El Rosa


 

Rating:

Location:

33rd and Walnut/Locust

Near:

Outside of DRL

Phone:

Add One!

Genre:

Mexican

Description [edit me!]

A Mexican food truck run by a Chinese woman from Singapore, who thought "there were too many Chinese trucks already." Very friendly service: if you order the same thing twice she'll remember it the third time. Basic Americanized-Mexican food topped with the hottest hot sauce on campus (get the mild or medium sauce if you can't handle it). For engineers it's conveniently located outside of dreaded DRL. -MY

View El Rosa's Menu!

Ratings and Reviews

Quality
 Convenience
 Speed
 Friendliness
 Bang for the Buck

Staff's Ratings

Aman on Thu, 10 Jan 2008

Quality: 5, Convenience: 5, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 4, Bang for the Buck: 4.

Rosa's Thu, 10 Jan 2008

Quality: 4, Convenience: 4, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 4.
It's all the way at DRL but its the best mexican food truck. -Abhi

Absolutely Amazing Thu, 10 Jan 2008

Quality: 5, Convenience: 5, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 4.
Rosa's is absolutely amazing. The food is full of flavor and it is close to my classes. Strongly recommended for lunch, but try to go outside of the rush hours of 11-1. Proprietor is very friendly and will remember your favorite food after a few visits. -AG

Users' Ratings

Wed, 17 Mar 2010

Quality: 2, Convenience: 4, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 4, Bang for the Buck: 3.
The Indonesian lady running the cart shared her great Indonesian lunch with me one day and turned me onto the best Indonesian food spots in the city. Nowhere near campus, unfortunately. The reason the hot sauce is so hot? It's sambal--a southeast asian sauce. So if you like your Mexican food to somehow taste like Malaysian food, this is the place for you... I guess?! I tried to talk her into selling rendang or mee, please everyone keep asking and maybe we can convince her to convert to a solid southeast asian cart instead of fake mexican!!! -Neuronix

Diarhea!!! Sun, 13 Dec 2009

Quality: 1, Convenience: 2, Speed: 1, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 2.
Gave me the runs... Need I say more -Goop

Fri, 16 Oct 2009

Quality: 3, Convenience: 3, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 3, Bang for the Buck: 2.
There are better Mexican trucks, but this one is quick and near DRL, which is convenient if you're there for class. It's a bit expensive, and I wouldn't get it if there were other options there, -Ben Franklin

Friendly and tasty Wed, 23 Sep 2009

Quality: 4, Convenience: 3, Speed: 5, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 3.
Exceedingly friendly and excellent homemade hot sauce. Tried the mushroom/pepper/spinach burrito, not going for authentic (since the owner is Indonesian) but for taste. Decent beans & rice, nice texture from the mushrooms. The hot sauce apparently isn't as fiery as it once was (hot should probably be called medium), but it was certainly delicious. Planning to go again soon and try a tostada. -tacoslengua

Lead Brick Burrito Tue, 11 Aug 2009

Quality: 4, Convenience: 4, Speed: 5, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 3.
My buddy and I ate here and we both got chicken burritos. He didn't like the chicken in his partly b/c it had a weird taste and it was shredded. I thought it tasted fine and I like the shredded, however, there wasn't enough of it. The burrito was mostly beans, which felt like a lead brick in our bellies even hours later, which could be a good thing. -Bea

Best hot sauce ever Sun, 15 Mar 2009

Quality: 5, Convenience: 4, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 5.
I love this food truck. The lady is actually from Indonesia not Singapore. I love her hot sauce, I usually ordered chicken burrito and roast pepper with extra hot sauce. The sauce really kicks in. If I was really hungry, I'd go with the tostadas. They're huge! I've had few cravings for the burritos now that I'm no longer going to Penn. (And I haven't found the same hotsauce here in cali) :( The only thing that I don't like is she opens from 11-3. Sometime she leaves earlier than that. :( I wish she would open the business much longer. -O.S

They should pay YOU... Wed, 24 Dec 2008

Quality: 1, Convenience: 3, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 3, Bang for the Buck: 1.
I work around the corner at Trophy Bikes, and even when starving will never eat here. At best, the food is mediocre. Typically though, this stuff is too salty, too greasy, and not passable. Inconsistent too - the staff changes on a daily basis, so you never know how your order is gonna turn out. That, and sometimes the truck doesn't show up at all! -Trophy Cliff

Chicken Tostada, Yes! Mon, 27 Oct 2008

Quality: 5, Convenience: 4, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 4, Bang for the Buck: 5.
Chicken tostada every time. Medium hot sauce. I love this place. -Nakana

Are you kidding? Thu, 11 Sep 2008

Quality: 2, Convenience: 1, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 3, Bang for the Buck: 3.
Someone said this is the best Mexican food truck at Penn? There are opinions and there's flat out WRONG. Tacos Don Memo is the best Mexican truck at Penn.. El Rosa is eh.. OKAY -Ben Franklin

El Rosa's Rocks! Mon, 25 Aug 2008

Quality: 4, Convenience: 5, Speed: 5, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 5.
Fast, not fancy-- almost TOO much food for the money.. Really nice lady, she does remember your choices and laughs when I get wild and crazy and order medium instead of mild on my burrito. -mcget

Good food Tue, 06 May 2008

Quality: 4, Convenience: 3, Speed: 3, Friendliness: 4, Bang for the Buck: 4.
Word of caution: the hot sauce is really, really hot. You'll need a drink. And maybe two. -Ben Franklin

Awesome! Tue, 22 Apr 2008

Quality: 5, Convenience: 5, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 5.
Great food, wonderful service. I'll walk from Charles Addams just for a burrito. -Ted

Best. Ever. Wed, 02 Apr 2008

Quality: 5, Convenience: 5, Speed: 4, Friendliness: 5, Bang for the Buck: 5.
I'm a huge fan of this truck. While it may not get the same attention as its neighbor, the food is delicious, and the Friendliness is beyond compare. The hot sauce is out of this world too. Made with real Habaneros! -J

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