¡Ask a Comida Critic!: Good Taco Tuesday in North County?

​From Twitter follower @iamrandyz:

@OCWeeklyFood what's the best Taco Tuesday spot in north county

I asked if he wanted places with specific Taco Tuesday promotions, or places where it's Taco Tuesday every day, and he responded,

@OCWeeklyFood well Id like to know both!

Well, then!

Taco Tuesday, of course, can't just be about the tacos--it needs booze of some sorts, better a bar. Larry J. Cano of El Torito claimed to have invented the concept, but Tortilla Flats won a lawsuit against them, claiming it had a trademark on the term--even though it didn't (more on that in a subsequent post). But enough history: the North County places!

The best Taco Tuesday-style Mexican restaurant is the smallish Durango Mexican Grill in Brea. Its roots are in serving Mexican food to Mexis, but the audience is obviously wealthier Breans (it was a Taco Mesa before turning into Durango) who want to eat and not attend a meat market. On Tuesdays, the tacos cost a buck and are as fine as the ones found in SanTana: juicy, big, well-cooked, even with lobster. Beer and wine flow easily, other specials abound, and it seems half the town is there for them. The rest of the week, the tacos aren't that much more expensive. You should also come in on Thursdays, when fish tacos are a buck. Taco Tuesday AND Thursday? Good Durango!

Durango Mexican Grill, 730 E. Imperial Hwy., Brea, (714) 255-5660.