UPDATE!! DeAnda Tacqueria now Vic's Tacos

My Meal Cost: $8.44. Health Rating A. Yelp 4 stars (Ontario Location)

The past several weeks I've been making the Home Depot run regularly as I've had to replace holiday decorations and extension cords. Over the past couple of weeks I've noticed that De Anda Tacqueria (original post was April 25, 2016) has taken the De Anda off of its signage, so I figured it was time to go back and see what was going on with the venerable Orange County tacqueria chain, called by Gustavo Arellano (Ask A Mexican) one of the best street taco places in the country.

When I turned into the parking lot at about 12:10, there was only one parking space available, and some cars lined up at the drive-thru. 

This is a photo from Yelp which shows the Ontario location. The Pomona location has similar menu boards.

From the outside it appears that only the removal of the signage on the building itself is the only change. The monument sign at ground level still says De Anda and a banner in the window still touts Thursday specials with De Anda on the sign. So what gives?

Once inside, the place was packed and I took my place in line. I did notice there was a new menu board inside at the counter, but couldn't remember if the items were the same or not. The menu appeared to be pretty much the same with the main thing being street tacos with burritos also available. A little different was a combo plate. Futbol was blaring in Spanish from two big screen TVs and the predominant language heard was Spanish from the crowded dining room.

As I was placing my order, I asked what the name of the place was now (I had a bit of trouble making myself understood to the man behind the counter, he motioned for his boss, who answered my question by pointing to an embroidered patch on his shirt). The answer is it is now Vic's Tacos although as you can see from the photo above, they must have taken over with a supply of De Anda drink cups. I did some research online and found that Vic's has three locations, their original one in Whittier (4.5 yelp stars), and one in Ontario (1866 S Euclid Ave, Ontario, CA 91762 -- 4 yelp stars).

I decided to try a combo plate. For my meat I chose Al Pastor. It also comes with beans, rice, and tortillas (I chose corn although you can also have flour). I also got a medium diet Pepsi (not self serve) and picked up some radishes and a lime slice at the counter.

The meal is in a Styrofoam to-go container which isn't divided so the beans tend to run into the meat and rice. I didn't see any salsa or hot sauce although it may have been available (it would be nice to have it at the table). The Al Pastor (barbecued pork) was excellent, well seasoned and slightly crispy. The beans were a little runny, but quite good. The only negative was that the rice was a little dry. Not having a sauce to moisten them I squeezed some lime juice on which improved the dryness, but created a flavor that, while good, was not good for comparing their rice to either De Anda's or another location.

I was concerned with the idea of losing De Anda, but I have to say that if it had to go, Vic's is an excellent replacement. Since this location is right near the DMV maybe you'll want to give it a try the next time you need to renew your registration or license.