Northgate Gonzalez Markets

In line watching this fat girl with eyebrows as thick as churros answer her phone and talk while there’s a huge line and she’s taking her sweet time. Talking about Jose and moving to an Anaheim store to be closer to where she lives. I learned a lot about her personal life that I wish I didn’t know. I hope she leaves to Anaheim soon cuz she is something else.
Other than that, store is good for being in downtown.

It’s been 3 times since I’ve been charged for more than what I bought. This usually happens when the employee is talking to the bagger during checkout. Aside from that, parking is always a mess, lines are always long, not that many registers are open when it’s busy, and it’s always cramped. Unbelievable XD

Great food slow and long lines all the time parking is a disaster. I always park a block away

Living in Southern California, we have a wide variety of ethnic markets. There’s the asian ones (ie: Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.), Middle Eastern ones, and there’s the latino ones, such as Northgate.
I had a quest to find fresh guacamole. Not guacasalsa or green salsas. Guacamole. Sure, I could make it myself, but I didn’t have the time to cut and pit 10 – 15 avocados, chop the cilantro, onion, tomatoes, jalapenos, spices, etc. I went to 3 different markets in the Santa Ana area and finally found Northgate between 4^th and 5^th, off Mortimer (not French!) Street.
Northgate is a family owned market with multiple locations. This location is a mid size store with a decent produce section, a pretty well stocked meat section and a very good salsa area, with 7 or 8 different types of salsas/​pico de gallo /​guacasalsa, and the one thing I was looking for: home made guacamole.
The clientele is primarily Latinos, and fortunately the staff can speak English. Even if you are a Spanish speaker, but don’t look like one, they will switch from espanol to English in a flash.
Free parking but the lot is small. If you are willing to pay for parking, there are meter spots and even a structure located off 4^th and French (by Wursthaus).

Nice market with great prices on Mexican staples like jicama, limes, etc.

This place really deserves a ²⁄₅ star rating, but I’m feeling generous right now. Northgate is a medium-​sized ethnic market specializing in carne and other forms of comida de Mexico. They have a tremendous Salsa bar, which is nice; sadly their beer selection is far from par. Who the hell wants a quart of «Sun»? I’d rather (and have) just drank mouthwash than that nasty wino swill!
Anyhow, the only irritating aspect is the vendors CONSTANTLY selling bootleg peliculas de pornografia o peliculas de ninos. I feel like I’m in Mexico; which is fine save for the fact this is fucking California. Whatever. This place is still far superior to the Stater Brothers Market nearby.

I love Northgate Santa Ana — it doesn’t help that I live in DTSA — but they always have a great selection of meats, amazing produce, and the best prices! Service is fast and friendly.
Hiwever, my favorite mercado is the Ranchito Market in Westminster off the 405 — they have the same options as Northgate DT but a HUGE jugos bar and better salsas.

Northgate is known for traditional mexican groceries.
I am originally from San Diego, and I have to drive from South Orange County to Santa Ana, to get the authentic products.
My favorite is their ranchera carne asada preparada. SOOOOO GOOOOD, if you’re looking to make some carne asada tacos at home. They must put it through some kind of machine, because it looks like it has tons of little cuts. I’m assuming they do this because it makes it easier to eat once it’s cooked. Just falls apart if cooked right.

So about 6 months ago, fellow Unilocaler Greg N. told me about Northgate carnitas and how it changed his life. Well, back then, I didn’t care for carnitas and I had no experience with Hispanic markets so what he said didn’t really register in my head.
Well, half a year later, carnitas is the new carne asada, I’m a full blown Northgate market shopper across various locations, and my life has changed… because I took the leap of faith to step inside this place to their hot food section… and damn, Greg spoke the truth!
This location is a super busy Northgate in downtown Santa Ana. Not a big location by any means and it’s pretty cramped. This is the location where I first got a taste of Northgate carnitas, in the form of their value meal, which feeds about 3 – 4 people for $ 10.99. It includes a pound of meat of your choice (sorry no carne asada) and I always pick carnitas. It also comes with a big container of rice, beans, and this is the only Northgate location that gives you some special red salsa (yum) instead of their typical Northgate salsa (meh). It also comes with tortillas, and I always make sure to have them chop up the meat. Excellent choice for cheap, yummy lunch, if you split the meal with 3 – 4 people.
About the $ 10.99 value meal, I thought at first only this location had it, because I don’t see the same sign advertising it at the hot food section at other Northgates, but from what I’ve seen, all Northgates have this deal. So don’t be afraid to ask for the value meal!

Was craving some homemade hot corn tortillas so wandered into Northgate cuz I know they have ‘em and sure enough, hot and waiting for me!
While there we also picked up some carne asada, pico de gallo and queso fresco. Love the selection here and the prices are always super reasonable.
I really think is one of the best Northgates… and I’ve been in several but this one is always clean, well staffed and very well stocked. I’ve always been able to find what I need here and if I can’t, I can find someone to help me find it.
Parking is also ample and secure.

Another one of those Mexican restaurants that feels like a fiesta inside. I’m just reviewing the fresh food section. I had the chile reano combo. The chili reano was okay, but was way too wet to my liking. They also have family deals, which is ~$ 4 per person… so for a 6 person mean, it’s like $ 24. Comes with a pound of carnitas, pound of rice and a pound of beans with a dozen tortillas and salsa. The chicken is really good. Great deal!

What a clean Mexican market this is, and pretty big too. The meat and seafood sections are pretty well stocked. You can basically get any cut of meat you need to make a Mexican meal. They even have marinated meat for al pastor! There is also the more authentic items such as tongue, tripe, liver etc. The produce section has a lot of ethnic items which I’d never seen before. Very interesting! Prices are pretty reasonable too. There is a cooked food section which sells chiccharones and other stuff. The most awesome thing was that they had a little area tucked away in the corner where fresh tortillas are made. The selection laid out was still warm. On top of the regular tortillas, they had those made from the blue corn and also sopes.
The parking lot is pretty big and 2 security guards are there keeping an eye on everything — why I’m not sure, but hubby made sure he parked near one of them just to be safe. HAHA.
I bought some cinnamon sticks from here as well as other stuff to make arroz con leche with, was strange as when I opened the packet it didn’t smell like anything, but once I cooked with it, there was. How weird is that?