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Mela's Mexican Restaurant is a family-friendly diner, old school Mexian diner, located about 8 miles north of Marysville, Ca, along CA Highway 70, on the road to Chico, Lassen Nat'l Park, or whatever destination to the north works with you. Mela's offers amazing Mexican cuisine... just like the fine cuisine you'll enjoy when you're visiting a loncheria, anywhere in northern Mexico... As with all of reviews that I publish, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: It's a little past 15:30 in the afternoon, Saturday, May 16, 2026, and I've arrived at Mela's Mexican Restaurant to enjoy a late lunch. The restaurant is located on CA Hwy. 70, about 8 miles north of Marysville, CA.
Photo: The dining room is quite large, and was quite busy on this Saturday afternoon. The furniture is entirely made up of tables and chairs, and there's a counter on the side, complete with stools. The decor is quite plain, and reminds me of countless working-class restaurants that I've dined in during my many trips to Mexico.
Photo: One page of the menu, which offers all of your Mexican favorites.
Photo: After I placed my order, I managed to take a peek into the kitchen and watch the talented staff perform their magic.
Photo: Fresh cilantro, diced white onion, lime wedges, and a flavorful dipping sauce, to enhance my soup. I took a tiny taste of the dipping sauce, and it was delicioius, but it was too hot for my taste buds to handle. Over the many years that I've been dining, I've learned to sample unfamiliar sauce before putting it on my food. The condiments were amazing to look at and enjoy, but the real purpose was to enjoy and enhance the goodness of my bowl of "Birria de Chivo."
Photo: My server brought my bowl of "Birria de Chivo" to my table with great concentration... most likely to keep the delicious, hot soup from spilling.
Photo: I raise my bottle of beer and toast Mela's Mexican Restaurant, and the beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Photo: From the "House Specials" section of the menu, I went with a bowl of rustic, delicious "Birria de Chivo," served with a plate of with classic garnishes on the side, and three, freshly baked corn tortillas, with a ice-cold beer for dessert. "Birra de Chivo" is birria - an earthy Mexican soup - made with goat meat, instead of beef, and it's only served on weekends. Birra made with goat meat is a trademark of a true, authentic Mexican restaurant, and Mela's passed that benchmark with flying colors! The marinated goat meat was stewed for many hours until it was fork tender, and served in a savory, brick red broth, that was robust in flavor, but not at all spicy hot. "Birria de Chivo" is a very simple dish, as it's just stewed goat meat and broth, but the flavor is very complex, thanks to the savory broth. This bowl of soup is a weekend treat, and like menudo, I rarely pass on it during my weekend Mexican dining. I squeezed the lime juice into the soup and added the onion and cilantro. Since the soup was served piping hot from the kitchen, it was time to roll up a corn tortilla, dip it into the broth, and savor the delicious flavor while the broth cooled down enough to enjoy. Come for the birria but stay for the in-house, freshly baked corn tortillas. I love corn tortillas, even the packaged tortillas purchased at my local supermarket, but there is absolutely NO COMPARISON to in-house, fresh, made-by-hand corn tortillas, and that's what I enjoyed with my birria. The stack of three corn tortillas arrived hot and moist from the kitchen in a tortilla warmer, and were a simply AMAZING! Fresh, tender, earth... adjectives can go on and on to describe the goodness. These were some of the most flavorful and delicious corn tortillas that I've enjoyed for a long time. I enjoyed two of the tortillas the way they're enjoyed in Mexico, rolled up and dipped into the broth. Oh my! I saved the last tortilla to clean up the last drops of the savory broth so nothing would go to waste. The "Birria de Chivo" was simply delicious, the garnished added a bit of flavor and crunch, and the freshly made corn tortillas added an earth goodness. Friends, my lunch was simply amazing! As we'd say in Mexico, "Muy sabroso."
Photo: A spoonful of the delicious, tender goat meat, and the brick red broth. This bowl of "Birria de Chivo" was out-of-this-world delicious!
Photo: I began my meal by rolling up one of the corn tortillas to dip into the broth, as the soup was too hot to eat. One small dip, a small bite... the result was satisfaction and enjoyment. I repeated and enjoyed... Back on Saturday, October 18, 2025, I enjoyed a great breakfast of "Menudo," garnishes and a Pacifico beer.
Photo: A large bowl of superior menudo, with classic garnishes, freshly baked flour tortillas, and a cold Pacifico beer made for a great Saturday morning breakfast at Mela's Mexican Restaurant, a family owned and operated restaurant, located a few miles north of Marysville, CA. You can always count on Mela's for some of the best Mexican cuisine in Yuba County, and for fine gold country dining, every day of the week. Mela's has become a favorite among the Yuba County locals, and for "foodies" all over northern California, as the restaurant serves authentic Mexican food, specifically the cuisine of northern Mexico. There's no other Mexican restaurant like Mela's in all of Yuba County! When you're in the mood to enjoy some of the best Mexican cuisine in the northern Sacramento Valley, check out Mela's. Mela's Mexican Restaurant is you place to enjoy. Mela's Mexican Restaurant Copyright(c) 2026 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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