Tijuana Tacos, This Side of the Border

A Tijuana taco is defined by two things: meat grilled over fire and a spoon of thin guacamole on top, no questions asked. El Flaco does exactly that from a Park Blvd counter and landed on W. Scott Koenig's shortlist of the five best Tijuana-style taquerias in San Diego. Get the carne asada con todo, then the birria de res with a cup of consome for dipping.

Most San Diego taco shops buy their tortillas; the pillowy corn ones here are pressed from fresh masa, which is the single biggest reason this Mace Street spot gets talked about by people who eat in Tijuana regularly. The adobada comes off a vertical trompo and the carne asada is grilled over wood, the two pillars of the TJ taco. It is a small operation on an unglamorous block, which is how you know.

Tijuana taquerias do not stop at asada: suadero, tripas and buche are the real test, and TJ Tacos on East Valley Parkway runs the full set in supple corn tortillas finished with guacamole. Five thousand Google reviews later it is the busiest taqueria in Escondido and still cooks like a street stand. Start with suadero, then tripas crisped on the plancha.

The taco campechano is a border classic: a thin sheet of carne asada laid under adobada and pinto beans so you get char, spice and starch in one bite. El Gallo on North 2nd Street in El Cajon does it the Tijuana way, dressed con todo with cilantro, onion and a sharp salsa verde. It sits in a strip of auto shops and nobody drives out there by accident.

Tacos El Gordo built its name in Tijuana on one technique: adobada, marinated pork shaved straight off a vertical trompo onto handmade corn tortillas, and the Gaslamp outpost runs the same operation late into the night. This is the closest San Diego gets to a Tijuana taco stand without crossing the border - guac and salsa made fresh daily, lines out the door after 9pm, open until 4am on weekends for the after-bar crowd.