El Torito in San Vicente, fine tacos de labio

El Torito is located next to Los Carrisos, along the east side of Highway 1, just south of the only traffic light in town, at Calle Niños Heros, which is the main street in the small town of San Vicente, Baja California. Although El Torito is located next to Los Carrisos, it's a world away, as El Torito is operated very differently than its larger competitor, and the restaurant features a very different cuisine. Since the restaurants are located next to each other, you can park your car and visit both of them, which is what I did during my visit on Saturday, September 30, 2007.

Photo: This small building is all that there is to El Torito. Note the counter that serves as an ordering counter, a work area, and a place to put condiments.

In the small town of San Vicente, there aren't any fancy restaurants, and there are only two restaurants that feature sit-down dining, as the majority of the restaurants aren't really restaurants, as they're loncherias or taqurias, and are of the open air variety, facing the highway, and are a mom and pop operation; El Torito is no exception to that statement, as it's enclosed in a tiny, white building, with a footprint of maybe 12 by 12 feet. It has a single employee, a limited menu and one plastic table and four chairs for seating. El Torito is a small operation, even by San Vicente standards. Hence the allure...

El Torito's menu features four items: Tacos de res, tacos de cabeza, lengua or labio. They don't really have a menu, as the choices are painted on the facade of the building. Of course the front of the restaurant has a counter that doubles as a place where you place your order, pay for your order, and it's also a work area for the gal that's running the loncheria. At El Torito, you don't add your own condiments to your taco, as they're added by the gal that works the place, but the condiments are placed on the counter, so you just tell her what you want on your taco, and she'll make your taco just the way you want it. Oh yes, I might add that their tacos are priced at only MEX $7.00 each, which is the most inexpensive price for a taco that I've seen in many years. El Torito is a place that you just can't pass up.

Photo: The tiny kitchen of El Torito seems to have just about everything, but on a small scale. Note the bunches of radishes that decorate the counter.

You walk up to the counter, and place your order with the somewhat shy girl who operates the restaurant. Of course all conversation must be spoken in Spanish, as no English is spoken in San Vicente, but you must realize that you're in Mexico, and English is only spoken in areas that cater to tourists, and San Vicente is definitely not a tourist town. I ordered two tacos de labio to go, as it was getting late in the afternoon, and I didn't feel like sitting down at the dusty plastic table in front of the restaurant, and enjoying my delicious tacos outside, watching the highway traffic roar by. El Torito is very compact, and the kitchen features a small range, a refrigerator, a small work table, a compact, four-burner range, and the main counter, where customers order their tacos. After placing my order, I watched the girl take some meat out of the refrigerator, place the meat on a comal, light a gas burner on the stove, and place the comal on the burner. Again, she reached into the refrigerator, retrieved a couple of corn tortillas, which she placed on another comal, and then she lit another burner on the range, and placed the comal on the range, to toast the tortillas, in true Baja California style. As the meat was heating and the tortillas were toasting, she asked me what I wanted on my tacos, and simply replied, "todo," which is to say that I want it all!

Photo: Great tacos are made, not born, as this gal spoons diced white onions on my tacos. Note that el Tortito doesn't make tortillas in-house like some of the other restaurants in San Vicente do.

My delicious tacos de labio were ready in less than five minutes, and were loaded with all of the condiments that El Torito offers, which are diced radishes, diced cabbage, diced white onion, cilantro, salsa roja, and sliced limes on the side. The meat was juicy, spicy, but not hot, and very tasty. What more could you ask for, especially at a price of about $1.25 for two delicious, custom-made, cooked-before-your-eyes tacos, served by a real person?

To be honest with you, I had no idea what a taco de labio is, as that was a new one on me. Mind you, I've had many different cuts of meat in tacos, such as tripa, ojos, ubres, and buches, but never a labio. Heck, I didn't even know what a labio was until I asked Andrea t Meling Ranch, where I stayed the next night. OK, it turns out that a labio is a beef lip, so I enjoyed a couple of tacos made out of cow's lips.

Photo: Two delicious tacos de labios, with all of the garnishes.

I know that you're supposed to avoid restaurants where only one person does everything, as sanitary conditions, even by Mexican standards, go out the window. Call me brave, call me foolish, or just call me a lover of fine, local cuisine, after enjoying a couple of tacos de labio at El Torito, I suffered no unwanted side effects. What I did get were two delicious tacos, at an unbelievably low price, and a chance to enjoy very authentic Mexican cuisine that you won't find anywhere in the United States. I highly recommend dining at El Torito!

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