Tacos in Tijuana

Tijuana, the border city of Baja California, gave its name to a taco style of mesquite-grilled, cleaver-chopped beef and spit-roasted adobada on corn tortillas topped with guacamole, largely developed by taqueros from Puebla and later imitated across Southern California.

The Tijuana taco

Writing in Los Angeles magazine in 2019, Garrett Snyder identified the Tijuana taco by a few features: meat grilled over mesquite, a warm corn tortilla even in a region where flour tortillas are common, a thick spoonful of mashed avocado on top, and a minimum of other toppings so that the meat stands out. The filling is most often beef, chopped with a cleaver on a wooden board, reflecting the importance of beef in Baja. Tacos are frequently wrapped in a cone of paper. The other pillar is adobada, the regional name for marinated pork roasted on a vertical spit, a relative of Mexico City's al pastor.

The taqueros from Puebla

Many of the city's taqueros come from Puebla, a state with a strong al pastor tradition but no carne asada culture of its own. OC Weekly traced the lineage of Tacos El Poblano to Guadalupe Zárate, who began selling carne asada tacos in the late 1950s using cooks from Puebla and thinly cut local beef. The cart moved to the row of taco stands known as Las Ahumaderas in 1968, and in 1974 the business opened a formal taquería in Otay Mesa named in honor of its poblano taqueros. Most of them came from Izúcar de Matamoros and neighboring towns, and families from the same communities have since run taquerías from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas and in Chula Vista and South Los Angeles. In Tijuana's adobada, a lone taquero works the spit, and avocado salsa rather than pineapple is the usual finish. The mulita, a sandwich of two tortillas with meat and cheese, is a common menu item.

Influence and recognition

By 2018 and 2019, according to Los Angeles magazine, the Tijuana taco had become the taco of the moment in Los Angeles, with stands such as Tacos 1986 and taquerías in the Inland Empire adopting its style. In 2024 the first Michelin Guide to Mexico included Tacos El Franc among its recommended Baja California addresses, and the listing was repeated in 2026. The same guide gave a Bib Gourmand to the Tijuana restaurant Carmelita Molino y Cocina.

Larousse's gastronomic dictionary notes that Baja California's taquerías also sell fish and shellfish, and that Chinese cooking, common in Tijuana, has influenced the way local seafood is seasoned.

Where to try it

• Tacos El Franc, Tijuana: Recommended in the Michelin Guide Mexico 2024 and 2026
• Tacos El Poblano, Tijuana: Carne asada business with roots in a late-1950s cart; formal taquería opened 1974

Signature tacos

• Tacos de carne asada
• Tacos de adobada (Baja California)
• Mulitas
• Tacos de pescado

Reviews

See also

• Tacos in Baja California
• Tacos in Ensenada
• Tacos de carne asada
• Tacos de adobada (Baja California)
• Mulitas
• Tacos al pastor

References

1. "How L.A. Became Obsessed with the Tijuana Taco". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Tacos El Poblano: How A Band of Taqueros From Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla Changed Baja California". OC Weekly. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Taquerías mexicanas recomendadas en la Guía Michelin México 2024". UnoTV. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "Guía Michelin 2026: reconocen a las taquerías de México". Vanguardia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
5. "Mexico's Most Affordable Restaurants in 2026". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
6. "Baja California". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.