Tacos La Cunna, delicious tacos grande in El Rosario, Baja...

Most Americans are afraid to eat at small taquerias and taco stands while visiting Mexico, due to the rumors of the dreaded "Montezuma's Revenge" factor, that's mostly a rumor. Rumors and myths aside, if you want to avoid any sort of nasty diseases, you should keep a couple of things in mind when you're considering dining at a Mexican street taco vendor, or a small taquiera: a) Two people work the restaurant, and b) There are a lot of locals eating at the restaurant. Contrary to gringo belief, Mexican citizens DO get sick eating tainted food, just like Americans do, so if you see a taco stand frequented by lots of locals, it's a sure bet that its safe to eat at the place.

Photo: Tacos La Cunna is located in a small, cement building, on the unnamed main street of town. Living quarters are in the blue section towards the rear of the building.

Just south of the sharp curve in the highway, in the heart of the small farming town of El Rosario, there's a small taqueria named Tacos La Cunna that seems to be the most popular place in town, as I observed during my visit to the town on Friday, October 5, 2007. As I hiked around the town taking photos, I noticed that La Cunna seemed to generate a huge amount of traffic from local residents, as there was always somebody at their counter ordering tacos to go. I vowed at the end of my day, that I would visit Tacos La Cunna and see what all of the activity was about.

Tacos La Cunna is located just south of the sharp curve near the center of the small town of El Rosario, just a block of so south of Motel Cabaña, where I was staying. The restaurant is located on the west side of the highway, in a concrete brick building, and sports a sign advertising that they serve tacos de carne asada, tacos de tripas, tortas, birria de res and quesatacos. Of course it's a small building, featuring only a walk up counter and a kitchen,and the dining facilities are limited to a picnic table in front of the restaurant. The facilities may be modest, but the food is supreme.

Photo: Friendly Miguel, with his partner, "Silent Sam" relaxing in the background. During my visit to La Cunna, "Sam" didn't utter a single word.

The sign on the front of the restaurant advertises "tacos de tripas" and that was what I was expecting to order, but when I asked the friendly guy, Miguel, who greeted me at the counter, he said that all they had on hand was carne asada, and he was sorry; they were out of tripas. "Oh well, " carne asada is always good, so I ordered two tacos de carne asada. When I asked the price of the tacos, Miguel said MEX $14.00, and I sort blinked a couple of times, as a price that high is unheard of, in a small town like El Rosario. He assured me that these were "tacos grandes," so I said OK, give me a couple of tacos and I want them garnished with everything. I knew his tacos were worth the money, as Tacos La Cunna seems to be a favorite of the locals, and if the locals like a restaurant, you know it has to be good.

After placing my order, Miguel went right to work, as he grabbed some meat from the refrigerator, placed it on the griddle, and started cooking my tacos de carne asada. As he cooked the meat, friendly Miguel asked me all kinds of questions, about where I was staying and what I was doing during my visit to Baja California. He seemed intrigued that I was able to converse with him in his native language, as he said that most gringos don't know a word of Spanish and seem to presume that everybody in Mexico understands English. I gave him my history that as a teenager, I spent weekends and summers doing agricultural work in the San Joaquin Valley, and even in the late 1960's, Spanish was the dominant language for that trade, so I just sort of picked it up. High school, and a couple of years of college Spanish sort of reinforced what I already knew, not to mention a few trips to Mexico...

Photo: Miguel cooks my carne asada and tortillas on the small griddle. Note the pot of beans heating...

Tacos La Cunna isn't a one-person operation, as Miguel had a helper, but he just sat in a chair, by the refrigerator in the back of the restaurant, nursing a can of Corona, and actually only rose from his chair when it was time to pay for the order. I guess his function is to drink the beer and take the money; sounds like a good job to me!

Miguel claims that Tacos La Cunna features in-house made tortillas; although I didn't actually see him make tortillas, I did see a tortilla press, so I trust that his statement is correct. I was able to observe him take a couple of corn tortillas out of the refrigerator and place them on the griddle, next to the cooking carne asada. Miguel is a master at his chosen profession, as he's able to toast delicious corn tortillas on the griddle, and cook juicy carne asada at the same time.

Photo: Delicious tacos are created, not born, as Miguel loads fresh guacamole on my taco. Note the condiments in large stainless steel bins in front of Miguel. All you have to do is to tell him what condiments you want, and he'll place them on your taco.

Miguel asked me what I wanted on my "taco grande," and naturally, I replied "con todo." If I'm spending my hard-earned money on a taco, and the proprietor offers it all, then I want it all. "Con todo" at La Cunna includes a large corn tortilla, pinto beans, grilled carne asada, diced white onions, cilantro, and delicious, creamy guacamole. I paid MEX $28.00 for two carne asada tacos grande, but these were big tacos, as they included a toasted, oversized corn tortillas, generous servings of carne asada, and lots of delicious condiments.

Photo: My order of two delicious, super tacos, with all the condiments.

I know why Tacos La Cunna is a favorite of the locals, as the restaurant serves delicious tacos, and each taco grande will satisfy a grande appetite. The tacos are delicious, prepared from fresh ingredients, and you can't escape the friendly banter and conversation from Miguel, the guy behind the counter. When you're visiting El Rosario, I highly recommend a visit to Tacos La Cunna.