La Terraza

This place was selected by mine and my husband’s employer. While I was very much looking forward to Mexican cuisine — the food is not up to par. The rice and beans were ok but stay away from the chili Colorado and enchilada. Basically the same thing but one is wrapped and the other scoop yourself onto your tortilla. But getting to the point it was the saltiest meat and red sauce ever. In fact, it wasn’t even a red sauce but a muddy brown. Never ever do I remember having either one of those dishes in another restaurant that was even remotely close to how salty these were. I would never go back. I can’t complain about the service as they did give me lemon with my water and filled the chips and salsa twice for the four of us.

Stopped in for lunch. Told me they had nothing but chicken or steak tacos, no rice, no beans… Are you serious??? This place used to be good, but I won’t be back.
It’s also got a new name, Mariscos something or other, but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out the full name.

Yeah, this place is amazing. You should come here no matter what. And f the city of Stockton for metered parking. You are hurting your businesses you idiots.

Went there for first time with my daughter and son, The area this restaurant is located is very sketchy. (next time will bring my strong husband for protection)
Resturant is small hole in the wall type of place, there was only one other party of three there also dining. The waitress was friendly and helpful with the menu which is basic mexican food.
Ordered Horchatha to start (they were out)
settled for water.
–chili relleno lunch
–sopes (1-chicken,-1 beef) dinner
–green cheese enchilada lunch
–fried chicken taco dinner (to go for my husband)
The chili relleno was watery and chili was hard, like not cooked well, beans and rice was average.
My daughter said enchilada dinner was good but she is not very picky, but i’ll take her word for it .
Ate some of my son’s sopes dinner which was very tasty.
When I got home my husband ate his chicken taco dinner which had bones left in it. (thank goodness he chews his food well) he told me it was good (he is not a picky eater also)
All in all place was alright, i wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there again. but if you happen to be in the area, (for whatever reason) and are in the mood for some mexican food, i recommend the sopes, that’s a safe bet. enjoy amigos

Great little hole in the wall! The food is just as good as mom’s! I love that they give you beans to dip your chips in as well as salsa! the beans are amazing! I had the huevos con chorizo and they did not disappoint! They are also very flexible with their menu… my buddy wanted chile verde and an egg… what did they do… they made a dish especially for her! (i’ll post the pic for your reference)
Definitely check this place out if you are in the downtown area. It’s located in a sketchy neighborhood but i’ve never had any trouble. The service is a tad bit slow but i’m guessing its because everything is cooked to order (i didnt hear any microwave beeps… definitely a good sign).
bottom line… great fresh food at even greater prices :)

Not a broken chip in the basket that arrived almost immediately upon me sliding into a stool at the counter. The salsa was an amazing spicy and citrus combination.
My three tacos arrived with no discernible indicator as to which was which. I still don’t know but they were all delicious.
It was suggested that I try somewhere else the next day and I still, weeks later, regret not having gone back to La Terraza. Oddly, they don’t have a terrace. That I saw.
If you’re ever in downtown Stockton and looking for a delicious and authentic Mexican restaurant then I recommend La Terraza.

Talk about yum!
I loved my cheese enchilada from La Terraza. It was so good! The rice and beans were good as well. Haven’t ordered anything besides the cheese enchilada lunch but that’s all I really need. A solid staple joint for me to grab a good enchilada at. Sounds good to me!
The service here is great. The salsa is fresh and addicting. Tortillas are fresh, hot, and plentiful. The only gripe I have are the chips being bagged. Meaning they come from one.
The food is so good that I think they need to start making their own. I’ll come back reguardless, but seriously homemade chips would be AWESOME!

Okay so the front of this place resembles a war torn bandito hideout, but at least this bandito would be well fed and surrounded by the pretty senoritas that work here… I was pleasantly surprised on how tasty the food is at this little dive tucked away in a pretty much unincorporated part of downtown Stockton… unless you count the sober house/​church across the street. I’m sure those folks would patronize this place if they had more teeth to chew with.
By far my favorite menu item here are the Sopes. They are generously topped with sour cream, mexican crumbled cheese, retried beans, lettuce, tomato, and your choice of meat. (the grilled chicken is awesome). Ive also tried their beef tacos and chile verde. Both were great tasting and are worth a return trip to this somewhat unsavory part of town. I would recommend going during daylight hours unless you really want to experience a Stockton version of «I Am Legend» by venturing here after sun down. Good luck!!!
The prices here are very affordable as well. Okay they aren’t taking Pesos in here, but cheap enough. One item lunch specials start at $ 4.95 and come with bean dip and chips/​salas. The staff is also very friendly and it appears to be a family run business. (my indicator of family run was the high pitch Spanish conversations taking place in the kitchen and the watchful father making sure I wasn’t flirting with his daughter too much) The al la carte menu is also very cheap and offers typical Mexican fare, but with actual flavor. It’s hard to find flavor in the abundance of Stockton’s other family owned restaurants ;)
So if you happen to be lost or enjoy going on a ghetto safari in the safety of your vehicle make La Terraza a stop in your day’s rotation. It’s totally worth the trip to a usually highly avoided part of town…
* Feeling Lucky??- I never have fed the parking meter when dining here during my last 3 – 4 visits on a weekday. I really don’t think the meter maid goes this deep into downtown Stockton…

Stopped by today for tacos. Ordered a pork, a beef and two chicken tacos.
Sat at the counter and immediately had chips and green salsa in front of me. In a couple of minutes I had a small dish of refried beans with cheese to dip the chips in.
Ok.found out a little ‘secret’ today. All of the meat in my tacos was grilled.
It was not quite as tender and tasty as my chicken taco was last time. Come to find out you can get the tacos two ways… with shredded chicken or beef (not the pork) or grilled. It was the shredded chicken taco that I had last time that melted in my mouth. THAT’S what I will be ordering again next time. The tacos today were good. and some might prefer the meat grilled, but for me, shredded is the only way to fly! :)

We went back and my honey finally had the menudo (except for the fact that he wanted a larger pig foot) which he loved. I had a chicken torta on smaller corn (homemade fresh) tortillas that were great as well.
And as for the street denizens, it’s a hit-​or-​miss experience, one time there were a few females on the stroll down the block, but otherwise it’s been a relatively empty street.

Mexican is one of my favorite cuisines… as you can see from the volume of Mexican restaurant reviews. It’s not very flashy, and definitely not hip like Thai or Sushi can be. There are some favorite dishes that I just love. Albondigas Soup and Chile Relleno goes without saying. Albondigas is one of my favorite Soups, regardless of ethnicity. Chile Relleno, done right, is like an addiction that can’t be cured for me. But, I can digress on and on about this…
On the menu today…
Chips & Salsa (**) — Tortilla Chips with a warm Bean Dip. Bean Dip had been sitting for quite awhile… lost all it’s moisture.
Chile Colorado (*** $ 6.95) Chile Colorado is basically stewed (4 – 6 hours) chunks of Beef in a Red Chile Sauce mixture. La Terraza’s version of Chile Colorado is very non-​committal… not very Spicy, just lacking direction. Would have liked seeing… maybe more Onions, Cumin, some Coriander? I attribute this to La Terraza’s customer base, which consists of neighborhood Hispanics and workers around the East Main neighborhood. The owners were nice enough to provide me with a sample of their Chile Verde (Pork)… pretty cool!
Tortillas (***) Conversing with the owner’s kids, who man the front of the restaurant while the parents perform the kitchen duties in the back… only the Corn Tortillas are made in-​house. The son tossed in a Corn Tortilla for me to try out… but I’m not a Corn Tortilla fan.
Jarritos Sangria ($ 1.25)
Value (*****) Probably, a meal at La Terraza will have the least effect on your wallet compared to all the other Mexican establishments in Stockton. Being in business for close to two years, the owner’s experience previously had been in small Taco and Burrito shops. That probably influenced their pricing into their first sit-​down restaurant venture. Depending on what you order, you WILL save between $ 2 — $ 5 on each entrée!
Ambiance — I had a seat at the table nearest the front window, where I could keep an eye on my bicycle. Seating for a restaurant in this limited size room is ample, six tables of varying sizes with quite a bit of counter seating. The setting of La Terraza in one of the least desirable neighborhoods to be caught in is interesting… street people walking by in a constant stream, some ambling in just to converse without purchasing anything; and a group of Street Walkers across the street from La Terraza with their Pimp nearby in his faded Cadillac with brand new chrome rims. Interesting, to say the least. Luckily, the restaurant closes at 7pm… wouldn’t want to exit the restaurant any later than that in this area.
Service was OK. It was basically just me in the one room and a couple of «regulars» at the counter and at a table near where I was sitting. The two children of the owner came by and checked on me often. I learned that the present economy is not helping their business, despite some of the lowest prices for Mexican cuisine in the Stockton /​Lodi area. With the entrees priced at between $ 5 to $ 8, La Terraza needs a LOT of customers to even pay their rent every month.
The first venture of this family into the restaurant business might not fare well in this economy. But, hopefully, this family can endure the economic downturn. It looks bleak, though.
I had mixed feelings about my meal today, and hope I can make it back for their offerings of Menudo and Birria (Goat) with and without soup on the weekends in the near future.
La Terraza is located on East Main on the North side of the street.

Totally shady neighborhood but well worth the risk. Just kidding, it’s not that bad, and they are only opened during the day. We both had the excellent tacos but will go back for the sopa (which seemed to be the local choice). 2 taco’s 4 beers…$ 14 w/​o tip! Get there early; it’s a small whole in the wall that fills up quickly.