I had passed Birrieria Enriquez several times while driving east on University. It's right past the Georgia Street Bridge, where Philly Grill used to be. I'd been wanting some birria and really didn't want to head down South, so I decided to give the place a try. It was a bit of an effort trying to find parking, but I knew that based on previous visits to businesses in the location.
After being blessed with finding parking on Landis and Mississippi I walked on over.
The interior is a bright white with a simple counter; there's one outdoor table.
The sign says "Sonoran style birria", so I knew it was going to be birria de res all the way. There was one gentleman working, you order at the counter and he sets to work. I ordered and had a seat at the counter at the window.
Soon enough my order was ready. I was also provided a fairly picante red salsa for what I got. Which was a Birria Taco, a Cabeza Taco, and of course some Consomme. The tacos were fairly loaded with meat.
The Consomme smelled and tasted wonderful; it was much richer than I'm used to and actually had birria in it!
A squeeze of lime just balanced things out. Man, a bit of spice, some beefiness, smokiness, this might be the best consomme I've had in a while! It was definitely the highlight of the meal for me.
As for the tacos, as I mentioned, they were pretty "stuffed".
My favorite of the two I ordered was the Cabeza. It was tender, beefy, with a side of "funk". Nicely seasoned and cooked, so very juicy. A squirt of lime to cut the richness, cilantro and onion to add pungency, and it was darn good. The tortillas were fine; they were doubled with some queso in between to hold it together.
The tortillas for the birria taco had been doused in consomme before placing on the comal which contributed to the flavor and texture. The beef smoky, with a nice amount of pungent-acidic-beefy tones, good cumin-spice. It was a bit chewier and stringy, but the flavor was nice. It sure beats the hipster-faddish versions that now proliferate San Diego.
I enjoyed this meal; especially that consomme.
As I was finishing my meal and young lady came in and ordered 6 fish tacos? At a birria shop? I guess she saw the look on my face, smiled and said "the fish tacos here are the bomb, better than the food trucks around here." Hmmm…… Well, that gave me a good reason to return.
And of course I ordered the consomme. Not feeling too hungry, I just decided to try the fish taco. I again had a seat on the counter by the window, but I took notice of the small dining area at the side of the restaurant.
This time I was provided with three different salsas.
I figured that the two creamy ones were for the fish tacos.
Speaking of the fish taco.
The piece of battered and fried fish was quite large. But the batter was soggy and the flesh of the pescado was slimy-fishy-muddy, not my favorite flavors and textures when it comes to fish. Not even the lime and the salsas….I preferred the verde (green), which had a bit more acidity and herbaceousness, but I really didn't enjoy this.
As for the consomme….well, it was just as good this time around.
Well, teach me to order a Taco de Pescado at a birria place, right?
As for Birrieria Enriquez, well, I'll definitely return for the consomme and the cabeza. They also have Sonoran style Menudo, but were out on both of my visits. I'll keep trying to get that for the Missus. And with that one outdoor table….who knows, maybe I'll bring JJ along!
Birrieria Enriquez
2041 University Ave.
San Diego, CA 92104
Current Hours:
Tues – Thurs 10am – 8pm
Fri – Sun 9am – 9pm
Closed on Monday
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 
Good lord. The fish was supposedly mahi mahi, overfried, not seasoned, and dry as heck. The tortillas were like cardboard. The purple cabbage slaw was flavored with ginger and the other had mango "salsa" which really needed some spice. It was all accompanied by a pool of pasty black beans, which at least was seasoned adequately.
The consomme was aromatic and slightly rich without having that greasy "tongue feel" that I don't like. It was just slightly gamey, but not bland, and you knew there was some "chivo" swimming around here. It wasn't very salty and really needed the lime to help things out. I prefer my consomme having a bit more goatiness, but this was decent.
I preferred the Barbacoa, which was moist and more tender than the Birria, which was on the chewier side of things. The birria did well with a dip into the consomme, some salsa, and a squeeze of lime. While it was a level above 
Love the tortillas here, full of maize goodness, heated on the comal with drippings, it is always up to the task. The tripas have a nice mild crunch with beefy goodness. I bet you'd never figure out what it was if you were served one of these.
My goodness; this was even better than we thought! Fried to a light crispness, the interior was light, creamy, and almost fluffy. There have been times when we've had a iodine like aftertaste when having mollejas, but this was mild with a slight offal-nutty-buttery-sweetness. We actually didn't need salsa, lime, or heck, even the wonderful tortillas.
Which She enjoyed with a nice refreshing cup of Horchata! Good smoky flavors, nice maize tones. Would it make us forget 
First thing I did was take a sip of the consomme. Which, sadly is the same as it was from the truck. Weak in flavor, greasy tongue feel, in my opinion only good for moistening your taco. The birria itself is a bit better than what I'd had on my visits to the truck. It is less stringy and more tender though still not quite as beefy as I enjoy.
I did enjoy the salsa rojo which had a nice spice and a kick of citrus. The tortillas this time around did not hold up as well, they started to tear as I picked my tacos up. These tacos just aren't beefy-savory-spicy (without the salsas) enough with that flavor which dances with a hint of smokiness from dried chilies. Like I've said before, to me this is "birria not to offend".
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