Taco La Fama, tripe tacos and more in Tijuana, Baja California...

Boy do I love a good taco! I've eaten my share of good tacos in the U.S. but U.S. tacos just don't seem to measure up to tacos that are cooked on the streets in a Mexican city such as Tijuana.

If you're on Calle 6, a.k.a. Calle Hidalgo and Blvd. Pico Pico in Tijuana, and you're in the mood for a great taco, look no further than Taco La Fama. La Fama is one of the small, colorful taquerias that line the streets of Tijuana. Like most of the others, La Fama features a counter open to the street, complete with barstools, where you place your order, watch the chef cook it, pay for it and, most importantly, eat it. Do you like fresh food? Do you like fast food? If you answered a resounding yes to the aforementioned questions, Taco La Fama is your kind of place. Oh yes, they don't have any of those orange-tinted heat lamps like many restaurants have north of the border. Your taco is prepared as you sit on the stool at the bar, so you know it's fresh and juicy, as you can observe the creation...

Photos: Taco La Fama, as seen from Calle 6, a.k.a., Calle Hidalgo.

Judging from the signs that Taco La Fama displays, they have every kind of taco that you can imagine. However, I was in the mood for a taco de tripa, or more commonly known, as a tripe taco, as I'd been walking for the last several hours. When you spend almost all of the day walking, believe me, a tripe taco sounds good! Yes, I'm not your average norteamericano who turns his nose up at tripe; I grew up in an era where we ate what we were fed and we were thankful for our meal. So to me, a tripe taco sounded, well, yummy!

Left: The "business end" of Tacos La Fama, where you pay for the food, and the place where the food is cooked. Right: La Fama's chef is grilling the tripe for my taco, as other diners look on from the bar. Yeah!

I bellied-up to the bar and ordered a tripe taco. The chef reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a piece of tripe, and placed it on the grill, next to other meat he was cooking. While I was watching him in action, I was talking, well maybe better described as flirting with a beautiful girl named Gloria who was sitting on the barstool to my left. Yes, I'm a happily married man, but I never pass the chance to flirt within limitations, as I never even come close to "crossing the line." Anyway, as I was having pleasant banter with Gloria, I got the opportunity to observe the chef prepare my taco and when the meat was just about cooked, to throw a corn tortilla on the grill, in order to heat it to coincide when my tripe was ready. When it was just about ready, he asked me what I wanted on it, and I replied without hesitation, "todo" and I got the works. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, guacamole and Mexican cowboy beans! Life does not get any better than this, nor do tacos. We're talking about a mouthful of heaven for a mere $8.00, which is around 70 cents, in U.S. dollars.

Left: Can you purchase your way into heaven for less than a buck? Try a tripe taco with beans, all the fixin's and lots of guacamole at Taco La Fama. Right: Gloria didn't believe that I would take her picture, much less publish it on the internet. I love to flirt with beautiful women at Mexican taquerias!

Gloria didn't want me to take her photo, but after a delicious tripe taco, who could resist? I took her photo and showed it to her and promised that I'd post her on the Internet. I guess my promise came true.

You don't want to pass up Taco La Fama when you're walking on Calle 6 and Pico Pico. The food is fresh, it is skilfully prepared, the folks are friendly and the atnosphere is, well, local Tijuana. It doesn't get any better than that.

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