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Like most visitors to Tijuana, I walked by the taco carts located at in the Zona Rio at the corner of Av. Jose M.A. Larroque and Av. De La Amistad in search of tacos elsewhere. What a pity, as some of the best tacos in town can be had, just after entering Tijuana, and one of the area restaurants of note is a very modest operation, run by a mother and her son, and the name of the restaurant is Tacos Biby's.
Photo: Tacos Biby's is a very busy taco stand. Enrique spent a good deal of time flirting with the lady customer in the photo. The restaurant must do quite well, as the Lincoln Navigator, marked next to the trailer, appears to belong to the restaurant. Tacos Biby's is a busy little operation, run my mother María, and her son Enrique, located on the northwest corner of Av. Larroque and Amistad, close to the turnstile where pedestrians enter Tijuana, after enter Mexico, and passing Mexican customs. Calling Biby's a restaurant might be a bit extreme, as it's really just a kitchen housed in a small trailer, less than the size of a camping pop-up trailer. As modest as the operation may be, it offer amenities for both the staff and customers in the form of a couple of umbrellas to ward off the sometimes-hot Tijuana sun, and a table and chairs. Not many street taco vendors offer a place to relax while enjoying their fine cuisine, but that's one of the perks that Tacos Biby's has to offer.
Photo: Enrique turns the chorizo over that's cooking on the griddle. My tripas are to the rear. The restaurant, if you want to call it that, is contained within a battered and worn, trailer, and the specialties that the restaurant offers are painted on the side: Tacos, tortas, burritos and tostadas. I was in the mood for a taco, and the varieties they offer are tripas, chorizo, carne asada and chicarónes. An order of tacos de chicarónes (fried pork rinds) sounded very tempting, but I rarely, if ever, pass on tacos de tripas, as I'm a huge fan of tripas. (In case you're not familiar with tripas, they are small intestines from cattle. Yes it sounds gross, but I love 'em!) After deciding on tacos de tripas, I walked up to María and ordered two tacos de tripas, with everything.
Photo: I asked María what she was making, and she told me that she was making a large order of tacos de chicarónes for a nearby medical office. Biby's is a family affair, operated by mother and son. The mother, María, makes tortillas, salsa, and handles the money and the clean up chores, and is quite quiet and reserved. The son, Enrique cooks the orders, and is quite the opposite of his mother, as he's very talkative and friendly. Like many other entrepreneurs in the street food business, Enrique is a master at cooking several orders at once and chatting with the customers, particularly young, beautiful women. Tacos Biby's is a busy restaurant, and I wasn't the only customer present, as Enrique was devoting quite a bit of attention to a young woman who had ordered a couple of chorizo tacos. Although many American tourists pass by the restaurant on their way to downtown Tijuana, few tourist stop by Biby's, as they cater to the taste of the local residents.
Photo: Enrique places in-house made corn tortillas on the griddle. My order of tripas is cooking behind the chorizo and tortillas. Between flirting with the ladies, cooking my tripas and the young lady's chorizo, Enrique managed to answer a few of the questions that I peppered him with. Yes, they make everything from scratch, on-site, at the trailer. Yes, the tortillas are hand-made (courtesy of María) from masa, at the trailer, using grandmother's recipe. Yes, everything is purchased fresh from the local market over on Av. Constitución, downtown. Yes, they set up shop in the same place, every day except Sunday, and yes, yes, yes to more questions. He told me that they just leave the trailer where it is at the end of the day, and a couple of friends who live at the apartments across the street keep an eye on it. Like many street food vendors, Tacos Biby's doesn't keep regular hours; they generally open up for the lunch crowd and keep going into the evening and stay open, until either the food or the customers run out. He mentioned that they have an endless parade of potential customers, as they're located at the spot where most pedestrians emerge on their way to enjoying the shopping and nightlife that downtown Tijuana has to offer.
Photo: My tacos de tripas are ready and garnished, and I snap Enrquie's photo as he hands them to me. When my tripas were ready, Enrique removed them from the griddle, and placed them on two tortillas. Biby's gives you one tortilla per taco, as opposed to two, which are provided by many other street food vendors, but the tortillas are thick and a little larger than the standard DVD-sized tortillas commonly offered. Since I'd ordered "todo" for condiments, my tacos received a giant scoop of guacamole, shredded cabbage, diced white onions, and chopped cilantro. All of this goodness on two fresh, made-from-scratch tortillas, toasted on a propane-fired griddle, right before my eyes. Was this too good to be true? I took my plate full of goodness and sat at the table, behind the restaurant, to do some serious taco eating, and people watching.
Photo: My very detached dining companion, with my order of tacos de tripas sitting on the table. Tacos Biby's is quite unique, in that they offer sit-down dining on the streets of Tijuana. The turnstile leading from the international border can been seen in the background of the photo. The young lady who the object of Enrique's attention sat across the table from me, and stared away from me, toward the street. I attempted to make eye contact and start up a conversation, but she wasn't interested, nor particularly friendly - she probably thought that I was a dirty old man. As soon as her order was ready, she picked it up and took off, and left me to enjoy my tacos all by my lonesome. I've never met a taco de tripas that I've haven't fallen in love with, and Tacos Biby's were no exception. The tripas were cooked just the way that I like them, well-done, yet chewy, juicy, and a little on the rubbery side. The cool guacamole made the perfect contrast to the warm tripas, and I was surprised to find the guacamole was on the chunky side, as opposed to the usually runny guacamole encountered in street taco stands. The other ingredients were crispy and fresh, and the on-site made corn tortillas were simply delicious... these tacos were simply delicious!
Photo: My order of two delicious tacos de tripas, perfectly cooked. Note the chunks of avocados in the guacamole, which is a rarity for Mexican street food restaurants. I could have eaten a couple more, but I had a couple of other restaurants in the Zona Centro that I wanted to visit, so I decided to save the chicarónes for another visit. When I asked the price, I left with a smile on my face, as it was only MEX $25.00 for two delicious tacos, which represented an excellent value. Do yourself a favor when you're walking across the border and heading to downtown Tijuana: Pass on the tourist fare and stop at Tacos Biby's, and enjoy Mexican street food cuisine at its finest. Tacos Biby's Copyright(c) 2009 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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