No Name taco stand in Tijuana Centro, at Calle 2 and Av Ninos Heros

The streets of Zona Centro in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico can get very busy on a spring, Saturday afternoon., as I know, as I've walked the streets of Tijuana for many years. After negotiating the narrow and uneven sidewalks, and dodging many fellow pedestrians, all of this effort can make you develop a very healthy appetite. I don't know about you, but when I get hungry in Tijuana, I immediately look for street vendors! Yes! I realize that the thought of street vendors is repulsive to most gringos, but to me, it's a let's-do-it-no-brainier.

Left: To order a taco, you have to elbow your way in among the many hungry customers. Right: An All-Pro diner powers down a taco near the condimenet section at the "No-Name Street Taco Vendor."

Saturday, March 10, 2007, I was up to one of my usual activities, in that I was exploring the streets of downtown Tijuana, Mexico, one of my favorite places to visit. I was at the corner of Av. Benito Juarez (Calle 2) and Av. Niños Heros, in the heart of Tijuana's Zona Centro, when I noticed a very busy taco vendor, set up on the street and adjacent sidewalk, at the very busy corner of Av. Juarez and Niños Heros, with a big sign proudly advertising that sell cabeza, tripa, pollo and carne asada tacos. Since it was about 1300 in the afternoon, that sign drew the author to the taco stand, like a moth is drawn to a flame. There are some things that you can't resist!

What's the name of the place? I asked the woman who was working the place, along with her two male co-workers, and she said their restaurant doesn't have a name, but they set up shop at the same corner, Monday through Saturday, and they generally start serving tacos around 11:00, and they stay in business until they run out of ingredients, which, according to the lady I talked to, they seem to close around 20:00 each evening. I noted that they advertised cabeza, carne asada, pollo and tripa tacos for sale, but when I requested a taco de tripa, I was told all they had in stock was cabeza or carne asada. Darn! So I chose a taco de cabeza... what else?

Left: Smoke always attracts me to a taco street vendor in Tijuana's Zona Centro. Right: My taco de cabeza with all the trimmings, eaten on a busy street corner in downtown Tijuana.

Boy, what a busy operation! These folks have their spot pin-pointed precisely, as this intersection must generate thousands of pedestrians on a typical Saturday afternoon, as it was doing during the time of my visit. I had to elbow my way behind pedestrians, and customers to : a) Order my taco de cabeza, b) Pick it up, c) Eat it, standing up on a busy street corner, d) Place my garbage in the trash can, e) Pay for my lunch, and, perhaps the most daunting operation... f) Taking photos, while dodging the motor and pedestrian traffic. Thank goodness for digital cameras! However, for the small sum of MEX $10.00, I was rewarded with a delicious taco, eaten on a very busy pedestrian intersection in one of the most fascinating places in Baja California, or Mexico in general.

Left: Since this place is so busy, I had to walk around the back side of the operation, into the street, and give the friendly lady in lavendar my MEX $10.00. Right: Diners and pedestrians mingle on the busy street corner.

As a post script, I asked the lady who took my money why the place doesn't have a name. She shrugged her shoulders and replied to me: "Todos saben quién nosotros somos. Nosotros realmente no necesitamos un nombre." That means, in English, something along the lines of "Everybody knows who we are. We don't really need a name." I swear that is what she told me. How could I make up something like that? I have nothing more to comment on this issue! Long live the "No Name" taco stand at the corner of Av. Juarez and Heros in Tijuana's Zona Centro.

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