Opinion | Oh Anepalco, I’ll miss you most of all
Graham Byrne, senior television writing and production major
For years I’ve been cautious, making sure I didn’t tell too many people about my favorite place in Orange. I didn’t want it to become overrun or to have too long of a line. I’m always able to get a table, and I liked it that way. But now that I’m about to graduate, I realize I can’t let the secret die with me.
Anepalco is the best restaurant in Orange.
Anepalco is a small Mexican restaurant with two locations: one that serves lunch and dinner on Chapman Avenue near The Outlets at Orange and one that serves breakfast and lunch on Main Street. The one on Chapman Avenue is good, but the one on Main Street is incredible. It doesn’t look like much — a storefront with minimal seating, located in the same strip mall as a Blue Bowl Superfoods — but inside you’ll find some truly excellent Mexican food.
I first went to Anepalco in the spring of 2017, when I was touring Chapman as a prospective student. My dad and I wanted Mexican food and did not yet know how far Main Street is from campus. I had tacos, he had huevos rancheros and we were so blown away that we came back later that week before we flew home.
As a Chapman student, I made Anepalco a consistent part of my life. Every Friday of my freshman year, I would walk or Uber there as a treat for getting through the week. When I moved into a house my junior year, I was ecstatic when I realized it was only a two-minute drive from Anepalco. It is my parents’ favorite place to go when they come visit. We’ve even gone three times in a week before.
The food is incredible. Throughout the years, I’ve tried almost every menu item. My current go-to order is the “Huevos Divorciados” — a breakfast dish with tortilla, bacon, egg and two different salsas, split cleanly down the middle, hence the name. I’m also partial to the “Huevos Perdidos,” a dish with duck, egg and potatoes served in a giant pot with bread on the side for dipping. The guava French toast is perfection: crispy on the edges and fluffy in the middle, with an excellent pink guava sauce.
Their lunch options are solid too — fresh tortillas stuffed to the brim with marinated meats or a good Cuban sandwich. Anepalco taught me to put pineapple in guacamole.
When the pandemic started, one of my greatest fears was that the restaurant would close. Although it’s a small business, they managed to stay afloat. At the beginning of quarantine, I would get takeout from there two or three times a week, trying to do my part to keep them in business while also emotionally preparing myself should they ever shut down.
As my college experience comes to an end, I’m becoming nostalgic about very specific things — the smell of the flowers around the back of Argyros Forum, the sunset view from the Beckman Hall patio, the cool splash of the globe fountain when I dip my hand in when I walk past for good luck. Anepalco carries a plethora of nostalgia for me; I’ll miss the smoky flavor of Anepalco’s salsa, the agua fresca they switch up daily (orange and pineapple is the best one) and the friendliness of the staff.
Please, do yourself a favor and go get a table outside or some takeout. Try the “Cochinita Pibil,” “Al Pastor” or truly anything else on the menu. Thank me later.