It was a late Saturday night and with a lot of the affordable hotels booked, the most affordable hotel in Los Angels that we could find was in Sylmar, California.
Sylmar is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles and is known for its olive orchards and thus in 1893, the area was named Sylmar (which means “sea of trees”).
Back in the ’70s and ’80s, Sylmar was considered a rural, mostly Caucasian community where residents focused their attention on equestrian activities. But in 2000, a wave of immigrants had moved to Sylmar and as of 2000, the area was 69.8% Latino and 20.7% white.
A lot of the original families that lived in the area between the late 1890’s to 1960’s would move after the city was hit with a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in 1971. Four months later, a methane gas explosion in a water tunnel killed several workers and would lead to the establishment of Cal/OSHA.
And since then, the area has been rocked by earthquake and a major forest fire in 2008, the city has shown resilience and the area is no doubt growing.
While in the area, we decided to check out one of local favorites, Fast n Fresh Mexican Grill.
The owner/staff of Fast n Fresh Mexican Grill pride themselves for making sure they use fresh veggies cut daily, that meats are never frozen, meats are carefully cut to remove fats and meats are marinated for 72 hours and the location uses woodfire cooking.
I decided to get the chicken breakfast burrito (Fiesta Burrito) which was $7.99 and served with tortilla chips.
The breakfast burrito was delicious with a good balance of potato, grilled peppers, onion and tomato and the chicken was well-grilled.
The three of us literally scarfed our food down, it’s how delicious the food was.
One of these days, I’ll need to come back and try their other offerings because the burrito was so delicious that I will need to try their deluxe burritos one of these days.
Also, if you are not in the mood for torta or burritos, Fast n Fresh Mexican Grill also serves omelets, egg dishes such as huevos rancheros, huevos a la Mexicana and also pancakes and french toast. They also serve traditional dishes such as Arroz con Pollo, Carne Asada a la Lefia, Barbacos plate, Carnitas plate, Al Pastor Plate, specialty dishes such as fajitas, homemade tamales, tacos al carbon, grilled tortas and so much more.
If you happen to be driving up or down California near Sylmar, California, definitely give Fast n Fresh Mexican Grill a try. Recommended!
