Tacos de Birria de Res, delicious tacos in Tijuana Zona Norte

If you're in Tijuana's Zona Norte, forget about the Denny-boy look-alikes, or the small street-facing restaurants that only offer hamburgers. If you want to sample some real Tijuana street cusine, head for a small street vendor that advertises birria. What is birria you ask? Tasty, tender, marinated goat meat, cooked over a griddle and served in a corn tortilla. To most norteamericano palates, a goat taco may sound a bit weird, but if you're in Mexico, this is the food you live by. If you're touring Tijuana's Zona Norte, and you're looking for a fine goat taco, check out Birria de Res. Their portable restaurant is located at the corner of Av. Constitucion and Calle Coahuila, in Tijuana's Zona Norte, and it seems that they're always open.

Left: Tacos de Birria de Res sets up shop at the corner of Av. Constitucion and Calle Coahuilia, in Tijuana's notorious Zona Norte. Right: Birria is cooking on the griddle, as I get a closer look.

Like many street vendors and puestos, Birria de Res serves only one item: Goat tacos. Birria de Res is a small trailer, set up on the street corner, and operated my a mother and son. Their location is sort of pre-determined, as street vendor are required to have a business license by the city and one of the byproducts of the license is that they are granted exclusive rights to "their" street corner. So you can rest assure that Birria de Res calls the corner of Av. Constitucion and Calle Coahuilia "their" corner.

Left: The cook removes a piece of meat from the birria, cooked over a vertical flame. Right: Our cook strikes a rather poetic pose as he begins to grill my birria.

Politics aside, you stroll up to the puesto, order your taco de birra in Spanish, con todo, si como no, and watch what happens. The son forks out a piece of birra, which is marinating in a large pot, and places it on the griddle. Mom busies herself to fix you a plate and tidy around the place a bit. Naturally, while the birra is cooking, he places a couple of cd-sized corn tortillas on the griddle, spoons birra marinade over them, and times out their cooking to coincide when the birra is finished; a process that only takes a couple of minutes. I noticed that when the son isn't busy cooking, he's chopping up vegetables for the numerous garnishes offered. Payment for your meal? This is Mexico, and you pay when you're finished. In Mexico, there are no computers or cash registers and the street vendors rely on the honor system. So keep in mind what you east, as, how can you eat just one taco? ...and pay when you're finished. To pre-pay is insulting to the street vendors of Tijuana.

Left: After dipping the birria into the marinade and cooking it on the griddle, my taco de birria is nearing completion. Right: My taco de birria, ready to eat. Talk about a delicious meal!

Sixty seconds after ordering my goat taco, I was handed a steaming goat taco on a plate. Talk about fast food! Mexican street vendors seem to know the meaning of fast food. Anyway, after being handed my taco, I applied garnishes to it, as featured on the curb-side of the portable restaurant. At Tacos Birria Res, featured garnishes include cilantro, shredded white onions, salsa cruda, sliced red onions, radishes, guacamole and the customary key limes. You can nibble on radishes all day, as they're a "freebie," at Birria de Res, and most other Mexican puestos and street vendors. The free radishes seems to be a Mexican custom.

At the price of $8.00 per taco, about $.75 in U.S. dollars, how could you go wrong? You can't: Eat at Tacos de Birria de Res and you'll experience outstanding goat tacos with a local flair, only found on the streets of Tijuana's Zona Norte.

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