Tacos El Paisano: Pass Me Another Taco, Bro
Categories: Tijuana SÃ!
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| Dave Lieberman |
Rosarito's not the gastronomic paradise that Tijuana, Ensenada and the Valle de Guadalupe are--yet--but one thing it can certainly furnish is tacos.
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| Dave Lieberman |
| Lorenzo and the mise en place for awesome tacos |
This is Tacos El Paisano, where Lorenzo has been assuaging partygoers' hunger with some of the best tacos in Rosarito for the last twelve years.
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| Dave Lieberman |
If you catch the fish--angelito, or angel shark--as they come out of the fryer, they're up there with all but the very best of Ensenada, though they're dressed with mayonnaise, not crema. Pass on them if they're pre-fried and the shell has started to droop; even a return trip to the fryer won't save them. The cabeza, though, is so tender it has to be picked up with tongs, because it falls off a fork; and the adobada is spicy and, in keeping with local tradition, only served with pineapple if you specifically request it.
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| Dave Lieberman |
No, at El Paisano, tortillas are pressed by hand, and wafer-thin beef is grilled on an iron grill directly in front of you. Have it con todo, "all dressed" with excellent guacamole, onion, cilantro, and a loose tomato salsa. Watch as Lorenzo deftly flips just the perfect portion of salsa onto your taco; he's been doing it exactly the same way since the turn of the millennium.
As with all taco stands, you order, eat, order more, and then pay at the end; it's on the honor system. Tacos, regardless of type, are $1.10 each; if you pay with pesos, depending on the exchange rate, they can be just under a buck. Last weekend, a frat boy-sized meal of eight tacos and a bottle of Mexican Coke set me back 117 pesos, or about $9.
"Dos más de asada con todo, porfas."
Tacos El Paisano is located on the east side of Bulevar Benito Juárez, at the corner of Del Encino, in Playas de Rosarito.
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