Fish taco in the United States
The fish taco in the United States is the Baja California street taco of battered, deep-fried white fish on a corn tortilla with shredded cabbage, a creamy sauce, salsa and lime, carried north by surfers and spring-break travelers and turned into a Southern California staple from the 1980s onward. San Diego's Rubio's is the chain most credited with introducing it to American diners.
Baja origins
People along Mexico's coasts have surely wrapped fish in tortillas for a very long time, but the modern battered fish taco is traced to Baja California around the late 1950s and early 1960s. Mexico News Daily identifies Ensenada as its birthplace, centering the story on a cluster of street stalls known as the Mercado Negro near the port. Vendors remembered there include a Sinaloan nicknamed El Bachigualato, who began selling around 1960, and Zeferino Mancilla Fortuna, credited with being the first to batter the fish. Ensenada's sizable Japanese fishing community has led to speculation about a link with tempura, though no direct connection has been documented. San Felipe, on the Sea of Cortés, also claims the dish, and Sunset reported that Ensenada vendors date their tradition to the opening of the town's market in 1958.
Arrival in the United States
For decades the fish taco was something Americans met on surf trips and road trips south of the border. In 1974 Ralph Rubio, then a San Diego State student, ate fish tacos on a spring-break visit to San Felipe and grew attached to the stand of a vendor named Carlos. Rubio obtained the recipe, worked out the measurements himself, and in 1983 opened his first restaurant in a former hamburger stand near Mission Bay in San Diego, selling what he called the original fish taco. The chain later expanded to around 200 locations, and Mexico News Daily credits it with making the fish taco a staple of Southern California eating, though many locations later closed.
By the early 2000s Sunset described the fish taco as the border food of the moment. As it moved north, many restaurants began grilling the fish instead of frying it, a change Sunset suggested trades some of the original character for a lighter plate.
Style
The classic version uses a mild white fish, lightly battered and fried, served on one or two corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, a thin sauce of sour cream or mayonnaise, salsa and a squeeze of lime. Rubio's has long used pollock, while Baja stands may use angel shark or other local fish, and shrimp tacos are a common companion.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g firm white fish (cod, pollock, halibut or rockfish), cut in finger-length strips
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dredging
- 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- About 1 cup cold Mexican lager
- Vegetable oil for deep-frying
- 1/2 cup Mexican crema or sour cream thinned with 2 tbsp mayonnaise and lime juice
- 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
- Pico de gallo or a thin red salsa
- 16 small corn tortillas
- Limes, cut in wedges
Steps
- Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and oregano, then whisk in beer until the batter is like thin pancake batter. Rest 10 minutes.
- Heat 5 cm of oil to 185 C.
- Pat the fish dry, season with salt, dredge lightly in flour, then dip in the batter.
- Fry a few pieces at a time until golden and crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain on a rack.
- Warm the tortillas in pairs on a hot griddle.
- Put a piece of fish on each doubled tortilla, top with cabbage, a drizzle of crema and salsa, and serve with lime.
Where to try it
- Rubio's Coastal Grill, San Diego, California: Opened by Ralph Rubio in 1983 near Mission Bay; credited with popularizing the fish taco in the US.
- Tacos Fénix, Ensenada, Baja California: Opened in 1970; described as the oldest surviving fish taco stand in Ensenada.
Reviews
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See also
References
- "In Search of the Real Fish Taco". Sunset. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "The mystery behind the invention of the Baja fish taco". Mexico News Daily. Retrieved 2026-10-10.