Tacos El Poblano for delicious carne asada tacos in El Rosario...

Surf the internet, or check out this web site about taco stand tips, and just about any web site will steer you away from taquerias that employ only one person, as that person has to do everything, including preparing salsa, chopping vegetables, cooking meat, toasting tacos, and handling a notoriously filthy commodity, otherwise know as money. I know, I know... you should avoid a single-person operation at all costs, yet sometimes your stomach will tell you otherwise and your mind will agree with your stomach. My head listened to my stomach as I approached Tacos El Poblano, located in the small town of El Rosario, Baja California, as the smell of the cooking tacos coming from the restaurant drew me in, like a moth to a flame.

Photo: Tacos El Poblano is located in a spacious building, along the unnamed main street in town. Note the flagstone constructions, which is quite unusual in Mexico.

Yes, I know that you're supposed to avoid a one-person taco operation, but I'm a sucker for beautiful women, so how could I avoid Andrea, who owns and operates Tacos El Poblano? Just the fact that her carne asada taco meat is smoked over mesquite coals, and the fact that she is a beautiful woman is all that I need to patronize her taqueria, not to mention that her tacos include delicious, fresh in-house made condiments and in-house made tortillas. Oh yes, the price is right, as Andrea charges only MEX $10.00 per taco! That's the good part, but the down side is that you don't want to look at the ceiling, as its covered with flies. Wow! In the U.S., if a dining patron finds even one dead fly somewhere and reports it to the authorities, the restaurant is closed down until the problem is fixed. Things are different in Baja California, as Tacos El Pobalno seems to do a thriving business and when I commented to Andrea about the flies, she just shrugged her shoulders and flashed me a coy smile. Forget the flies, as I was hooked by her coy smile!

Photo: The spacious, but filthy kitchen in El Poblano. Andrea is making tortillas using the wood tortilla press. Those black spots on the walls and ceiling are flies!

Tacos El Poblano advertises that they feature carne asada tacos, fish tacos and antogitos Mexicanos, all cooked over mesquite. Of course the restaurant doesn't have a printed menu, nor does it offer a menu above the kitchen, so when I asked Andrea what was on the menu, she replied "tacos de carne asadas." Wow, what else was new, as that's just the entrée that I had just enjoyed from my visit to Tacos La Cunna, only a few minutes previous to my visit to Tacos El Poblano! I suppose on this Friday night of October 3, 2007, the only meat available in the small town of El Rosario was carne asada? Well, no problem for me, so I ordered two tacos de carne asada.

Photo: Andrea brought large bowls of homemade salsa from the refrigerator and set them on the counter for me to look at. I had her put a little of everything on my tacos, as the salsa looked so good.

Andrea took some meat out of the refrigerator, placed it on the griddle, and began to cook the meat. The meat had been marinating in a pan, and it was already chopped to the perfect size for a carne asada taco. As she was performing her tasks, I had the chance to park myself on a stool at the counter, and watch her every move. I noticed a wood-handled tortilla press, and I asked her if she makes her tacos from scratch, and she replied that indeed, she does. She then opened the refrigerator, grabbed a bowl of pre-made masa dough, and made a couple of tortillas in the tortilla press while I watched, and place the tortillas on the griddle to cook. By the way, you get your choice of corn or flour tortillas...

Photo: Andrea poses with my order of tacos, before the condiments were added. Note the stereo system and the very "creative" electrical wiring in the kitchen of the restaurant.

Andrea's tortillas aren't you small, CD-sized corn tortillas, which seem the be the de facto standard on the streets of Mexico, as Andrea's are the medium-sized tortillas, which promise to make a large taco. While the meat and the tortillas were cooking, Andrea brought out bowls of salsa for the tacos. She asked me what I wanted on my tacos, and of course I wanted everything; I always ask for "con todo" on my tacos!

Photo: My order of delicious carne asada tacos, with condiments added. Despite the filthy condition of the kitchen, the tacos were delicious, and I suffered no ill effects.

I didn't feel like sharing my taco with the flies, so I ordered my tacos "to go." The tortillas were fried just right, so they were pliable, and didn't break, yet they were a little crunchy. The marinated carne asada was cooked perfectly, and way moist and juicy, which is just the way I like it. Condiments included salsa cruda, chipotle salsa, sliced white onions, with a couple slices of limes on the side. The tacos served at Tacos El Poblano are large, and two of them will pretty much make a meal. You can't go wrong for the price of only MEX $10.00 each, considering the quality, the quantity, and the foxy smile that Andrea will flash at you, as she makes the food. Just don't look at the ceiling and ignore the flies...

Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custon photography for any occasion...