The Best Tacos

If you have seen any post from this blog before, you will notice there aren't a lot of chains or super expensive restaurants discussed.  The reason for this is that I feel like I can have the flavors and types of food that I love without spending exorbitant sums.  As to chains, very few of them have the quality of food that I love.

So, of course my favorite taco place is one that, technically, is a chain.  The shirts and the sign indicate that Tacos El Gordo originates in Tijuana, Mexico.  I can't verify that, because I haven't been to Tijuana in years and years.  Their website says they have been in business for about 40 years.  I'll take their word for it.

So, it's a chain, it probably came from Tijuana, Mexico, why eat there? Here's why, the adobada tacos:

Here is a cross section of a taco.  The pork adobada appears to be about 70 pork steaks, marinated in the adobada marinade, placed in a skewer with a pineapple and cooked on the spit like gyro meat.  It is fantastic, amazing and memorable.  (it is also a shocking pink color that may, in 20 years, be shown to be carcoinogenic, no matter, its delicious now).

I love it, but sometimes the real test is whether my family loves it.  I took my wife. She loved it.  I took my kids (one who is so white he sunburns in the dark) and they loved it.  Tacos El Gordo is so good, that snotty teens and pre-teens can tell that this is something special.  

Here is the caveat - get the adobada.  In all truthfulness, I have only had the adobada and the carne asada.  They also serve lengua (tongue), cabeza (head?), sesos (Brains?), nopales (cactus) and chorizo.  When you enter the restaurant, you get in line in front of the meat you want.  You get to the front and say what you want them to put the meat on and the slice off some meat and make your taco, tostada or whatever.  The carne asada is simply not special.  It is not bad, but it is not special.  I have not tried the other options.  

(this is a problem I have.  When I have something amazingly delicious, I can't believe there could be something else that could be as amazingly delicious and I have a hard time trying other things.  Perhaps the cabeza meat is the best, I simply don't know because I have yet to get over the pork adobada)

A couple of recommendations.  First, as you should know if you have had street Mexican food before, it is all the same.  That is, if you have a taco, it is  meat, onions, cilantro, salsa, avocado crema in a tortilla or two.  If you get a tostada, like this:

You get meat, onions, cilantro, salsa, avocado crema, with crispy tortillas top and bottom.  If you order a burrito, you get meat, onions, . . . anyway, you get it.  I like the tacos, they are maybe the easiest to eat. Second, the salsa is on the spicy side.  I love it.  My wife and daughter did not.  Third, maybe ask for some pineapple.  I asked for everything, but there was no pineapple on ours.  On a few occasions in the past, there was pineapple included and it was divine.  And fourth, try the adobada fries:

This has the same toppings as a taco or tostada, but it is all on top of fries and has cheese.  They have a great selection of aguas frescas (orange bang, pina colada drink, horchata, and sodas), as well.  

You can tell it is legitimately mexican becuse they have the little topping bar with radishes and peppers.  My family of super white people stood out in this restaurant, but that shouldn't stop you.  There is plenty of adobada for everyone.