I was happy to read that Tuetano had completed the move and reopened in Chula Vista. It had been a while since we'd been to Downtown Chula Vista, so I thought we would head down and check things out. We arrived before the opening time of 10am, which gave us time for a nice stroll and we also easily found parking. By the time we made it down to H street and back…..whoa, how many breweries and tasting rooms are on 3rd now? It was a quarter after ten. It was a nice day, so the Missus had a seat at one of the few outdoor tables…there are a couple inside the place as well and I walked in to order.
Looking over the menu; the prices seem to be in line with the initial prices in Old Town, though the Bolillo, which is what I ordered is now $14 here, much less that what it used to be. I got the Birria a Mano ($5.50); the birria taco with hand made tortillas and also a Tuetano ($7) for the Missus.
The owner and chef Priscilla Curiel was working front of house on this day and she had always been so welcoming and nice.
It was a short wait, but our food came out looking great.
The bone had been really roasted, which was different form what we'd had in Old Town. The marrow was oh-so-buttery. The birria was beefy, with nice pungent-smoky-earthy tones. It's still not quite what I recall from the San Ysidro days, but a bit better than what I'd had in Old Town. The cilantro and onions added the required anise-herbceous-pungent tones. And that tortilla, dunked in the tasty birria consomme was quite good.
The Missus has always enjoyed the straight-forward, very spicy-smoky, chile de arbol salsa and this really doesn't get the sweat going on your truly.
As for the Torta; well, it was huge, so much larger than what was served at the Old Town location and cheaper too! Love how wonderfully toasted the bolillo roll was.
This had so much meat, that the juices and the avocado (which I could have more of) just sogged out the bread. It was a very juicy mess; the meat was pretty tender and beefy….this did give me "San Ysidro vibes". The amount of melted cheese was quite large, but didn't interfere with the flavors of the birria de res. This was a bit too large for my appetite on this day.
So, if you're hungry, this might fit the bill for you.
I think we'll be down here every so often as long as the food holds steady.
Tuetano TaquerÃa
216 3rd Ave.
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Current Hours:
Daily 10am – 5pm
