in a couple years but recently my bf said he wanted a juice and I remembered they make fresh juices here and we went and he loved it too.

This was my first time at this restaurant. It was super clean and organized, including the restrooms. The staff was friendly and helpful. I ordered the two shrimp taco combo and it was delicious. The rice and beans were fresh and tasty! The tacos had good size shrimp and had a spicy salsa that finished off the tacos well. The tortillas were good too! They had a variety of aguas frescas! There was a bakery connected to the restaurant and it was clean, nicely setup, but I was to full to get sweet treat. I will definitely be back for more delicious food. Give this place a try. You will be glad you did.

Food is always good. Service is great. The flan and tres leches cake is delicious. The potato tacos with chorizo, sopes, and taco salads are the best. I've never tried anything I didn't like.

Fantastic authentic Mexican food that makes you feel like you're home and mom or grandmas cooked up a nice delicious meal good service friendly too,not stingy with the meat and the environment is nice

BEWARE. I love food but I will not return to El Molino do Oro. the management is entirely rude. There is also a huge problem with the BATHROOM- there is a TRASH CAN NEXT TO THE TOILET FILLED WITH USED TOILET PAPER COVERED IN HUMAN FECES. I have never had a problem flushing here. Also later in the day the bathroom can smelled from the dining room. I will not even order take out from El Molino de Oro. There are two tells for quality restaurants: what does the bathroom look like? and how does management respond to your patronage?

Authentic food, great service, very clean! Highly recommend. Soups are delicious & the aguas are the best!