Every Saturday, as I’m walking to the Little Italy Farmers Market, I’d past the little shop in progress at the corner of India and West Hawthorne. The one that used to be Swagyu. It seems that Tijuanero, which was to be the second taco shop opened in San Diego by the folks running Tijuanazo in Hillcrest was taking forever to open. It’s such a tiny space, that I was wondering if it would even open this year? Then the Hillcrest shop closed…and suddenly there seemed to be some activity on this corner, which by that time I saw was going to be named Tijuanero. In fact, JJ and I walked past on a Saturday several weeks ago and I saw a gentleman working on getting tables set-up, so I stopped and said hello. I asked a few questions and he nicely responded. The shop was going to be open at 11am, I was kinda bummed because I knew that Tijuanazo opened at 8am and I was hoping to stop by on the way back to the car from the Farmers Market. But whatever, I was looking forward to some decent Adobada. I’m glad I mentioned that to the gentleman as he told me that Adobada was only served on weekends!
Well, I decided to see if we could find parking in the area on a Sunday morning and we were in luck as I found a spot on Ivy Street where I usually park on Saturday mornings. It was just past 11 when we walked over. Unfortunately, they weren’t open yet and I was told to come back at 1145. Sigh…..
So JJ got to stroll thru Little Italy and down to Santa Fe Depot and back. And the place was indeed open when we returned.
We walked over and were asked if we were doing takeout or dining in. After saying we’d be eating there we had a seat at one of the tables.
I’m used to tacos in the four dollar range these days, plus, this was Little Italy, so prices didn’t surprise me. I placed my order…and then was told that they weren’t serving adobada on this day…..but it was a weekend, right? Ohh-kay. I decided on a taco de asada and chorizo ($4.15 each), and a birria vampiros ($3.95). I asked if they had water; tap or bottled, cause you know, I’d share it with JJ and they had neither…..
Some lime and cucumber was provided.
And after a short wait, my tacos were delivered.
You could tell the tortillas were made inhouse, though they did not hold up real well. Nice maizeyness though. Loved the generous amount of guacamole as well.
I enjoyed the chorizo more than the asada. The chorizo was slightly spicy, nice smokiness, nicely seasoned.
The carne asada was really tough and chewy. It was also too sour.
It really needed more seasoning, that wasn’t puckery-sour!
The Vampiros was interesting.
Loved the crisp vampiro; think of it as a nice crispy mini-quesadilla of sorts. The birria was quite chewy and like the asada lacked seasoning….not a good thing for birria! The one thing that got my attention was the salsa roja….my goodness…Muy (with a capital “M”) caliente! In fact, it completely nullified whatever flavor the birria had! I did need more napkins to wipe my brow than to wipe my hands!
I’m thinking that the chorizo would probably stand up nicely to that salsa.
As for if I return? Well, with telling me to come on a weekend for the adobada and not having any on a weekend! Then telling me you open at 11, but when I arrive, you didn’t open until 1145….and then not having agua? Yes, this place has recently opened and I expect there to be hiccups, but man this was like chronic singultus! And they also operated in Hillcrest for over a year as well so you would think they’d have their systems down. Perhaps if they did open at an earlier hour or actually served adobada when they claimed to…… Kind of sad since the Tijuanazo brand has a bunch of taquerias in TJ. As things stand; I’m in no rush to return.
Tijuanero By Tijuanazo
2102 India St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Current Hours (Supposedly):
Sun – Thurs 11am – 10pm
Fri – Sat 11am – 11pm
Also, please note that the parking around the shop is actually a pay lot, Tijuanero does not validate parking.