{"id":175277,"date":"2026-02-12T17:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175277\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T17:56:10","slug":"taco-nazo-pioneer-of-the-fish-taco-opens-its-second-spot-in-orange-county-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/175277\/","title":{"rendered":"Taco Nazo, pioneer of the fish taco, opens its second spot in Orange County \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.taconazo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Taxco Nazo<\/a>, the self-proclaimed \u201cpioneers of the fish taco,\u201d officially opened its second Orange County location on Saturday, Jan. 24. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2025\/12\/11\/taco-nazo-the-pioneers-of-the-fish-taco-to-open-new-orange-county-spot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">teasing the expansion in early December<\/a>, the new eatery is serving fans in Santa Ana, taking over the site formerly occupied by Miguel\u2019s Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Ideal for a quick bite or a sit-down meal, the new spot covers both with drive-through and indoor dining options.<\/p>\n<p>Hungry? Sign up for The Eat Index, our weekly food newsletter, and find out where to eat and get the latest restaurant happenings in Orange County. <a style=\"color: red\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The menu stays true to the Ensenada-style roots that first put the chain on the culinary map, like the fish tacos featuring hot, crispy fish or shrimp, cabbage, onions, tomatoes and crema. Beyond its Neptunian tacos, other fare includes a taco dorado, chicken and asada tacos, burritos (fish, chicken, al pastor, bean and cheese), tortas, campechana, Mexican sodas, agua frescas, horchata, rice, beans and more.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Taco Nazo employee Angel Dolmos serves tacos to lunch-hour patrons...\" class=\"size-article_inline\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-06-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Taco Nazo employee Angel Dolmos serves tacos to lunch-hour patrons at the restaurant\u2019s new Santa Ana location on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Luis Martinez ponders the menu at newly opened Taco Nazo...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-04-MS.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-04-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Luis Martinez ponders the menu at newly opened Taco Nazo in Santa Ana on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ceviche is prepared at the new Taco Nazo restaurant in...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-03-MS.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-03-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ceviche is prepared at the new Taco Nazo restaurant in Santa Ana on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Taco Nazo employee Estefany Garcia works the counter at the...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-02-MS.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-02-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Taco Nazo employee Estefany Garcia works the counter at the restaurant\u2019s newest location in Santa Ana on<br \/>\nTuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Santa Ana is the newest location for Taco Nazo restaurant...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-05-MS.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-05-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Santa Ana is the newest location for Taco Nazo restaurant that features fish tacos. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-09-MS.jpg?w=620\"  bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OCR-L-TACONAZO-0211-09-MS.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p>Show Caption<\/p>\n<p>1 of 6<\/p>\n<p>Taco Nazo employee Angel Dolmos serves tacos to lunch-hour patrons at the restaurant\u2019s new Santa Ana location on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\">Expand<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Taco Nazo story began in 1978 as a family-run food truck launched by the late Gilberto and Maria Romero. The duo is widely credited with helping turn the fish taco into a Southern California staple, a status cemented, in part, by the late Los Angeles Times critic Jonathan Gold, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/food\/dailydish\/la-jonathan-gold-baja-tacos-list-story.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">named the tacos among his favorites<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ALSO READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2026\/02\/11\/parlor-doughnuts-opens-new-orange-county-location\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Parlor Doughnuts opens new Orange County location<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The business remains a family affair to this day. Jesse Romero, son of the founders, now oversees the Orange County locations, which include the Santa Ana site and the existing spot in La Habra at 121 S. Beach Blvd.<\/p>\n<p>If you aren\u2019t in Orange County, you can still find Taco Nazo in Bellflower, La Puente, South El Monte and Walnut.<\/p>\n<p>Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., open seven days a week.<\/p>\n<p>Find it: 1766 E McFadden Ave., Santa Ana, 657-232-1021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.taconazo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">taconazo.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taxco Nazo, the self-proclaimed \u201cpioneers of the fish taco,\u201d officially opened its second Orange County location on Saturday,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,412,580,420,136],"class_list":["post-175277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-restaurants","tag-restaurants-food-and-drink","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}