Yes :-) Jennifer's review (Feb 7th 2007)

Usually it doesn’t hit me until about Corona. Driving south on the interstate, through Riverside and Temecula, passing giant desert boulders and massive billboards, I always get homesick. And while I love so much about our eastern smudge of Washington, Corona Junction always reminds me pine trees and marmots and Sasquatch aren’t in my blood. Boogie boards and customized Vans, avocados and fish tacos, St. Peter’s and Padre spirit fit so much better.

And that same homesick feeling hit me tonight at De Leon Foods. Two boys in their starched white shirts and Catholic school sweaters dug into plates of rice and queso fresco between swigs of neon Gatorade and racing around the family store hugging familiar faces and teasing each other. More kids ditched the food and ran between tables, watching other families, singles, and friends enjoy the food their moms and aunts and sisters made in the open kitchen. It just seemed right.

Thick tortas with homemade bread. Roasted chicken. Guisado. Carnitas. Rice and beans. It felt comfortable. Familiar. Natural. As if the family down the street had invited us for dinner. A can of Tecate and a few random dogs and I would have felt completely at home. I didn’t want to leave.

Yes :-) Remi's review (Apr 25th 2007)

I’m not a religious man, but the fact De Leon moved here from Vancouver might very well be evidence of divine intervention.

Well know for their guisados, I have yet to meet anybody who has not gone from merely tasting De Leon’s mole poblano to wanting to have a love affair with it. A perfect combination of spices and slightly sweet Mexican chocolate makes it a meal in itself when combined with rice and beans.

Yet I have turned borderline sick more than once at De Leon from not wanting to stop at just a meal.

Combine the mole with a carne asada stuffed torta and you’ll be ready for a truly heavenly experience. Same goes for the tacos al pastor. And the huevos rancheros. It is, as a wise man once said, “all good.”

I’m conflicted about De Leon’s Northside location, though I supposed it’s not all bad having it far from home. This is decidedly a place that can leave you overweight and broke.

Update: De Leon is now downtown too, so any internal struggle about going north is gone.

Yes :-) Dan's review (Feb 3rd 2007)

I went to De Leon as part of our Spanish class. The food was very good and the staff was helpful. They also have a large selection of hard to find foods and drinks from Mexico. I’d recommend this store/restaurants for anyone who is looking for authentic Mexican foods.

Yes :-) sue's review (Apr 1st 2007)

Great tortillas. Friendly and helpful servers and cooks in the deli. Comfort food even for those of non-mexican descent. Highly recommended!

Please encourage the owners to consider opening a store in the Valley!

Yes :-) Michelle's review (Apr 30th 2007)

We’ve only been twice so I still have a lot of the menu to try yet but I’m in love with their asada. It’s perfectly marinated and nicely cooked (little crispy charred bits mixed in). In most places, the meat is usually a bland protein base (“perfunctory cooking” comes to mind) and the restaurant relies on the condiments and other ingredients to pull a dish together as a tasty whole. At De Leon, the asada makes the dish. This is meat I could eat plain out of a bowl with a fork.

So far I’ve had the asada in tacos and a quesadilla. The tacos are authentic; nothing but a couple soft corn tortillas and meat (salsa, onions and cilantro are optional). There’s nothing for the meat to hide behind and thankfully no reason to.

The quesadilla was slightly smoky and crisped from it’s time on a properly heated griddle, not simply dried out from sitting on a “warm” griddle long enough to melt the cheese. The subtle smoky flavor complemented the asada perfectly.

We still have a lot of things to try there, and we look forward to going back… often!

Yes :-) wendy's review (Apr 30th 2007)

This place is great!!! The staff is very friendly!!