Tacos La Central — Restaurant in Colton

You should not pass by mighty Mount Vernon Ave. in Colton without taking the few extra blocks to arrive at Tacos La Central. Inexplicably, Colton finds a way to be an interesting city. If your interest leans toward the historical, you'll want to see the single-story Victorian that once housed Sherrif Virgil Earp along with brother Morgan Earp's headstone, which possesses the engraving "Murdered on the streets of Tombstone, Ariz." Colton has also been home to a series of French restaurants. Currently, Rendez-Vous Café; formerly Jean's. Today, however, the cowboy and the French bistro have each become a thing of the past. Nothing in California is more current than the taco. Given to mutable variations, a new taco form ever hovers over the horizon. In the last few years, the taco al estilo Tijuana has become the new craze. It's the mesquite smoke that cooks and seasons the meat. It's the gobs of avocado salsa. Tacos La Central makes an exemplary Tijuana style taco and perhaps the most perfectly engineered taco in the Inland Empire. (Mariscos Jalisco in Pomona would have that title if they made their taco dorado de camaron as good as the Boyle Heights location. But the cooks never discard enough water from their tomato salsa, resulting in a soggy tortilla that should have stayed crisp out of the fryer). You pull up to the modestly designed Mid-Century Modern taqueria in Colton that was for many years a Chicano era taco shop and are greeted by their mascot. A nameless taquero painted on one of the windows and above the menu who looks like a Mexican version of Mario from Super Mario Bros, and even wears a red apron to complete the simulacrum. The menu is brief. You may choose from the following meats: carne asada, pollo, adobada, and chorizo. There is also a mulita. The tortillas are made fresh. The meats breath more smoke than a cigar club. I'm fond of the asada because it is cooked medium rare and chopped into pebble sized pieces, similar to Ethiopian kitfo. I welcome this preparation after so many years of ripping through leather tough meats...

These might some of the best tacos I've ever had. I tried the adobada, asada, and pollo tacos, as well as the mulita, and they were all delicious. The meats were really juicy and flavorful, unlike other street tacos I've had. They also put a good amount of guacamole on each taco, which other places don't do. My favorite meat was the asada because it tasted like it was smoked. The mulita was really good too (it's like a small quesadilla with meat inside).

At $2 per taco and $4 per mulita, it was definitely a budget friendly meal. My wife and I ordered 6 tacos and 1 mulita, so it only came out to $8 per person.

The parking lot is really small (probably only fits 4 cars) but there is residential street parking nearby.

Also, in terms of closing time, they still let people order after 7pm. When I came at 6:40pm, there were 30 people in line in front of me, but the line moved fast. I was able to order around 7:05pm. There were still 15 people behind me, but they let all of them order too, which was really nice. I guess they just stay open until they stop...

The food was tasty! Service was normal. The atmosphere was fine. See pictures and videos for yummy details!

Homie-G really liked this establishment! They have outdoor seating only. The parking situation is pretty bad, though. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded during my visit. I've been here before and wasn't able to get a parking spot.

Now, the food was good! TORTILLAS MADE BY HAND! The adobada was on point! So full of flavors, especially putting lime and other toppings of your choice. The asada tacos were good as well, but the adobada was my favorite. My drink was a piña coco. They served it in a plastic bottle, which I thought was kind of weird. The outdoor seating is plentiful. If you go on a very sunny and hot day, know that there's not much shade.

Overall, I will definitely go again and again and again. Homie-G recommends this place, especially if you're in the area and looking for some good...