Birrieria San Vicente, delicious carne asada tortas and more...

I was curious when I read the sign Birrieria "San Vicente" that was posted above a small, open-to-the-elements restaurant, in San Vicente, Baja California, Mexico. It was late Saturday afternoon, September 29, 2007, and I had just checked in to the only open motel in town, and I was looking for something to eat for dinner. I know enough Spanish, and enough about Mexican culture to know that birria is breakfast food, so could it be that Birrieria San Vicente is a place that serves breakfast 24 hours a day? Or at least into late afternoon?

Photo: Birrieria San Vicente features comfortable, open air dining, and delicious food.

No, they're not open 24 hours a day. No, they do not serve birria in the afternoon, as birria is a breakfast delicacy in Mexico, but yes, they do serve carne asada tacos and tortas, and yes, they do serve birria in the morning, until the supply runs out, and then they switch to carne asada. If you visit the restaurant in the late afternoon, you'll be treated to a torta or a taco, filled with whatever meat you want, as long as its carne asada.

Birrieria San Vicente is located on the east side of the main street in town, which just happens to be Mexico Highway 1, just north of the only traffic light in town. The restaurant is fairly impressive by San Vicente standards, as the restaurant is located in the front of the building, which faces the highway, and living quarters for the family that owns and operates the restaurant is located behind the restaurant, in the same building. The kitchen and the dining room are completely open-air, as they are located on the front porch of the building, and are shaded from the elements by the sloping porch roof. As you face the restaurant, the kitchen is to the right, surrounded by a counter that serves as a work area, and a bar, where the diners can enjoy their meal while sitting on plastic stools. Sit-down dining, San Vicente style, is to the right of the kitchen, as there are four plastic tables and their matching chairs, to accommodate the customers. At the time of my visit, the restaurant was staffed by two men and a woman; I assume that they're family members and probably live in the residence, located behind the restaurant.

Photo: My torta is cooking on the griddle, as the girl to the right of the photos is making tortillas by hand. Note the wooden handle of the tortilla press. You know these tortillas are fresh!

Birrieria San Vicente has a sign that advertises that their tortillas are "hechas a mano," and that means that they're made by hand. In case you think that's just an idle claim, the lady was engaged in the process of making tortillas, as she'd take a handful of dough from a bowl, shape it into a ball, place it on a wooden tortilla press, and instantly transform the dough into a freshly-made corn tortilla. She'd place the tortilla on a plate, and then the guy that was cooking would grab the tortilla, and fry it on the griddle, until it started to bubble, then load the tortilla with grilled carne asada, and hand it to a waiting customer. I had the opportunity to observe the operation many times, so I can attest to the fact that Birrieria San Vicente makes their corn tortillas by hand. When I asked about a taco de birria, I got the standard reply of "Sorry, there won't be any until morning." Oh well... so I opted for a carne asada torta, but I was determined to stop by the place on the way home and enjoy a taco de birria. By the way, I really did pay a visit on the way home, so click on this link to enjoy my visit to Birrieria San Vicente and a true taco de birria.

Photo: Shortly after I arrived, a family arrived for dinner. They knew the restaurant staff, as they immediately dat down at started chit-chatting, as the guy cooked their meal, and the girl made more tortillas.

The taqueria's kitchen is quite typical, as its built as an island, and features a counter in front that serves as a bar for patrons, and a work area for the staff. The centerpiece of the kitchen is a griddle, with a couple of burners, convenient for pots of birria, where most of the food is cooked. Carne asada is grilled on a propane-fired grill to the left of the kitchen, and tortillas are made at a station to the right. Condiments, including guacamole, salsa cruda, salsa verde, pickled jalapeño peppers, are placed on the counter, along with other necessities such as napkins. The diners are only a couple of feet away from the griddle, so if you choose to sit at the counter while your meal is being prepared, you'll get a chance to chat face-to-face with the guy who's making your meal, Mexican fast food-style.

Photo: Carne asada cooking on the griddle. Note the tortillas that are cooking and the rolls for my torta.

I ordered a carne asada torta, with all the fixin's. Note that when you order a torta, from most loncherias and taquerias in Mexico, you generally do not pile on your choice of extras, taco-style, as the torta is generally made to your specifications by the person working the griddle. Whatever the point, the guy that was doing the cooking grabbed a bolillo, buttered both sides, and slapped them face down on the grill, alongside of the freshly-made corn tortillas that were cooking for other orders. He grabbed a piece of meat that was cooking on the grill, threw it on a cutting board, and using a heavy cleaver with blinding speed, diced the meat into small pieces. This guy is like a human food processor! He then asked me what I wanted on my torta, and of course I replied that I wanted it all; when the bolillo was toasted, he took it off the grill, and loaded it up with grilled carne asada, and placed the condiments that I'd ordered on top of the meat. Then he placed the other toasted half of the bolillo on top, gently squeezed them together, and wrapped the torta up in a sheet of butcher paper. What condiments did I order? Guacamole and pico de gallo. I chose to take the order to-go, or "para llavar," in Spanish, as the afternoon was getting late, and the comfort of my MEX $200.00 motel was calling me.

Photo: Rolls for the torta are first placed face down on the griddle in order to toast. Note the tortilla in the foreground which is ready to be removed fro the griddle and the other tortilla that is bubbling, and ready to turn over. The decorated pot contains beans.

An hour or so later, when I chose to enjoy my torta, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sandwich was still warm... nothing left to do but open it... bite into it.... and... mmmmmm good! In fact, Birrieria San Vicente produces a delicious, juicy, carne asada torta, with all of the condiments. For the small price of MEX $35.00, you get a torta that will put a smile on the face to anybody who appreciated a good Mexican sandwich.

Photo: My finished carne asada torta, ready to eat. My torta was cooked perfectly, included lots of carne asada, along with avocado, onion and cabbage, on a toasted bolillo, garnished with crema. Muy sabroso!

On the way home, as I passed through San Vicente, I couldn't resiste stopping by, so I could enjoy a couple of tacos de birria...

Here's the real deal: I was looking for birria, as I was on my home from another wonderful trip to the fascinating Baja California peninsula. A week before, I'd had the opportunity to dine at Birrieria San Vicente in the late afternoon, and enjoy a delicious carne asada torta, but since it was late in the morning, on Saturday, October 6, 2007, and I was in San Vicente on my way home, I decided to pay a second visit, to enjoy a brunch of birria de Res.

Photo: Birrieria San Vicente serves delicious birria tacos for breakfast, and they're located on the west side of Highway 1, near the only stop light in town.

San Vicente has many small taquerias to choose from, and I normally like to try new places, but memories from my previous visit, the lure of fresh, hand-made tortillas, and the thought of a taco de birria brought me back for a second visit. A little about birria: In the U.S., is it always served as a stew, and the meat can be goat meat, or it can be shredded beef. Any decent Mexican restaurant will be proud to serve birria on weekends. In Mexico, birria is always shredded goat meat, cooked in a pot, and served either as a stew, or as a filling for breakfast tacos. Naturally when birria is used as a topping for tacos, it's not quite as runny as when its served as a stew in a bowl. In Mexico, birria is breakfast food, so don't expect to see it later in the day.

As I approached the small town of San Vicente, I knew where to find the place, as it is located on the east side of Highway 1, the main street in town, just north of the only traffic light in town, where Calle Niños Heros crosses the highway. Not to mention that I'd spent a night in the town a week previously, and my dining experiences were very fresh in my mind. So after gassing up at the Pemex gas station, I crossed Calle Niños Heros, on the frontage road, and drove the 100 feet or so north to Birrieria San Vicente.

Photo: Cooking tacos on the griddle. The large pot contains birria, and the smaller, colorful pot contains beans. Note that the pots are heated on the griddle.

I recognized the lady making the hand-made tortillas from my previous visit, but the lady that was cooking was new to me; perhaps another family member? Birrieria San Vicente advertises that they make their tortillas by hand, and that's not an idle boast, as you can sit at the counter and watch the lady fashion masa dough into a ball, place the ball on a wooden tortilla press, and squeeze out a perfect corn tortilla. It's a fascinating operation to observe, watching a ball of masa harina dough emerge into a beautiful tortilla; it's like watching an ugly caterpillar turn into a beautiful butterfly... am I being too poetic for my own good? Romance aside, after watching your tortilla made by hand, before your eyes, you know that your tortilla will be fresh and delicious. The fresh tortillas are then placed on the hot griddle and heated until little bubbles appear, and they're soft and pliable, and are able to hold the fillings without breaking. Ahh, I love Mexico!

I arrived in San Vicente at around 11:00 on Saturday morning, and I immediately headed over to Birrieria San Vicente with the hope that I wasn't too late to enjoy a fine brunch of birria. I was in luck, as they still had a couple large pots of birria simmering on the griddle, so I ordered two tacos de birria from the friendly lady taking my order. Tacos de birria are cheap, cheap, cheap, and at only MEX $10.00 each, they are a real bargain.

Photo: Girl #1 prepares an order to go, as girl #2 cooks tortillas on the griddle, as a hungry customer observes the whole operation.

The gal that was making the corn tortillas grabbed a couple of them from a stack, and placed them, by hand, on the hot griddle. While the tortillas were cooking, she lifted the lid from a colorful pot that contained simmering birria, and stirred it a bit, before she replace the lid to the pot. When little blisters started to appear on the corn tortillas, she flipped them over, and about 10 seconds later, she placed them on a plate, that was covered with a plastic baggie, which is very common at small loncherias and taquerias in Baja California. Next, she grabbed a ladle, and spooned birria from the colorful pot onto the tortillas, and handed me the plate. With a smile, she suggested that I help myself to the condiments to the left of the kitchen, which included minced cilantro, sliced cabbage, diced white onions and tomatoes. So I loaded my tacos de birria with all the condiments, and headed over to an available table, to enjoy my slice of birria heaven. I passed on the bottled hot sauce, as I don't care for heat, and the sauce tends to mask the delicate birria flavors.

Photo: Spooning beans on my birria tacos for added flavor. Oh yes!

When I describe the tacos as "birria heaven," it's not a play on words, as when you bite into one of these tacos, you'll think you've died and gone to Heaven. The birria is hot, juicy, flavorful, earthy, spicy, but not hot, even for my sensitive gringo mouth. Combine the juicy birria with the fresh, toasted corn tortilla, and the delicious condiments, including a spoonful of beans on the taco, you have a meal that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I've never tasted a taco like this in the U.S., so if nothing else, this should give you a reason to pay a visit to Mexico.

I wasn't the only patron of the restaurant, as during my 20 minute visit, there was a constant stream of hungry people showing up to enjoy delicious birria. Patrons included families, showing up in their S.U.V.s, lots of orders para llavar, (to go,) and a few single folks like me, just showing up for something to eat. But I didn't see any other patrons packing a voice recorder and a digital camera, taking photos like your author did! Maybe I'm just unique, or possible crazy...

Photo: My delicious order of two tacos de birria. Note the condiments of beans, cilantro, onions and cabbage. These tacos are simply delicious, and make a very good reason to visit San Vicente.

Don't expect a full-service menu, as on weekend mornings, birria is the only choice on the non-existence menu. You get your choice of birria served in a bowl, in a stew, with corn tortillas on the side, or as a taco, like I did. I love birria as a stew, but today, tacos de birria was what I was after.

If you're a fan of birria, you owe it to yourself to stop by Birrieria San Vicente, as the food is delicious, the price is unbelievable, and the people are friendly. I highly recommend this little loncheria.