Dona Rosa Bakery Taqueria

09/21/10

Great Place! Bakery and margaritas

by taracat1

been here a couple of times and the more I try the more i like. Great Torta's, I didn't even know what that was, a spanish sandwich, Subway is in deep trouble. Great burritos and the margaritas are excelllent and powerful!

Have great happy hours mariachi on tuesdays and I think fridays. Can be tough to park but then again this is Pasadena. Worth it!

05/29/10

Disappointed

by Morales123

I've been here twice. The first time I just had an apple crisp. It was dry, but not that bad. The second time I had a margarita and some tacos. What I didn't like was that despite their "special" of $1.50 tacos that day, they charged me $2.00 each for al pastor tacos, without telling me there was a difference in price (obviously I found this out a while later when I looked at the receipt). At most serious taco places (I would not consider this one), there is no difference in price between the different meats. Normally I wouldn't care about a small difference, but the al pastor was, in my opinion, not good at all. I'm phrasing this nicely. It didn't have much flavor and was nowhere near tender. You can get way better al pastor tacos about two blocks away, and for cheaper. I'm a fairly experienced taco eater, and I'm pretty frustrated that I actually let myself pay $2 for al pastor tacos of such non-great quality. I will say that the atmosphere is quite lively and nice, so in a sense I at least got part of my money's worth. But in a culinary sense, I wasted money.

The asada wasn't good, but was at least acceptable. The salsa was passable.

I also made the mistake of ordering a shrimp taco. It wasn't good at all, and again I'm being nice here. It barely had any shrimp, nor did they have the proper salsa in the salsa bar which is necessary for shrimp tacos, and thus the taco did not have much flavor nor a remotely satisfying texture. I've had far better shrimp tacos for much less $.

I had one margarita, which was actually pretty decent for the price ($1.75 on a Friday), but was displeased with the after effects (despite only drinking one). In comparison, I once had a margarita at Margarita Jones (next door) and 1 and 1/2 margaritas at a bar in Old Town in the same night, and my head felt better than it did with just one margarita at Dona Rosa.

My advice to Dona Rosa: 1) With respect to the shrimp tacos, go to La Estrella on Fair Oaks north of the 134 and order a shrimp taco. The red salsa that they put on it is the correct salsa for shrimp tacos. Learn from them. 2) With respect to the al pastor, go to the El Gallito taco truck on Fair Oaks near California and order an al pastor taco. Those are legitimate tacos and you should learn from them.

3) The quality of the margaritas at the $1.75 price point is justifiable. But had I purchased one at regular price (if I remember correctly, around $4 dollars?), I would have been as disappointed as I was with the food.

• Pros: nice atmosphere and location
• Cons: low quality margaritas, food isn't good

07/27/09

Great location, horrrrrrible food

by Hamish90

I'm not sure what kind of cheese they use, or tortillas, but it's tasteless. I also couldn't find a salsa that I could even stand. Love the look, but could do so much better with the food. Sorry to have to write this.

• Pros: ambiance, location
• Cons: Food

03/16/08

Better food and service at the Santa Anita location.

by sugaree310

I have been to the Pasadena location many times and I usually really liked the food. So, I was excited when a new location opened up at the Santa Anita mall. I've also been to that one more than a few times. I'm surprised to say that the one in the mall is much better food wise and service wise.

The people at the one in Pasadena are not friendly, for one. Secondly, they do not listen when you want to order something with NO jalapenos and they don't even bother to offer you chips. You have to ask for them for it. And, third, they have this tendency to just walk away from the cash stand even when there's a line and leave you to just wait to order while they prep food. Poor management planning.

At the Santa Anita location the service people are always very welcoming and check in with you regularly, which was surprising given that table service at the Pasadena location means they just bring your food to the table and that's it.

Now for the food. I love the torta at the Santa Anita location so much better! This surprised me given that they are the same restaurant. The bread at the one in Pasadena crumbles too easily and is very dry. The al pastor is cut into chunks and has a really good and has a lot of flavor at the Santa Anita location, while the Pasadena pastor is shredded and has a bitter flavor and lacked salt (I'm not a huge fan of salty food, but this meat needed it). Also, the Santa Anita location actually had dinner specials. My boyfriend ordered their shrimp enchiladas and they were very good. It was made in a green enchilada sauce with plenty of shrimp and cheese. I would have order again if they had it on their menu regularly.

The only thing I have to say against the Santa Anita location is the parking situation. That mall is horrible when it comes to finding any kind of parking. However, the food, to me, makes up for it. I'd rather sit for 20 min. to find parking, rather than drive 20 min. to the Pasadena location.

• Pros: Parking. Selection of dessert. Good coffee and hot chocolate.
• Cons: Service. Food not as good as other location.

08/13/07

Worst Mexican Food In town

by mendoza262626

Chewy Carne Asada, Bland Chicken! Not Homemade Tortillas. I've been in a few times and they never have homemade tortillas. This is a nice place to go to if you want to have a margarita, if you don't mind consistancy!