*** Tacos el Rico is now a location of Tacos el Paisa
I've tried unsuccessfully to eat at Birririeria El Nortenita on Imperial a few times in the last 2 months. Call it bad timing if you will, but the place is always too busy, so I usually just have a meal elsewhere. On a recent trip, the elsewhere was a colorful new Taqueria called Tacos El Rico:
If I recall this used to be Delia's, the Clairemont Drive location of Delia's has closed as well, I'm not sure what happened. One thing is pretty clear, El Rico sure makes good use of the colors red and yellow!
As you can tell from the lively and brightly colored menu, basic taco shop fare is served here. The variety of "meats" is pretty decent, with all usual suspects; Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Lengua, Cabeza, and Tripa, all present and accounted for……… And all served as Tacos, Burritos, Gorditas, or Mulita.
I placed my order, and waited a few minutes, grabbed my tacos, and went to sit outside, under the bright sunlight, and the even brighter red umbrellas.
I had ordered 3 tacos ($1.75 each). From left to right Birria(I was going to get some Birria one way or another!), Cabeza, and Al Pastor.
Please excuse the somewhat unsightly "bloody" tint to the photos. I didn't realize until I downloaded my photos, but the light filtering through the, yep you got it! Red umbrellas gave the photos this strange tint. The tacos were served on double corn tortillas which had a nice flavor, a bit chewy, and not brittle at all. Each taco also had a generous portion of meat as well.
I started with the Al Pastor:
The pork didn't have the caramelized appearance of typical Al Pastor, and was very "wet". I think of this as more of a marinated pork, rather than something spit roasted on the Trompo. The flavor was very mild, with just hints of chili flavor. There was also the problem of the pool of oil at the bottom of the taco, if you look at the photo closely you'll notice it. Not the best Al Pastor I've had.
The Tacos de Cabeza, was more of the solid "chunk" style, rather than the long cooked shredded meat that I enjoy.
This meant that the texture of the meat tended toward a more "waxy" texture. The overall flavor was very mild, not like the condensed beef flavor I enjoy. On the good side, this wasn't oily in the least, and it tasted okay with a touch of the Salsa Roja. As you can tell, there was so much meat, it was falling out of the taco.
And of course, I had to get my Birria.
This was by far the best. The meat had been cooked until soft and moist, than shredded. It had retained some of the "wild" flavor I was looking for, gamey and rich. The onions and cilantro helped to cut through the richness of the meat, and the corn tortilla stood up well to the moist, but not watery meat. This taco made the meal a success….I did get my Birria! Which made me a happy man(call me obsessed – but you know that already…).
The reason I sat outside, was so I could check this out:
Yep, this Taco Truck looks pretty new(where's all the bright red and yellow colors??). Got me wondering where we might be seeing it soon!
I'm not quite sure if I'll be stopping by Tacos El Rico anytime soon, since there are so many choices in the area. But who knows, I may run into that taco truck one day.
Tacos El Rico
2494 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102