San Diego used to be known for having decent tacos. The first taco shop I remember as a kid was Azteca Tacos on Rosecrans, and maybe El Indio. Then in the seventies Roberto's came along and we were bombarded by a lot of very boring and mediocre shops of a similar variety, Albertos, Juanitas, etc.
They all pretty much tasted the same. Not great. Same offering, carne asada, pollo, pescado or carnitas basically.
I remember getting street tacos from Whittier around this time that were far better than the local fare, smaller but delicious. Loved Los Golosos in Torrance too. Great quesabirria.
We have several taco shops in Fallbrook but they are all pretty eh-h-h. Everything pretty much tastes the same at Robertitos although their rolled tacos are good in a pinch and they are open late. Luna smells funny to me and I stay clear of the place across from El Toro Market. Been through too many incarnations. El Toro is expensive. We won't talk about my beloved Jack in the Box, I don't want to argue with you. Dog meat or cardboard, I don't care, their tacos are a guilty pleasure.
I have tried one of the local street taco trucks but was not impressed. Loved the Birria food truck out on East Mission but they got shut down.
Anyway we found our new gold standard in Temecula at Los Tacos last year and really love the place. Best red and green salsas we have ever tried.
But I have been doing some research and there are some really good taco shops opening up, if you are willing to drive.
The new star getting all the buzz is Mesa Agricola in Escondido. Couple has a farm in Valley Center and grows their own vegetables. I guess it is only open a few days a week and the line goes around the block. I met someone who visited and he said that that was indeed true.
They specialize in guisados, which I get in Texas. They were named one of the 50 best new restaurants in the entire country this year by the New York Times. I look forward to visiting them once the buzz dies down and I can actually get in.
We had an emergency room trip to Palomar in the middle of the night this week. After six hours of wife in the hospital I decided to get breakfast and I went to a new place for me on East Valley Parkway, TJ tacos.
This place gets really top online love throughout the county as a people's favorite.
I had a carne asada and a lengua taco. They put the sauce on, do everything. You get what they give you. There are individual stations for each type of taco with separate cooks. I liked it but not as much as I like Los Tacos. The girl that works there told us that the adobado is her favorite and I will try it next time. Place is good but not exceptional, to my palate anyway.
I guess that there are some really great taco shops in Chula Vista, a long way to drive but I will make it down there, I promise. There are some that are way too authentic, no eyeball tacos for me, thank you. The place that intrigues me is Aqui es Texcoco, a place that specializes in lamb tacos.
Really want to check that place out. Their address is 520 Broadway. I saw a vlog on the place and the food looked fantastic. Barbacoa style lamb, my mouth is watering...
The best taco I ever had was the place in front of the Bullring by the Sea. My dad loved the bullfights and would take me down there as a kid to see Eloy Cavazos and Lomelin, his favorite toreadors. There was a taco stand out front that was heaven.
He made it a point to always sit on the shady side of the ring because as he explained, people got too drunk on the sunny side and people would get knifed. Very exciting prospect for a young kid. He told me that the vanquished bulls were cut up and fed to the poor and that that was what I was eating at the taco shop. Not sure if it was true or not but I believed him.
The tacos in Oaxaca City at the second mercado were also very good with the cotija and crema, quite healthy, helped by the fragrance of tuberose in the air. Greatest market I have ever been to.
Anyhow, if you know of a great taco shop around these parts, let me know.
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I had to drive to City of Commerce to pick up something I bought at auction and ended up driving east on Telegraph to catch the 605. Might have been in Downey or Pico Rivera.
I was hungry and needed something to drink and I saw Luna Maya Grill in my periphery. I pulled a youie and checked the place out.
It was El Salvadoran cuisine, something I don't get very often. Looked clean and nice.
She said that the salsa on the right was muy picante, cuidado but she obviously did not know who she was talking to.
Food was good, server was nice and the best part of the meal was the super thick corn tortillas, very different and made like, right then.
If I ever make it back there, I am trying the chicharrone.
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