Birrieria San Vicente, delicious tacos de birria...

Here's the real deal: I was looking for birria, as I was on my home from another wonderful trip to the fascinating Baja California peninsula. A week before, I'd had the opportunity to dine at Birrieria San Vicente in the late afternoon, and enjoy a delicious carne asada torta, but since it was late in the morning, on Saturday, October 6, 2007, and I was in San Vicente on my way home, I decided to pay a second visit, to enjoy a brunch of birria de Res.

Photo: Birrieria San Vicente serves delicious birria tacos for breakfast, and they're located on the west side of Highway 1, near the only stop light in town.

San Vicente has many small taquerias to choose from, and I normally like to try new places, but memories from my previous visit, the lure of fresh, hand-made tortillas, and the thought of a taco de birria brought me back for a second visit. A little about birria: In the U.S., is it always served as a stew, and the meat can be goat meat, or it can be shredded beef. Any decent Mexican restaurant will be proud to serve birria on weekends. In Mexico, birria is always shredded goat meat, cooked in a pot, and served either as a stew, or as a filling for breakfast tacos. Naturally when birria is used as a topping for tacos, it's not quite as runny as when its served as a stew in a bowl. In Mexico, birria is breakfast food, so don't expect to see it later in the day.

As I approached the small town of San Vicente, I knew where to find the place, as it is located on the east side of Highway 1, the main street in town, just north of the only traffic light in town, where Calle Niños Heros crosses the highway. Not to mention that I'd spent a night in the town a week previously, and my dining experiences were very fresh in my mind. So after gassing up at the Pemex gas station, I crossed Calle Niños Heros, on the frontage road, and drove the 100 feet or so north to Birrieria San Vicente.

Photo: Cooking tacos on the griddle. The large pot contains birria, and the smaller, colorful pot contains beans. Note that the pots are heated on the griddle.

I recognized the lady making the hand-made tortillas from my previous visit, but the lady that was cooking was new to me; perhaps another family member? Birrieria San Vicente advertises that they make their tortillas by hand, and that's not an idle boast, as you can sit at the counter and watch the lady fashion masa dough into a ball, place the ball on a wooden tortilla press, and squeeze out a perfect corn tortilla. It's a fascinating operation to observe, watching a ball of masa harina dough emerge into a beautiful tortilla; it's like watching an ugly caterpillar turn into a beautiful butterfly... am I being too poetic for my own good? Romance aside, after watching your tortilla made by hand, before your eyes, you know that your tortilla will be fresh and delicious. The fresh tortillas are then placed on the hot griddle and heated until little bubbles appear, and they're soft and pliable, and are able to hold the fillings without breaking. Ahh, I love Mexico!

I arrived in San Vicente at around 11:00 on Saturday morning, and I immediately headed over to Birrieria San Vicente with the hope that I wasn't too late to enjoy a fine brunch of birria. I was in luck, as they still had a couple large pots of birria simmering on the griddle, so I ordered two tacos de birria from the friendly lady taking my order. Tacos de birria are cheap, cheap, cheap, and at only MEX $10.00 each, they are a real bargain.

Photo: Girl #1 prepares an order to go, as girl #2 cooks tortillas on the griddle, as a hungry customer observes the whole operation.

The gal that was making the corn tortillas grabbed a couple of them from a stack, and placed them, by hand, on the hot griddle. While the tortillas were cooking, she lifted the lid from a colorful pot that contained simmering birria, and stirred it a bit, before she replace the lid to the pot. When little blisters started to appear on the corn tortillas, she flipped them over, and about 10 seconds later, she placed them on a plate, that was covered with a plastic baggie, which is very common at small loncherias and taquerias in Baja California. Next, she grabbed a ladle, and spooned birria from the colorful pot onto the tortillas, and handed me the plate. With a smile, she suggested that I help myself to the condiments to the left of the kitchen, which included minced cilantro, sliced cabbage, diced white onions and tomatoes. So I loaded my tacos de birria with all the condiments, and headed over to an available table, to enjoy my slice of birria heaven. I passed on the bottled hot sauce, as I don't care for heat, and the sauce tends to mask the delicate birria flavors.

Photo: Spooning beans on my birria tacos for added flavor. Oh yes!

When I describe the tacos as "birria heaven," it's not a play on words, as when you bite into one of these tacos, you'll think you've died and gone to Heaven. The birria is hot, juicy, flavorful, earthy, spicy, but not hot, even for my sensitive gringo mouth. Combine the juicy birria with the fresh, toasted corn tortilla, and the delicious condiments, including a spoonful of beans on the taco, you have a meal that makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I've never tasted a taco like this in the U.S., so if nothing else, this should give you a reason to pay a visit to Mexico.

I wasn't the only patron of the restaurant, as during my 20 minute visit, there was a constant stream of hungry people showing up to enjoy delicious birria. Patrons included families, showing up in their S.U.V.s, lots of orders para llavar, (to go,) and a few single folks like me, just showing up for something to eat. But I didn't see any other patrons packing a voice recorder and a digital camera, taking photos like your author did! Maybe I'm just unique, or possible crazy...

Photo: My delicious order of two tacos de birria. Note the condiments of beans, cilantro, onions and cabbage. These tacos are simply delicious, and make a very good reason to visit San Vicente.

Don't expect a full-service menu, as on weekend mornings, birria is the only choice on the non-existence menu. You get your choice of birria served in a bowl, in a stew, with corn tortillas on the side, or as a taco, like I did. I love birria as a stew, but today, tacos de birria was what I was after.

If you're a fan of birria, you owe it to yourself to stop by Birrieria San Vicente, as the food is delicious, the price is unbelievable, and the people are friendly. I highly recommend this little loncheria.

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