Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Taco secrets waiting to be whispered
Darker and steamier than a midsummer Mexico City night
El Borrego Mixiote
TJ Oyster Bar
It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what makes the TJ Oyster Bar fish taco superlative, but I think it comes down to the batter. It always manages to remain light and delicate without spreading out from the taco into a deep-fried starburst. The result is a perfectly encapsulated nugget of fish, tucked into its tortilla like a swaddled babe, or a happily cocooned butterfly ready to burst forth into something beautiful. After a round of cocteles and oysters from the raw bar, a few fish tacos and a cold clamato here is as good as it gets.
Matador Mexican Grill
USD kids know. The barbacoa street tacos here are legit. They come with a big bowl of lamb broth. Taco savage that I am, I like to soak the entire taco in the broth, so that it turns into a drippy, fatty, messy, super-savory association of meats and juices, commingled into one lambtastic celebration of Mexican fast food. It ends in catastrophic fashion half the time — lamb shreds and juice everywhere — but it’s worth it. The carnitas and buche tacos are a great backup if you come hungry and there’s no barbacoa to be had.
El Zarape — potato/lengua/carne/calamari tacos
El Zarape
Among the many Zarapes, only at the big El Zarape can you get the potato-mole taco. As tacos go, it has the je ne sais quoi magic of rich, zesty mole, soft potato, and crispy cabbage. The whole thing works perfectly, and, as a bonus, it’s super cheap during happy hour. Goes great with a tamarindo margarita. You won’t lose with any other taco here, but the potato-mole is a winner, for sure. I also dig the fried calamari taco with “cusabi” sauce.
El Borrego
Darker and steamier than a midsummer Mexico City night, every order of mixiote de borrego sits in its broth and little tinfoil shrine like a secret waiting to be whispered to a confidant, or a rumor percolating just beneath the surface. It’s also not a bad deal, because a $14.99 order will make six tacos and feed two for lunch. Add a little cactus salad and the deal is done. If lamb isn’t your thing, go for the cochinita pibil and shift your attentions momentarily toward the Yucatán. If the place has a flaw, it’s that the sidewalks roll up at 6 p.m.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Taco secrets waiting to be whispered
Darker and steamier than a midsummer Mexico City night
Taco secrets waiting to be whispered
Darker and steamier than a midsummer Mexico City night
El Borrego Mixiote
TJ Oyster Bar
It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what makes the TJ Oyster Bar fish taco superlative, but I think it comes down to the batter. It always manages to remain light and delicate without spreading out from the taco into a deep-fried starburst. The result is a perfectly encapsulated nugget of fish, tucked into its tortilla like a swaddled babe, or a happily cocooned butterfly ready to burst forth into something beautiful. After a round of cocteles and oysters from the raw bar, a few fish tacos and a cold clamato here is as good as it gets.
Matador Mexican Grill
USD kids know. The barbacoa street tacos here are legit. They come with a big bowl of lamb broth. Taco savage that I am, I like to soak the entire taco in the broth, so that it turns into a drippy, fatty, messy, super-savory association of meats and juices, commingled into one lambtastic celebration of Mexican fast food. It ends in catastrophic fashion half the time — lamb shreds and juice everywhere — but it’s worth it. The carnitas and buche tacos are a great backup if you come hungry and there’s no barbacoa to be had.
El Zarape — potato/lengua/carne/calamari tacos
El Zarape
Among the many Zarapes, only at the big El Zarape can you get the potato-mole taco. As tacos go, it has the je ne sais quoi magic of rich, zesty mole, soft potato, and crispy cabbage. The whole thing works perfectly, and, as a bonus, it’s super cheap during happy hour. Goes great with a tamarindo margarita. You won’t lose with any other taco here, but the potato-mole is a winner, for sure. I also dig the fried calamari taco with “cusabi” sauce.
El Borrego
Darker and steamier than a midsummer Mexico City night, every order of mixiote de borrego sits in its broth and little tinfoil shrine like a secret waiting to be whispered to a confidant, or a rumor percolating just beneath the surface. It’s also not a bad deal, because a $14.99 order will make six tacos and feed two for lunch. Add a little cactus salad and the deal is done. If lamb isn’t your thing, go for the cochinita pibil and shift your attentions momentarily toward the Yucatán. If the place has a flaw, it’s that the sidewalks roll up at 6 p.m.
Comments