La Casita Mexicana- the Truly Amazing Authentic Mexican Food in Bell, California

The food in La Casita Mexicana is excellent: fresh, high-quality ingredients expertly prepared. The restaurant La Casita Mexicana is located at 4030 Gage Ave, Bell, CA. It is very authentic Mexican food, meaning dishes you would actually find in the various regions of Mexico. We had the chile en nogada, nopales (cactus salad), and flautas.

Add to that the chips in mole/pepian and the soup of the day that came with the entrees, and we had way too much food- we brought half the nopales and 2/3 of the flautas home from restaurant La Casita Mexicana and ate them for lunch today- still excellent!

In fact, I have to say that I don't normally order flautas, they are often greasy and the chicken filling is usually low-grade and short on flavor. Not so with these in La Casita Mexicana. I didn't try them last night as I was too full, but even after a reheat today in the microwave they were crispy, not greasy, the chicken filling was surprisingly good, and the mole on top was great.

Of the mole/pepians, I think I liked the red pepian best, but they were all so good I kept cycling through all three to compare and had a hard time choosing my favorite. I cannot wait to go back to La Casita Mexicana restaurant and try more of their dishes.

I am seriously craving everything I saw on the menu in La Casita Mexicana restaurant and trying to figure out how I'm getting back to Bell and when. I especially want to try their pozole and their breakfast menu, including the cafe de la olla (the only reason I didn't have that last night was that I can't do caffeine past noon).

The decor in La Casita Mexicana is super cute; they've done a lot with a storefront on a busy Bell street. The place was full the whole time we were there in La Casita Mexicana, even though we got there pretty late in the evening. I can imagine there is a wait at times.

And finally, the price! At the Zocalo event, there was some discussion about the difficulties of getting folks to pay hundreds for haute Mexican cuisine when they can buy $1 tacos down the block. The owners of La Casita Mexicana mentioned that they hear the opposite - that they don't charge enough, and I have to agree.

Not that I'm telling them to charge more, I want to be able to eat here as often as necessary, but the prices for this quality of ingredients and preparation in La Casita Mexicana restaurant are way below market value, based on what you see with other cuisines ($15 for plain pasta at Italian restaurants, for instance) or even the crap that passes as Mexican food at typical "Mexican" restaurants.