Birrieria Tijuana #4 — Restaurant in Federal Way

I was craving authentic Mexican and did a google search near me, which brought up this local restaurant. We got there around 3:30pm on a Saturday, which at the time wasn’t busy.

The restaurant was clean, we sat at a table towards the back where it looked as if they were getting ready to expand the seating to that side of the building. The restrooms were clean and it was nice that the air-con flow was just as strong considering the heat these days.

I would say an hour into enjoying our food, the dinner rush was starting to kick in as there was a decent line and I could hear the mobile order bell going off almost every 15 minutes once we got our food (which took at most 6minutes after ordering/paying).

The food was absolutely beyond good! We had a little of everything to try variety (Birria Taco, Dorado De Birria, Cheese Birrira, Plato De Quesabirria, Consome, Birria Ramen) and definitely enjoyed it all! We appreciated that they had a self serve refrigerated bar at no extra cost for the pickled fixings, salsas, limes, onions, etc… You can’t go wrong with any of their tacos; either with cheese or without… The beef in any of their tacos was so tender & the consome was flavorful all on its own… I had to get more of it and ordered more in the form of their Birria Ramen Noodles (definitely the highlight of our late lunch). We finished off with a Mangonada and Churos to go… All I can say is there was none left once the kids got their hands on them 😭… For the great flavorful food; the price was even better! Our entire meal: 3 Appetizers, 2 Entrees, 2 Deserts, 2 drinks was just $60 before tax and tip. We definitely will be back either to dine in or order...

We went in for lunch, excited to try a new Birria place in Federal Way. Unfortunately, we were underwhelmed.

I got a Birria Ramen, which was a very large portion. However, the consomé was thin and bland, and even after adding lime, onion, and cilantro, no real flavor shone through. I was offered tortillas, and dipped one into the consomé; typically, when dipping a tortilla into consomé, you would expect it to come out reddish-yellow from the broth sticking to it. However, the broth did not stick to the tortillas nor did it change their color. The tortillas were not useful for the dish.

My partner got a cheese taco with birria, and a birria mulita. Both of these were cooked well, and my partner said that some of the birria flavor was there, but not as much as expected.

My roommate got shrimp tacos, which were better, but the grilled shrimp tasted like they had just been seasoned with adobo, and weren't very interesting.

The aguafrescas were really good. The horchata was thick, with rice in it, and the strawberry aguafresca had a really good flavor.

The churros however, were the star of the show. Very nicely seasoned with cinnamon sugar, with a very delicious ice cream.

All in all, for desserts and beverages, this place was fine, but the birria -- the star of the show at a birreria -- left a lot...

I really wanted to like this place as the reviews were mostly high and a co worker gave his full endorsement. The restaurant is clean and the gal behind the counter took my order(which I got quickly) but there is one thing that threw a wrench in my adventure. I am a self proclaimed Mexican food critic having traveled extensively throughout Mexico in my youth and savored first hand my beloved cochinto pibil as well as authentic tacos al vapor. I digress,I ordered the birria burrito and expected a forearm sized burrito with beans and cheese. The meat was moist and delicious and the burrito was prepared exactly as I ordered. Except after taking the first bite, there seemed to be something off. I opened it up to confirm the ingredients and imagine the shock of finding it loaded with sour cream and lettuce! I don't know about you dear reader but I would sooner choke down a handful of tacks then to consume lettuce or sour cream. Hindsight being 20/20 I should have inquired as to the ingredients,but naturally assumed that it was standard faire. This egregious mistake landed my beloved birria burrito in the trash and me left trying to sanitize...