Birria De Res, under new management in Tijuana Zona Norte

Since there are so many vendors that provide delicious tacos on the streets of Tijuana, I seldom stop at the same place twice, as I love to sample as my varieties of Tijuana street tacos as I can, and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of taco vendors to choose from. During a visit to Tijuana, in late September, 2007, I came across a street vendor with the name of Birria De Res, which sounded quite familiar, and the location also struck a chord in my mind, as the taco stand was located at the corner of Av. Constitución and Calle Coahuila, in Tijuana's famous red light district, La Zona Norte. Gee, the small, semi-mobile taco cart looked familiar, as was the blue awning, but the faces and the layout of the restaurant looked different. I thought I'd eaten at the place before, but I really wasn't sure, but I just HAD to know, so I dashed off to one of the nearby internet cafés to visit my web site to confirm a previous visit. Yes, I had visited Tacos de Birria de Res before, back during a visit in 2005; although the restaurant was in the same location, significant changes seemed to have been made, so I decided to violate my own rule and pay the place a second visit.

Photo: Birria de Res, a semi-perminant restaurant affixed to the sidewalk, located at the corner of Av. Constitución and Calle Coahuila, in Tijuana's famous Zona Norte.

Although the restaurant is still located at the same, tawdry street corner, there had been quite a few changes since my visit, two years previous. The name of the place had been changed from "Tacos de Birria de Res" to simply Birria De Res. The mother and son, who had operated the taquería together during my last visit, and had been replaced by a single guy, who multi-tasked, as he performed the duties of chief cook and bottle washer, with a somewhat surly attitude. MEX $8.00 tacos were only a pleasant memory, as the price of tacos was now raised to the still very reasonable price of MEX $10.00, per taco. Good changes included large bowls of condiments, located on the counter of the restaurant, which allow the diner to customize his or her taco, which included creamy guacamole, sliced white onions, chopped cilantro, salsa roja, and chunky salsa verde. The all-you-can-snack-on radishes are still there, and the colorful displays of onions still hang from the ceiling. Birria De Res seems to have had a change in ownership, and a change in its taco mission.

Photo: Chef Renaldo removes a piece of goat from the grill, and its ready to be transfomred into a delicous taco de birria. Note the trompa to the left of the phot, and the condiments placed on the counter, at the bottom of the photo.

Birria De Res does goat tacos, and that's what they do. You can choose from any variety of meat you want, as long as its goat... and Birria De Res serves goat tacos in fine style. The goat meat is impaled on a spit, and roasted in front of a gas-fired vertical grill, adorned with a large chunk of pineapple, designed to add class and flavor. When you order a taco from Birria De Res, the cook first slices meat from the vertical spit, and places the meat on the griddle. Next, a couple of corn tortillas are placed on the griddle, to cook next to the meat. Both the meat and the tortillas are turned once, and the meat and tortillas are ready at the same time. The cook places the meat on the tortilla, dips a ladel into a pot of birria, (goat stew) ladles the stew onto the goat meat, and places the cooked tacos on a paper plate. Now its your turn to select the garnish of your choice, from the choices placed on the counter in front of you.

Photo: Two delicious tacos de birria, decorated with all of the condiments, ready to enjoy on the streets of Tijuana.

Maybe I was in error to label this guy as surly, perhaps I would more accurately describe him as busy, as he runs the place all by himself. During my 10-minute visit, I observed him cooking meat, cooking tortillas, chopping vegetables, serving tacos, making change, and dealing with customers. Most gringo web sites advise against patronizing one-person operations, but during my travels to Mexico, I've never had a problem, and I certainly didn't encounter any problems at Birria De Res. Change happens, and although Birria De Res has undergone some drastic changes, it still is an outstanding place to eat, if you desire tacos de birria, on the streets of Tijuana.

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