With the amount of different Mexican restaurants San Diego has to order, I must have gone to over 10 different restaurants since living in San Diego for a couple years and just one article talking about their restaurants is not enough. Mexican food is such a huge part of San Diego's culture and I wish I could try a new Mexican restaurant a day but who has the time anymore. That's why I try to make it my goal to take recommendations from San Diego locals and check out what their favorite is. This time, my list of three were recommended by San Diego locals.
The first time I heard about Tacos El Gordo was in college when every one of my friends were talking about it. They were describing the tacos as the best they've ever had and the sauce and the price was all too perfect. Of course, I had to try some so I flew to San Diego that year so I could visit the beaches but also try some tacos for myself. Needless to say, I found my favorite taco spot. My favorite was probably the spicy pork tacos, just the combination of pork to spicy was perfectly balanced and I loved their famous guac on each one of their tacos. But be prepared to wait because the lines are long, as expected, unless you get there early on a weekday. The longest I've waited for some spicy pork tacos were probably an hour but every time, they blow me away. We have restaurants in the Bay Area named Tacos El Gordo but it's not the same. You can only get it in San Diego and Las Vegas
What I recommend: adobada tacos (spicy pork)
Location: 556 Broadway Chula Vista, CA 91910
Some of the freshest fish tacos I've ever tasted is from Ranchos Cocina and not just that, everything my friends and I tried here was delicious. Why is it that every Mexican restaurant I go to in San Diego perfect? I can never really choose my favorite because everything tastes amazing. But I will say that Ranchos Cocina's fish tacos are top notch and they make their fish tacos fresh while other restaurants just freeze their fishes for weeks at a time. A couple of my friends are vegan and they say this restaurant serves some of the best vegan dishes around. They really make their non meat options tastes amazing to the point where you forget it's meat. We would also grab a bottle of Chardonnay to go with our tacos and nachos.
What I recommend: Fish tacos and nachos
Location: 3910 30th St San Diego, CA 92104
Another Mexican spot that serves amazing fish tacos but this time, I order their surf and turf tacos, which is steak and shrimp tacos. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. Steak AND shrimp in your tacos while you enjoy the amazing city of San Diego. The shrimp is amazingly moist and juicy while the steak is so tender sometimes I just eat the steak first. I must say, Oscar's is a very generous restaurant because my tacos are always stuffed with either steak or shrimp and when I order fish tacos, they are some of the biggest pieces of cod I've ever seen.
What I recommend: fish tacos, shrimp tacos, surf and turf tacos
Location: 703 Turquoise St San Diego, CA 92109
Here is another list of Mexican restaurants I have tried and loved in San Diego. I'm sure a lot of readers will not agree with my list because everyone has their opinions on which places are the best. But what would really help is to suggest what new restaurants I should try. I am exploring new restaurants in San Diego every day and would love some new recommendations!