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San Diego has some of the best Mexican food in the whole country. That could mean incredible lamb barbacoa in a strip mall joint close to the border, or great seafood that comes out of a truck parked in an eerily empty parking lot. You might eat carne asada quesadillas under the Coronado Bridge, or lining up for a classic California burrito stuffed with French fries, which tastes incredible when you're a few drinks in but also pretty damn good when you're sober. These are the best places to get Mexican food across the whole county.
THE SPOTS
Tacos El Franc
Seeing taqueros hack meat off the trompo in the kitchen is your first clue that Tacos El Franc—originally from Tijuana—is the real deal. We love the crackly adobado, dressed with a big slice of warm, juicy pineapple, especially on the soft nixtamalized corn tortillas that’re made to order. (You can even watch them hand-press masa through a window.) The mixto loaded fries with adobada and smoky carne asada is great for sharing with friends out on one of the airy patios, and perfect with a 32-ounce caguama bottle of Modelo.
Ortiz's Taco Shop
At first, fries inside a burrito might seem like sacrilege. But one bite of Ortiz's California burrito should turn anyone into a convert. Marinated overnight with soy sauce and house spices, their carne asada is grilled crispy on the edges and has just the right amount of smokiness. Off-the-griddle beef juxtaposed with the cooling sour cream is as refreshing as a cold one in the sun. While there are plenty of other shops in the area where surfers carboload after a session at Garbage Beach, Ortiz’s short ribbons of half jack and half cheddar cheese make for a more buttery burrito than any of its competitors.
Puesto
Puesto has one of the best Taco Tuesday situations in San Diego. There are almost too many delicious options to choose from, but our go-tos are the chopped filet mignon and the nicely spiced birria tacos, wrapped in crispy melted cheese on soft blue corn tortillas. The Mission Valley location’s huge indoor dining and bar area or covered outdoor patio works for large groups coming from a Sea World concert or San Diego Wave soccer match at nearby Snapdragon Stadium. Get here early at 3pm for half-off the whole menu. That’s also when happy hour begins, if you’re in the market for $9 Tajin-rimmed margaritas or $6 house-brewed beers.
TJ Oyster Bar
The perfect order at TJ Oyster bar includes cheesy smoked tuna fries. This longtime South Bay favorite specializes in truly excellent coastal Mexican, where seafood cocktails come with a bright and subtly sweet tomato-based sauce and a half order is generous enough for two. Go for the campechana version with scallops, shrimp, and krab because why limit yourselves to just one type of sea snack? And the serrano-based shrimp aguachile verde is milder than the rojo but still kicks. It’s served so fresh you can see the shrimp curing in its citrusy sauce. Plus, if you give yourself enough time the Bonita location’s walk-in only, full-service format makes a good pre-concert stop on your way to North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.
De Cabeza El Unico
The menu here is huge and covers almost every part of the lamb, cow, pig, and chicken—but the reason we come to De Cabera El Unico is, well, the cabeza. It’s what they do best (and if you didn’t get the point, there’s a mural of the chef holding a skull over a steaming vat). You can order the dish boneless or “complete,” which comes with the actual lamb skull. For a more casual entry point, go with the cabeza in a bubbling, hearty broth, topped with tangy salsa verde and fresh cilantro, accompanied by thick handmade corn tortillas. Save room for other tacos stuffed with equally delicious slow-roasted pork pibil or marbled beef rib meat.
Las Cuatro Milpas
This homestyle taqueria is one of San Diego’s all-time favorites. Las Cuatro Milpas is a legendary taco institution that’s been around since 1933, and it came back with a roar after moving from its former Barrio Location home. Regulars still wait in long lines for crispy flautas, smoky carne asada tacos, and crimson bowls of hearty beans, rice, and well-seasoned tamal. The charming picnic vibe makes it feel a bit like a boisterous backyard party, complete with portable tables and chairs.
Fonda Del Barrio
This spacious, hacienda-style restaurant from the City Taco folks serves really good Mexican food from all over the country. Their chile en nogada doesn’t overdo it on the raisins, with a surprisingly light cream sauce, and the anatto-spiced fish Tikin Xic is perfectly cooked with crispy skin and flaky meat. Go during their daily happy hour from 4-6pm, where you can vent about the new paid parking requirements at Balboa Park over a rainbow of margaritas and dip discounted crispy dedos con pescados into tangy tamarind sauce.
Fish Guts
You’ll see a line down the block before Fish Guts opens at noon, as the staff haul in seafood caught off the coast that very same morning. All those people are chomping at the bit for their first bite of Fish Guts’ baja style tacos. Ultra-crunchy, Modelo-soaked beer batter gives way to melty whitefish, with a pico de gallo-infused coleslaw to contrast. (And the baja shrimp tacos come with a fun layer of crunchy coconut shards.) Wash down the meal with a smoky mango margarita and watch the lowriders parade past on Logan Avenue. The shop closes when the fish is sold out—which is often way before closing time—so don’t try to sneak in at the last minute.
The Taco Stand
The line at The Taco Stand’s lively Encinitas outpost is worth waiting in to take down a really good California burrito—even if you still have sand on your feet from attempting a new smash ball record at Moonlight Beach. Each bite has the perfect ratio of carne asada and fries, and tastes even better if you add some chipotle crema from the salsa bar. We’ve also been known to wait however long it takes for the crispy, flaky baja fish tacos, and the churros, which are so good they don’t even need the dipping sauce. Order at the counter and sit at the bar for all the culinary action, including pork al pastor spinning on the trompo and team members literally cranking out freshly pressed corn tortillas. (There are also other locations across San Diego County with the same great burritos.)
Corazón De Torta
When Anthony Bourdain looked for a guide to Tijuana tacos, he turned to lawyer-turned-taquero Tony Ley. These days, Ley brings Corazón De Torta to breweries, art stores, or Tony Hawk’s house—basically everywhere in San Diego County. You’ll usually get excellent carne asada or adobada stuffed in corn tacos or cheese flour quesadillas, but occasionally he’ll pull out the guisados with slow-roasted pork or mushrooms. Come for the food as much as the stories about cross-border life—like buying Monterey Jack cheese on the trolley line to the Otay Mesa border or being featured on the No Reservations show all those years ago.
Tijuanero By Tijuanazo
Follow the smell (and smoke) of carne asada and look for the street cart and winking cowboy statue amidst the endless rows of Italian restaurants to find Tijuanero. Dig into that smoky asada with a touch of fiery habanero salsa on fluffy handmade tortillas. Beef birria stews in a huge vat on the cart, so make sure you get a quesotaco too. And while you’re at it, you should probably go for the chorizo tostada with gloriously chunky guacamole. This corner spot in Little Italy makes an appropriately rambunctious dinner with friends before hitting the rest of the bars in the neighborhood.
Kiko's Place Seafood
This seafood truck uses family recipes first concocted beachside in San Felipe, Mexico, in 1983, and they hold up—these are some of the best baja fish tacos anywhere in San Diego. For best results, go to the location on Hazard Center Drive in Mission Valley and join the line of hard-working landscapers wearing long-sleeved, UV-protective orange shirts, and then eat with them at the communal tables decorated with actual tablecloths and flowers. The fish tacos are lightly battered and slightly mustard-y, and even the free consommé is incredible, with slivers of tender white fish and carrots swimming in a light broth. There’s also a daily happy hour from 2 to 5pm: two fish tacos and a drink for $13.99.
Tacos El Gordo
The crowd of conventiongoers wearing lanyards or workers on break at Tacos El Gordo's Gaslamp location can look overwhelming at first, but the lines actually form in front of different meat stations, so don’t feel like you’re cutting and beeline for your favorite protein. In our case, that’s the red chile-marinated adobada, bright and slathered with salsa fresca and cilantro. The Gaslamp spot stays open until 4am on the weekends, perfect for late-night hunger pangs after bars close. But if you have a car, head south to the Chula Vista location (where the meats are marinated) with dedicated parking and ample seating.
Tahona
Tahona serves Mexican food you won't find at other spots in touristy Old Town, like short rib birria ramen or a fall-apart pork tamal with plantain purée. It’s a fancy-ish restaurant with leather banquettes perfect for dates and small groups actually interested in conversation, compared to other, more rowdy restaurants in the area. Here’s how you order for the table: masa tempura squash blossoms swiped with ultra-umami eggplant puree, machaca tostadas piled high with fried wagyu—kind of like meatconfetti—and tangy little cubes of chayote escabeche, plus a round of the chicken and rabbit tacos with charred avocado and pineapple. A cozy night cap in its dim hidden cocktail bar, Oculto 477, is great for swapping secrets.
La Perla #3
At basically any time of day, the wait for La Perla's #3's enormous Oaxacalifornia burrito will be over 30 minutes. A whiteboard by the register warns customers about the wait, and the time seemingly never goes down. What’s causing the laws of physics to break down? A burrito that’s bigger than a human face and comes wrapped in an entire LP-sized creamy, Oaxacan cheese quesadilla. Probably one of the best mashups since someone first poured root beer over vanilla ice cream, this fusion burrito is loaded with beef and freshly chopped pico de gallo that crunches with each (immensely satisfying) bite.
La Jollita
Sitting under the colorful fringed umbrellas at La Jollita feels more Baja California than Southern California. Start off with a lethal margarita at the long bar—which looks like a bunch of cute taco stands strung together—and live out the fantasy with seafood grilled Zarandeado style—a 500 year-old basket grilling method that's a mainstay in Nayarit—like colossal butterflied shrimp. And though we always think we’re taking some of the crunchy ribeye chicharron smothered in Fresno chili aioli home, we’ve finished off the plate in minutes.
Aqui Es Texcoco
Lamb is king at Aqui Es Texcoco, and if you leave without the meat sweats, you didn’t do it right. The cafeteria-like Chula Vista restaurant does brisk business in barbacoa, served with mugs of piping hot lamb broth and chickpea soup that make great hangover helpers, especially at breakfast time. Cuts of slow-roasted lamb, both fatty and lean, come with fresh corn tortillas and all the fixings to fashion your own tacos. But if you’re with the right company, you should get feral with a whole roasted lamb head, excavating morsels of fall-apart meat off the skull while navigating through the occasional tooth or eyeball.
Mariscos & Birria El Prieto
Mariscos Y Birrieria El Prieto has been serving seafood in a derelict El Cajon parking lot for over 20 years. It’s easy to look past that when you settle in under their blue awning, with a bowl of bright red tuna and jalapeños arranged in a ring around a huge pile of guacamole. If you’re in the mood for meat, they’ve also got birria cooking in the kitchen at one of the storefronts next to the truck, but seafood is the way to go here. And with big, accommodating tables, you can easily eat with work friends, by yourself, or with a huge group.
Mesa Agricola
Deciding on one of Downtown Escondido’s many taco shops can end up like one of those nights where finding your next streaming show derails into an evening of scrolling. And then you’re just hungry and miserable. Take our word for it and squeeze into Mesa Agricola’s shoebox of a space for tacos piled high with flavorful slow-cooked and tender guisados. The thick corn tortillas have just the right amount of chew to hold up to meaty mushrooms or drippy rotating specials, like pork in guava mole inspired by some extra fruit the owners had on hand.
Taquizas José
This beloved taco truck sits in the middle of a fenced-in dirt parking lot, enormous enough to accommodate all the pick-ups and service vans parking at random angles. People hop out to order above the din of traffic on the Coronado Bridge above, and then climb back in their cars to eat plates of grilled shrimp tacos. (There are also some tables outside if you don't want to eat off your dashboard.) We also love the crispy adobada tacos, layered with sliced avocado and served with blackened peppers and radishes, which taste even better with a jamaica agua fresca and a view of the bridge.
