Category: Mexican Restaurants

Well Kirk is off in Thailand – eating and taking pics so we can enjoy his trip also – and Cathy is scampering about sharing her meals and ideas with us too.  But today, ed (from Yuma) wants to talk tacos.

If you remember my post about a taco reconnaissance, we ended that night with hot dogs at Taqueria San Pedro. Everything about that place called for a return visit, but this time we wanted to focus on the tacos.

The menu is easy to find as there is one on each table:

The only items missing from this list are the wonderful aguas frescas and the hot dogs, which are only prepared on weekends. We each ordered up three tacos – a volcanes, a San Pedro, and a pastor.

While we were waiting a complete cafeteria tray covered with condiments arrived with our aguas frescas:

Although the cucumber slices are pretty ordinary, the three salsas (one smoky, probably chipotle, one arbol that's thick with chile chunks, and one pico de gallo) are each good, if not outstanding. The grilled onions and jalapenos are fiery enough to bring tears to one's eyes. The pickled carrots and jalapenos, on the other hand, were relatively mild. The highlight of the tray was the real guacamole, nearly pure avocado purée:

We also tried an order of the frijoles, and they were served whole bean style, not refritos. Good but nothing special:

The tacos, when they arrived, were things of beauty. The taco San Pedro, at the upper right, is a soft corn tortilla topped with a split whole roasted chile covered with cheese and carne asada. As you eat this, the greenness of the chile permeates every bite, without making the flavors too picante.  Many of the same pleasures as green chile cheeseburgers:

Even though I saw no trompo, the al pastor was very good. The spice rub/marinade added sweet and picant red chili notes to the sliced pork steak. The onions and cilantro provided complexity and contrast. This close-up shows the porky freshness of the meat:

The highlights of the tacos, nonetheless, were the volcanes. Based on the few words of Spanish I recognized in my conversation with Pedro, the owner, I thought that these might be vampiros hiding under an alias. And indeed, that's what they were.  This close-up shows all of the usual suspects. The moist and flavorful carne asada, covered with a blanket of melty white cheese, lay on a bed provided by a thick, desiccated, charred, crunchy  corn tortilla:

On another visit, I discovered that Pedro will make volcanes with al pastor. This is how that looks:

Add salsa and guacamole and you have a tasty thing of beauty decorated with enough red and green to make one think about Christmas:

Taqueria San Pedro seems to be open every evening around five o'clock. They close long after I've gone to bed. The folks are friendly and the ambience is as sophisticated and elegant as is possible at a taco stand.

Taqueria San Pedro, 3445 8th St, Yuma AZ

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Mmm-yoso is the blog. Kirk has done most of the posts here, but sometimes he lets Cathy and a few others help him out. Today ed (from Yuma) is here to share a recent taco exploration with you.

As a result of my love affair/obsession with Pupuseria Cabañas, I have been driving at night on 8th St in Yuma more often than was my habit in the past – particularly back when the street was torn up for years. These days, an amazing number of taco stands, taco trucks, and even old houses, most of which I had never noticed before, are open serving food at nights. That meant it was time for a taco recon.

So recently one evening, Tina and I decided to try some of these  places. First, we chose one of four trucks parked in a large lot just west of Avenue C on the south side of 8th St.It reminded me of what Kirk had called a taco food court on his visit to Yuma several years ago, but this is a new congregation of trucks in a new location.

We were fairly early, so the only truck doing business was Asadero Los Compadres:

We ordered three tacos apiece, two cabezas, two pastors, and two asadas. We also decided to split a jamaica.

First to arrive was the jamaica, accompanied by two squeeze bottles, one containing guacamole sauce and the other salsa, and a small wheel of condiments, including sliced radishes and cucumbers, cabbage, lime wedges, and pico de gallo:

The jamaica was as good as I have had in Yuma, clearly homemade, deeply flavored, and nicely tart:

The tacos showed up quickly as well. We were somewhat disappointed in the pastor. While it had a nice flavor, it was a bit dry and tasted like it had been grilled once before:

Still, with a nice squeeze of guacamole sauce and a topping of condiments, the pastor tasted pretty good.

The other meat choices were better. The Asada had a nice light citrus marinade that brought out the beefy flavor. The meat had enough fat and had not been overcooked so that it was slightly chewy with a complex beefy flavor.

The Cabeza was even better, tender and very  juicy and full of the richness of the stewed beef cheeks.

The next place we checked out was Corona. Probably the king of 8th St taco stands, this has been in business since I moved to town. Years ago, I stopped here one evening, but on that night I preferred Lucy's tacos (another long time 8th Street purveyor) — though at this distance I have no memory of why. Located across Date St from Pupuseria Cabañas, Corona, from the outside,  almost looks like a building, but instead it is walls and screens surrounding tables, chairs, and grills:

I was pleased that they offered pollo, and the chicken tacos here were outstanding. The meat was moist and flavorful, and the light marinade was a perfect complement, not dominating the meat:

Also outstanding was the wheel of condiments, the guacamole sauce was flavorful, the cucumbers were more evenly and thinly sliced, and the pico de gallo was outstanding, distinctly spiced with many chunks of fresh jalapenos:

On another evening, I would have been delighted by the limonade, which was clearly homemade and tasted of fresh lemon. However, on this evening, it was the least good of the agua frescas we tried. Also a bit disappointing was the Cabeza here. It was less moist than the version at los Compadres, though it still had a decent flavor:

We decided to end our evening at Taqueria San Pedro. While I had driven by its location on numerous occasions, I had never noticed it until I drove by at night:

Far beyond a fence adorned with the name of the establishment, sits a very nice Ramada with ceiling fans, leather chairs, and restaurant quality tables.

Maybe it was because we had already eaten five tacos apiece or maybe it was because the large sign on the Ramada proclaimed "HOT DOGS" and offered a full buffet of condiments, we couldn't resist a doggy change of pace. Soon we each had our own bacon wrapped hot dog covered with a range of various toppings — amazingly, they even had sautéed mushrooms as an option. Mine looked like this:

"Dos Perros" (yes, that was what our waitperson called out to the grillmaster) don't get much better than these. The dogs were freshly cooked and cooked fully through. The bacon flavor, the snap of the dog, and the wonderful condiments — why aren't all hot dogs served with pickled jalapenos? — made these real winners. Only the unheated bun was a bummer.

Adding to our extreme culinary pleasure were the agua frescas, an horchata and a piña. The horchata was rich, thick, and cinamony. As good a Mexican horchata as I've had in Yuma, ever. Unbelievably, the piña was better. A fresh pineapple doesn't taste as much like pineapple as this beverage.

All in all, the evening was a great experience. While there were a few clunkers, we ate well. Oh, and the bill for everything (not counting tips, of course) was $22.50. What with the economy, I think we'll be going back — soon.

One note, the last time I was on 8th St (about a week after this recon), Los Compadres had vanished. Who knows if (and where and when) it will return. Because these places can literally be "fly-by-night" operations, one of the reasons for a taco recon is to find out what is new and what's gone. Sad to say, Deliciosos del Mar disappeared last year, so no more stingray soup (that I can find) on 8th St. Also currently missing in action is Mariscos Nayarita. The place is still there, but they haven't been open since late last spring (or early last summer). I already have a shrimp empanado jones. (Late breaking news: Sign at Mariscos Nayarita "Abierto Oct 10.").
In any case, more evening visits to Calle Ocho are needed just to figure out what all is there now. Stay tuned.