Asadero Almada, fine tacos in Mexicali, Baja California

In Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, just two blocks south of the U.S. border, there is a fine street taco vendor that goes by the name of Asadero Almada. They serve delicious tacos made to order, while you wait, in the typical style of fast food that's known to northern Mexico. This operation is at the busy corner of Calle E and Av. Madero, and they have quite a following of locals who appreciate the taste of a fine taco.

Photo: The guys at Asadero Almada can't resist flirting with a pretty girl. The U.S. border is in the background, paralleled by the telephone poles and trees.

Asadero Almada is a two-man operation. They have a small restaurant set up on a vacant lot, with an awning to provide shade for their patrons, and a couple of plastic tables and matching chairs to relax upon while dining on their fine food. Like in many of the other smaller taco shops in Mexico, one guy chops the meat, grills the meat and the tortillas, while the other guy prepares vegetables and works the cash register.

When you walk up to the counter, the first thing you'll notice are the bowls of fresh, garnishes and salsa. Wow! You have a wide variety of salsas and garnishes to choose from, including red chili salsa, tomatillo salsa, salsa cruda, chopped onions, creamy guacamole with tomatillos, fresh chopped cilantro, and of course quartered key limes. The cooking is done on a propane-fired stainless steel griddle, in the typical Baja style. They don't have electricity available as they are located on a vacant lot on a street corner, so bottled water and soft drinks are kept in an ice chest for refreshment, and Coleman lanterns provide illumination after dark. Low tech, but low tech works for these guys, and for their customers.

Photo: One guy cooks and the other cuts veggies. Note the stainless steel bowls that hold an impressive array of garnishes. This operation stays in this vacant lot all of the time, and you'd have to air-up that tire if you wanted to move the taqueria.

A sign advertises that they serve tacos de tripa, but when I went up to the counter and ordered a tripe taco, the cashier shrugged his shoulders and said that they were out of tripe for the day; it happens that way at street taco stands in Baja. Darn! Oh well, a chicken taco sounded good, so that's what I ordered.

The coarsely-chopped chicken is placed on the lightly-greased griddle, and while it is cooking, it is turned only once. When the meat is almost done, a CD-sized corn tortilla is placed next to the meat on the griddle, and cooked until brown spots appear on the surface, and then the tortilla is turned over and cooked until it's finished. The timing of the meat and the tortilla is synchronized so they're done at the same time. While the cook was cooking my taco, another customer came up to the counter and placed an order. The vegetable guy immediately seemed to forget all about his vegetable chopping duties, as the customer was a lovely young lady! Flirtatious conversation followed and the chopping duties were forsaken! Priorities, priorities and more priorities...

Left: I'm handed my order. Right: Check out all of the garnishes that I've put on my taco de pollo!

I loaded garnishes onto my taco and sat down at one of the tables and enjoyed the delicious meal, while savoring the scenes of Mexicali. Boy, these street vendors really know how to make good food! Judging by the amount of business Asadero Almada does with the locals, this is the place to stop for tacos if you're at the corner of Calle E and Ave. Vadero in Mexicali. I highly recommend these guys, as their tacos are great, they're friendly and the price is right. Oh yeah, I was out of pesos, so I paid the princely sum of an American buck for an out-of-this-world taco experience at Asadero Almada, and I got change back from my dollar. Way to go, guys!

Web page design has been created by Eric's Enterprises, Etc., website design, and more...