*** Reyberto's has closed.
This version of a "something – Berto's" taco shop is sort of an old crime scene to me. A crime against my palate! When we first moved to the area several years back we tried some carne asada and other items here and were totally grossed out! It was terrible(ever had sour carne asada), and I vowed never to return. But along comes this food blogging thing, and a few recommendations that included Reyberto's, and here I am again.
So a few weeks ago, I decided to give Reyberto's another shot. After all there are two other Taco Shops within a block of Reyberto's; an outpost of Roberto's, and a location of Cotijas, and yet Reyberto's survives. In case you can't find Reyberto's, just look for the large "Gyros" poster! Yep, you can't miss it. Say what!!!!!
Not being in the mood for carne asada, nor brave enough to try the "Mexican-Gyros", I ordered the Al Pastor Burrito($4.25):
Honestly, not too bad. A bit on the mild side as Al Pastor goes, and too much tortilla, or maybe it's too little filling for such a large tortilla. But the decent creamy guacamole, and pico de gallo, went well with the Al Pastor. A vast improvement over my last (and I swore it would be my last) visit.
So after a recent shopping stop at the market in the mall, I stopped by Reyberto's again and ordered the 5 "mini" Al Pastor Tacos($5.25):
Funny thing; as I was waiting for my order and grabbing some salsa and carrots at the salsa bar:
There it was again! Another Gyros poster! Man, they're really pushing that stuff…… By the way, did you know???? Actually, I'm surprised it's not four out of four people.
So I manage to get my tacos, and myself(sans Gyros, thank-you-very-much) home:
This time around the Al Pastor were on the tough side, and still mild in flavor. The tacos were a bit larger then what I would call "mini", and the size of basic "street-tacos". This was quite a bit of food. Not great, not good, but not bad.
And strangely enough, I found myself at Reyberto's again recently after a long day at work, and a grocery shopping excursion to the market.
And was again assaulted with the Gyros advertising. Now who can resist "Authentic" Gyros? Especially "authentic" Gyros from a taco shop? So I gave in and ordered a Gyros Sandwich (you won't tell on me, will you?). When I watched them prepare the Gyros, it all came to me…duh!!!
Gyros are served to maximize the use of the Trompo(vertical spit). So when it's not in use for Al Pastor, it's in use for Gyros meat.
So at long last here it is the Gyros Sandwich($3.95):
I didn't quite know what to expect. Perhaps gyros meat laid upon a tortilla? What I got was a good amount of typical gyros meat on a store bought pita. The sandwich was quite large and filled the entire Styrofoam container. Along with the meat were a few slices of crappy tomato, and a good amount of onion. So no guacamole, salsa, jalapenos, or anything that would have made this sandwich interesting. The Pseudo-Tzatziki was a bit strange. First of all, there was way too much of it, the sandwich was practically floating in it. But the tzatziki had more of a sour cream flavor then the usual yogurt flavor. hmmmmm….
As a whole Reyberto's serves up average taco shop fare, at a decent price. No more, no less. But then again if your having a bad day, perhaps Carne Asada fries will help make your day a bit better. Or at least put you into a food coma……
In case you think I'm really serious, I hope you understand the irony(I know that Kronos is the largest supplier of "food court" gyros meat), and slight sarcasm of this post. Reyberto's serves average to mediocre taco shop fare. But then again, there are those Gyros………
Reyberto's Taco Shop
3017 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117