Ed from Yuma recently mentioned in his post on Sea Rocket Bistro, that we've been doing this for over seven years…..sheesh! I recently saw a comment on an old post of mine wondering why I hadn't posted on El Zarape(the original) in over seven years. so I thought I'd better get this done before another seven passes…….
Seven years is a fairly long time. I'm trying to think what was going on back in 2005…..it sure was a different landscape back then, social media was in it's infancy, we thought Flickr was the best thing since sliced bread…it was "BiP"….."Before iPhone". And that was also the last time I'd eaten at El Zarape.
This was before I'd eaten at all those lonchera's, before I'd experienced birria, before I'd had decent mariscos. I couldn't help but wonder how El Zarape as aged over those years. Curiousity warranted a visit.
And the place looked just about the same……….. I know that the "purists" now sneer at El Zarape, at the soy, wasabi, and buffalo chicken burritos. For some reason, the thought of having an "Aloha Burrito" sends shivers up my spine. Yet, I recall, many of those who now criticize El Zarape were head over heels when Luche Libre opened…….
I was pretty pleased to see that EZ's loss leader, the fish taco is still 99 cents, the same price it was when I first ate here in 2001.
Heck, Mariscos el Prieto couldn't even hold their price at a buck for more than a couple of months and the tacos de pescado at Mariscos el Pescador hasn't seen that price in my memory. Truth be told, I'd still pay quarter more to eat at those two trucks than the fish tacos at El Zarape. I'm still not a fan of the crema and the fish was o the dry side with a not so tasty blood line in it. Still, it's hard to argue with 99 cents……..
El Zarape makes up their profit margin with their other menu items. I decided to have a scallop and shrimp taco ($3.25/each) here as well.
The scallops seemed kind of sparse and were really bland and rubbery…..it doesn't even stand up to the tortilla in flavor. Not a good value at over three bucks as well.
I've always enjoyed the shrimp at El Zarape, so I wondered how that would be.
I counted six shrimp, which looked like 41/50, maybe about 2-3 ounces. They were nicely browned on the griddle, moist and tender. Decent shrimp flavor…….maybe better than I had back in '05, though that was a looooong time ago.
I'm hoping not to take another seven years before I'm back at El Zarape. Thought it's been far surpassed, they're still truckin' along and they still have a faithful neighborhood following.
El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116
Hours:
Mon 8 am – 11 pm
Tue-Sun 8 am – 2 am