The Taco Stand — Restaurant in San Diego

THE BEST CARNE ASADA TACO I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!

Our first order of business after landing in San Diego and dropping our luggage off at the hotel was to get some bomb tacos, of course. My friend had found this spot, which was about a 10-ish minute walk from our hotel in Downtown. We arrived on a Thursday at around 1:30 and there were only a few people ahead of us, but a steady influx of people after us. You order your tacos (which was maybe a 10-15 minute wait), pick it up when they call you, and seat yourself. There are that many seats but it seems like most diners don't linger around. They just eat their tacos and leave. Luckily, we were able to nab two tables together for our party of 8!

I had the carne asada, al pastor, and baja (battered fried fish) tacos. The carne asada was AMAZING. Normally, I'm iffy about getting this because the steak tends to be dry and/or chewy. But not here! The meat is cooked fresh to a medium rare and is so tender. It's topped with cilantro, onion, salsa and guacamole, all great accoutrements but if you add their cilantro aioli (which you have to ask for), it really takes the taco over the top. The al pastor was a close second. This was topped with cilantro, onion, cilantro sauce, and pineapple. I normally don't like cooked pineapple, but this one was good. They use fresh pineapple as opposed to canned. Unfortunately, the fish missed the mark for me. This one was topped with cabbage, cilantro, tomato, onion, and chipotle sauce. Maybe I waited too long to eat it but it wasn't really that crispy. The chipotle sauce was also a bit too smoky for my taste buds.

We also ordered some fries to share. Originally, I was eyeing the carne asada fries (which is a meal in itself) but we were each getting three tacos so we agreed it might be too much food. We made the right choice because the other girls got it and said it was a bit much. If you do want to get it, I would recommend getting fewer tacos. We ended up getting regular fries and didn't regret it. They were perfectly fried and seasoned, and again, was made even better when I dunked them in the cilantro aioli.

I was so stuffed afterwards. I can eat but I think three tacos and even regular fries was a bit too much for me. Two tacos + the fries would have been the perfect amount. Still, I really wish I had enough stomach capacity to have tried one (or at least a bite) of each. The nopal sounded interesting, especially since I haven't eaten a whole lot of cactus (if any?) in my life. I will always choose meat over veggies.

On our last night in San Diego, even though we were already going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, I took my sister here right before dinner (who missed out on the first round) because I wanted her to try the best carne asada taco I've ever had in my life. I'm not sure if she said the same words about it but she said she enjoyed it too. (Note - this was on a Saturday at around 6:30 pm and it was SUPER busy, so there was a wait. I would recommend placing an order ahead of time for pickup).

I wish they had great tacos like...

As someone who has had its fare share of Mexican food through my lifetime (I’m Mexican), it’s hard to give these local taco shops a chance at times. They all seem to give me a generic result every time, and it isn’t helping when trying new places. Still, I had to give this place a chance since I always pass by it and it’s packed... after all, that should say a lot about a restaurant no? People might like it a lot?

Anyways...

Going into the taco “stand” gave me that feeling of being at an actual taco shop south of the border. The decor, the tables, the fridge on the right side of the register, and the menu, all gave me that good feeling of being at a genuine taco shop. Even the smell, which is a good thing.

I ordered two carne asada and two pastor tacos on flour tortillas, and a Mexican coke. If you really want to do it all the right way, you have to get a Mexican coke with your tacos.

My order came out quite fast which I thought was a good thing. Grabbed my salsas from the salsa bar (which is on point). True salsas with great flavor and spice! As I sat down to prepare my tacos, I realized that my pastor tacos had a pineapple piece in them. This is actually typical of how pastor meat is cooked, and it was pretty awesome. After preparing my tacos, I finally was ready to eat them... and sadly this was where it all went downhill.

Meat was cold and tortillas were cold. But. It cold like “we heated them and I took to long to prepare”, more like cold from the pack. The meat was just cold as if it was warm at some point, but was left to the side for too long. No, I didn’t take long to prepare the tacos, in case you’re asking.

Anyways... this completely killed my vibe! Was loving the taco shop until this point, this most important one. I want to say that it was during the busy peak lunch time, and that’s why maybe they were cold? This shouldn’t happen ever, even if you are super busy.

For now, I’ll give them 3 stars, but I can give them a second try some other day when it’s slower.

Pros - Prices, locations, vibe, decor, Mexican coke.

Cons - cold food (...

Food: Visited this place for the 1st time and I must say that the food was great. I ordered the pescado taco and guacamole with chips. Service: as I sat down to eat inwas casually observing how the employees were preparing and handling the food behind the counter. Mind you everyone was wearing hand gloves to try and show the appearance of sanitization however they should be mindful of their acts. I witnessed one employee boxing chips for customers to purchase. While she was doing this wearing gloves a gentleman asked for a hotrag over the counter to wipe down the in/outdoor tables. She handed him the hotrag and he wiped down tables that were dirty of food from prior customers. He then handed the hotrag back to her as she payed from boxing the chips and placed the hotrag down and then proceeded to box chips wearing the same gloves. This was disgusting to watch.

Then I proceeded to watch another employee, wearing gloves, who was preparing tacos finish her most recent order and whip out her cell phone from her back pocket. She then was showing her colleagues something funny on the phone and they all laughed. She then put the cell phone back in her pocket and proceeded to prepare more tacos. Not once did this employee change gloves. She whipped out her cell phone atleast two times. Mind you everyone takes their cell phones everywhere even into bathrooms. This ran through my mind as I watched this.

Then I observed another employee wearing gloves fix her hair and bra strap. Not once did she change her gloves but then she proceeded to make more tacos.

We are heavily relying on business to be conscious of their health and safety practices for the benefit of them and their customers but this establishment clearly lacks this.

Although I did enjoy the food watching all this made me kinda sick. I hope they practice better health habits. I donnot think I will...