Review - Lucha Libre Taco Shop

so. youve heard of lucha libre taco shop, eh? you probably saw it on man vs. food. and youve probably heard about how awesome it is. i sure have. i actually went there once probably about 2 years ago. it was great. i remember everything being very fresh, very flavorful, and everything was cooked nicely. the people were friendly, it was clean. today, i saw that the test of time is a tough one for some places to pass. and that phoning it in is basically the protocol at this once potential-ridden taco shop...

Gourmet Taco Shop my ASS.

it started off kinda rough, upon entry we noticed that the general upkeep was a little lacking. the floor was dirty, the unused tables were covered in crap. the line of people waiting to order was moving fairly slow. once we reached the counter to order, the (white) guy working the register did not ask me what i wanted. he did no say hi. he didnt say anything, he just stared at me with an annoyed look on his face waiting for me to stop wasting his precious time, and so kindly hurry the fuck up and order. i ordered the "queso taco" and the "surfing california" burrito, and added rice and beans with a soda to the burrito for an extra 3 dollars. the disgruntled employee lazily threw down a tray on the counter, lunged some napkins and salsa containers onto it, didnt repeat my order, didnt tell me the price, just swiped my card, put down the reciept, snippily slammed a pen down for me to sign it. then carried on to the next asshole trying to ruin his wonderful day. we sat down outside on the patio and waited for our names to be called, mine came up pretty quickly. now when i went to retrieve my salsas from their salsa bar, i noticed again, general upkeep and cleanliness is a FAIL. dirty as fuck. like i really wanna get salsa from the gross pit of slop that they are held in. im sure the sneeze guard really keeps it clean though. i didnt bother to take a picture though.

my food.

mmmm. look at that! crispy cheese in the taco! oh....and dry...tough...unseasoned steak. and....super acidic cream sauce. and, wait, whats that? boring wedge of avocado with no salt on it either?!?! YIPPEY KAYAY KIYOH MOTHERFUCKER!!! WE ARE REALLY COOKING NOW!!! fuck you. and then there was this.

the surf and turf california burrito. and rice and beans. cold, boring rice and beans. and steak and shrimp and unmelted cheese and hair. wait, what? oh yea. hair? yes. hair. i didnt get a picture of it because i was too busy being so furious that i took it up to the counter and set my plate down, picked up the burrito, grabbed the hair, and slowly pulled it out of my food. it was about 4 inches long. the guy working the counter just about shit himself. i think i could actually hear his asshole tighten up, then release. the fucked up part is that seconds before the hair discovery, i was admitting to allison how bummed i was that the place had gone down hill and i felt like they were just phoning it in. and then, bam. hurr. they all scambled around and about 4 employees stopped to look at the hair, then look at me, as if i had planted it there. they offered me a new one or something. i say, sure, ill take a new one, box it up to go please. they gave it to me. i didnt even look at it. i just deposited it into a garbage can infront of a Chase about an hour later. i figured a hobo would fish it out later at some point.

oh yea, allison got cheese enchilada.

they just look off putting, dont they? same flacid rice and beans. but something about the sauce. it was sweet. like, really, really, really sweet. unbearably so. it was fucking disgusting. allison took about 4 bites and then that was about the time i had the hair incident. so basically, my judgement is this. FUCK YOU LUCHA LIBRE TACO SHOP. YOU FUCKING SUCK. NO ONE EVER GO HERE, THE SERVICE SUCKS, THE FOOD IS SHIT. FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU. you piece of shit loser working the counter, grow some fucking balls and have some customer service you fucking low life. ive never been so upset about a meal in my entire life. i hope your shithole continues down the path that its so clearly on, and soon turns into a fucking roach motel, just with brighter colors.

fuck you.

Lucha Libre Taco Shop
1810 West Washington Street
San Diego, CA, 92103

www.tacosmackdown.com

Review - El Zarape

(foreword, this is a review of the El Zarape Taco Shop on Park Blvd, not the sit down restaurant on Adams Ave.)

a few years ago, i asked our pastry chef at Market, James Foran, when he likes to get tacos, he replied with El Zarape. i went there a few weeks later, and now, anytime someone wants my opinion on where to get tacos, i tell them El Zarape. simple put, its amazing mexican food, super cheap, and just all around a good place. they have a HUGE menu, and ive tried maybe 5% of it so far haha. first off, there is a huge discrepancy about where you can get the best fish tacos in san diego. i would say that El Zarape's fish taco is really a top contender. not only is it awesomely simple, but its only 99 cents. all the time.

its perfect. cabbage, sour cream, fried fish, tomatoes. done. and with the plethora of salsas they have there, its amazing. next thing i got, which is what i was origionally reccomended, was the scallop burrito.

the tortillas they use are super soft, the bay scallops are cooked to perfection, and its also super simple, a mayo based sauce, cilantro, rice and lettuce. its amazing.

so good.
now next, allison, my wonderful veggie girlfriend had to get her usual veggie burrito supreme. its essentially a taco bell 7 layer burrito on crack. its really fucking good.

all the veggie fixins, stuffed to the brim. delish.

the fire roasted red sauce is awesome with a nice spicy kick. the green sauce is cool and mellow but my personal favorite. and then the salsa fresca is a step above all usual taco shop salsas.

i HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend El Zarape. its fucking awesome. check it out, im begging you.

El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA, 92116

Review - Tiny's Tavern

i like booze. i like food. i like going to bars that have both. luckily the closest bar to me in walking proximity is Tiny's Tavern, in Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, USA, The Planet Earth. Tiny's tavern is owned and operated by i small happy looking hawaiian man named, of course, Tiny. not sure on the back story of how or when he came here and opened his bar, but i am glad that it is here now. the bar itself serves only beer and wine, but has a small kitchen attatched to it that has a fairly large menu, including may hawaiian treats! theres an outdoor patio with many tvs and a foosball table, and inside there is 3 pool tables a shuffleboard table and a few coin operated golf games, you know the kind...there is a rack to hang your hat and everyones got a smile on their face, and 90% of the time if you stop in you will see tiny sitting at the bar himself drinking and socializing. BUT...this is a food blog afterall, and this will be about the food. ive eaten quite a few times but only snapped a few pics the last time i was there. they have lots of different kinds of sliders, burgers, sandies, fried apps, and standard mexican fare, as well as a hawaiian specialty area. i have had their original sliders, the veggie sliders, and the BBQ kalua pig sliders. they have all been pretty tasty and are quite filling. on this latest semi-buzzed not really hungry but food sounds soooooo good adventure, i over ordered thinking my companion jeff would help me eat, but he did not. so i stuffed my fat ass with this. i ordered the kalua pig burrito (7.95):

which features black beans, spnish rice, pico de gallo, white tomatillo sauce, lettuce, mixed cheese, and pulled pork. it was big. really big. and it was stuffed full of fixins, which is always a good thing. the kalua pig had really good flavor and was just slighty salty, which i kinda fancied, personally. it ate pretty good and everything in there appeared to be fairly fresh.

and then on a whim i also wanted somethin crunchy and cheesy to mack on so i also ordered the Philly Cheese Nachos (7.95):

which were pretty awesome. i love cheese sauce. its a weak point. its my kryptonite. put nacho cheese sauce on anything and ill eat it. except for penis. i dont want to eat penis. but these nachos had cheese sauce, grilled skirt steak, and roasted bell peppers and onions. it was like a nacho version of a philly cheese steak. what a lucky coincidence for them! unless they planned that. which im assuming they did...

...yea. so that what i ate there last time. their happy hour is all day monday and 2-7 all other days of the week. 6 dollar domestic pitchers so thats sweet. i regular this place, so if you say "hey travis, wanna go to tinys?" i will most likely say yes.

check it out!

Tiny's Tavern
4745 Voltare Street
San Diego, CA, 92107

Review - Tommy's Tex Mex

oh wow, another taco shop review?!!?!?!LOLZ OMGZ ROLFCOPTORZ!!!1!!1 i like mexican food, okay? it wont be the last one i write about either. anywho. ok, so living in OB for almost 3 years now, i would have thought to have tried this place before. its cheap, fresh, and within walking distance. so why did it take this long?! probably because they close at like 8 or 9 or something really early. possibly. POINT BEING, here i was, allison in tow, ready to nosh out of some of their famous (or so ive heard) flour tortillas. made with 100% vegetable oil, as they proudly proclaim. which is cool, if i want my fatty lard ass tortillas ill head down to las cuatro milpas. but i alread did their post, so nevermind that. its a very small place over by the dominoes on voltare, about a half a block up from the cat lounge. so ive always seen it, but never bothered. we get in there and ther was 3 people waiting for their food, one guy cooking and one guy working the register. theres a few tables out front and a few squeezed inside the little hole in the wall. i ordered the cali burrito, as i usually do, and allison ordered herself...wait for it...a veggie burrito! who'da thunk it?! i got a glass bottle mexican coke and she had a bottled water, i think my burrito was about 6 bucks and hers around 5.

our food took about ten minutes, which is fine, mainly due to the fact that they arent just hashing shit out. everything is cooked to order, fresh, and seemingly well put together. the only bad thing was that in those ten minutes i fought the urge to down my whole coke before my burrito even was dropped. i was able to salvage half of it.

heres what my cali looked like on the inside. gooey, meaty, cheesy, tasty. they tortillas they make in house every day are soft, toasted nicely on the grill, yet fairly think. which i cant say is a bad things. they have a little bite to them, which is nice. like a nice al dente pasta dish. the carne asada was very flavorful and everything in it was seasoned well. it has potatoes, peppers, cheese, guac, cheddar cheese and i believe a thicker salsa in there. it was tasty, i really enjoyed it. but. it was big. haha.

 that is the remaining burrito that i couldnt finish. so i pulled it open so i could get a picture of how full of goodness it actually was. it was like a pinata of burrito stuffings. flowing to the brim. not greasy either! nicely done. allisons veggie burrito, which looked like this:

was the vegetarian equivalent of my burrito. jam packed with all the fixins. guac, cheese, rice, beans, sour cream, more cheese, lettuce. and it all tasted good. she got mad at me becase the two bites i took of hers were filled with guacamole. thats her favorite part apparently. but then i was all like "shut up, i payed for it, ho!" and shit was tight. so anyway, being a salsa/hot sauce freak, i was happy with the options they have at their self serve salsa bar.

top left was a fairly sweet pepper sauce, which was really nice. top right, the really red one was your general red sauce, but it was nicely balance with heat and flavor. the bottom left was their version of pico de gallo. it was fresh, mild, and refreshing. then of course bottom left, was my favorite. it was essentially cilantro jalapeno water. it was super thin, super green, and super awesome fun time! i poured that shit all over my burrito and it was delish. i love cilantro so i was pretty stoked on that one. i could probably had drank that if i hadnt of rationed off the rest of my sugary mexican coke. but oh well. it was good.

i suggest you stop by this place, the menu it extensive and everything is very nicely priced. and by nicely priced i mean cheap as balls. they also sell their house made flour tortillas in singles, or in batches of dozens. they also make them in different flavors, i believe they had sun dried tomato, jalapeno, and one other flavor, i dont recall. so check it out! get out there and try some new shit folks.


Tommy's Tex Mex
4145 Voltare Street
San Diego, Ca, 92107

Taco Shop Tastings

i love tacos. burritos. quesadillas. obviously. so im always eating them. but i gotta try new places and check shit out. so heres a couple places ive done.

first off is my usual spot cuz its right down the block from my house. its Roberto's. everyone has a Roberto's near where they live, cuz its all over the place. its fairly decent. prices are good, and honestly it just gets the job done. usually i tend to go with a California Burrito, and a cheese quesadilla. i typically like their cali burrs because they use crispy shoestring potatoes, which is key IMO. i like the crunch it adds, soggy potaoes in a cali can ruin ones buzz. but on this night i decided to get a number 4, or 5 or 6, i dont remember what number it was but whatever. it was a chicken taco, chicken burrito, rice and beans. the taco was good,  the shell was crispy, not stale. he chicken was moist in both burrito and taco, flavored fairly well, toppings on both were generous. the rice and beans were run-of-the-mill. but what are ya gonna do?

overall after my large horchata, i think it was like 7 bucks, which is chill. i will always go to robertos because its right there, its fast, its cheap, and it gets the job done!

Roberto's Taco Shop
4770 Voltaire St.
San Diego, 92107


NEXT! i wanted something different, so i decided to give another shot at Adalberto's in point loma on rosecrans. i went there probably 3 years ago because all the Nazbo's said it was the place to go. that they have the best cali burritos. i checked it out, it wasnt good. when i ate it then the main problem i had with it was that there was far too much tortilla. hopefully that was just a fluke. i hadnt been since that time, so i figured 3 years later, maybe they dont have 12 foot tortillas for an 8 inch burrito.

WRONG!.......WRONG WRONG WRONG. see all that tortilla bunched up on the top left corner of the burrito? that amount of tortilla follows the burr allllllll the way down. chewy, dry, gross. what else was wrong? oh...just these soggy french fries. which pissed me off more than usual due to the fact that it is advertised as having "home fries" in it. which i interperated as diced crispy potatoes, ya know, home fries? seems they mean its more like when someone who doesnt know how to make crispy french fries, makes them at home. soggy, and stupid. its a pity that these two strikes were such big ones because the other fillings had good flavor and the carne asade was nice. oh well. tough break nigga, theres always FUBU. well that wasnt my only order. i also got a carnitas taco. it looked like this:

looks like a taco bell taco that got chewed up by a rabid corgi, huh? well it sure tasted like it. i could really taste the corgi in this one too...it was greasy, lukewarm, and bland. so much so on the grease-front that as i tried to take a picture with it, the grease from the wrapper made me drop my camera....as it was taking the picture.

D'OH! anywho. allison was all like "get me a potato taco, bitch!" and i was all like, please dont yell at me. so i got her a 'tater taco. it wasnt anything to write home about either. lukewarm, soggy pot's. get out of here!

possibly the only high point of the meal was that they actually have free chips and salsa. a rarity these days that i can appreciate.

 oh well. maybe ill try again in another 3 years. or when i need new sheets for my bed ill go pick up a few 'tillers. heres the 411 if you actually care to try.

Adalberto's Taco Shop
1868 Rosecranse st.
San Diego, 92106

Las Cuatro Milpas

there it is. the spread. my personal favorite. las cuatro milpas. DOWN IN THE BARRIO BIIIIIITCH!!! ask any chef in the downtown area wheres the best mexican food, most likely you will get a response such as this. located on cesar chavez parkway, right near the sick ass handball courts, there it is. open monday through saturday from 9-3. only. no sunday, no dinner. depending on what time you go there, there will be a line of 20-40 people waiting halfway down the block. but dont fret, its fairly quick. due to the fact that it is cafeteria style, and there not really many options to choose from. you walk in, grab a tray and 4-6 old ass mexican ladies are right there waiting to serve you beans, rice, chorizo, tamales, tacos, rolled tacos, and burritos straight from the stove tops. yo can get pork or chicken. i think theres carne, ive never gotten it though. then you grab some of the elixer of the gods, the house salsa. 

here you can see my two tacos, hard shell. crispy, yet still slightly warm chewy. which is crucial for hard tacos IMO. one chicken, one porn. oops, i meant pork. topped with cotija cheese, lettuce, then you can add onions and cilantro if you so desire. i desire. obviously.

trump card. house made lard based flour tortillas? im in. whatever you order, they throw two of these bad boys in your face regardless. after ordering all my mierda i had forgotten out of sheer excitement for tacos they give you these fo FREE. not veggie friendly. sorry allison.

 big ass(small, mind you) beans rice and chorizo. hands down, best ever. i need not go into detail. so i wont. order it. its 3 bucks and honestly i couldnt finish mine. which is a rarity.

and lo and behold. they deliciousness that is las cuatro milpas salsa. typically you can catch a glimpse of chucks of pork fat or bacon floating in what looks like a war-ravaged country side of flavor. its hot, its tasty, and it looks like charlie sheens blood. so you should probably eat it.

everything you see here, including my pepsi, which i only ordered because the Dr Pepper and the Coca Cola werent cold, came out to a mere 7.25. yes. 7.25. tacos as big as your head for 1.50 each, the SMALL chorizo bowl for 3 bucks. and the soda for 1.25. i was stuffed. and delighted. i teared up a little bit. but just so you know, there is no ambiance here. there was actually a pigeon walking around the floor by my feet (indoors) but it took off before i could get a picture. bench seatings to rub elbows with your fellow hombres and chicas calientes. la viva la RAZA, holmes.


Las Cuatro Milpas
1875 Logan Ave
San Diego, 92113