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"slug": "redwood-city-late-night-tacos-el-grullense-el-paisa-los-gemelos",
"title": "In Redwood City, a Great Taco Is Always Just a Few Blocks Away — Even at Midnight",
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"content": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a triplicate of images of two men running around while devouring tacos.\" class=\"wp-image-13994640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In Redwood City, each late-night taco spot has its own specialties: lengua and al pastor at El Paisa by Los Alegres, barbacoa on handmade tortillas at Tacos Los Gemelos, and tripitas with red salsa at Tacos El Grullense E&E. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cruising down 101 at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, we were hit with that most Bay Area of cravings. We needed oil-slicked tortillas and crisp-edged carnitas. Carne asada served hot off the plancha. In other words, we were hungry for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tacos\">tacos\u003c/a> — a whole clutch of them, shoved down our gullets, posthaste. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At this point in the night, we would typically hit up one of our usual after-hours haunts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963832/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-late-night-taqueria-midnight-diners\">Richmond’s\u003c/a> 23rd street taco corridor, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954112/orale-taco-truck-san-jose-late-night-pancakes-midnight-diners\">Eastside San José\u003c/a>. But we’d been hearing about a legendary Peninsula taco scene we hadn’t yet properly explored. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And so we headed to Redwood City for a good old-fashioned late-night taco crawl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2008, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/30/redwood-city-center-of-the-taco-universe/\">\u003cem>San Jose Mercury News\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called Redwood City “the center of the taco universe,” citing a density of taquerias — at the time, 49 of them in a city with a population of 74,000 — that seemed higher than just about anywhere else in California, if not the entire United States. Individual shops have come and gone in the 18 years since, but the scene remains incredibly robust. Just last year, no lesser authority than the president of Mexico herself, Claudia Sheinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-says-best-pork-fried-carnitas-are-made-redwood-city-mexican-immigrants/17828906/\">shouted out Redwood City\u003c/a> for having the best Mexican food in the Bay Area, thanks in part to its unusually high influx of immigrants from the city of \u003ca href=\"https://new.thecity.redwoodcity.org/pub/onbase/siredl.ashx?fileid=235425\">Aguililla, Michoacán\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On one three-block stretch of Middlefield Road, we must have spotted a dozen taquerias, four or five taco trucks and a handful of informal roadside tents that had set up trompos to sell fresh-sliced al pastor. And across the city, a decent chunk of the shops stay open until midnight on weekends, if not later. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For our first stop, we pulled into a big Costco and Outdoor Supply Hardware parking lot on Middlefield Road. Parked right in front of the hardware store, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/a> is one of the newer taco trucks that cropped up in Redwood City during the pandemic, specializing in Mexico City–style tacos. At this late hour, the truck still drew a steady stream of customers — mostly groups of middle-aged Latino men who made quick work of their tacos in the tented dining area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men trace a path as they run from one taco shop to another.\" class=\"wp-image-13994644\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Redwood City has one of the Bay Area’s densest concentrations of taco shops, many of them open until midnight or later. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If Redwood City’s taquerias share a collective theme, it’s that they tend toward old-school simplicity — honest street tacos unadorned with anything more than a dollop of salsa and a flurry of chopped onions and cilantro. El Paisa is the only spot we visited that offered any of the flashier dishes trendy on social media these days: decadently overloaded baked potatoes, alambres (a kind of sizzling, cheesy meat skillet) and so forth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As tempting as those sounded, we had a long night of taco eating ahead, and needed to pace ourselves. So we ordered a sampling of the truck’s workmanlike street tacos, served on a double layer of fragrant corn tortillas. Every one of them was a winner. There was juicy, well-caramelized Mexico City–style al pastor dotted with chunks of tangy-sweet pineapple; rich, steaky chunks of suadero; and cabeza (pig’s head) that was a dynamo of soft, slippery, gelatinous textures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the most memorable bites was the beef lengua, which had been cut into the thickest, widest slabs I’d ever seen on a taco. The overall effect was like biting into a buttery, impossibly soft piece of steak — extra delicious topped with some spicy pickled onions from the truck’s self-serve salsa bar. Meanwhile, the sope, served open-faced with shredded lettuce, crema and choice of meat, was simply extraordinary. We loved the extra-thick masa base, which had a chewy-crisp texture and a beautifully smoky, charred flavor from the grill. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our next stop was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/a>, a lively sit-down taqueria on El Camino Real, less than five minutes away and still doing brisk business at almost 11 p.m. The vibe was an interesting mish-mash of past and present. There was the old-fashioned picture menu board, the kitschy rooster-themed artwork, the quaint blue-and-white gingham pattern laminated on the tabletops. On the other hand, a more recent layer of AI-generated signage had been plastered everywhere, bleating out the same cartoonish font you see at so many other restaurants. (“We are selling FLAN as a dessert!” one of them read.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The food, on the other hand, tasted altogether homey. The plush handmade tortillas were wonderfully soft and aromatic. The Michoacán-style carnitas were moist and tender, rather than crispy. And the shrimp had been diced into cubes before getting a hard sear on the griddle, which imbued them with the texture and subtle smokiness of grilled octopus. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Best of all was the specialty of the house: juicy, impeccably tender slow-cooked barbacoa, which you can order with a side of consomé. I suppose you could dip your barbacoa taco in the hot broth if you aren’t afraid of making a mess. We simply sipped it at the end of our meal, Chinese-style. A perfect final bite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At this point in our journey, we were pretty well stuffed. But we couldn’t call it a night without visiting an outpost of El Grullense, easily Redwood City’s most well known and beloved taco chain. So we loosened our pants and made a beeline for the 5th Avenue location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/a>, which is really just a window attached to a Mobil gas station mini mart. It’s a bare-bones, cash-only operation without any seating to speak of. The best play is to simply lay your spread of tacos out on the hood of your car before digging in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Might this be the most quintessential Redwood City taco experience? The carne asada had crisp, well-charred edges, and the tripitas (beef intestines) were the tastiest I’ve had in a long time — not over-fried, but with a crispy-chewy, slightly squishy texture that was incredibly addicting. They burst with hot, meaty juices as soon as we bit in. We tried another sope, topped with al pastor, and it was wonderful here too — the pork deeply savory, the shredded lettuce particularly fresh and crisp. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tying everything together was El Grullense’s hallmark item: red salsa with a slight smokiness, a sneaky heat and an incredible depth of flavor. We couldn’t get enough of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As full as we were, we wound up polishing off every bite, barely bothering to wipe the grease stains off the hood of the car before we drove off into the night. All we knew is that there were still at least another dozen taquerias we still wanted to check out the next time we came through this part of the Peninsula. Hours later, when I woke up in the middle of the night, my fingers still smelled faintly of masa and meat juices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">\u003cem>El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. at 2110 Middlefield Rd. in Redwood City. The truck is usually parked in front of the Outdoor Supply Hardware. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">\u003cem>Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Wednesday through Monday 9:30 a.m.–midnight at 1630 El Camino Real.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">\u003cem>Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–midnight daily at 795 5th Ave. Cash only. Attached to a Mobil gas station mini-mart, the taqueria is one of four \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoselgrullenseee.com/new-page-1\">\u003cem>El Grullense E&E locations\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> in Redwood City — and one of at least eight loosely affiliated restaurants on the Peninsula that bear the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullenseno.1\">\u003cem>El Grullense\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>name. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a triplicate of images of two men running around while devouring tacos.\" class=\"wp-image-13994640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In Redwood City, each late-night taco spot has its own specialties: lengua and al pastor at El Paisa by Los Alegres, barbacoa on handmade tortillas at Tacos Los Gemelos, and tripitas with red salsa at Tacos El Grullense E&E.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a triplicate of images of two men running around while devouring tacos.\" class=\"wp-image-13994640\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In Redwood City, each late-night taco spot has its own specialties: lengua and al pastor at El Paisa by Los Alegres, barbacoa on handmade tortillas at Tacos Los Gemelos, and tripitas with red salsa at Tacos El Grullense E&E.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Cruising down 101 at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, we were hit with that most Bay Area of cravings. We needed oil-slicked tortillas and crisp-edged carnitas. Carne asada served hot off the plancha. In other words, we were hungry for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tacos\">tacos\u003c/a> — a whole clutch of them, shoved down our gullets, posthaste. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Cruising down 101 at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, we were hit with that most Bay Area of cravings. We needed oil-slicked tortillas and crisp-edged carnitas. Carne asada served hot off the plancha. In other words, we were hungry for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tacos\">tacos\u003c/a> — a whole clutch of them, shoved down our gullets, posthaste. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At this point in the night, we would typically hit up one of our usual after-hours haunts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963832/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-late-night-taqueria-midnight-diners\">Richmond’s\u003c/a> 23rd street taco corridor, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954112/orale-taco-truck-san-jose-late-night-pancakes-midnight-diners\">Eastside San José\u003c/a>. But we’d been hearing about a legendary Peninsula taco scene we hadn’t yet properly explored. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At this point in the night, we would typically hit up one of our usual after-hours haunts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963832/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-late-night-taqueria-midnight-diners\">Richmond’s\u003c/a> 23rd street taco corridor, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954112/orale-taco-truck-san-jose-late-night-pancakes-midnight-diners\">Eastside San José\u003c/a>. But we’d been hearing about a legendary Peninsula taco scene we hadn’t yet properly explored. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>And so we headed to Redwood City for a good old-fashioned late-night taco crawl.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>And so we headed to Redwood City for a good old-fashioned late-night taco crawl.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>In 2008, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/30/redwood-city-center-of-the-taco-universe/\">\u003cem>San Jose Mercury News\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called Redwood City “the center of the taco universe,” citing a density of taquerias — at the time, 49 of them in a city with a population of 74,000 — that seemed higher than just about anywhere else in California, if not the entire United States. Individual shops have come and gone in the 18 years since, but the scene remains incredibly robust. Just last year, no lesser authority than the president of Mexico herself, Claudia Sheinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-says-best-pork-fried-carnitas-are-made-redwood-city-mexican-immigrants/17828906/\">shouted out Redwood City\u003c/a> for having the best Mexican food in the Bay Area, thanks in part to its unusually high influx of immigrants from the city of \u003ca href=\"https://new.thecity.redwoodcity.org/pub/onbase/siredl.ashx?fileid=235425\">Aguililla, Michoacán\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>In 2008, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/30/redwood-city-center-of-the-taco-universe/\">\u003cem>San Jose Mercury News\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called Redwood City “the center of the taco universe,” citing a density of taquerias — at the time, 49 of them in a city with a population of 74,000 — that seemed higher than just about anywhere else in California, if not the entire United States. Individual shops have come and gone in the 18 years since, but the scene remains incredibly robust. Just last year, no lesser authority than the president of Mexico herself, Claudia Sheinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-says-best-pork-fried-carnitas-are-made-redwood-city-mexican-immigrants/17828906/\">shouted out Redwood City\u003c/a> for having the best Mexican food in the Bay Area, thanks in part to its unusually high influx of immigrants from the city of \u003ca href=\"https://new.thecity.redwoodcity.org/pub/onbase/siredl.ashx?fileid=235425\">Aguililla, Michoacán\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>On one three-block stretch of Middlefield Road, we must have spotted a dozen taquerias, four or five taco trucks and a handful of informal roadside tents that had set up trompos to sell fresh-sliced al pastor. And across the city, a decent chunk of the shops stay open until midnight on weekends, if not later. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>On one three-block stretch of Middlefield Road, we must have spotted a dozen taquerias, four or five taco trucks and a handful of informal roadside tents that had set up trompos to sell fresh-sliced al pastor. And across the city, a decent chunk of the shops stay open until midnight on weekends, if not later. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>For our first stop, we pulled into a big Costco and Outdoor Supply Hardware parking lot on Middlefield Road. Parked right in front of the hardware store, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/a> is one of the newer taco trucks that cropped up in Redwood City during the pandemic, specializing in Mexico City–style tacos. At this late hour, the truck still drew a steady stream of customers — mostly groups of middle-aged Latino men who made quick work of their tacos in the tented dining area.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>For our first stop, we pulled into a big Costco and Outdoor Supply Hardware parking lot on Middlefield Road. Parked right in front of the hardware store, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/a> is one of the newer taco trucks that cropped up in Redwood City during the pandemic, specializing in Mexico City–style tacos. At this late hour, the truck still drew a steady stream of customers — mostly groups of middle-aged Latino men who made quick work of their tacos in the tented dining area.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men trace a path as they run from one taco shop to another.\" class=\"wp-image-13994644\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 992px) min(100vw, 1536px), (min-width: 768px) min(100vw, 1280px), min(100vw, 1020px)\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Redwood City has one of the Bay Area’s densest concentrations of taco shops, many of them open until midnight or later.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n",
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"\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men trace a path as they run from one taco shop to another.\" class=\"wp-image-13994644\"/>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Redwood City has one of the Bay Area’s densest concentrations of taco shops, many of them open until midnight or later.\u003ccite class=\"wp-inline-image-credit\"> (Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>If Redwood City’s taquerias share a collective theme, it’s that they tend toward old-school simplicity — honest street tacos unadorned with anything more than a dollop of salsa and a flurry of chopped onions and cilantro. El Paisa is the only spot we visited that offered any of the flashier dishes trendy on social media these days: decadently overloaded baked potatoes, alambres (a kind of sizzling, cheesy meat skillet) and so forth.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>If Redwood City’s taquerias share a collective theme, it’s that they tend toward old-school simplicity — honest street tacos unadorned with anything more than a dollop of salsa and a flurry of chopped onions and cilantro. El Paisa is the only spot we visited that offered any of the flashier dishes trendy on social media these days: decadently overloaded baked potatoes, alambres (a kind of sizzling, cheesy meat skillet) and so forth.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As tempting as those sounded, we had a long night of taco eating ahead, and needed to pace ourselves. So we ordered a sampling of the truck’s workmanlike street tacos, served on a double layer of fragrant corn tortillas. Every one of them was a winner. There was juicy, well-caramelized Mexico City–style al pastor dotted with chunks of tangy-sweet pineapple; rich, steaky chunks of suadero; and cabeza (pig’s head) that was a dynamo of soft, slippery, gelatinous textures. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As tempting as those sounded, we had a long night of taco eating ahead, and needed to pace ourselves. So we ordered a sampling of the truck’s workmanlike street tacos, served on a double layer of fragrant corn tortillas. Every one of them was a winner. There was juicy, well-caramelized Mexico City–style al pastor dotted with chunks of tangy-sweet pineapple; rich, steaky chunks of suadero; and cabeza (pig’s head) that was a dynamo of soft, slippery, gelatinous textures. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>One of the most memorable bites was the beef lengua, which had been cut into the thickest, widest slabs I’d ever seen on a taco. The overall effect was like biting into a buttery, impossibly soft piece of steak — extra delicious topped with some spicy pickled onions from the truck’s self-serve salsa bar. Meanwhile, the sope, served open-faced with shredded lettuce, crema and choice of meat, was simply extraordinary. We loved the extra-thick masa base, which had a chewy-crisp texture and a beautifully smoky, charred flavor from the grill. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>One of the most memorable bites was the beef lengua, which had been cut into the thickest, widest slabs I’d ever seen on a taco. The overall effect was like biting into a buttery, impossibly soft piece of steak — extra delicious topped with some spicy pickled onions from the truck’s self-serve salsa bar. Meanwhile, the sope, served open-faced with shredded lettuce, crema and choice of meat, was simply extraordinary. We loved the extra-thick masa base, which had a chewy-crisp texture and a beautifully smoky, charred flavor from the grill. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Our next stop was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/a>, a lively sit-down taqueria on El Camino Real, less than five minutes away and still doing brisk business at almost 11 p.m. The vibe was an interesting mish-mash of past and present. There was the old-fashioned picture menu board, the kitschy rooster-themed artwork, the quaint blue-and-white gingham pattern laminated on the tabletops. On the other hand, a more recent layer of AI-generated signage had been plastered everywhere, bleating out the same cartoonish font you see at so many other restaurants. (“We are selling FLAN as a dessert!” one of them read.) \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Our next stop was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/a>, a lively sit-down taqueria on El Camino Real, less than five minutes away and still doing brisk business at almost 11 p.m. The vibe was an interesting mish-mash of past and present. There was the old-fashioned picture menu board, the kitschy rooster-themed artwork, the quaint blue-and-white gingham pattern laminated on the tabletops. On the other hand, a more recent layer of AI-generated signage had been plastered everywhere, bleating out the same cartoonish font you see at so many other restaurants. (“We are selling FLAN as a dessert!” one of them read.) \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>The food, on the other hand, tasted altogether homey. The plush handmade tortillas were wonderfully soft and aromatic. The Michoacán-style carnitas were moist and tender, rather than crispy. And the shrimp had been diced into cubes before getting a hard sear on the griddle, which imbued them with the texture and subtle smokiness of grilled octopus. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>The food, on the other hand, tasted altogether homey. The plush handmade tortillas were wonderfully soft and aromatic. The Michoacán-style carnitas were moist and tender, rather than crispy. And the shrimp had been diced into cubes before getting a hard sear on the griddle, which imbued them with the texture and subtle smokiness of grilled octopus. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Best of all was the specialty of the house: juicy, impeccably tender slow-cooked barbacoa, which you can order with a side of consomé. I suppose you could dip your barbacoa taco in the hot broth if you aren’t afraid of making a mess. We simply sipped it at the end of our meal, Chinese-style. A perfect final bite. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Best of all was the specialty of the house: juicy, impeccably tender slow-cooked barbacoa, which you can order with a side of consomé. I suppose you could dip your barbacoa taco in the hot broth if you aren’t afraid of making a mess. We simply sipped it at the end of our meal, Chinese-style. A perfect final bite. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>At this point in our journey, we were pretty well stuffed. But we couldn’t call it a night without visiting an outpost of El Grullense, easily Redwood City’s most well known and beloved taco chain. So we loosened our pants and made a beeline for the 5th Avenue location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/a>, which is really just a window attached to a Mobil gas station mini mart. It’s a bare-bones, cash-only operation without any seating to speak of. The best play is to simply lay your spread of tacos out on the hood of your car before digging in.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>At this point in our journey, we were pretty well stuffed. But we couldn’t call it a night without visiting an outpost of El Grullense, easily Redwood City’s most well known and beloved taco chain. So we loosened our pants and made a beeline for the 5th Avenue location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/a>, which is really just a window attached to a Mobil gas station mini mart. It’s a bare-bones, cash-only operation without any seating to speak of. The best play is to simply lay your spread of tacos out on the hood of your car before digging in.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Might this be the most quintessential Redwood City taco experience? The carne asada had crisp, well-charred edges, and the tripitas (beef intestines) were the tastiest I’ve had in a long time — not over-fried, but with a crispy-chewy, slightly squishy texture that was incredibly addicting. They burst with hot, meaty juices as soon as we bit in. We tried another sope, topped with al pastor, and it was wonderful here too — the pork deeply savory, the shredded lettuce particularly fresh and crisp. \u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>Might this be the most quintessential Redwood City taco experience? The carne asada had crisp, well-charred edges, and the tripitas (beef intestines) were the tastiest I’ve had in a long time — not over-fried, but with a crispy-chewy, slightly squishy texture that was incredibly addicting. They burst with hot, meaty juices as soon as we bit in. We tried another sope, topped with al pastor, and it was wonderful here too — the pork deeply savory, the shredded lettuce particularly fresh and crisp. \u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>Tying everything together was El Grullense’s hallmark item: red salsa with a slight smokiness, a sneaky heat and an incredible depth of flavor. We couldn’t get enough of it.\u003c/p>\n",
"innerContent": [
"\n\u003cp>Tying everything together was El Grullense’s hallmark item: red salsa with a slight smokiness, a sneaky heat and an incredible depth of flavor. We couldn’t get enough of it.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>As full as we were, we wound up polishing off every bite, barely bothering to wipe the grease stains off the hood of the car before we drove off into the night. All we knew is that there were still at least another dozen taquerias we still wanted to check out the next time we came through this part of the Peninsula. Hours later, when I woke up in the middle of the night, my fingers still smelled faintly of masa and meat juices.\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>As full as we were, we wound up polishing off every bite, barely bothering to wipe the grease stains off the hood of the car before we drove off into the night. All we knew is that there were still at least another dozen taquerias we still wanted to check out the next time we came through this part of the Peninsula. Hours later, when I woke up in the middle of the night, my fingers still smelled faintly of masa and meat juices.\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">\u003cem>El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. at 2110 Middlefield Rd. in Redwood City. The truck is usually parked in front of the Outdoor Supply Hardware. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">\u003cem>El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. at 2110 Middlefield Rd. in Redwood City. The truck is usually parked in front of the Outdoor Supply Hardware. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">\u003cem>Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Wednesday through Monday 9:30 a.m.–midnight at 1630 El Camino Real.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">\u003cem>Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Wednesday through Monday 9:30 a.m.–midnight at 1630 El Camino Real.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"innerHTML": "\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">\u003cem>Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–midnight daily at 795 5th Ave. Cash only. Attached to a Mobil gas station mini-mart, the taqueria is one of four \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoselgrullenseee.com/new-page-1\">\u003cem>El Grullense E&E locations\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> in Redwood City — and one of at least eight loosely affiliated restaurants on the Peninsula that bear the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullenseno.1\">\u003cem>El Grullense\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>name. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">\u003cem>Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–midnight daily at 795 5th Ave. Cash only. Attached to a Mobil gas station mini-mart, the taqueria is one of four \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoselgrullenseee.com/new-page-1\">\u003cem>El Grullense E&E locations\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> in Redwood City — and one of at least eight loosely affiliated restaurants on the Peninsula that bear the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullenseno.1\">\u003cem>El Grullense\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>name. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a triplicate of images of two men running around while devouring tacos.\" class=\"wp-image-13994640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos-8d236d66-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In Redwood City, each late-night taco spot has its own specialties: lengua and al pastor at El Paisa by Los Alegres, barbacoa on handmade tortillas at Tacos Los Gemelos, and tripitas with red salsa at Tacos El Grullense E&E. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003cem>The Midnight Diners\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003cem>Thien Pham\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Cruising down 101 at 10 o’clock on a recent Friday night, we were hit with that most Bay Area of cravings. We needed oil-slicked tortillas and crisp-edged carnitas. Carne asada served hot off the plancha. In other words, we were hungry for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/tacos\">tacos\u003c/a> — a whole clutch of them, shoved down our gullets, posthaste. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At this point in the night, we would typically hit up one of our usual after-hours haunts on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13963832/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-late-night-taqueria-midnight-diners\">Richmond’s\u003c/a> 23rd street taco corridor, or in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13954112/orale-taco-truck-san-jose-late-night-pancakes-midnight-diners\">Eastside San José\u003c/a>. But we’d been hearing about a legendary Peninsula taco scene we hadn’t yet properly explored. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>And so we headed to Redwood City for a good old-fashioned late-night taco crawl.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>In 2008, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/09/30/redwood-city-center-of-the-taco-universe/\">\u003cem>San Jose Mercury News\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called Redwood City “the center of the taco universe,” citing a density of taquerias — at the time, 49 of them in a city with a population of 74,000 — that seemed higher than just about anywhere else in California, if not the entire United States. Individual shops have come and gone in the 18 years since, but the scene remains incredibly robust. Just last year, no lesser authority than the president of Mexico herself, Claudia Sheinbaum, \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/mexico-president-claudia-sheinbaum-says-best-pork-fried-carnitas-are-made-redwood-city-mexican-immigrants/17828906/\">shouted out Redwood City\u003c/a> for having the best Mexican food in the Bay Area, thanks in part to its unusually high influx of immigrants from the city of \u003ca href=\"https://new.thecity.redwoodcity.org/pub/onbase/siredl.ashx?fileid=235425\">Aguililla, Michoacán\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>On one three-block stretch of Middlefield Road, we must have spotted a dozen taquerias, four or five taco trucks and a handful of informal roadside tents that had set up trompos to sell fresh-sliced al pastor. And across the city, a decent chunk of the shops stay open until midnight on weekends, if not later. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>For our first stop, we pulled into a big Costco and Outdoor Supply Hardware parking lot on Middlefield Road. Parked right in front of the hardware store, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/a> is one of the newer taco trucks that cropped up in Redwood City during the pandemic, specializing in Mexico City–style tacos. At this late hour, the truck still drew a steady stream of customers — mostly groups of middle-aged Latino men who made quick work of their tacos in the tented dining area.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: two men trace a path as they run from one taco shop to another.\" class=\"wp-image-13994644\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/redwoodcitytacos2-9903f989-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Redwood City has one of the Bay Area’s densest concentrations of taco shops, many of them open until midnight or later. (Thien Pham)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>If Redwood City’s taquerias share a collective theme, it’s that they tend toward old-school simplicity — honest street tacos unadorned with anything more than a dollop of salsa and a flurry of chopped onions and cilantro. El Paisa is the only spot we visited that offered any of the flashier dishes trendy on social media these days: decadently overloaded baked potatoes, alambres (a kind of sizzling, cheesy meat skillet) and so forth.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As tempting as those sounded, we had a long night of taco eating ahead, and needed to pace ourselves. So we ordered a sampling of the truck’s workmanlike street tacos, served on a double layer of fragrant corn tortillas. Every one of them was a winner. There was juicy, well-caramelized Mexico City–style al pastor dotted with chunks of tangy-sweet pineapple; rich, steaky chunks of suadero; and cabeza (pig’s head) that was a dynamo of soft, slippery, gelatinous textures. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>One of the most memorable bites was the beef lengua, which had been cut into the thickest, widest slabs I’d ever seen on a taco. The overall effect was like biting into a buttery, impossibly soft piece of steak — extra delicious topped with some spicy pickled onions from the truck’s self-serve salsa bar. Meanwhile, the sope, served open-faced with shredded lettuce, crema and choice of meat, was simply extraordinary. We loved the extra-thick masa base, which had a chewy-crisp texture and a beautifully smoky, charred flavor from the grill. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Our next stop was \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/a>, a lively sit-down taqueria on El Camino Real, less than five minutes away and still doing brisk business at almost 11 p.m. The vibe was an interesting mish-mash of past and present. There was the old-fashioned picture menu board, the kitschy rooster-themed artwork, the quaint blue-and-white gingham pattern laminated on the tabletops. On the other hand, a more recent layer of AI-generated signage had been plastered everywhere, bleating out the same cartoonish font you see at so many other restaurants. (“We are selling FLAN as a dessert!” one of them read.) \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>The food, on the other hand, tasted altogether homey. The plush handmade tortillas were wonderfully soft and aromatic. The Michoacán-style carnitas were moist and tender, rather than crispy. And the shrimp had been diced into cubes before getting a hard sear on the griddle, which imbued them with the texture and subtle smokiness of grilled octopus. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Best of all was the specialty of the house: juicy, impeccably tender slow-cooked barbacoa, which you can order with a side of consomé. I suppose you could dip your barbacoa taco in the hot broth if you aren’t afraid of making a mess. We simply sipped it at the end of our meal, Chinese-style. A perfect final bite. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>At this point in our journey, we were pretty well stuffed. But we couldn’t call it a night without visiting an outpost of El Grullense, easily Redwood City’s most well known and beloved taco chain. So we loosened our pants and made a beeline for the 5th Avenue location of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/a>, which is really just a window attached to a Mobil gas station mini mart. It’s a bare-bones, cash-only operation without any seating to speak of. The best play is to simply lay your spread of tacos out on the hood of your car before digging in.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Might this be the most quintessential Redwood City taco experience? The carne asada had crisp, well-charred edges, and the tripitas (beef intestines) were the tastiest I’ve had in a long time — not over-fried, but with a crispy-chewy, slightly squishy texture that was incredibly addicting. They burst with hot, meaty juices as soon as we bit in. We tried another sope, topped with al pastor, and it was wonderful here too — the pork deeply savory, the shredded lettuce particularly fresh and crisp. \u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>Tying everything together was El Grullense’s hallmark item: red salsa with a slight smokiness, a sneaky heat and an incredible depth of flavor. We couldn’t get enough of it.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>As full as we were, we wound up polishing off every bite, barely bothering to wipe the grease stains off the hood of the car before we drove off into the night. All we knew is that there were still at least another dozen taquerias we still wanted to check out the next time we came through this part of the Peninsula. Hours later, when I woke up in the middle of the night, my fingers still smelled faintly of masa and meat juices.\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003chr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"/>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/elpaisabylosalegres/\">\u003cem>El Paisa by Los Alegres\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. and Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m.–10 p.m. at 2110 Middlefield Rd. in Redwood City. The truck is usually parked in front of the Outdoor Supply Hardware. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacolosgemelos/\">\u003cem>Tacos Los Gemelos\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open Wednesday through Monday 9:30 a.m.–midnight at 1630 El Camino Real.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\n\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullense_ee/\">\u003cem>Tacos El Grullense E&E\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> is open 9 a.m.–midnight daily at 795 5th Ave. Cash only. Attached to a Mobil gas station mini-mart, the taqueria is one of four \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoselgrullenseee.com/new-page-1\">\u003cem>El Grullense E&E locations\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> in Redwood City — and one of at least eight loosely affiliated restaurants on the Peninsula that bear the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselgrullenseno.1\">\u003cem>El Grullense\u003c/em>\u003c/a> \u003cem>name. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "el-tucan-baja-fish-tacos-san-rafael-marin-county-tijuana-late-night",
"title": "This North Bay Taqueria Is Your New Destination for Late-Night Fried Fish Tacos",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988853\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988853\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring a large amount of tacos while seated at a picnic table. In back, string lights and heat lamps are visible.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Tucán’s new location in San Rafael has an outdoor patio that looks out over the waterfront and a new menu addition: Baja-style fried fish and fried shrimp tacos. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best tacos I’ve ever eaten in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> are tucked away in the warren of warehouses and car dealerships that populate the eastern end of San Rafael. We pulled into the neighborhood at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night because we’d heard that one of our favorite taquerias, El Tucán, had finally opened its long-awaited location here — an outpost the owners had initially planned to debut \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13903359/el-tucan-tijuana-tacos-quesabirria-san-rafael\">all the way back in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tucantacosandbeer/\">El Tucán Tacos & Beer\u003c/a> is meant to be a swankier, sit-down version of the original taqueria in Richmond. Importantly for our purposes, it stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Technically speaking, both the Richmond taqueria and the even newer El Tucán location \u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoseltucan.com/sf-info.html\">in San Francisco\u003c/a> are more prototypical late-night spots, slinging tacos until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Here in the North Bay, however, the new El Tucán is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953224/best-late-night-prime-rib-marin-petes-881-club-poker-room\">one of the very few places in town\u003c/a> that stays open late at all. In this particular semi-industrial corner of San Rafael, it was the only restaurant of any kind, open or closed, we saw for blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As regulars at the original El Tucán, we came with the expectation that we’d be eating some of the tastiest carne asada in the Bay. What we didn’t expect was that the new restaurant would \u003ci>also \u003c/i>fry up the best Baja fish tacos we’ve eaten in a long, long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant is bigger and fancier than it looks from the outside, with a long, gleamingly back-lit bar; trendy wicker light fixtures; and multiple flat-screen TVs for sports-watching. Along one wall there’s one of those cursive neon signs: “You are the salsa to my tacos.” On another, a colorful, very geometric mural of the restaurant’s namesake toucan. Not for nothing in Marin County, every other customer on this busy Friday night appeared to be Latino — a mix of twentysomethings sipping on gaudy, fluorescent-hued margaritas and older gentlemen in work boots. (El Tucán is located in San Rafael’s Canal District, where a dense cluster of apartment complexes houses the bulk of Marin County’s working class Latino population.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a boxy, fairly nondescript-looking restaurant lit up at night. The neon sign reads, "El Tucán Tacos & Beer," with a drawing of a toucan as its logo.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County doesn’t have a lot of notable late-night dining options, but El Tucán is open until 11 p.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The nicest part of the restaurant is the big, expansive deck in the back, adorned with string lights and a flotilla of heat lamps, that faces out toward the San Rafael Creek waterfront. We parked ourselves at one of the sturdy wooden picnic tables and proceeded to order about twice as many tacos as we had any business eating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Tucán’s claim to fame is that it was one of the first taquerias to bring \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/12/5/20994943/tacos-el-tucan-tijuana-carne-asada-quesatacos-richmond\">Tijuana-style tacos\u003c/a> to the Bay Area, with its emphasis on meats grilled over fire (instead of on a flat-top), supple handmade tortillas, and the dollop of guacamole that comes on every taco by default. Arguably, the restaurant’s calling card is its quesatacos, which come laced with a thin layer of extremely crispy cheese. What experience has taught me, though, is that those cheesy tacos are too heavy for me to eat more than two or three in one sitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for our first meal in San Rafael, we instead started with a round of the standard (cheeseless) asada tacos, which were as phenomenal as we remembered; the steak was chopped finer, and came out so much juicier and more tender, than at your typical taco shop. Topped with a tangle of grilled onions and that big scoop of guacamole, the taco felt luxurious to eat, like a full meal in and of itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13988444,arts_13953224,arts_13963832']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Diners who want to splurge a bit can try one of the premium ($9) specialty tacos, like the arrachera (skirt steak) taco, which puts an entire mini steak on top of a tortilla. We loved how pleasantly chewy and crisp-edged the steak was — though we probably would have been even happier trading it for two more asada tacos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real highlight of the restaurant, however, was another exemplar of Baja California cuisine: Baja-style fried fish tacos and shrimp tacos, which are only available at the San Rafael location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of my controversial food opinions is that Baja fish tacos are the \u003ci>only\u003c/i> good fish tacos — you can keep your fussy little grilled fish tacos. But I also rarely order them in the Bay Area. There are so few places here that do them well (hello, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/cholita-linda-to-bring-fish-tacos-and-eclectic-latin-to-temescal-1/\">Cholita Linda\u003c/a>!), and you wind up paying twice as much for a taco that’s only half as good as what you can get at, say, any random spot in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m happy to report, then, that the fish tacos at El Tucán are spectacular. They’re pricey, yes, at $8 a pop. But they’re also \u003ci>huge\u003c/i>, with one plump, impeccably fried fillet that’s moist and tender, with an airy-light batter. There’s also limey chipotle crema and a tangle of delicately sliced cabbage and pickled onions. Taken all together, it makes for a flawlessly balanced bite. The Baja shrimp taco, which combines all of the same components with a pile of batter-fried shrimp, is just as good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like every other trend-hopping taqueria in the Bay, El Tucán has jumped on the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria hype train\u003c/a>, with an assortment of birria-centric menu items that run the gamut from standard quesabirria tacos and consomé-dipped “red tacos” to super-sized birria “pizza.” We tried one of the red tacos with adobada (Tijuana-style al pastor) and found it tasty enough, if a little too heavy and cheesy for how stuffed we already felt at that stage in the meal. What we did enjoy, however, is El Tucán’s take on birria ramen — a rather elegant, stewy version, served with sliced avocado on top. It had a homey warmth to it that was especially nice on a chilly night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, there was a part of us that still preferred the old El Tucán in Richmond, where you stand in line, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, grab a plastic stool on the patio and wolf your food down in the semi-darkness. Certainly, it’s more chaotic, with a certain kind of romance. But if you’ve come with a group of friends and want to kick it for a while, that big deck overlooking the boats on the water is tough to beat. Especially with ice-cold Pacifica on draft and a couple of fish tacos in your belly.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr />\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tucantacosandbeer/\">\u003ci>El Tucán Tacos & Beer\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. at 15 Harbor St. in San Rafael.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988853\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988853\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devouring a large amount of tacos while seated at a picnic table. In back, string lights and heat lamps are visible.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/el-tucan-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Tucán’s new location in San Rafael has an outdoor patio that looks out over the waterfront and a new menu addition: Baja-style fried fish and fried shrimp tacos. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The best tacos I’ve ever eaten in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/marin-county\">Marin County\u003c/a> are tucked away in the warren of warehouses and car dealerships that populate the eastern end of San Rafael. We pulled into the neighborhood at a little past 9 o’clock on a recent Friday night because we’d heard that one of our favorite taquerias, El Tucán, had finally opened its long-awaited location here — an outpost the owners had initially planned to debut \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13903359/el-tucan-tijuana-tacos-quesabirria-san-rafael\">all the way back in 2021\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tucantacosandbeer/\">El Tucán Tacos & Beer\u003c/a> is meant to be a swankier, sit-down version of the original taqueria in Richmond. Importantly for our purposes, it stays open until 11 p.m. on weekends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Technically speaking, both the Richmond taqueria and the even newer El Tucán location \u003ca href=\"https://www.tacoseltucan.com/sf-info.html\">in San Francisco\u003c/a> are more prototypical late-night spots, slinging tacos until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Here in the North Bay, however, the new El Tucán is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13953224/best-late-night-prime-rib-marin-petes-881-club-poker-room\">one of the very few places in town\u003c/a> that stays open late at all. In this particular semi-industrial corner of San Rafael, it was the only restaurant of any kind, open or closed, we saw for blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As regulars at the original El Tucán, we came with the expectation that we’d be eating some of the tastiest carne asada in the Bay. What we didn’t expect was that the new restaurant would \u003ci>also \u003c/i>fry up the best Baja fish tacos we’ve eaten in a long, long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The restaurant is bigger and fancier than it looks from the outside, with a long, gleamingly back-lit bar; trendy wicker light fixtures; and multiple flat-screen TVs for sports-watching. Along one wall there’s one of those cursive neon signs: “You are the salsa to my tacos.” On another, a colorful, very geometric mural of the restaurant’s namesake toucan. Not for nothing in Marin County, every other customer on this busy Friday night appeared to be Latino — a mix of twentysomethings sipping on gaudy, fluorescent-hued margaritas and older gentlemen in work boots. (El Tucán is located in San Rafael’s Canal District, where a dense cluster of apartment complexes houses the bulk of Marin County’s working class Latino population.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13988852\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13988852\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: a boxy, fairly nondescript-looking restaurant lit up at night. The neon sign reads, "El Tucán Tacos & Beer," with a drawing of a toucan as its logo.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/eltucan2-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marin County doesn’t have a lot of notable late-night dining options, but El Tucán is open until 11 p.m. on weekends. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The nicest part of the restaurant is the big, expansive deck in the back, adorned with string lights and a flotilla of heat lamps, that faces out toward the San Rafael Creek waterfront. We parked ourselves at one of the sturdy wooden picnic tables and proceeded to order about twice as many tacos as we had any business eating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Tucán’s claim to fame is that it was one of the first taquerias to bring \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/12/5/20994943/tacos-el-tucan-tijuana-carne-asada-quesatacos-richmond\">Tijuana-style tacos\u003c/a> to the Bay Area, with its emphasis on meats grilled over fire (instead of on a flat-top), supple handmade tortillas, and the dollop of guacamole that comes on every taco by default. Arguably, the restaurant’s calling card is its quesatacos, which come laced with a thin layer of extremely crispy cheese. What experience has taught me, though, is that those cheesy tacos are too heavy for me to eat more than two or three in one sitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for our first meal in San Rafael, we instead started with a round of the standard (cheeseless) asada tacos, which were as phenomenal as we remembered; the steak was chopped finer, and came out so much juicier and more tender, than at your typical taco shop. Topped with a tangle of grilled onions and that big scoop of guacamole, the taco felt luxurious to eat, like a full meal in and of itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Diners who want to splurge a bit can try one of the premium ($9) specialty tacos, like the arrachera (skirt steak) taco, which puts an entire mini steak on top of a tortilla. We loved how pleasantly chewy and crisp-edged the steak was — though we probably would have been even happier trading it for two more asada tacos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The real highlight of the restaurant, however, was another exemplar of Baja California cuisine: Baja-style fried fish tacos and shrimp tacos, which are only available at the San Rafael location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of my controversial food opinions is that Baja fish tacos are the \u003ci>only\u003c/i> good fish tacos — you can keep your fussy little grilled fish tacos. But I also rarely order them in the Bay Area. There are so few places here that do them well (hello, \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/cholita-linda-to-bring-fish-tacos-and-eclectic-latin-to-temescal-1/\">Cholita Linda\u003c/a>!), and you wind up paying twice as much for a taco that’s only half as good as what you can get at, say, any random spot in San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m happy to report, then, that the fish tacos at El Tucán are spectacular. They’re pricey, yes, at $8 a pop. But they’re also \u003ci>huge\u003c/i>, with one plump, impeccably fried fillet that’s moist and tender, with an airy-light batter. There’s also limey chipotle crema and a tangle of delicately sliced cabbage and pickled onions. Taken all together, it makes for a flawlessly balanced bite. The Baja shrimp taco, which combines all of the same components with a pile of batter-fried shrimp, is just as good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like every other trend-hopping taqueria in the Bay, El Tucán has jumped on the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria hype train\u003c/a>, with an assortment of birria-centric menu items that run the gamut from standard quesabirria tacos and consomé-dipped “red tacos” to super-sized birria “pizza.” We tried one of the red tacos with adobada (Tijuana-style al pastor) and found it tasty enough, if a little too heavy and cheesy for how stuffed we already felt at that stage in the meal. What we did enjoy, however, is El Tucán’s take on birria ramen — a rather elegant, stewy version, served with sliced avocado on top. It had a homey warmth to it that was especially nice on a chilly night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, there was a part of us that still preferred the old El Tucán in Richmond, where you stand in line, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, grab a plastic stool on the patio and wolf your food down in the semi-darkness. Certainly, it’s more chaotic, with a certain kind of romance. But if you’ve come with a group of friends and want to kick it for a while, that big deck overlooking the boats on the water is tough to beat. Especially with ice-cold Pacifica on draft and a couple of fish tacos in your belly.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr />\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tucantacosandbeer/\">\u003ci>El Tucán Tacos & Beer\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.–11 p.m. at 15 Harbor St. in San Rafael.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "El Garage Returns to Its Pop-Up Roots",
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"content": "\u003cp>These days, it feels like nearly every taco truck and taqueria in the Bay Area is slinging quesabirria — those glistening-red, consomé-soaked tacos with their crispy edges and long pulls of stretchy cheese. But before all that, there was El Garage. In the halcyon pre-pandemic days of 2019, the Richmond pop-up was the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">first quesabirria purveyor to truly blow up\u003c/a> in the Bay, and its success helped bring these Tijuana-by-way-of-L.A. beef birria tacos into the mainstream, paving the way for them to become a fixture of our region’s Mexican American food scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in August, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DA7LNKbyL_6/?hl=en\">El Garage quietly closed\u003c/a> — or at least its brick-and-mortar restaurant in Richmond did, ending a four-year run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Viviana Montano, who runs the business along with her parents and sisters, says El Garage isn’t going anywhere. Instead, the family will focus once again on pop-ups and catering. They’ve already set up one twice-a-month gig at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dokkaebier_oakland/?hl=en\">Dokkaebier\u003c/a> taproom in Oakland, and they have several other pop-ups in the works — including a possible regular collaboration with Berkeley Bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967250\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of El Garage taqueria on a sunny day.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1536x1055.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1920x1319.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The brick-and-mortar restaurant in Richmond never got much foot traffic. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Montano, closing the restaurant was one the hardest decisions her family has had to make, but it also seemed inevitable for the better part of a year. “We just weren’t bringing enough people in,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fans of the taqueria might be familiar with the basic outlines of \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">El Garage’s story\u003c/a>: It started as a modest driveway operation in a residential neighborhood, went viral on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_gaaarage/?hl=en\">Instagram\u003c/a> to the point of routinely attracting hour-long lines and eventually, with much fanfare, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/7/9/21319032/quesabirria-tacos-el-garage-richmond\">opened a 5,000-square-foot restaurant\u003c/a> a few blocks away from the Richmond BART station. For many Bay Area food lovers, El Garage’s quesabirria wasn’t \u003ci>just\u003c/i> their introduction to a new taco style. It was one the best tacos they’d ever eaten, period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the brick-and-mortar restaurant just never caught on, even as the Montanos expanded their menu to include other crowdpleasers, like pozole and shrimp taquitos. Part of the problem was that there aren’t really any other notable restaurants or attractions in that particular stretch of Richmond, so foot traffic was minimal. Even at the height of El Garage’s popularity, almost all of the business at the restaurant came from takeout and catering. And even when a handful of dine-in customers did sit down for a meal, the dining room still looked empty and sad because it was so big. It became a sort of self-fulfilling feedback loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967251\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos.jpg\" alt=\"Shrimp taquitos in a takeout container.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant introduced new dishes, like this take on shrimp taquitos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Most of our orders every day would just be DoorDash or UberEats. The restaurant was functioning as a ghost kitchen, essentially,” Montano says. In the end, paying rent for such a giant space just wasn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13963832,arts_13895488']Now that the restaurant is closed, the Montanos are fully focused on doing pop-ups and events — in a sense, going back to their roots as a renegade driveway taco stand. The one regular pop-up they’ve already set up — at Dokkaebier’s Jack London Square taproom — will take place every other Saturday. (The next one is on Oct. 26.) And Montano says she’s also in talks with a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District about the possibility of setting up another recurring pop-up there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most exciting, Montano says El Garage is currently in the process of scheduling its first pop-up at the cafe at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berkeleybowl/\">Berkeley Bowl West\u003c/a>, probably for sometime in November. If all goes well, that, too, might turn into a regular, long-term gig for as many as two or three days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967253\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967253\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up.jpg\" alt=\"A cook makes tacos on a flat-top grill set up inside a tent.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Garage’s original pop-up (circa 2019) took place inside a tent that was set up in the Montanos’ driveway. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the future, Montano says, El Garage would be open to exploring the possibility of opening a smaller restaurant in a better, more central location. But for now, the family feels much more comfortable with the pop-up model — and they’re confident that their food is good enough, and has big enough of a following, that customers will seek them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a less stressful situation than having that 5,000-square-foot restaurant,” Montano says.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_gaaarage/?hl=en\">\u003ci>El Garage\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> currently pops up on every second and fourth Saturday of the month at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dokkaebier_oakland/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Dokkaebier\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (420 3rd St.) in Oakland, 2–7:30 p.m. — the next one will be on Saturday, Oct. 26.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967254\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967254\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"Closeup of a quesabirria taco, with charred edges on the outside of the tortilla.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up of the cheesy, well-charred goodness. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The quesabirria sensation’s Richmond brick-and-mortar just never really took off.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>These days, it feels like nearly every taco truck and taqueria in the Bay Area is slinging quesabirria — those glistening-red, consomé-soaked tacos with their crispy edges and long pulls of stretchy cheese. But before all that, there was El Garage. In the halcyon pre-pandemic days of 2019, the Richmond pop-up was the \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">first quesabirria purveyor to truly blow up\u003c/a> in the Bay, and its success helped bring these Tijuana-by-way-of-L.A. beef birria tacos into the mainstream, paving the way for them to become a fixture of our region’s Mexican American food scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, in August, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DA7LNKbyL_6/?hl=en\">El Garage quietly closed\u003c/a> — or at least its brick-and-mortar restaurant in Richmond did, ending a four-year run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Viviana Montano, who runs the business along with her parents and sisters, says El Garage isn’t going anywhere. Instead, the family will focus once again on pop-ups and catering. They’ve already set up one twice-a-month gig at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dokkaebier_oakland/?hl=en\">Dokkaebier\u003c/a> taproom in Oakland, and they have several other pop-ups in the works — including a possible regular collaboration with Berkeley Bowl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967250\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior.jpg\" alt=\"Exterior of El Garage taqueria on a sunny day.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1374\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1536x1055.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-exterior-1920x1319.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The brick-and-mortar restaurant in Richmond never got much foot traffic. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to Montano, closing the restaurant was one the hardest decisions her family has had to make, but it also seemed inevitable for the better part of a year. “We just weren’t bringing enough people in,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fans of the taqueria might be familiar with the basic outlines of \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">El Garage’s story\u003c/a>: It started as a modest driveway operation in a residential neighborhood, went viral on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_gaaarage/?hl=en\">Instagram\u003c/a> to the point of routinely attracting hour-long lines and eventually, with much fanfare, \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/7/9/21319032/quesabirria-tacos-el-garage-richmond\">opened a 5,000-square-foot restaurant\u003c/a> a few blocks away from the Richmond BART station. For many Bay Area food lovers, El Garage’s quesabirria wasn’t \u003ci>just\u003c/i> their introduction to a new taco style. It was one the best tacos they’d ever eaten, period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the brick-and-mortar restaurant just never caught on, even as the Montanos expanded their menu to include other crowdpleasers, like pozole and shrimp taquitos. Part of the problem was that there aren’t really any other notable restaurants or attractions in that particular stretch of Richmond, so foot traffic was minimal. Even at the height of El Garage’s popularity, almost all of the business at the restaurant came from takeout and catering. And even when a handful of dine-in customers did sit down for a meal, the dining room still looked empty and sad because it was so big. It became a sort of self-fulfilling feedback loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967251\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967251\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos.jpg\" alt=\"Shrimp taquitos in a takeout container.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-shrimp-taquitos-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The restaurant introduced new dishes, like this take on shrimp taquitos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Most of our orders every day would just be DoorDash or UberEats. The restaurant was functioning as a ghost kitchen, essentially,” Montano says. In the end, paying rent for such a giant space just wasn’t sustainable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now that the restaurant is closed, the Montanos are fully focused on doing pop-ups and events — in a sense, going back to their roots as a renegade driveway taco stand. The one regular pop-up they’ve already set up — at Dokkaebier’s Jack London Square taproom — will take place every other Saturday. (The next one is on Oct. 26.) And Montano says she’s also in talks with a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District about the possibility of setting up another recurring pop-up there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most exciting, Montano says El Garage is currently in the process of scheduling its first pop-up at the cafe at \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berkeleybowl/\">Berkeley Bowl West\u003c/a>, probably for sometime in November. If all goes well, that, too, might turn into a regular, long-term gig for as many as two or three days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967253\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967253\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up.jpg\" alt=\"A cook makes tacos on a flat-top grill set up inside a tent.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-original-pop-up-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Garage’s original pop-up (circa 2019) took place inside a tent that was set up in the Montanos’ driveway. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the future, Montano says, El Garage would be open to exploring the possibility of opening a smaller restaurant in a better, more central location. But for now, the family feels much more comfortable with the pop-up model — and they’re confident that their food is good enough, and has big enough of a following, that customers will seek them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a less stressful situation than having that 5,000-square-foot restaurant,” Montano says.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/el_gaaarage/?hl=en\">\u003ci>El Garage\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> currently pops up on every second and fourth Saturday of the month at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dokkaebier_oakland/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Dokkaebier\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (420 3rd St.) in Oakland, 2–7:30 p.m. — the next one will be on Saturday, Oct. 26.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13967254\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13967254\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"Closeup of a quesabirria taco, with charred edges on the outside of the tortilla.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/10/el-garage-quesabirria-closeup-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Close-up of the cheesy, well-charred goodness. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating tacos and tortas inside a dimly lit restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Tacos El Rulas’ new brick-and-mortar taqueria, everything — from the tortas to the dining room — is uncommonly big. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing to know about Richmond’s newest late-night taqueria, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas\u003c/a>, is that everything about it is big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Start with the space itself, which is, in a word, cavernous. Located on the southern edge of Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street taco corridor\u003c/a>, it’s a high-ceilinged barn of a building that used to house a Mexican grocery store. Every square inch of wall space is covered with colorful blinking lights, neon signs (“Save Water, Drink Micheladas”), Mexican flags and larger-than-life murals depicting Selena, Jenni Rivera and other Mexican American musical icons. At around 9:30 on a Wednesday night, Colombian salsa music was blasting over the speakers while a group of coworkers threw back a $100 round of tequila shots served atop a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C_bc6q4yf6D/?hl=en\">miniature combi bus lit up with sparklers\u003c/a>. The overall vibe was somewhere between rowdy cafeteria and cool, dimly neon-lit nightclub.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, it might not be the best place to visit if you’re trying to avoid overstimulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran East Bay taco eaters may recall that El Rulas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931115/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-taco-truck-alambre-papa-loca-instagram-food-influencer\">started out as a taco truck\u003c/a> — which currently sits idle in its old spot in the restaurant’s parking lot. The truck was popular in part because of its block-party-meets-backyard-barbecue atmosphere, perfuming the neighborhood with the smell of charred meat late into the night. Its success was also largely a product of social media: Every item on the menu seemed specifically engineered to go viral on Instagram, from the red-tinged, dripping-wet quesabirria tacos to the monstrous (and since discontinued) three-foot-long burritos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the new brick-and-mortar Tacos El Rulas, too, much of the food is comically oversized — and all of it is available until midnight every night. We started with one of the restaurant’s Instagram hits, the papas locas, a.k.a. the Mexican American answer to a loaded baked potato, except that El Rulas’ version comes pre-smashed, sans skin, in an aluminum tray. It comes topped with your choice of protein (I recommend the supremely well-seasoned al pastor), butter, bacon, more butter, two big dollops of guacamole and a metric ton of stretchy melted cheese. Order this with a side of handmade tortillas to scoop it all up, and the dish is hearty enough to feed two or three hungry diners all by itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963838\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a restaurant bathed in neon light at nighttime. The sign above reads, \"Tacos El Rulas.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The longtime taco truck has taken over a cavernous space on the southern edge of Richmond’s 23rd Street taco corridor. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The El Rulas taco truck’s \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">first claim to fame\u003c/a>, long before it became a darling of Bay Area food influencers, was that it sold some of the biggest and tastiest tortas in our region. The restaurant makes a whopping 18 different varieties. And to this day, one of the most delicious things on the menu, pound for pound, is the torta Cubana. This is a sandwich the literal size of a football, layered so thick with meat that we practically had to unhinge our jaws in order to take a bite. The funny thing about El Rulas’ Cubana is that they seem to make it a little bit differently every time I order it, depending on what they have available in the kitchen. The most recent edition was crammed to overflowing with ham, four or five fried beef cutlets, a fried egg and stretchy mozzarella cheese — and no detectable vegetable matter whatsoever. (Other times, the sandwich has included some combination of lettuce, ham, chorizo and queso fresco.) Regardless: It’s a spectacular sandwich, especially after we doused it with some red salsa from the self-serve salsa station. And we still couldn’t finish even half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13963437,arts_13958926,arts_13958466']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The closest thing to a normally-portioned dish that we ordered was the ribeye tacos. Reasonable people might quibble over whether they’re worth the $6-a-taco price tag, but the thick cubes of steak were as buttery and tender as we could have hoped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there’s a downside to Tacos El Rulas, it’s that the place has been so infected by the social media brain worm that some of the offerings veer a little bit too close to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">stunt food territory\u003c/a>. The menu is loaded with luxe upgrades that aren’t really necessary for you to have a good experience — though I’ll admit that ribeye papas locas \u003ci>do \u003c/i>sound pretty great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My advice? Come with a group that likes to share, because you’re going to want to sample a few items. A solo diner can really only handle one of El Rulas’ special, over-the-top creations — and then you’re going to be eating one dish for a solid 40 minutes, and you still probably won’t finish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On weekend nights, the restaurant tends to fill up with the party crowd. The lines get long, and things can get a little bit chaotic. Late on a random weeknight, though? It’s a lot of families with kids, and coworkers stopping by for a drink and a meal at the end of their shift. Neon lights, gargantuan sandwiches and sensory overload notwithstanding, it’s actually a pretty chill place to grab a bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 11 a.m.–midnight daily at 232 23rd St. in Richmond. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963836\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963836\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men eating tacos and tortas inside a dimly lit restaurant.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At Tacos El Rulas’ new brick-and-mortar taqueria, everything — from the tortas to the dining room — is uncommonly big. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The thing to know about Richmond’s newest late-night taqueria, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas\u003c/a>, is that everything about it is big.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Start with the space itself, which is, in a word, cavernous. Located on the southern edge of Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street taco corridor\u003c/a>, it’s a high-ceilinged barn of a building that used to house a Mexican grocery store. Every square inch of wall space is covered with colorful blinking lights, neon signs (“Save Water, Drink Micheladas”), Mexican flags and larger-than-life murals depicting Selena, Jenni Rivera and other Mexican American musical icons. At around 9:30 on a Wednesday night, Colombian salsa music was blasting over the speakers while a group of coworkers threw back a $100 round of tequila shots served atop a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C_bc6q4yf6D/?hl=en\">miniature combi bus lit up with sparklers\u003c/a>. The overall vibe was somewhere between rowdy cafeteria and cool, dimly neon-lit nightclub.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short, it might not be the best place to visit if you’re trying to avoid overstimulation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran East Bay taco eaters may recall that El Rulas \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931115/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-taco-truck-alambre-papa-loca-instagram-food-influencer\">started out as a taco truck\u003c/a> — which currently sits idle in its old spot in the restaurant’s parking lot. The truck was popular in part because of its block-party-meets-backyard-barbecue atmosphere, perfuming the neighborhood with the smell of charred meat late into the night. Its success was also largely a product of social media: Every item on the menu seemed specifically engineered to go viral on Instagram, from the red-tinged, dripping-wet quesabirria tacos to the monstrous (and since discontinued) three-foot-long burritos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the new brick-and-mortar Tacos El Rulas, too, much of the food is comically oversized — and all of it is available until midnight every night. We started with one of the restaurant’s Instagram hits, the papas locas, a.k.a. the Mexican American answer to a loaded baked potato, except that El Rulas’ version comes pre-smashed, sans skin, in an aluminum tray. It comes topped with your choice of protein (I recommend the supremely well-seasoned al pastor), butter, bacon, more butter, two big dollops of guacamole and a metric ton of stretchy melted cheese. Order this with a side of handmade tortillas to scoop it all up, and the dish is hearty enough to feed two or three hungry diners all by itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13963838\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13963838\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2.jpg\" alt='Exterior of a restaurant bathed in neon light at nighttime. The sign above reads, \"Tacos El Rulas.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/09/El-Rulas2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The longtime taco truck has taken over a cavernous space on the southern edge of Richmond’s 23rd Street taco corridor. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The El Rulas taco truck’s \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">first claim to fame\u003c/a>, long before it became a darling of Bay Area food influencers, was that it sold some of the biggest and tastiest tortas in our region. The restaurant makes a whopping 18 different varieties. And to this day, one of the most delicious things on the menu, pound for pound, is the torta Cubana. This is a sandwich the literal size of a football, layered so thick with meat that we practically had to unhinge our jaws in order to take a bite. The funny thing about El Rulas’ Cubana is that they seem to make it a little bit differently every time I order it, depending on what they have available in the kitchen. The most recent edition was crammed to overflowing with ham, four or five fried beef cutlets, a fried egg and stretchy mozzarella cheese — and no detectable vegetable matter whatsoever. (Other times, the sandwich has included some combination of lettuce, ham, chorizo and queso fresco.) Regardless: It’s a spectacular sandwich, especially after we doused it with some red salsa from the self-serve salsa station. And we still couldn’t finish even half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>The closest thing to a normally-portioned dish that we ordered was the ribeye tacos. Reasonable people might quibble over whether they’re worth the $6-a-taco price tag, but the thick cubes of steak were as buttery and tender as we could have hoped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If there’s a downside to Tacos El Rulas, it’s that the place has been so infected by the social media brain worm that some of the offerings veer a little bit too close to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">stunt food territory\u003c/a>. The menu is loaded with luxe upgrades that aren’t really necessary for you to have a good experience — though I’ll admit that ribeye papas locas \u003ci>do \u003c/i>sound pretty great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My advice? Come with a group that likes to share, because you’re going to want to sample a few items. A solo diner can really only handle one of El Rulas’ special, over-the-top creations — and then you’re going to be eating one dish for a solid 40 minutes, and you still probably won’t finish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On weekend nights, the restaurant tends to fill up with the party crowd. The lines get long, and things can get a little bit chaotic. Late on a random weeknight, though? It’s a lot of families with kids, and coworkers stopping by for a drink and a meal at the end of their shift. Neon lights, gargantuan sandwiches and sensory overload notwithstanding, it’s actually a pretty chill place to grab a bite.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is open 11 a.m.–midnight daily at 232 23rd St. in Richmond. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-jose-foos-chris-villa-tacos-music-festival",
"title": "This Wildly Popular IG Account Is Throwing a Huge Latin Music Festival in San Jose",
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"headTitle": "This Wildly Popular IG Account Is Throwing a Huge Latin Music Festival in San Jose | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/hellahungry\">¡Hella Hungry!\u003c/a> is a series of interviews with Bay Area foodmakers exploring the region’s culinary innovations through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>South Almaden Avenue is a long stretch of pavement that runs through a scrappy, historic neighborhood on the southern edge of San Jose’s downtown. It’s the kind of barrio you can visit at any hour to find some of the Bay Area’s most homey tacos while vatos circle the block on bicycles and inside minivans. It’s also where you’ll find\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rosarios_tacos/?hl=en\"> Rosario’s Tacos\u003c/a>, a no-frills taqueria that started inside a garage before moving to its current brick-and-mortar location in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gregarious owner, Joe, is an embodiment of San Jose’s low-riding Chicano spirit — a proud father with a full-bellied laugh and cynical sense of humor who refuses to give up on his community. The restaurant is named after his late mother, Rosario, whose recipes Joe has adapted to create the restaurant’s beloved quesabirria — a red-drenched behemoth of a taco, dripping with consomme, birria, cheese and (if desired) plump, succulent shrimp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosario’s generous portion sizes and undiluted hometown pride are what attract one of Shark City’s biggest foodies:\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chrisillmatic/?hl=en\"> Chris Villa\u003c/a>. As the face of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosefoos/?hl=en\"> San Jose Foos\u003c/a> — the 408’s most culturally influential social media empire, with over 226,000 followers on Instagram — Villa has been going to Rosario’s for years and chose it as our rendezvous point on a sunny South Bay afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958803\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958803\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a table of tacos and flyers for a music festival\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose Foos is helping to coordinate the city’s first-ever Latin house music festival at Discovery Meadow Park on June 15. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though not food-specific, the page — which Villa co-facilitates with \u003ca href=\"https://www.metrosiliconvalley.com/san-jose-foos-become-a-much-needed-voice-for-san-jose-culture/\">San Jose Foos founder, Jorge Anthony Gomez\u003c/a> — uplifts a variety of San Jose-owned businesses like Rosario’s. Their popular, insider-y memes and videos highlight small, family-run, genuinely under-appreciated and off-the-radar locales that otherwise go unnoticed by the Bay Area mainstream. Villa has been involved with the account for four years and recently left his job at Apple to pursue his creativity full-time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their biggest effort to continue building the city’s cultural profile, San Jose Foos are launching a new music festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AhHO0Pucw/?hl=en\">Taraka\u003c/a>. Headlined by\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gordoszn/?hl=en\"> Nicaraguan super producer and DJ, Gordo\u003c/a>, and featuring a cast of eleven Latin American house music DJs, the festival will be the only one of its kind in the region (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13865311/how-sonido-clash-music-fest-became-a-hub-for-forward-thinking-latinx-sounds\">Sonido Clash, the alternative Latinx music festival\u003c/a> that was once held in San Jose, has been discontinued since the pandemic).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ordering close to 20 tacos — which we divvied up, each taking home leftovers — Villa and I ate ourselves into a peaceful state of higher consciousness while chatting about Silicon Valley’s joys, complexities and upcoming food and music takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ci>********\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958806\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"birria tacos on a grill at a taqueria\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The quesabirria tacos are a main attraction at Rosario’s. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: You chose this spot as our meeting point. What does Rosario’s Tacos mean to you? [mariachi music blares in the background]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris Villa: \u003c/b>I’ve known about this spot for the longest. It’s a San Jose staple. It’s one of those spots that everyone in San Jose goes to. I’ve built a rapport with Joe [the owner] because of what he does and what he has contributed to the community. He has a presence here. And the food is delicious. This isn’t a gentrified spot, but you’ll still see every culture here. A group of Indian foodies recently made a video. That’s really cool to see. And Joe doesn’t want to go anywhere. He wants to stay right here in San Jose. That gives people a sense of pride. You can’t hate on that, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I feel that. Have you eaten the Godzilla Taco here? The menu says it’s a 14-inch quesabirria taco. It crossed my mind.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I have. I can’t finish it [laughs].\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958804\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958804\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a kitchen cook prepares meat for birria tacos\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rosario’s Tacos uses family recipes from the owner’s late mother, Rosario, to make some of the best quesabirria in San Jose. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There are a lot of solid taquerias in this area. I remember eating around here when I was a teenager, and a group of gang members got out of their car and approached the people I was with because of some of the colors they were wearing. But the tacos were so damn good that I kept coming back. Did you grow up in this part of the city?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958336,arts_13958466,arts_13920483']\u003c/span>I grew up on the south side of San Jose. We used to stay away from this area growing up because of what it is, you know [laughs]. Where I lived was like the opposite gang, but I wasn’t affiliated or anything like that. Before all the Instagram stuff, I’ve always been cool with everyone. Just going out and saying what’s up to all the homies. That’s just the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did you start working with San Jose Foos, and what’s your involvement?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I partnered with my homie, Anthony [Gomez]. He’s the one who started it; I’m considered the face of it, and I’m in some of the videos. I also help with scheduling, shooting, editing and stuff like that as much as needed. I started a few years ago right after COVID [emerged] in 2020. After all that was going on, that’s when I jumped on board, and I was like, hey, you know, it’s a lot of fighting hate with hate. We wanted to make it a love thing. Support our community. Support local businesses however we can. We were at maybe 10,000 followers at the time, and it still made a difference. And from then it blew up from just telling people to check out this spot, go look at this artist, sharing San Jose staples that you got to know. It became more about that. Local history, culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958805\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958805\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a mural that reads "Rosario's Tacos San Jose" inside a taqueria\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural inside the taqueria reflects the owner’s hometown Chicano pride. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Is that cultural representation something you think San Jose was lacking at the time — or is maybe still lacking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was missing for the longest. San Jose hasn’t always been shown the same love as San Francisco and Oakland. We wanted to pivot and put San Jose on the map in different ways. That was the goal. We want to make people laugh, too [laughs]. This is my favorite horchata in San Jose, by the way [sips horchata].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re helping launch a new festival in San Jose. That’s a big deal. How’s that going?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s huge. The first of its kind here in San Jose. They’re going to start building the stage. We’ve always wanted to do something big, festival wise. We’ve been mapping things out. Gordo is a dope artist. I’ve always been a fan of his, so when I heard we’re bringing him out I was like yo, that’s crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958808\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a journalist eating a taco\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED food journalist Alan Chazaro listens in as Chris Villa talks about San Jose’s cultural riches. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your role in the festival?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m helping facilitate, mainly with the vendors. Making sure everyone’s good. I’ve been running around, wearing a few hats. It’ll all be at Discovery Meadows [the park outside the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose]. We have a friend who organizes events, and they’re really good at putting things together and getting the permits and things like that, so they took care of all that. We’ve done events before, but not this size. It’s gonna be good. It’s a large event being held in San Jose at a venue that not many people know about. The last big event that happened there was with Logic. He held a free event there. Hella random.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Who’s going to be there?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Live DJs will be going on from 2 to 9 on one stage. Gordo, Lee Foss, Malóne, Maneki. Nico Crespo from San Jose. He’s actually my best friend’s cousin and he’s been doing it big in the house and techno scene. It’s 11 Latin American house music DJs in total.\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brownnproudla/?hl=en\"> Brown N Proud\u003c/a> LA is doing an SJ collab. He’s a clothing guy; [the clothing brand] Foos Gone Wild has partnered up with him before. But it’s mostly San Jose people:\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shrimpn_aint_eazy/?hl=en\"> Shrimpin Ain’t Eazy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popupsj/?hl=en\">Pop Up SJ\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mrshrimpsj/\">Mr. Shrimp\u003c/a>. Food trucks, thrifters, clothing brands. Our own stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958809\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958809\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"three people sit in front of a taqueria during lunch\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chris Vilal (left), Alan Chazaro (center) and Rosario’s Tacos owner, Joe (right), discuss San Jose’s artistic community. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your philosophy on what San Jose could be doing better moving forward?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest thing I see in San Jose is people fighting against each other, making everything a competition. [San Jose Foos] never saw it that way. We want to partner up with whoever wants to make a difference, big or small. Artists, photographers, any of that. One of the organizations we help out is\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/adopt_my_block/?hl=en\"> Adopt My Block\u003c/a>. They’re about adopting dogs, sheltering dogs. We reached out to them. It’s run by\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839650/on-3rtys-veteran-san-jose-battle-rapper-dirtbag-dan-reveals-his-introspective-side\"> Dirtbag Dan\u003c/a>, one of [San Jose’s] old school battle rappers. We want to show that love to our city.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Taraka with Gordo’ will take place at Discovery Meadow Park (180 Woz Way, San Jose) on Sat., June 15 from 2 to 9 p.m. Tickets available \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/taraka-san-jose-w-gordo-more-tba-tickets-891379388747?aff=aff0bandsintown&comeFrom=2500&artist_event_id=1031776474&bit_userid=%24%7Buser_id%7D&appId=onaqfvagbja_jro\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "San Jose Foos Is Throwing a Huge New Latin Music Festival | KQED",
"description": "San Jose Foos’ Chris Villa breaks down Silicon Valley’s upcoming Latin American electronic music festival and where he goes to get his favorite tacos.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/hellahungry\">¡Hella Hungry!\u003c/a> is a series of interviews with Bay Area foodmakers exploring the region’s culinary innovations through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>South Almaden Avenue is a long stretch of pavement that runs through a scrappy, historic neighborhood on the southern edge of San Jose’s downtown. It’s the kind of barrio you can visit at any hour to find some of the Bay Area’s most homey tacos while vatos circle the block on bicycles and inside minivans. It’s also where you’ll find\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rosarios_tacos/?hl=en\"> Rosario’s Tacos\u003c/a>, a no-frills taqueria that started inside a garage before moving to its current brick-and-mortar location in 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gregarious owner, Joe, is an embodiment of San Jose’s low-riding Chicano spirit — a proud father with a full-bellied laugh and cynical sense of humor who refuses to give up on his community. The restaurant is named after his late mother, Rosario, whose recipes Joe has adapted to create the restaurant’s beloved quesabirria — a red-drenched behemoth of a taco, dripping with consomme, birria, cheese and (if desired) plump, succulent shrimp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosario’s generous portion sizes and undiluted hometown pride are what attract one of Shark City’s biggest foodies:\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chrisillmatic/?hl=en\"> Chris Villa\u003c/a>. As the face of\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/sanjosefoos/?hl=en\"> San Jose Foos\u003c/a> — the 408’s most culturally influential social media empire, with over 226,000 followers on Instagram — Villa has been going to Rosario’s for years and chose it as our rendezvous point on a sunny South Bay afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958803\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958803\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a table of tacos and flyers for a music festival\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-35-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose Foos is helping to coordinate the city’s first-ever Latin house music festival at Discovery Meadow Park on June 15. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though not food-specific, the page — which Villa co-facilitates with \u003ca href=\"https://www.metrosiliconvalley.com/san-jose-foos-become-a-much-needed-voice-for-san-jose-culture/\">San Jose Foos founder, Jorge Anthony Gomez\u003c/a> — uplifts a variety of San Jose-owned businesses like Rosario’s. Their popular, insider-y memes and videos highlight small, family-run, genuinely under-appreciated and off-the-radar locales that otherwise go unnoticed by the Bay Area mainstream. Villa has been involved with the account for four years and recently left his job at Apple to pursue his creativity full-time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their biggest effort to continue building the city’s cultural profile, San Jose Foos are launching a new music festival: \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AhHO0Pucw/?hl=en\">Taraka\u003c/a>. Headlined by\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gordoszn/?hl=en\"> Nicaraguan super producer and DJ, Gordo\u003c/a>, and featuring a cast of eleven Latin American house music DJs, the festival will be the only one of its kind in the region (\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13865311/how-sonido-clash-music-fest-became-a-hub-for-forward-thinking-latinx-sounds\">Sonido Clash, the alternative Latinx music festival\u003c/a> that was once held in San Jose, has been discontinued since the pandemic).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ordering close to 20 tacos — which we divvied up, each taking home leftovers — Villa and I ate ourselves into a peaceful state of higher consciousness while chatting about Silicon Valley’s joys, complexities and upcoming food and music takeover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ci>********\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958806\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958806\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"birria tacos on a grill at a taqueria\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The quesabirria tacos are a main attraction at Rosario’s. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Alan Chazaro: You chose this spot as our meeting point. What does Rosario’s Tacos mean to you? [mariachi music blares in the background]\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris Villa: \u003c/b>I’ve known about this spot for the longest. It’s a San Jose staple. It’s one of those spots that everyone in San Jose goes to. I’ve built a rapport with Joe [the owner] because of what he does and what he has contributed to the community. He has a presence here. And the food is delicious. This isn’t a gentrified spot, but you’ll still see every culture here. A group of Indian foodies recently made a video. That’s really cool to see. And Joe doesn’t want to go anywhere. He wants to stay right here in San Jose. That gives people a sense of pride. You can’t hate on that, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I feel that. Have you eaten the Godzilla Taco here? The menu says it’s a 14-inch quesabirria taco. It crossed my mind.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I have. I can’t finish it [laughs].\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958804\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958804\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a kitchen cook prepares meat for birria tacos\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rosario’s Tacos uses family recipes from the owner’s late mother, Rosario, to make some of the best quesabirria in San Jose. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There are a lot of solid taquerias in this area. I remember eating around here when I was a teenager, and a group of gang members got out of their car and approached the people I was with because of some of the colors they were wearing. But the tacos were so damn good that I kept coming back. Did you grow up in this part of the city?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>I grew up on the south side of San Jose. We used to stay away from this area growing up because of what it is, you know [laughs]. Where I lived was like the opposite gang, but I wasn’t affiliated or anything like that. Before all the Instagram stuff, I’ve always been cool with everyone. Just going out and saying what’s up to all the homies. That’s just the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did you start working with San Jose Foos, and what’s your involvement?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I partnered with my homie, Anthony [Gomez]. He’s the one who started it; I’m considered the face of it, and I’m in some of the videos. I also help with scheduling, shooting, editing and stuff like that as much as needed. I started a few years ago right after COVID [emerged] in 2020. After all that was going on, that’s when I jumped on board, and I was like, hey, you know, it’s a lot of fighting hate with hate. We wanted to make it a love thing. Support our community. Support local businesses however we can. We were at maybe 10,000 followers at the time, and it still made a difference. And from then it blew up from just telling people to check out this spot, go look at this artist, sharing San Jose staples that you got to know. It became more about that. Local history, culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958805\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958805\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a mural that reads "Rosario's Tacos San Jose" inside a taqueria\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mural inside the taqueria reflects the owner’s hometown Chicano pride. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Is that cultural representation something you think San Jose was lacking at the time — or is maybe still lacking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was missing for the longest. San Jose hasn’t always been shown the same love as San Francisco and Oakland. We wanted to pivot and put San Jose on the map in different ways. That was the goal. We want to make people laugh, too [laughs]. This is my favorite horchata in San Jose, by the way [sips horchata].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re helping launch a new festival in San Jose. That’s a big deal. How’s that going?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s huge. The first of its kind here in San Jose. They’re going to start building the stage. We’ve always wanted to do something big, festival wise. We’ve been mapping things out. Gordo is a dope artist. I’ve always been a fan of his, so when I heard we’re bringing him out I was like yo, that’s crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958808\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958808\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a journalist eating a taco\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-26-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">KQED food journalist Alan Chazaro listens in as Chris Villa talks about San Jose’s cultural riches. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your role in the festival?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m helping facilitate, mainly with the vendors. Making sure everyone’s good. I’ve been running around, wearing a few hats. It’ll all be at Discovery Meadows [the park outside the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose]. We have a friend who organizes events, and they’re really good at putting things together and getting the permits and things like that, so they took care of all that. We’ve done events before, but not this size. It’s gonna be good. It’s a large event being held in San Jose at a venue that not many people know about. The last big event that happened there was with Logic. He held a free event there. Hella random.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Who’s going to be there?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Live DJs will be going on from 2 to 9 on one stage. Gordo, Lee Foss, Malóne, Maneki. Nico Crespo from San Jose. He’s actually my best friend’s cousin and he’s been doing it big in the house and techno scene. It’s 11 Latin American house music DJs in total.\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brownnproudla/?hl=en\"> Brown N Proud\u003c/a> LA is doing an SJ collab. He’s a clothing guy; [the clothing brand] Foos Gone Wild has partnered up with him before. But it’s mostly San Jose people:\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/shrimpn_aint_eazy/?hl=en\"> Shrimpin Ain’t Eazy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/popupsj/?hl=en\">Pop Up SJ\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mrshrimpsj/\">Mr. Shrimp\u003c/a>. Food trucks, thrifters, clothing brands. Our own stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958809\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958809\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"three people sit in front of a taqueria during lunch\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/TacoTalkWAlanChris-37-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chris Vilal (left), Alan Chazaro (center) and Rosario’s Tacos owner, Joe (right), discuss San Jose’s artistic community. \u003ccite>(@alexknowbody)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What’s your philosophy on what San Jose could be doing better moving forward?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The biggest thing I see in San Jose is people fighting against each other, making everything a competition. [San Jose Foos] never saw it that way. We want to partner up with whoever wants to make a difference, big or small. Artists, photographers, any of that. One of the organizations we help out is\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/adopt_my_block/?hl=en\"> Adopt My Block\u003c/a>. They’re about adopting dogs, sheltering dogs. We reached out to them. It’s run by\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839650/on-3rtys-veteran-san-jose-battle-rapper-dirtbag-dan-reveals-his-introspective-side\"> Dirtbag Dan\u003c/a>, one of [San Jose’s] old school battle rappers. We want to show that love to our city.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>‘Taraka with Gordo’ will take place at Discovery Meadow Park (180 Woz Way, San Jose) on Sat., June 15 from 2 to 9 p.m. Tickets available \u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/taraka-san-jose-w-gordo-more-tba-tickets-891379388747?aff=aff0bandsintown&comeFrom=2500&artist_event_id=1031776474&bit_userid=%24%7Buser_id%7D&appId=onaqfvagbja_jro\">here\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958470\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour tacos and burritos while pouring hot sauce from squeeze bottles directly into their mouths.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueria (aka La Vic’s), is famous for its orange sauce — and for feeding hungry college students until 3 a.m. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve never stumbled into \u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/a> at 2 o’clock in the morning, bleary-eyed and half-starving midway through a six-hour cram session during finals week at San Jose State. Never crushed a plate of carne asada fries, half-drunk, after a night of dancing at Agenda or SJ Live back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So my devotion to La Vic’s legendary orange sauce — the creamy, chile-flecked condiment that spawned a hundred imitators — is merely practical rather than religious. I just think it’s one of the most delicious hot sauces in the Bay Area. Almost certainly the most delicious you can get your hands on at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And after our recent late-night visit, I think I understand the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1998, the original San Carlos Street location of La Vic’s sits kitty-corner to SJSU’s main campus, inside a cheery, slightly ramshackle old house — like a cartoon Victorian where a child detective goes mystery hunting. The family-owned taqueria offers a very standard college town burrito shop menu: enormously overstuffed tacos and burritos, quesadillas and loaded nachos and fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference is that everywhere you look, there’s orange sauce. Twelve-ounce squeeze bottles on every table, and lined up in the fridge case behind the counter. Multiple orange sauce posters on the walls. College kids — so many college kids, in gym shorts or decked out for a night at the club — ordering extra tubs of orange sauce to go with their takeout burritos. Even the cup for our agua fresca was decorated with a picture of a bottle of orange sauce. (“Orange you glad you tried,” reads the tagline.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958473\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958473\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of La Victoria Taqueria, in an old Victorian house, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original La Vic’s is located in downtown San Jose, right across the street from San Jose State University. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Look, if we’re being strictly honest, there are plenty of taquerias in San Jose — and all around the Bay — where you can get a tastier, more well-constructed burrito than the ones La Vic’s is rolling out these days. You can find more flavorful carnitas and juicier, less gristly carne asada. There are other restaurants that do a better job of piling meat and cheese on top of French fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But man does that orange sauce paper over a thousand sins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any well-guarded family recipe, the actual contents of the sauce are shrouded in secrecy and wild speculation. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/san-jose-orange-sauce-taco-burrito-la-victoria-recipe/\">public interviews\u003c/a>, La Vic’s owners have only revealed a handful of obvious ingredients: garlic, onions, tomatoes, dried red chiles. Meanwhile, orange-sauce conspiracy theorists have long debated the source of the sauce’s telltale creaminess, which has been rumored to come from crushed-up crackers, mayonnaise and even leftover chorizo grease (!). The restaurant, for its part, stresses that the sauce has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/La-Victoria-orange-sauce-is-secret-17081821.php\">100% vegan\u003c/a>. (I, and most \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/191wyaw/update_la_victorias_orange_sauce_aka_san_jose/\">copycat recipes\u003c/a>, suspect the creaminess just comes from emulsified vegetable oil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13958041,arts_13955884,arts_13954983']\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Whatever the secret, La Vic’s orange sauce is delicious. It has a bright, garlicky heat that immediately perks up the palate and a tanginess that keeps it from being overly heavy, making it a natural foil to salty grilled meats. And we loved how the sauce’s slightly dense, creamy texture allows it to cling to surfaces instead of making the food soggy like your typical watery salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also figured out how, if you order smartly, you can put together a legitimately solid meal at La Vic’s, even apart from squirting orange sauce onto every bite. First pro tip: It’s the super tacos, not the burritos, that are the star of the menu, especially if you order them with lengua, which is the tastiest and most tender of the meat options. The super tacos feature thick, double-stacked tortillas that the taqueros will crisp up on request, and they’re loaded with guacamole and sour cream, which provide a refreshing tang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second tip: Don’t sleep on the zippy and criminally underrated green sauce, which some La Vic’s loyalists like even better than the orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: It’s true that the carne asada fries, which come loaded with steak, nacho cheese, sour cream and guac, are the ideal drunk food. But the fries here aren’t especially crispy, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the whole thing turns into a soggy mess. Consider instead the nachos. They have a much more resilient crunch and are, in my view, the perfect vessel for orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless you count my own cooking, that is. Like so many other La Vic’s initiates, I dropped $8 on a bottle of the sauce to bring home — to test if it does, in fact, taste amazing on everything, like so many of the glowing reviews I’d read. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been putting it on scrambled eggs and homemade carnitas, stirring it into bowls of rice and beans. And it really is true: I haven’t been disappointed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">\u003ci>La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has six Bay Area locations, mostly in San Jose. The original location at 140 E. San Carlos St. is open from 7 a.m.–3 a.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958470\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958470\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Two men devour tacos and burritos while pouring hot sauce from squeeze bottles directly into their mouths.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose’s La Victoria Taqueria (aka La Vic’s), is famous for its orange sauce — and for feeding hungry college students until 3 a.m. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and graphic novelist \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thiendog/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Thien Pham\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve never stumbled into \u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/a> at 2 o’clock in the morning, bleary-eyed and half-starving midway through a six-hour cram session during finals week at San Jose State. Never crushed a plate of carne asada fries, half-drunk, after a night of dancing at Agenda or SJ Live back in the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So my devotion to La Vic’s legendary orange sauce — the creamy, chile-flecked condiment that spawned a hundred imitators — is merely practical rather than religious. I just think it’s one of the most delicious hot sauces in the Bay Area. Almost certainly the most delicious you can get your hands on at 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And after our recent late-night visit, I think I understand the hype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Open since 1998, the original San Carlos Street location of La Vic’s sits kitty-corner to SJSU’s main campus, inside a cheery, slightly ramshackle old house — like a cartoon Victorian where a child detective goes mystery hunting. The family-owned taqueria offers a very standard college town burrito shop menu: enormously overstuffed tacos and burritos, quesadillas and loaded nachos and fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only difference is that everywhere you look, there’s orange sauce. Twelve-ounce squeeze bottles on every table, and lined up in the fridge case behind the counter. Multiple orange sauce posters on the walls. College kids — so many college kids, in gym shorts or decked out for a night at the club — ordering extra tubs of orange sauce to go with their takeout burritos. Even the cup for our agua fresca was decorated with a picture of a bottle of orange sauce. (“Orange you glad you tried,” reads the tagline.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958473\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958473\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Exterior of La Victoria Taqueria, in an old Victorian house, lit up at night.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/Lavics2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The original La Vic’s is located in downtown San Jose, right across the street from San Jose State University. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Look, if we’re being strictly honest, there are plenty of taquerias in San Jose — and all around the Bay — where you can get a tastier, more well-constructed burrito than the ones La Vic’s is rolling out these days. You can find more flavorful carnitas and juicier, less gristly carne asada. There are other restaurants that do a better job of piling meat and cheese on top of French fries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But man does that orange sauce paper over a thousand sins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like any well-guarded family recipe, the actual contents of the sauce are shrouded in secrecy and wild speculation. In \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/07/san-jose-orange-sauce-taco-burrito-la-victoria-recipe/\">public interviews\u003c/a>, La Vic’s owners have only revealed a handful of obvious ingredients: garlic, onions, tomatoes, dried red chiles. Meanwhile, orange-sauce conspiracy theorists have long debated the source of the sauce’s telltale creaminess, which has been rumored to come from crushed-up crackers, mayonnaise and even leftover chorizo grease (!). The restaurant, for its part, stresses that the sauce has always been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/La-Victoria-orange-sauce-is-secret-17081821.php\">100% vegan\u003c/a>. (I, and most \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/SalsaSnobs/comments/191wyaw/update_la_victorias_orange_sauce_aka_san_jose/\">copycat recipes\u003c/a>, suspect the creaminess just comes from emulsified vegetable oil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/span>Whatever the secret, La Vic’s orange sauce is delicious. It has a bright, garlicky heat that immediately perks up the palate and a tanginess that keeps it from being overly heavy, making it a natural foil to salty grilled meats. And we loved how the sauce’s slightly dense, creamy texture allows it to cling to surfaces instead of making the food soggy like your typical watery salsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We also figured out how, if you order smartly, you can put together a legitimately solid meal at La Vic’s, even apart from squirting orange sauce onto every bite. First pro tip: It’s the super tacos, not the burritos, that are the star of the menu, especially if you order them with lengua, which is the tastiest and most tender of the meat options. The super tacos feature thick, double-stacked tortillas that the taqueros will crisp up on request, and they’re loaded with guacamole and sour cream, which provide a refreshing tang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second tip: Don’t sleep on the zippy and criminally underrated green sauce, which some La Vic’s loyalists like even better than the orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: It’s true that the carne asada fries, which come loaded with steak, nacho cheese, sour cream and guac, are the ideal drunk food. But the fries here aren’t especially crispy, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the whole thing turns into a soggy mess. Consider instead the nachos. They have a much more resilient crunch and are, in my view, the perfect vessel for orange sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unless you count my own cooking, that is. Like so many other La Vic’s initiates, I dropped $8 on a bottle of the sauce to bring home — to test if it does, in fact, taste amazing on everything, like so many of the glowing reviews I’d read. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been putting it on scrambled eggs and homemade carnitas, stirring it into bowls of rice and beans. And it really is true: I haven’t been disappointed yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lavicsj.com/\">\u003ci>La Victoria Taqueria\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> has six Bay Area locations, mostly in San Jose. The original location at 140 E. San Carlos St. is open from 7 a.m.–3 a.m. daily.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Return of East Oakland’s Menudo King",
"headTitle": "The Return of East Oakland’s Menudo King | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In 2019, Nolberto Martinez, Jr. was already an East Oakland legend in the making. His little taqueria, La Casita, was \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pozole-birria-and-more-homey-cooking-at-la-casita-2-1/\">routinely hailed\u003c/a> as one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GXIfUlr7c4A3MSRv9hBxrXrfiLyyWMCldJos0/?img_index=6\">best restaurants\u003c/a> in Fruitvale — for its fat, hand-pressed tortillas, its habit-forming housemade salsas and, most of all, its homey, Jalisco-style soups, like pozole and menudo, which were some of the best I’d ever tasted. At the center of it all was Martinez himself, the Bay Area’s self-styled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5XxFYnDH8Uz6YpKcgAiLNM2tScp6G3P0v3TQ0/\">menudo king\u003c/a>,” a boisterous presence who’d greet each guest with a plate of tortillas and cotija-dusted black beans and a booming, “What can I get for you, bro?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a dream come true for an East Oakland kid who grew up bussing tables at his grandmother’s Mexican restaurant on East 12th, hatching plans to someday open his own spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, a series of calamities: In May of 2019, Martinez’s father passed away from cancer, and before he’d even had a chance to process his grief, the pandemic hit the Bay Area in full force. “Nobody was coming to the Fruitvale,” Martinez recalls. “We were constantly in the news: ‘Don’t come to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/One-Oakland-neighborhood-has-seen-a-surge-in-15651955.php\">Fruitvale district because of COVID\u003c/a>.’ It was a ghost town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Casita’s temporary closure quickly turned permanent, and then Martinez…kind of disappeared for four years. Not literally, of course. He still picked up catering gigs and did occasional pop-ups, slinging quesabirria in the park or at a local brewery. Once in a while he’d cook up a big batch of his excellent, sneakily spicy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/12/8/22154347/holidays-shopping-gifts-san-francisco-oakland-food-restaurants\">orange salsa\u003c/a> and sell it to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CIeksGLF_kECYCtgJwTQjKxSLjKkpaUmcOsL7E0/?img_index=1\">Instagram\u003c/a> followers. But as far as running a restaurant? It seemed like he was out of the game for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958128\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef uses tongs to turn ears of corn cooking on the grill inside a restaurant kitchen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After a four-year hiatus, Martinez is back doing what he loves best: running a restaurant in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until a couple of months ago, that is. In March, Martinez started a new job as the general manager of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/todosmexican/?hl=en\">Todos\u003c/a>, a two-year-old Mexican restaurant in downtown Oakland where he does a little bit of everything — works front of house, oversees the kitchen crew, lends a hand at the bar, jumps on the line to grill up some elote. Slowly, too, he’s been tweaking the menu, and in the next couple of weeks, he’ll be rolling out some of the La Casita classics that made him a local legend: the birria, pozole and menudo. It’s an answer to so many soup lovers’ wistful prayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now firmly entrenched in his new gig, Martinez acknowledges that the past four years were a dark and difficult time. Losing his dad, Nolberto Sr. — himself a chef and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVYUeOAKy5vGAE1f33S8ohAtbvf2fYkSvzXwA0/\">longtime fixture in Oakland restaurant kitchens\u003c/a> — was a big blow to the entire family. Losing La Casita on top of that left Martinez feeling even more heartbroken and unmoored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I ever wanted was to open my own restaurant,” he says. “I was really down, man. For a long time, I was pissed off at myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the midst of those difficult times, Martinez says he turned to his Oakland community for support. He worked for a coffee roaster and a moving company for a while, then found a job as a prep cook for a nonprofit that delivered meals to churches and convalescent homes. He started working on his mental health, too — joined a men’s healing group, stopped drinking, came to terms with his father’s death and just generally tried to take better care of himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957673\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957673\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt='Exterior of of a downtown restaurant. The sign reads, \"Todos Cantina + Cocina.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Todos, a two-year-old Mexican restaurant in downtown Oakland, has given Martinez a fresh opportunity. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around this time, one of his coworkers told him that the Todos ownership group — the team that operates \u003ca href=\"https://underdogstoo.com/\">Underdogs\u003c/a> in San Francisco and a handful of \u003ca href=\"https://elrestaurante.com/the-taco-syndicate-web-of-restaurants-keeps-taco-lovers-happ/\">other Mexican restaurants around the Bay\u003c/a> — was looking for someone to run their Oakland location. They wanted someone who loved Oakland and knew the Mexican food business. As it turns out, Martinez fit that description to a T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a trope in the food industry where a talented chef quits his cushy job working for a big, investor-driven restaurant in order to open his own little passion project, allowing him to finally find true fulfillment. On the face of it, anyway, Martinez’s path has had the reverse trajectory. But if anything, he seems humbled and grateful for the opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not too many people want to teach you something, let alone a guy from East Oakland,” Martinez says of his new employers. “I’m happy. I feel a lot better as a person. I feel like I have the weight on my shoulders [lifted].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957677\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Quesabirria cook on the plancha. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Martinez is learning the ins and outs of running a 90-seat restaurant — much, much larger than his tiny taqueria on Foothill Boulevard. He manages dozens of employees, handles a massive office catering operation and is taking online classes to acquire all of the deeper business knowledge he’d previously just had to pick up on the fly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13955802,arts_13954112,arts_13931115']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For longtime fans of La Casita, the most exciting part is that he’s starting to put his own stamp on the menu. This week he’ll roll out his beef birria, which has already been on the menu in the form of his popular consomé-soaked quesabirria tacos. Now, Todos will serve birria in a variety of new formats — the traditional way, as a soup, with rice and beans on the side; as a street taco; and in the double-wrapped crispy tacos known as diablitos. “You can call Todos an Oakland birrieria now, I’m very proud to say,” Martinez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the coming weeks he’ll also begin serving pozole and menudo on the weekends. Both are versions of recipes that Martinez inherited when he bought the Foothill Boulevard restaurant from Ana Maria Campos, who ran it under the name Taqueria Campos for more than 10 years before he took over the business. It’s for good reason that old customers still speak about those soups in hushed, reverent tones: In my memory, Martinez’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacasitaeastoakland/\">red pork pozole\u003c/a> had the kind of heady, invigorating broth that warms you up from the inside, especially when doctored with a drizzle of the chef’s housemade chile de árbol chili oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957678\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957678\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A sauce-drenched wet burrito on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wet burrito at Todos. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And his menudo, that famous hangover cure, may have been the best I’ve ever tasted — the tripe and the jiggly beef trotter slow-simmered until they’re slurpably soft, the broth as clean and clarifying as you can imagine. During La Casita’s glory years, the restaurant was “like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BksX-98HDv8HkCi5N3oYRFh-A0j-YL-HWb7rE80/\">hangover headquarters\u003c/a>,” Martinez recalls, as customers lined up for their morning menudo fix on Saturdays and Sundays — and even Mondays, when the really serious drinkers would call in sick. “I call it food for the soul, man,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his long hiatus, Martinez says it means the world to him to bring these dishes back to Oakland now, at a restaurant with an even wider reach. He thinks about how important it is for him to carry on his family’s legacy — about how much he loved watching his dad cook and how his grandmother opened La Estrellita, one of Fruitvale’s first Mexican restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958129\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef puts plates of food that are ready to be served onto the pass inside a restaurant kitchen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For Martinez, operating a restaurant in Oakland is a matter of family pride — and Town pride. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There is the matter, too, of repping his neighborhood and hometown. In the old La Casita days, in almost every photo of the restaurant that Martinez posted on social media, he’s posing next to the mural on the outside. It reads, in boldface lowrider-style lettering, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Wqnj_laPncUFgduyw_OWl0eoCNWkrXbwZVZk0/\">Oakland Over Everything\u003c/a>” — an encapsulation of the chef’s Town pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Me being from the Fruitvale district here in East Oakland, it was rough growing up. A lot of us didn’t make it; a lot of us are not doing good,” Martinez says. “For me to be blessed like this, it means a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/todosmexican/\">\u003ci>Todos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 2315 Valdez St. in Oakland.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"headline": "The Return of East Oakland’s Menudo King",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2019, Nolberto Martinez, Jr. was already an East Oakland legend in the making. His little taqueria, La Casita, was \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/pozole-birria-and-more-homey-cooking-at-la-casita-2-1/\">routinely hailed\u003c/a> as one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B6GXIfUlr7c4A3MSRv9hBxrXrfiLyyWMCldJos0/?img_index=6\">best restaurants\u003c/a> in Fruitvale — for its fat, hand-pressed tortillas, its habit-forming housemade salsas and, most of all, its homey, Jalisco-style soups, like pozole and menudo, which were some of the best I’d ever tasted. At the center of it all was Martinez himself, the Bay Area’s self-styled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5XxFYnDH8Uz6YpKcgAiLNM2tScp6G3P0v3TQ0/\">menudo king\u003c/a>,” a boisterous presence who’d greet each guest with a plate of tortillas and cotija-dusted black beans and a booming, “What can I get for you, bro?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a dream come true for an East Oakland kid who grew up bussing tables at his grandmother’s Mexican restaurant on East 12th, hatching plans to someday open his own spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, a series of calamities: In May of 2019, Martinez’s father passed away from cancer, and before he’d even had a chance to process his grief, the pandemic hit the Bay Area in full force. “Nobody was coming to the Fruitvale,” Martinez recalls. “We were constantly in the news: ‘Don’t come to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/One-Oakland-neighborhood-has-seen-a-surge-in-15651955.php\">Fruitvale district because of COVID\u003c/a>.’ It was a ghost town.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>La Casita’s temporary closure quickly turned permanent, and then Martinez…kind of disappeared for four years. Not literally, of course. He still picked up catering gigs and did occasional pop-ups, slinging quesabirria in the park or at a local brewery. Once in a while he’d cook up a big batch of his excellent, sneakily spicy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2020/12/8/22154347/holidays-shopping-gifts-san-francisco-oakland-food-restaurants\">orange salsa\u003c/a> and sell it to his \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CIeksGLF_kECYCtgJwTQjKxSLjKkpaUmcOsL7E0/?img_index=1\">Instagram\u003c/a> followers. But as far as running a restaurant? It seemed like he was out of the game for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958128\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef uses tongs to turn ears of corn cooking on the grill inside a restaurant kitchen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-03_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">After a four-year hiatus, Martinez is back doing what he loves best: running a restaurant in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until a couple of months ago, that is. In March, Martinez started a new job as the general manager of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/todosmexican/?hl=en\">Todos\u003c/a>, a two-year-old Mexican restaurant in downtown Oakland where he does a little bit of everything — works front of house, oversees the kitchen crew, lends a hand at the bar, jumps on the line to grill up some elote. Slowly, too, he’s been tweaking the menu, and in the next couple of weeks, he’ll be rolling out some of the La Casita classics that made him a local legend: the birria, pozole and menudo. It’s an answer to so many soup lovers’ wistful prayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now firmly entrenched in his new gig, Martinez acknowledges that the past four years were a dark and difficult time. Losing his dad, Nolberto Sr. — himself a chef and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVYUeOAKy5vGAE1f33S8ohAtbvf2fYkSvzXwA0/\">longtime fixture in Oakland restaurant kitchens\u003c/a> — was a big blow to the entire family. Losing La Casita on top of that left Martinez feeling even more heartbroken and unmoored.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I ever wanted was to open my own restaurant,” he says. “I was really down, man. For a long time, I was pissed off at myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the midst of those difficult times, Martinez says he turned to his Oakland community for support. He worked for a coffee roaster and a moving company for a while, then found a job as a prep cook for a nonprofit that delivered meals to churches and convalescent homes. He started working on his mental health, too — joined a men’s healing group, stopped drinking, came to terms with his father’s death and just generally tried to take better care of himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957673\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957673\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt='Exterior of of a downtown restaurant. The sign reads, \"Todos Cantina + Cocina.\"' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Todos, a two-year-old Mexican restaurant in downtown Oakland, has given Martinez a fresh opportunity. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Around this time, one of his coworkers told him that the Todos ownership group — the team that operates \u003ca href=\"https://underdogstoo.com/\">Underdogs\u003c/a> in San Francisco and a handful of \u003ca href=\"https://elrestaurante.com/the-taco-syndicate-web-of-restaurants-keeps-taco-lovers-happ/\">other Mexican restaurants around the Bay\u003c/a> — was looking for someone to run their Oakland location. They wanted someone who loved Oakland and knew the Mexican food business. As it turns out, Martinez fit that description to a T.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is a trope in the food industry where a talented chef quits his cushy job working for a big, investor-driven restaurant in order to open his own little passion project, allowing him to finally find true fulfillment. On the face of it, anyway, Martinez’s path has had the reverse trajectory. But if anything, he seems humbled and grateful for the opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not too many people want to teach you something, let alone a guy from East Oakland,” Martinez says of his new employers. “I’m happy. I feel a lot better as a person. I feel like I have the weight on my shoulders [lifted].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957677\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-06-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Quesabirria cook on the plancha. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, Martinez is learning the ins and outs of running a 90-seat restaurant — much, much larger than his tiny taqueria on Foothill Boulevard. He manages dozens of employees, handles a massive office catering operation and is taking online classes to acquire all of the deeper business knowledge he’d previously just had to pick up on the fly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>For longtime fans of La Casita, the most exciting part is that he’s starting to put his own stamp on the menu. This week he’ll roll out his beef birria, which has already been on the menu in the form of his popular consomé-soaked quesabirria tacos. Now, Todos will serve birria in a variety of new formats — the traditional way, as a soup, with rice and beans on the side; as a street taco; and in the double-wrapped crispy tacos known as diablitos. “You can call Todos an Oakland birrieria now, I’m very proud to say,” Martinez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the coming weeks he’ll also begin serving pozole and menudo on the weekends. Both are versions of recipes that Martinez inherited when he bought the Foothill Boulevard restaurant from Ana Maria Campos, who ran it under the name Taqueria Campos for more than 10 years before he took over the business. It’s for good reason that old customers still speak about those soups in hushed, reverent tones: In my memory, Martinez’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lacasitaeastoakland/\">red pork pozole\u003c/a> had the kind of heady, invigorating broth that warms you up from the inside, especially when doctored with a drizzle of the chef’s housemade chile de árbol chili oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13957678\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13957678\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A sauce-drenched wet burrito on a plate.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-07-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wet burrito at Todos. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And his menudo, that famous hangover cure, may have been the best I’ve ever tasted — the tripe and the jiggly beef trotter slow-simmered until they’re slurpably soft, the broth as clean and clarifying as you can imagine. During La Casita’s glory years, the restaurant was “like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/BksX-98HDv8HkCi5N3oYRFh-A0j-YL-HWb7rE80/\">hangover headquarters\u003c/a>,” Martinez recalls, as customers lined up for their morning menudo fix on Saturdays and Sundays — and even Mondays, when the really serious drinkers would call in sick. “I call it food for the soul, man,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his long hiatus, Martinez says it means the world to him to bring these dishes back to Oakland now, at a restaurant with an even wider reach. He thinks about how important it is for him to carry on his family’s legacy — about how much he loved watching his dad cook and how his grandmother opened La Estrellita, one of Fruitvale’s first Mexican restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13958129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13958129\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut.jpg\" alt=\"A chef puts plates of food that are ready to be served onto the pass inside a restaurant kitchen.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/240509-MENUDO-KING-MD-04_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">For Martinez, operating a restaurant in Oakland is a matter of family pride — and Town pride. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There is the matter, too, of repping his neighborhood and hometown. In the old La Casita days, in almost every photo of the restaurant that Martinez posted on social media, he’s posing next to the mural on the outside. It reads, in boldface lowrider-style lettering, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Wqnj_laPncUFgduyw_OWl0eoCNWkrXbwZVZk0/\">Oakland Over Everything\u003c/a>” — an encapsulation of the chef’s Town pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Me being from the Fruitvale district here in East Oakland, it was rough growing up. A lot of us didn’t make it; a lot of us are not doing good,” Martinez says. “For me to be blessed like this, it means a lot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/todosmexican/\">\u003ci>Todos\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 2315 Valdez St. in Oakland.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "sacramento-taco-truck-banzitos-kings-deaaron-fox-nba",
"title": "These Sacramento Tacos Are So Good, They Inspired an NBA Player's New Shoes",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a Bay Area Mexican American, I don’t often feel the need to leave our Pacific shoreline in search of good Mexican food. After all, the Bay is home to the righteous Mission burrito — a game-changing \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWsvwwglD8I\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">culinary gem of generous proportions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — as well as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a growing “Latinextravagant” food scene\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sure, there’s always the occasional hater comparing us to L.A. and San Diego — which have larger Mexican populations and are closer to the border. But the Bay boasts a delicious array of regional Mexican foods scattered throughout East Oakland’s parking lots, San Jose’s markets and Richmond’s backyards. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And yet it would be foolish to think we’re the singular purveyor of Northern California’s best Mexican-inspired dishes. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As metropolitan as we are, I recently found some of my favorite Chicano-style tacos in Sacramento — and NBA All Star De’Aaron Fox agrees. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954471\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954471\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a carne asada taco with guacamole, cilantro and onions on a paper tray\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2083\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-800x651.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1020x830.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-160x130.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-768x625.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1536x1250.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-2048x1667.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1920x1563.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bistek taco comes with carne asada, orange sauce and sliced avocado on a fried crisp tortilla. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At a taco truck called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Banzito’s\u003c/a> (formerly Bandito’s), I encountered my first “enchitaco.” It’s an open-faced enchilada that fuses magically with the highly Americanized taco ingredients of ground beef, lettuce, diced tomatoes and sour cream. I haven’t seen anything like it in Bay Area; clearly, there’s something different going on in Sacra.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With other ingredients like bacon bits and pepper jack cheese, Banzito’s Northern Califas tacos are closer to Tex-Mex than the central and northern Mexican classics revered in immigrant enclaves. Instead of striving for sanctimonious purity, chef Adam Saldaña focuses on remixing flavors you’ll likely find in a multi-generational Chicano household’s pantry, not from a taquero’s basket in Guadalajara. And that’s the beauty — and empowering reclamation — of it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña’s tacos might even get scoffed at by actual Mexicans, who often \u003ca href=\"https://www.ocweekly.com/why-dont-mexicans-like-mexican-restaurants-in-the-united-states-8457539/\">poke fun at Americanized Mexican food\u003c/a>. But not all tacos have to be praised by those who only know life in la República Mexicana, where context about what it’s like to grow up in the U.S. with Mexican heritage is often lost in translation. Banzito’s \u003cem>is\u003c/em> the translation, and reflects Saldaña’s experiences as a Sacramentan rather than some distant ideal of what a taco \u003ci>should\u003c/i> be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His approach is clearly working. The tacos are so noticeably appealing to local tastebuds that Sacramento Kings point guard Fox has taken it upon himself to champion Banzito’s in perhaps the most flamboyant way an NBA player can.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954469\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a group of Sacramento Kings basketball fans wait in line to order tacos from a truck outside of the team's arena\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-800x588.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1020x750.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-768x565.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1536x1129.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-2048x1506.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1920x1411.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Sacramento Kings fans await their order from Banzito’s outside of Golden 1 Center. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On March 7, after Fox dropped 33 points in a pivotal win against the San Antonio Spurs, the phenom debuted his Curry-brand player edition sneakers, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NickDePaula/status/1765931757361037569\">dedicated to Banzito’s.\u003c/a> After the game, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox/status/1765632799657349178\">he Tweeted Saldaña to save him a plate of food\u003c/a>. He then slid out to the truck, in front of the arena, and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1766163989422366935/photo/2\">scarfed down some carne asada\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my lifetime of eating tacos and watching the NBA, I’ve never once seen an NBA player endorse an independent Mexican food business. The way Fox has been giving Saldaña his props, in my eyes, is worthy of the Mexican American Hall of Fame.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/NickDePaula/status/1765931757361037569\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quick lurk through \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox\">Fox’s social pages\u003c/a> reveal a longtime affinity for Banzito’s, with raving posts that date back at least a year. Endearingly, the player and the taquero quote tweet and retweet one another about the food, Sacramento and basketball. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this season, when reports of Fox’s injury surfaced, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1719037038803222995\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña sent him horchata and tacos\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. When Fox and the Kings recently won, the player shared an Instagram post to his million followers with the caption, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/swipathefox/p/C4RXXSMvFKF/?img_index=1\">“Beams and Banzitos.”\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s safe to say that it’s the most heartwarming friendship that has ever publicly blossomed between a homegrown taquero and an NBA star. [aside postid='arts_13954597']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t hurt that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox/status/1761586212022931898\">Saldaña is a diehard Kings fan who previously catered privately for the team\u003c/a>. Banzito’s designs and slogans align perfectly with the Kings’ fanbase, too: “Light The Tacobeam,” \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1768129036931445239\">a makeshift logo with a purple bandana-wearing fox.\u003c/a> These are the kinds of brand innovations and menu items that Saldaña is dishing out — and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Cee_Caldwell/status/1761191744602030225\">Sacramentans, including Fox and his wife, Recee, are eating it up\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña just launched his brightly lit teal-and-yellow food truck near downtown’s sparkling Golden 1 Center. And earlier this month, he announced he’ll be expanding with pop-ups at Fowler Ranch Farm Brewery in Lincoln and Sharif & Co. in Roseville.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a basketball fan eats a taco in front of a basketball arena\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-800x778.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1020x992.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-160x156.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-768x747.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1536x1495.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-2048x1993.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1920x1868.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local author Jose Vadi eats at Banzito’s while flashing his Sacramento gear.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Outside the Golden 1 Center, you may have to wait in line to get your first bite. Without much nearby competition (besides the more upscale Mexican restaurant Polcano), Saldaña is taking his shot. And he hasn’t missed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At its core, Banzito’s represents the way children of immigrants reinvent culture, a subversive kind of nourishment that thrives despite naysayers and doubters. Just like lowriders, another symbol of Chicano style and ingenuity, Banzito’s is re-engineering what we know in a slightly familiar, edible context. [aside postid='arts_13954624']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s precisely that imperfect (or perfect?) hybridity that allows Saldaña’s tortilla-bound inventions to accentuate the tastes of what it’s like to be raised by Mexicans outside of Mexico, this far north from the border. As they say in parts of Mexico, every pueblo has its own kind of salsa. This is Sacramento’s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Banzito’s\u003c/a> taco truck is located in front of Golden 1 Center, on the corner of K and 7th Street, before and after Kings games. They also pop-up near Sharif & Co. (1001 Creekside Ridge Drive Roseville, CA 95678) and at Fowler Ranch Farm Brewery (3111 Lincoln Newcastle Hwy., Lincoln, CA 95648). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Check their Instagram page\u003c/a> for more hours and locations.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a Bay Area Mexican American, I don’t often feel the need to leave our Pacific shoreline in search of good Mexican food. After all, the Bay is home to the righteous Mission burrito — a game-changing \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWsvwwglD8I\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">culinary gem of generous proportions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — as well as \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a growing “Latinextravagant” food scene\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sure, there’s always the occasional hater comparing us to L.A. and San Diego — which have larger Mexican populations and are closer to the border. But the Bay boasts a delicious array of regional Mexican foods scattered throughout East Oakland’s parking lots, San Jose’s markets and Richmond’s backyards. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And yet it would be foolish to think we’re the singular purveyor of Northern California’s best Mexican-inspired dishes. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As metropolitan as we are, I recently found some of my favorite Chicano-style tacos in Sacramento — and NBA All Star De’Aaron Fox agrees. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954471\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954471\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a carne asada taco with guacamole, cilantro and onions on a paper tray\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2083\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-800x651.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1020x830.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-160x130.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-768x625.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1536x1250.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-2048x1667.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/taco1-1920x1563.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Bistek taco comes with carne asada, orange sauce and sliced avocado on a fried crisp tortilla. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At a taco truck called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Banzito’s\u003c/a> (formerly Bandito’s), I encountered my first “enchitaco.” It’s an open-faced enchilada that fuses magically with the highly Americanized taco ingredients of ground beef, lettuce, diced tomatoes and sour cream. I haven’t seen anything like it in Bay Area; clearly, there’s something different going on in Sacra.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With other ingredients like bacon bits and pepper jack cheese, Banzito’s Northern Califas tacos are closer to Tex-Mex than the central and northern Mexican classics revered in immigrant enclaves. Instead of striving for sanctimonious purity, chef Adam Saldaña focuses on remixing flavors you’ll likely find in a multi-generational Chicano household’s pantry, not from a taquero’s basket in Guadalajara. And that’s the beauty — and empowering reclamation — of it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña’s tacos might even get scoffed at by actual Mexicans, who often \u003ca href=\"https://www.ocweekly.com/why-dont-mexicans-like-mexican-restaurants-in-the-united-states-8457539/\">poke fun at Americanized Mexican food\u003c/a>. But not all tacos have to be praised by those who only know life in la República Mexicana, where context about what it’s like to grow up in the U.S. with Mexican heritage is often lost in translation. Banzito’s \u003cem>is\u003c/em> the translation, and reflects Saldaña’s experiences as a Sacramentan rather than some distant ideal of what a taco \u003ci>should\u003c/i> be. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His approach is clearly working. The tacos are so noticeably appealing to local tastebuds that Sacramento Kings point guard Fox has taken it upon himself to champion Banzito’s in perhaps the most flamboyant way an NBA player can.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954469\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a group of Sacramento Kings basketball fans wait in line to order tacos from a truck outside of the team's arena\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1882\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-800x588.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1020x750.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-768x565.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1536x1129.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-2048x1506.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/IMG_0666-1920x1411.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of Sacramento Kings fans await their order from Banzito’s outside of Golden 1 Center. \u003ccite>(Alan Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On March 7, after Fox dropped 33 points in a pivotal win against the San Antonio Spurs, the phenom debuted his Curry-brand player edition sneakers, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NickDePaula/status/1765931757361037569\">dedicated to Banzito’s.\u003c/a> After the game, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox/status/1765632799657349178\">he Tweeted Saldaña to save him a plate of food\u003c/a>. He then slid out to the truck, in front of the arena, and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1766163989422366935/photo/2\">scarfed down some carne asada\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In my lifetime of eating tacos and watching the NBA, I’ve never once seen an NBA player endorse an independent Mexican food business. The way Fox has been giving Saldaña his props, in my eyes, is worthy of the Mexican American Hall of Fame.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A quick lurk through \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox\">Fox’s social pages\u003c/a> reveal a longtime affinity for Banzito’s, with raving posts that date back at least a year. Endearingly, the player and the taquero quote tweet and retweet one another about the food, Sacramento and basketball. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this season, when reports of Fox’s injury surfaced, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1719037038803222995\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña sent him horchata and tacos\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. When Fox and the Kings recently won, the player shared an Instagram post to his million followers with the caption, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/swipathefox/p/C4RXXSMvFKF/?img_index=1\">“Beams and Banzitos.”\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s safe to say that it’s the most heartwarming friendship that has ever publicly blossomed between a homegrown taquero and an NBA star. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t hurt that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/swipathefox/status/1761586212022931898\">Saldaña is a diehard Kings fan who previously catered privately for the team\u003c/a>. Banzito’s designs and slogans align perfectly with the Kings’ fanbase, too: “Light The Tacobeam,” \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BanzitosTacos/status/1768129036931445239\">a makeshift logo with a purple bandana-wearing fox.\u003c/a> These are the kinds of brand innovations and menu items that Saldaña is dishing out — and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Cee_Caldwell/status/1761191744602030225\">Sacramentans, including Fox and his wife, Recee, are eating it up\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldaña just launched his brightly lit teal-and-yellow food truck near downtown’s sparkling Golden 1 Center. And earlier this month, he announced he’ll be expanding with pop-ups at Fowler Ranch Farm Brewery in Lincoln and Sharif & Co. in Roseville.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954459\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"a basketball fan eats a taco in front of a basketball arena\" width=\"2560\" height=\"2491\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-800x778.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1020x992.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-160x156.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-768x747.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1536x1495.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-2048x1993.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Banzitos2-1920x1868.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Local author Jose Vadi eats at Banzito’s while flashing his Sacramento gear.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Outside the Golden 1 Center, you may have to wait in line to get your first bite. Without much nearby competition (besides the more upscale Mexican restaurant Polcano), Saldaña is taking his shot. And he hasn’t missed.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At its core, Banzito’s represents the way children of immigrants reinvent culture, a subversive kind of nourishment that thrives despite naysayers and doubters. Just like lowriders, another symbol of Chicano style and ingenuity, Banzito’s is re-engineering what we know in a slightly familiar, edible context. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s precisely that imperfect (or perfect?) hybridity that allows Saldaña’s tortilla-bound inventions to accentuate the tastes of what it’s like to be raised by Mexicans outside of Mexico, this far north from the border. As they say in parts of Mexico, every pueblo has its own kind of salsa. This is Sacramento’s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Banzito’s\u003c/a> taco truck is located in front of Golden 1 Center, on the corner of K and 7th Street, before and after Kings games. They also pop-up near Sharif & Co. (1001 Creekside Ridge Drive Roseville, CA 95678) and at Fowler Ranch Farm Brewery (3111 Lincoln Newcastle Hwy., Lincoln, CA 95648). \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/banzitostacos/\">Check their Instagram page\u003c/a> for more hours and locations.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "This San Jose Food Truck Slings Tiny Pancakes and Big-Ass Tacos Until 3 a.m.",
"headTitle": "This San Jose Food Truck Slings Tiny Pancakes and Big-Ass Tacos Until 3 a.m. | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954115\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: In a tented dining area, a man holds a large shrimp taco while his companion stuffs a huarache into his mouth.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Orale taco truck is open — and stays busy — until 3 a.m. on the weekends. It’s located in the Alum Rock neighborhood in Eastside San Jose. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party is in full swing when we pull up to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oraletaqueria2022/?hl=en\">Orale\u003c/a> taco truck at 11 o’clock on a drizzly Friday night, in a tire shop parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>. The tented, ad hoc dining area has the festive, easygoing bustle of a backyard barbecue, all lit up with string lights. Off to the side, a taquero grills up a massive batch of carne asada, perfuming the air with the smell of sizzling fat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We drove out to this stretch of strip malls on Alum Rock because we’d heard that Orale stays open until 3 a.m. on the weekend — and, in fact, does a brisk business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy-n3XKuyzk/?hl=en\">all the way until 3\u003c/a>. And so it does: When we arrive, the line runs seven or eight customers deep. It only gets longer the further into the night we go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orale belongs to that new-school brand of taquerias and taco trucks we have here in the Bay, with the kind of wide-ranging menu that seems to encompass every Mexican street food trend to hit our region. In the mood for consomé-drenched \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria\u003c/a>? An \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931115/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-taco-truck-alambre-papa-loca-instagram-food-influencer\">alambre\u003c/a>? A \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CwJGFbgpXHG/\">bacon-wrapped hot dog\u003c/a> topped with everything under the sun? Orale has it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the place doesn’t seem to have caught that social media–induced sickness where every burrito needs to be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952597/worlds-largest-burrito-guinness-record-la-costena-mountain-view\">longest of all-time\u003c/a> and every plate gets drowned in an unconscionable amount of salsa — all \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">for the sake of the ’gram\u003c/a>. Orale serves some big-ass tacos, but they’re sensibly constructed and just darn tasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flashiest menu item is probably the “mar y tierra” surf-and-turf taco, tailor-made for the kind of indulgent eater who thinks no steak dinner is complete without a broiled lobster tail. In this case, the “surf” consists of plump, well-seasoned grilled shrimp, which come draped, deliciously, over a layer of juicy carne asada, then topped with guacamole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My favorite, however, is Orale’s tripas taco, for which the cow’s small intestines are cooked in their own fat until they reach textural perfection: crispy on the outside but not over-fried, so the inside retains its softness and chew. Topped with a drizzle of spicy orange salsa to cut into the slight gaminess of the meat, it’s one of the best versions I’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954117\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954117\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Diners sit at folding tables set up under a white tent on a drizzly night while others line up outside a taco truck to order their food.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Set up in the parking lot of a tire shop, the taco truck features a quintessential Bay Area crowd and vibe. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orale is also notable for its variety of masa-based specialties, like its huaraches — crunchy, slipper-shaped masa shells topped with lettuce, tomato, sliced avocado, crema, refried beans and your protein of choice. The vegetables are so fresh, you can almost order the dish as a (massive) “salad,” to balance out your meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13953224,arts_13953702,arts_13904835']\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Funny as it sounds, one of the main reasons we had driven out to Orale is because we heard that it also serves little pancakes, and late-night dessert (or breakfast??) options are a particular rarity. In this respect, too, Orale didn’t let us down. Next to the truck, they set up a couple of portable molded pancake griddles, where they’ll cook you a batch to order: nine little pancakes or 25 \u003ci>even tinier\u003c/i> pancakes for $10, each one flipped with a toothpick like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G845YGiLwaw\">Japanese takoyaki maker\u003c/a>. Then they dress them with whatever you pick from the toppings bar — I chose strawberries, condensed milk, cajeta and, why not, some smashed up Fruity Pebbles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friends, these were a delight. I don’t know if it was the lateness of the hour or the makeshift nature of the setting, but I can’t recall the last time I enjoyed a plate of pancakes so much — when the pancakes were so hot and fluffy and well-browned on the edges. It made me want to start a campaign for more street-side pancake vendors everywhere, or at least for one within walking distance of my home. Since it often takes a while for taco orders at Orale to come out, my advice is to go dessert-first. Have some pancakes while you wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, by the time we’d finished, the wait time for tacos was easily half an hour, and the line showed no sign of thinning out. But the vibe at Orale is so pleasant — so \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">quintessentially San Jose\u003c/a>, with an almost perfectly diverse crowd of twenty- and thirtysomethings (Latino, Black, Asian American) — that no one seems particularly pressed. Everyone is content to chill and make small talk with their neighbors at the long communal folding tables. About how great those tripitas are. And what a perfect time it is to be out here, eating this food, enjoying this night in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oraletaqueria2022/\">Orale\u003c/a> is located at 2240 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose. It’s open Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m.–1 a.m., Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m.–3 a.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m.–1 a.m. Cash only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954115\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: In a tented dining area, a man holds a large shrimp taco while his companion stuffs a huarache into his mouth.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/Orale1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Orale taco truck is open — and stays busy — until 3 a.m. on the weekends. It’s located in the Alum Rock neighborhood in Eastside San Jose. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/the-midnight-diners\">\u003ci>The Midnight Diners\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is a regular collaboration between KQED food editor Luke Tsai and artist Thien Pham. Follow them each week as they explore the hot pot restaurants, taco carts and 24-hour casino buffets that make up the Bay Area’s after-hours dining scene.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The party is in full swing when we pull up to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oraletaqueria2022/?hl=en\">Orale\u003c/a> taco truck at 11 o’clock on a drizzly Friday night, in a tire shop parking lot in Eastside \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/san-jose\">San Jose\u003c/a>. The tented, ad hoc dining area has the festive, easygoing bustle of a backyard barbecue, all lit up with string lights. Off to the side, a taquero grills up a massive batch of carne asada, perfuming the air with the smell of sizzling fat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We drove out to this stretch of strip malls on Alum Rock because we’d heard that Orale stays open until 3 a.m. on the weekend — and, in fact, does a brisk business \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy-n3XKuyzk/?hl=en\">all the way until 3\u003c/a>. And so it does: When we arrive, the line runs seven or eight customers deep. It only gets longer the further into the night we go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orale belongs to that new-school brand of taquerias and taco trucks we have here in the Bay, with the kind of wide-ranging menu that seems to encompass every Mexican street food trend to hit our region. In the mood for consomé-drenched \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria\u003c/a>? An \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13931115/tacos-el-rulas-richmond-taco-truck-alambre-papa-loca-instagram-food-influencer\">alambre\u003c/a>? A \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CwJGFbgpXHG/\">bacon-wrapped hot dog\u003c/a> topped with everything under the sun? Orale has it all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the place doesn’t seem to have caught that social media–induced sickness where every burrito needs to be the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13952597/worlds-largest-burrito-guinness-record-la-costena-mountain-view\">longest of all-time\u003c/a> and every plate gets drowned in an unconscionable amount of salsa — all \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13936325/social-media-biggest-pupusas-burritos-instagram-tiktok-latinextravagant-bay-area\">for the sake of the ’gram\u003c/a>. Orale serves some big-ass tacos, but they’re sensibly constructed and just darn tasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flashiest menu item is probably the “mar y tierra” surf-and-turf taco, tailor-made for the kind of indulgent eater who thinks no steak dinner is complete without a broiled lobster tail. In this case, the “surf” consists of plump, well-seasoned grilled shrimp, which come draped, deliciously, over a layer of juicy carne asada, then topped with guacamole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My favorite, however, is Orale’s tripas taco, for which the cow’s small intestines are cooked in their own fat until they reach textural perfection: crispy on the outside but not over-fried, so the inside retains its softness and chew. Topped with a drizzle of spicy orange salsa to cut into the slight gaminess of the meat, it’s one of the best versions I’ve ever had.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13954117\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13954117\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration: Diners sit at folding tables set up under a white tent on a drizzly night while others line up outside a taco truck to order their food.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/orale2-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Set up in the parking lot of a tire shop, the taco truck features a quintessential Bay Area crowd and vibe. \u003ccite>(Thien Pham)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Orale is also notable for its variety of masa-based specialties, like its huaraches — crunchy, slipper-shaped masa shells topped with lettuce, tomato, sliced avocado, crema, refried beans and your protein of choice. The vegetables are so fresh, you can almost order the dish as a (massive) “salad,” to balance out your meal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b2b2b;font-weight: 400\">\u003cb>\u003cstrong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/strong>\u003c/b>\u003c/span>Funny as it sounds, one of the main reasons we had driven out to Orale is because we heard that it also serves little pancakes, and late-night dessert (or breakfast??) options are a particular rarity. In this respect, too, Orale didn’t let us down. Next to the truck, they set up a couple of portable molded pancake griddles, where they’ll cook you a batch to order: nine little pancakes or 25 \u003ci>even tinier\u003c/i> pancakes for $10, each one flipped with a toothpick like a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G845YGiLwaw\">Japanese takoyaki maker\u003c/a>. Then they dress them with whatever you pick from the toppings bar — I chose strawberries, condensed milk, cajeta and, why not, some smashed up Fruity Pebbles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friends, these were a delight. I don’t know if it was the lateness of the hour or the makeshift nature of the setting, but I can’t recall the last time I enjoyed a plate of pancakes so much — when the pancakes were so hot and fluffy and well-browned on the edges. It made me want to start a campaign for more street-side pancake vendors everywhere, or at least for one within walking distance of my home. Since it often takes a while for taco orders at Orale to come out, my advice is to go dessert-first. Have some pancakes while you wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, by the time we’d finished, the wait time for tacos was easily half an hour, and the line showed no sign of thinning out. But the vibe at Orale is so pleasant — so \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13904835/san-jose-immigrant-food\">quintessentially San Jose\u003c/a>, with an almost perfectly diverse crowd of twenty- and thirtysomethings (Latino, Black, Asian American) — that no one seems particularly pressed. Everyone is content to chill and make small talk with their neighbors at the long communal folding tables. About how great those tripitas are. And what a perfect time it is to be out here, eating this food, enjoying this night in the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oraletaqueria2022/\">Orale\u003c/a> is located at 2240 Alum Rock Ave. in San Jose. It’s open Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m.–1 a.m., Friday and Saturday from 5:30 p.m.–3 a.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m.–1 a.m. Cash only.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Tacos and All-You-Can-Eat Ice Cream Are a Match Made in Heaven",
"headTitle": "Tacos and All-You-Can-Eat Ice Cream Are a Match Made in Heaven | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Every September, when the Bay Area’s notorious autumn temperatures begin to heat up, ice cream — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894387/all-you-can-eat-unique-ice-cream-flavors-flourishing-in-the-bay\">and all of the creative ways it can be enjoyed\u003c/a> — becomes an imperative need. This Sunday, the cold dessert will reach an even higher level of transcendence — by pairing it with tacos. At least that’s the idea behind Tacolado, a unique mashup of an outdoor food festival organized by San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://lacocinasf.org/\">La Cocina\u003c/a> kitchen incubator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ice cream-slash-taco-party fundraiser will feature sixteen chefs serving up an imaginative array of tacos, helados and cocktails in a unique pairing of comfort foods that are beloved in Mexico and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tacos are magic, and ice cream is just pure joy,” says Emiliana Puyana, La Cocina’s incubator program director. “Every good summer day had ice cream. It puts a smile on my face, always.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The frozen sweets will be supplied by Häagen-Dazs, the event sponsor, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/delacreamery/\">De La Creamery\u003c/a>, a trending local pop-up. Owner Stephanie De La Cruz will be scooping vegan ice cream nachos, which feature homemade cinnamon tortilla chips, a scoop of vegan horchata ice cream and fresh berry puree. Premium ticket holders will also have a chance to try an ice cream taco — a first for De La Creamery — consisting of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933138/bolita-masa-berkeley-pop-up-farmers-market-tetelas-tamales\">a cinnamonized hard-shell tortilla from Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, vegan horchata ice cream and house-made fruit caviar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13928469 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery.jpg\" alt=\"a platter of colorful, Mexican-style ice creams\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-1536x1057.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">De La Creamery will be supplying their small-batch Mexican helados. \u003ccite>(Andrea Arevalo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, for fans of all-you-can-eat food experiences, Häagen-Dazs will offer its \u003ca href=\"https://www.icecream.com/us/en/brands/haagen-dazs/products/butter-cookie-cone\">new butter cookie cones\u003c/a> — a line of pre-packaged, ice cream–filled cones — for unlimited consumption to all event-goers. (Insert “big eyes” and “open mouth” emojis here.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The festival will be just as much of a flavor destination for taco enthusiasts, too. A Cubano taco with pork, tropical slaw and crispy cheese from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clandestinaberkeley/\">Clandestina Cocina\u003c/a>? A Japanese karaage one from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tokachi_musubi/\">Tokachi Musubi\u003c/a>? How about a taco árabe with lamb from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deliciososf/\">Delicioso\u003c/a> — a take on the Poblano classic, which swaps out corn tortillas for folded pita bread?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For vendors like Kitiya Diparte of the Thai pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitiya_thai/\">Kitiya\u003c/a>, it’s a chance to test out new ideas — like their braised pork belly taco with pickled green papaya, cilantro and spicy sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the pandemic, I diversified my business with my jarred sauces and curry pastes, so I’m looking forward to showcasing this sauce on my taco,” Diparte says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For others like Aaron Stewart of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastoaklandsmoke\">MexiQ\u003c/a>, a Mexican-inspired barbecue fusion pop-up rooted in East Oakland, it’s simply a chance to flex bold cuisine in a fresh, tortilla-wrapped context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a classically French trained chef, I absolutely love the versatility of a taco,” says Stewart, who will be debuting his smoked lamb rib tacos rubbed in chipotle adobo and wrapped in banana leaves. “It’s going to be fun to take an ingredient like lamb ribs, which is usually reserved for fine dining, and put it in a street food–style taco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacolado will be La Cocina’s first big outdoor event since the pandemic. Despite the unexpected closure of its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/7/13/23793813/la-cocina-food-hall-closing\">Tenderloin food hall \u003c/a>earlier this fall, the new festival is a sign that the decades-strong community org doesn’t plan to slow down. The nonprofit has helped launch many of the Bay Area’s most exciting food businesses. Now, it’s merely ensuring that it continues to nourish the community — one scoop of ice cream and one taco bite at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-cocinas-tacolado-2023-presented-by-haagen-dazs-tickets-694247943287\">\u003ci>Tacolado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is happening on Sun., Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m at Spark Social (601 Mission Bay Blvd. North, San Francisco). It’s a ticketed event with various \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-cocinas-tacolado-2023-presented-by-haagen-dazs-tickets-694247943287\">\u003ci>packages ranging from $7 to $220\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every September, when the Bay Area’s notorious autumn temperatures begin to heat up, ice cream — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894387/all-you-can-eat-unique-ice-cream-flavors-flourishing-in-the-bay\">and all of the creative ways it can be enjoyed\u003c/a> — becomes an imperative need. This Sunday, the cold dessert will reach an even higher level of transcendence — by pairing it with tacos. At least that’s the idea behind Tacolado, a unique mashup of an outdoor food festival organized by San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"https://lacocinasf.org/\">La Cocina\u003c/a> kitchen incubator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ice cream-slash-taco-party fundraiser will feature sixteen chefs serving up an imaginative array of tacos, helados and cocktails in a unique pairing of comfort foods that are beloved in Mexico and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tacos are magic, and ice cream is just pure joy,” says Emiliana Puyana, La Cocina’s incubator program director. “Every good summer day had ice cream. It puts a smile on my face, always.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The frozen sweets will be supplied by Häagen-Dazs, the event sponsor, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/delacreamery/\">De La Creamery\u003c/a>, a trending local pop-up. Owner Stephanie De La Cruz will be scooping vegan ice cream nachos, which feature homemade cinnamon tortilla chips, a scoop of vegan horchata ice cream and fresh berry puree. Premium ticket holders will also have a chance to try an ice cream taco — a first for De La Creamery — consisting of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13933138/bolita-masa-berkeley-pop-up-farmers-market-tetelas-tamales\">a cinnamonized hard-shell tortilla from Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, vegan horchata ice cream and house-made fruit caviar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13928469\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13928469 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery.jpg\" alt=\"a platter of colorful, Mexican-style ice creams\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/delacreamery-1536x1057.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">De La Creamery will be supplying their small-batch Mexican helados. \u003ccite>(Andrea Arevalo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, for fans of all-you-can-eat food experiences, Häagen-Dazs will offer its \u003ca href=\"https://www.icecream.com/us/en/brands/haagen-dazs/products/butter-cookie-cone\">new butter cookie cones\u003c/a> — a line of pre-packaged, ice cream–filled cones — for unlimited consumption to all event-goers. (Insert “big eyes” and “open mouth” emojis here.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The festival will be just as much of a flavor destination for taco enthusiasts, too. A Cubano taco with pork, tropical slaw and crispy cheese from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/clandestinaberkeley/\">Clandestina Cocina\u003c/a>? A Japanese karaage one from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tokachi_musubi/\">Tokachi Musubi\u003c/a>? How about a taco árabe with lamb from \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deliciososf/\">Delicioso\u003c/a> — a take on the Poblano classic, which swaps out corn tortillas for folded pita bread?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For vendors like Kitiya Diparte of the Thai pop-up \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/kitiya_thai/\">Kitiya\u003c/a>, it’s a chance to test out new ideas — like their braised pork belly taco with pickled green papaya, cilantro and spicy sauce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the pandemic, I diversified my business with my jarred sauces and curry pastes, so I’m looking forward to showcasing this sauce on my taco,” Diparte says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For others like Aaron Stewart of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/eastoaklandsmoke\">MexiQ\u003c/a>, a Mexican-inspired barbecue fusion pop-up rooted in East Oakland, it’s simply a chance to flex bold cuisine in a fresh, tortilla-wrapped context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a classically French trained chef, I absolutely love the versatility of a taco,” says Stewart, who will be debuting his smoked lamb rib tacos rubbed in chipotle adobo and wrapped in banana leaves. “It’s going to be fun to take an ingredient like lamb ribs, which is usually reserved for fine dining, and put it in a street food–style taco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacolado will be La Cocina’s first big outdoor event since the pandemic. Despite the unexpected closure of its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2023/7/13/23793813/la-cocina-food-hall-closing\">Tenderloin food hall \u003c/a>earlier this fall, the new festival is a sign that the decades-strong community org doesn’t plan to slow down. The nonprofit has helped launch many of the Bay Area’s most exciting food businesses. Now, it’s merely ensuring that it continues to nourish the community — one scoop of ice cream and one taco bite at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-cocinas-tacolado-2023-presented-by-haagen-dazs-tickets-694247943287\">\u003ci>Tacolado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is happening on Sun., Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m at Spark Social (601 Mission Bay Blvd. North, San Francisco). It’s a ticketed event with various \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-cocinas-tacolado-2023-presented-by-haagen-dazs-tickets-694247943287\">\u003ci>packages ranging from $7 to $220\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For Emmanuel Galvan, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bolitamasa/?hl=en\">Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, turning raw corn into maize dough is part of an ancestral magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the humble backbone of [Mexico],” says Galvan, whose Berkeley-based pop-up specializes in Mexican masa. “Corn allowed the Maya and Aztec empires to grow to their sizes as an incredibly important crop. There is so much mythology around it, and it’s instilled in being Mexican. I want to shine a light on that and the work it takes because making masa is fucking hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How hard? Start with the fact that he begins by choosing from at least 13 corn varietals at his disposal — each with their own color, texture, flavor and purpose — hailing from wildly distinct regions of Mexico. On some days, Galvan and his team might handle over 200 pounds of corn, from bruised shades of blue and dusky purple kernels to the eternally glowing yellow of classic elote. Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"tri color tortillas (yellow, blue and purple) are displayed on a tan plate inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These tri-color tortillas are displayed inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made. \u003ccite>(Emmanuel Galvan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 28-hour process involves a meticulous amount of measuring, weighing, boiling, soaking, softening and nixtamalizing that ends with a grinder made of volcanic stone crushing the wet, calcified kernels into fresh masa. The result is a nutritious staple in the Mexican and Central American diet that has become a literal foundation for culinary sustenance, forming the base for tamales, tacos, tlayudas, tetelas, tlacoyos, tostadas and more — including foods that don’t start with the letter “T,” such as pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.”[/pullquote]Bolita, which launched in 2020, sells their pre-packaged masas, as well as some of the Bay Area’s best salsas and moles, at the Mission Mercado farmers market in San Francisco. And the business is now expanding to Oakland’s Grand Lake Farmers Market on Saturdays. For Galvan, working with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tamoamx/?hl=en\">Tamao, an ethical corn supplier in Mexico City\u003c/a>, is a huge reason he can continue to operate. Tamao’s owner, Francisco Musi, maintains close partnerships with farmers around Mexico to bring in a diverse array of corn from 11 states — each with its own unique properties. As Galvan notes, Tamao sells strictly surplus produce that does not impact the local needs or economy in Mexico and de-prioritizes any U.S. demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13920076,arts_13931115,arts_13925233']\u003c/span>Most importantly, Galvan deeply honors what masa represents — and its holy place at the top of the Indigenous American food pyramid. The name Bolita comes from a varietal of Oaxacan corn, the bolita, which is round and sturdy, and is often used for making the largest tortillas. But it also reminds Galvan of his roots in Napa, where his immigrant father worked in the local vineyards. His mother would bring home commercially-made masa from the supermarket and have him and his siblings roll it into a ball (or “bolita”) to be pressed into tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Galvan prides himself in being able to sell some of the Bay Area’s freshest scratch-made masa for customers to take home as is, he can also throw down in the kitchen with his team of cooks. That’s because Bolita Masa also provides hot meals as a roaming pop-up that embraces various masa-based dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg\" alt=\"a Mexican American chef smiles inside the kitchen where he makes masa from scratch \" width=\"800\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1536x1044.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emmanuel Galvan has been perfecting the delicate art of Mexican masa in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(ICA Fund/Cayce Clifford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One must-try for the uninitiated is Bolita’s tetela, a classic Oaxacan snack that Galvan describes as a “simple triangular pocket of masa filled with black beans, gooey quesillo and hoja santa.” For his upcoming one-off pop-up at Birba Wine Bar on Aug. 27, Galvan is preparing a sweet corn tamal with strawberry chamoy, along with a savory tamal stuffed with Jimmy Nardello peppers and quesillo. He tells me there will be four more masa-based dishes in the mix, too. With its newly acquired kitchen in Berkeley, Bolita seems to have found the right recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ingredient I’ve always been excited about,” Galvan says of his masa-based cuisine. “I’m not doing anything new. People have been using maize to make food for centuries. But I hope to show the importance of these ingredients as something that can be valued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtsbnGQrmzB/?img_index=1\">\u003ci>Bolita Masa\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> sells pre-packed goods at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/missionmercado/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Mission Mercado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (84 Bartlett St., San Francisco) every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/grand-lake\">\u003ci>Grand Lake Farmers Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bolita also appears as a regular food pop-up at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hammerlingwines/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Hammerling Wines\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1350 Fifth St., Berkeley) every first Friday of the month from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be serving food at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birbawinebar/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Birba\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (458 Grove St., San Francisco) on Sun., Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For Emmanuel Galvan, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/bolitamasa/?hl=en\">Bolita Masa\u003c/a>, turning raw corn into maize dough is part of an ancestral magic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s the humble backbone of [Mexico],” says Galvan, whose Berkeley-based pop-up specializes in Mexican masa. “Corn allowed the Maya and Aztec empires to grow to their sizes as an incredibly important crop. There is so much mythology around it, and it’s instilled in being Mexican. I want to shine a light on that and the work it takes because making masa is fucking hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How hard? Start with the fact that he begins by choosing from at least 13 corn varietals at his disposal — each with their own color, texture, flavor and purpose — hailing from wildly distinct regions of Mexico. On some days, Galvan and his team might handle over 200 pounds of corn, from bruised shades of blue and dusky purple kernels to the eternally glowing yellow of classic elote. Alchemizing this colorful crop into masa is as much a delicate art as it is a calculated science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933157\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933157\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"tri color tortillas (yellow, blue and purple) are displayed on a tan plate inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita-tricolor-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These tri-color tortillas are displayed inside the Berkeley kitchen where they were made. \u003ccite>(Emmanuel Galvan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 28-hour process involves a meticulous amount of measuring, weighing, boiling, soaking, softening and nixtamalizing that ends with a grinder made of volcanic stone crushing the wet, calcified kernels into fresh masa. The result is a nutritious staple in the Mexican and Central American diet that has become a literal foundation for culinary sustenance, forming the base for tamales, tacos, tlayudas, tetelas, tlacoyos, tostadas and more — including foods that don’t start with the letter “T,” such as pupusas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bolita, which launched in 2020, sells their pre-packaged masas, as well as some of the Bay Area’s best salsas and moles, at the Mission Mercado farmers market in San Francisco. And the business is now expanding to Oakland’s Grand Lake Farmers Market on Saturdays. For Galvan, working with \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tamoamx/?hl=en\">Tamao, an ethical corn supplier in Mexico City\u003c/a>, is a huge reason he can continue to operate. Tamao’s owner, Francisco Musi, maintains close partnerships with farmers around Mexico to bring in a diverse array of corn from 11 states — each with its own unique properties. As Galvan notes, Tamao sells strictly surplus produce that does not impact the local needs or economy in Mexico and de-prioritizes any U.S. demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Most importantly, Galvan deeply honors what masa represents — and its holy place at the top of the Indigenous American food pyramid. The name Bolita comes from a varietal of Oaxacan corn, the bolita, which is round and sturdy, and is often used for making the largest tortillas. But it also reminds Galvan of his roots in Napa, where his immigrant father worked in the local vineyards. His mother would bring home commercially-made masa from the supermarket and have him and his siblings roll it into a ball (or “bolita”) to be pressed into tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Galvan prides himself in being able to sell some of the Bay Area’s freshest scratch-made masa for customers to take home as is, he can also throw down in the kitchen with his team of cooks. That’s because Bolita Masa also provides hot meals as a roaming pop-up that embraces various masa-based dishes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13933158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13933158\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg\" alt=\"a Mexican American chef smiles inside the kitchen where he makes masa from scratch \" width=\"800\" height=\"544\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-800x544.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1020x693.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-768x522.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid-1536x1044.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/bolita1-candid.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emmanuel Galvan has been perfecting the delicate art of Mexican masa in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(ICA Fund/Cayce Clifford)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One must-try for the uninitiated is Bolita’s tetela, a classic Oaxacan snack that Galvan describes as a “simple triangular pocket of masa filled with black beans, gooey quesillo and hoja santa.” For his upcoming one-off pop-up at Birba Wine Bar on Aug. 27, Galvan is preparing a sweet corn tamal with strawberry chamoy, along with a savory tamal stuffed with Jimmy Nardello peppers and quesillo. He tells me there will be four more masa-based dishes in the mix, too. With its newly acquired kitchen in Berkeley, Bolita seems to have found the right recipe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ingredient I’ve always been excited about,” Galvan says of his masa-based cuisine. “I’m not doing anything new. People have been using maize to make food for centuries. But I hope to show the importance of these ingredients as something that can be valued.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CtsbnGQrmzB/?img_index=1\">\u003ci>Bolita Masa\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> sells pre-packed goods at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/missionmercado/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Mission Mercado\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (84 Bartlett St., San Francisco) every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/grand-lake\">\u003ci>Grand Lake Farmers Market\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (746 Grand Ave., Oakland) on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Bolita also appears as a regular food pop-up at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hammerlingwines/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Hammerling Wines\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (1350 Fifth St., Berkeley) every first Friday of the month from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will be serving food at \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/birbawinebar/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Birba\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> (458 Grove St., San Francisco) on Sun., Aug. 27 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "This New Richmond Taco Truck Is a Cheesy, Meaty Social Media Sensation",
"headTitle": "This New Richmond Taco Truck Is a Cheesy, Meaty Social Media Sensation | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As a crowd lines up in front of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/a> food truck on a recent Friday night, the real show is happening a few feet away in a long, tented section of the parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bookended by a big charcoal grill on one side and a spinning, sizzling al pastor trompo on the other, the taqueros work their magic on the flat-tops. They hand-press fresh tortillas, griddle onions and bell peppers in bacon fat, and layer heaps of well-charred meat and melted cheese to assemble the over-the-top creations that have become the truck’s calling card: the “papá loca” (a Mexican American analogue to the fully loaded baked potato) and the alambre — a cheesy, street food–style mixed grill that’s popular in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about El Rulas is the backyard party vibe — something about the tight cluster of picnic tables and cheerful banda music and the smell of smoky grilled meats seeping deep into your clothes. All in all, it’s about as fun a place as there is right now to grab tacos in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg\" alt=\"The Tacos El Rulas #2 taco truck displays the red, green and white of the Mexican flag. To its left, the truck's taqueros prepare food on flat-top grills. To the right is a tented dining area with picnic tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The taco truck’s parking lot setup feels as festive as a backyard party. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When a lot of people are here, it just feels like a small get-together,” says Angeles Lopez, a high school senior who helps her father, Raul Ramirez Rodriguez, operate the business. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacos El Rulas isn’t exactly a newcomer to the East Bay taco scene. Early in the pandemic, one of its trucks — known for its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">outlandishly overstuffed tortas\u003c/a> — debuted in the parking lot of a Berkeley auto shop. Its second truck used to be stationed at a smaller, more out-of-the-way location in Richmond, on Rumrill Road, before moving to its current spot on \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street\u003c/a> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13915646,arts_13923359']\u003c/span>The new location’s popularity is, at least in part, a social media success story. I had driven past a few dozen times since it opened but, even as a fan of the Berkeley truck, never got around to stopping by. Then, a few weeks ago, three or four different \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csmwe4OpYEd/?hl=en\">food influencer\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CsuHiSGtc7I/?hl=en\">videos\u003c/a> featuring Tacos El Rulas popped up on my Instagram feed in the span of a couple of days — this despite the fact that the truck has almost no presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-rulas-richmond\">Yelp\u003c/a> or in traditional food media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez explains that the viral Instagram and TikTok videos are a deliberate part of their marketing strategy. When business lagged in the taco truck’s first couple of months, her father reached out directly to several prominent Bay Area food influencers to see if they’d be willing to help him promote his food (for a fee, of course). It seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6kFO_rIuI/?hl=en\">nearly all of them\u003c/a> said yes. According to Lopez, early boosters like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csbu6DarI8D/?hl=en\">@booziebrunch\u003c/a> were instrumental in helping to introduce Tacos El Rulas to the Black community, which now forms a large part of the truck’s fanbase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy mix of meat, bell pappers, and onions served in an aluminum tray with a stack of corn tortillas on top.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The alambre in all its glory. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holding a taco stuffed with cheesy meat, onions, and peppers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemble your own tacos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, El Rulas’ massively portioned alambres and papás locas are uniquely suited for social media. (Everyone loves a good cheese pull, after all.) And it doesn’t hurt that those specific items — only available at the Richmond location — are legitimately delicious. The alambre is a gut-busting mix of chorizo, bacon, onions, peppers, pineapple, melted cheese and your choice of meat. As a crowning touch, a squirt of Worcestershire and Maggi seasoning adds a unique, almost stir fry–like savoriness, and the whole thing comes topped with a stack of handmade tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The papá loca is just as much of a crowd-pleaser: a couple of big-ass potatoes topped with an unconscionable amount of butter, bacon, cheese, onions, guacamole and, again, your choice of meat. A day’s worth of calories, probably, though it’s still hard to stop myself from eating the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg\" alt=\"A man in black uses tongs to flip a rack of ribs cooking on the grill. A long chorizo sausage is coiled overhead on the frame of the grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grill station features whole racks of pork ribs, ribeye steaks and a long coil of chorizo cooking overhead. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If anything, the Tacos El Rulas menu has so many options that it can be intimidating for a first-timer. Their signature meat is Mexico City–style al pastor sliced off a pineapple-topped vertical spit, but every time I’ve visited, something new has caught my eye: garlic-butter shrimp, racks of pork ribs, flame-grilled ribeye steaks. They do the trendy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria tacos\u003c/a> here, as well as extra-crunchy vampiro tacos and quesadillas made with their fresh, hand-pressed tortillas. And while the mammoth torta Cubana has always been a star at the Berkeley truck, the Richmond location has a stand-alone torta menu with a whopping 18 varieties — more than you’ll find just about anywhere other than a dedicated torta shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something for everyone” might not be your typical taco truck credo, but so far, Tacos El Rulas’ maximalist, social media–driven approach seems to be working. Lopez says that customers regularly drive from as far away as Vallejo or San Francisco, often because they saw the alambre or the papá loca on TikTok or Instagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time someone tells me that, I get amazed and surprised,” Lopez says. “But they always end up liking our food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931126\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931126\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg\" alt=\"A teenage girl in a black long-sleeved Nirvana T-shirt stands in front of a green taco truck.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1439\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angeles Lopez (left), a rising high school senior, helps her father run both of the Tacos El Rulas food trucks. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 232 23rd St. in Richmond, in a parking lot shared by a beauty salon and an astrology shop. It’s open Sundays–Thursdays from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Fridays–Saurdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Tacos El Rulas is winning hearts and minds — and Instagram feeds — with its decadent alambres and papás locas.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As a crowd lines up in front of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/a> food truck on a recent Friday night, the real show is happening a few feet away in a long, tented section of the parking lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bookended by a big charcoal grill on one side and a spinning, sizzling al pastor trompo on the other, the taqueros work their magic on the flat-tops. They hand-press fresh tortillas, griddle onions and bell peppers in bacon fat, and layer heaps of well-charred meat and melted cheese to assemble the over-the-top creations that have become the truck’s calling card: the “papá loca” (a Mexican American analogue to the fully loaded baked potato) and the alambre — a cheesy, street food–style mixed grill that’s popular in Mexico City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What I love about El Rulas is the backyard party vibe — something about the tight cluster of picnic tables and cheerful banda music and the smell of smoky grilled meats seeping deep into your clothes. All in all, it’s about as fun a place as there is right now to grab tacos in the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931128\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931128\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg\" alt=\"The Tacos El Rulas #2 taco truck displays the red, green and white of the Mexican flag. To its left, the truck's taqueros prepare food on flat-top grills. To the right is a tented dining area with picnic tables.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_lot-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The taco truck’s parking lot setup feels as festive as a backyard party. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When a lot of people are here, it just feels like a small get-together,” says Angeles Lopez, a high school senior who helps her father, Raul Ramirez Rodriguez, operate the business. “It doesn’t really feel like I’m working.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tacos El Rulas isn’t exactly a newcomer to the East Bay taco scene. Early in the pandemic, one of its trucks — known for its \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2021/2/11/22275500/tacos-el-rulas-truck-berkeley-quesabirria-torta-cubana-handmade-tortillas\">outlandishly overstuffed tortas\u003c/a> — debuted in the parking lot of a Berkeley auto shop. Its second truck used to be stationed at a smaller, more out-of-the-way location in Richmond, on Rumrill Road, before moving to its current spot on \u003ca href=\"https://eastbayexpress.com/a-richmond-taco-crawl-2-1/\">23rd Street\u003c/a> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>The new location’s popularity is, at least in part, a social media success story. I had driven past a few dozen times since it opened but, even as a fan of the Berkeley truck, never got around to stopping by. Then, a few weeks ago, three or four different \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csmwe4OpYEd/?hl=en\">food influencer\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CsuHiSGtc7I/?hl=en\">videos\u003c/a> featuring Tacos El Rulas popped up on my Instagram feed in the span of a couple of days — this despite the fact that the truck has almost no presence on \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-el-rulas-richmond\">Yelp\u003c/a> or in traditional food media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lopez explains that the viral Instagram and TikTok videos are a deliberate part of their marketing strategy. When business lagged in the taco truck’s first couple of months, her father reached out directly to several prominent Bay Area food influencers to see if they’d be willing to help him promote his food (for a fee, of course). It seems \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs6kFO_rIuI/?hl=en\">nearly all of them\u003c/a> said yes. According to Lopez, early boosters like \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/Csbu6DarI8D/?hl=en\">@booziebrunch\u003c/a> were instrumental in helping to introduce Tacos El Rulas to the Black community, which now forms a large part of the truck’s fanbase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931130\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931130\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg\" alt=\"A cheesy mix of meat, bell pappers, and onions served in an aluminum tray with a stack of corn tortillas on top.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The alambre in all its glory. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931129\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg\" alt=\"A hand holding a taco stuffed with cheesy meat, onions, and peppers.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_alambre-closeup-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemble your own tacos. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, El Rulas’ massively portioned alambres and papás locas are uniquely suited for social media. (Everyone loves a good cheese pull, after all.) And it doesn’t hurt that those specific items — only available at the Richmond location — are legitimately delicious. The alambre is a gut-busting mix of chorizo, bacon, onions, peppers, pineapple, melted cheese and your choice of meat. As a crowning touch, a squirt of Worcestershire and Maggi seasoning adds a unique, almost stir fry–like savoriness, and the whole thing comes topped with a stack of handmade tortillas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The papá loca is just as much of a crowd-pleaser: a couple of big-ass potatoes topped with an unconscionable amount of butter, bacon, cheese, onions, guacamole and, again, your choice of meat. A day’s worth of calories, probably, though it’s still hard to stop myself from eating the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931127\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931127\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg\" alt=\"A man in black uses tongs to flip a rack of ribs cooking on the grill. A long chorizo sausage is coiled overhead on the frame of the grill.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_grill-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grill station features whole racks of pork ribs, ribeye steaks and a long coil of chorizo cooking overhead. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If anything, the Tacos El Rulas menu has so many options that it can be intimidating for a first-timer. Their signature meat is Mexico City–style al pastor sliced off a pineapple-topped vertical spit, but every time I’ve visited, something new has caught my eye: garlic-butter shrimp, racks of pork ribs, flame-grilled ribeye steaks. They do the trendy \u003ca href=\"https://sf.eater.com/2019/11/21/20937687/el-garage-quesabirria-birria-taco-richmond-instagram\">quesabirria tacos\u003c/a> here, as well as extra-crunchy vampiro tacos and quesadillas made with their fresh, hand-pressed tortillas. And while the mammoth torta Cubana has always been a star at the Berkeley truck, the Richmond location has a stand-alone torta menu with a whopping 18 varieties — more than you’ll find just about anywhere other than a dedicated torta shop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something for everyone” might not be your typical taco truck credo, but so far, Tacos El Rulas’ maximalist, social media–driven approach seems to be working. Lopez says that customers regularly drive from as far away as Vallejo or San Francisco, often because they saw the alambre or the papá loca on TikTok or Instagram.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time someone tells me that, I get amazed and surprised,” Lopez says. “But they always end up liking our food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13931126\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13931126\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg\" alt=\"A teenage girl in a black long-sleeved Nirvana T-shirt stands in front of a green taco truck.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1439\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1020x764.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/tacos-el-rulas_angeles-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angeles Lopez (left), a rising high school senior, helps her father run both of the Tacos El Rulas food trucks. \u003ccite>(Luke Tsai)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tacoselrulas/?hl=en\">\u003ci>Tacos El Rulas #2\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> is located at 232 23rd St. in Richmond, in a parking lot shared by a beauty salon and an astrology shop. It’s open Sundays–Thursdays from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Fridays–Saurdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
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