"Typical San Diego"
Here’s a little vignette that might shed some light on the recurrent question of whether there’s any “typical San Diego” food:
Last night while watching the Padres game on TV, the announcers were discussing Philadelphia’s starting pitcher, a young phenom named Cole Hamels. Hamels was raised in Poway and went to school at Rancho Bernardo High. This was apparently his first trip back to San Diego since starting with the Phillies. They said when he got of the plane at Lindbergh Field, the first thing he told his teammates was, “I’m going to get me a carne asada burrito.” Smart kid.
. . . jim strain in san diego.
-
-
re: guacaholic
Trust me, it is *not* the same. When I am on vacation in Michigan, can't find anything close to the flavors we get here...Patty is in Florida and is a great cook, but she nver mae Mexican food when she lived here; the taco shops are close, and good and cheap.... I tried sending her the carne asada (raw)vac pack from Costco along with some fresh and raw tortillas; it was not the same to her. Sending the cooked and then frozen burritos is the flavor she (and her husband and her kids) miss.
As you can see by this post, people don't like the same flavors of carne asada from San Diego places...everyone likes it from one taco shop and not from another....
If you ever move, you'll understand...
-
-
Alice Q
Aug 2, 2006 01:07 AM
I know that's how I would feel if I ever left town! My husband and I split a carne asada burrito and an order of rolled tacos for dinner nearly every Friday night (every once in a while we splurge and get the carnitas!) It's our end of the week ritual.
Everywhere we've lived we've found a local taco shop we like after two or three tries. In Bankers Hill it was La Posta, in Normal Heights and Kensington it was Rolobertos on Adams (burritos the size of your head) and now that we're out in the the East County it's Saritas in Casa de Oro. Good stuff!
-
Just had a CAB yesterday from Roberto's in PB (Ingraham & Grand Ave) and thought I'd share a picture for the curious. They serve a decent enough example.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v22...
(I had to giggle at a sign in their window: New item-Cheese Enchilada Fries $3.50. It just keeps evolving doesn't it?)
-
This is for Josh....
I have gone to taco shops that use American Cheese in the quesadillas (eeww,eeew,eeeeewwwww) and also shredded imitation cheese for the bean and cheese burritoes....
Really, if they can't do something basic/something that isn't a high profit margin using quality ingredients, I am just not going to pay more to see if maybe something else there is made with quality ingredients......
Another simple example is iHop....they only have artifical coffee whitener and not real half and half to put in the coffee. Its a breakfast place primarily...coffee is for breakfast...not to at least offer half and half...that is just wrong....
It may be just me, but that's how I try a place out...basics should be done very well...plain (no cheese added)burgers; cheese only pizza; pho tai or ga; beef with broccoli...( I have had bad steamed rice and old overcooked broccoli...)there is more, but you get the idea....
-
-
-
Um, hatless, I never said anything about Robertos....I said "local taco stand"...she liked the CAB from an obscure place in Santee..I sent her the carne asada meat from Costco and from other local markets...she wants the burrito, with the tortilla and says it reheats properly.
And she lives in Lakeland, smack dab in the middle of the state, halfway between Tampa and Orlando. The roads going to and from either of those cities are two lanes wide, each....She has still never been to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami since living there.
›6 Replies-
re: Cathy
hatless
Jul 19, 2006 06:45 PM
Lakeland, eh? She might be getting those FedExed burritos for some time to come, then. I'd be surprised if there weren't at least a couple of decent Mex-Mex taquerias for the immigrant community out there, but if someone's craving SoCal-style burritos, I know it's not the same thing.
Anyhow, I don't personally think Roberto's is FedEx-worthy food; I just saw the other mentions of them on this thread and figured it was worth asking.
-
-
re: hatless
Hatless,
I don't think Roberto's in Florida is related to Roberto's in SD. I believe it's a local chain. Everywhere in SD, but I don't think it has locations outside the county. At least I haven't seen any.
Personally, I don't much like Roberto's, most probably because I was not eating much carne asada when I lived in SD, and the Roberto's close to where I worked seemed to be terrible at most other things - even simple stuff like bean and cheese burritos. But every native San Diegan seems to have grown up eating carne asada burritos (the point of Jim's original post).
ed
-
-
-
re: Cathy
Josh
Jul 20, 2006 06:23 PM
Huh - little strange to me since taco shop quesadillas are a pretty Americanized food item. I've been to so many taco shops that do some things well and other things poorly that I've found there isn't really a reliable litmus test.
For example, Nico's makes awesome chicken rolled tacos - but there's nothing else on their menu I find all that compelling. Lalo's makes tasty quesadillas (without that horrible oily yellow cheese so many other taco shops use), but I don't find their pastor or asada all that exciting.
-
-
-
-
-
-
My best friend moved to Florida in 2000. I now know that 2-3 times a year I will get a phone call: We *need* carne asada burritos...soon.
I go to WalMart throughout the year and always have at least two of those zippered thermal thingys that will hold a 6 pack of pop somewhere in the house. Costs less than $6.
After the phone call, I go to the local taco stand and get 6 carne asada burritos, guac on the side please. They will fill a large beverage cup with guac...this is for me because Patty can buy frozen guacamole in Florida, and she has it ready...and they don't charge you less if you don't want guacamole. I also get about 12 containers of hot sauce. The 6 burritos come out to about $24.
I put the burritos in the freezer that night, separated, so they will freeze, and also take the hot sauce and put it into a sandwich size Zip-Loc and freeze it flat.
I search the next day for a cardboard box that the 6 pack holder will fit into and get ready...Fedex leaves the El Cajon station at 5 pm. At about 4, I stuff the 6 very frozen burritos into the 6 pack container, laying the flat, frozen hot sauce on top, zip the lunchbox and stuff it into the box, slap a label on it, for next day delivery...regular not early delivery and drive to Fedex...they do NOT allow dry ice and it does not matter.
I have a FedEx account (I am self employed) and so can just walk to the counter and hand the box to them...
Patty will get it by 4 pm Florida time and always the burritos have to be nuked..they are still frozen. FedEx charge is about $25.
I have only done it in the past year in November, December and this past February...its gonna be time for that phone call to come...very, very soon....
›3 Replies-
re: Cathy
Captain Jack
Jul 19, 2006 02:19 AM
Hi Cathy,
That is so nice of you to do that. I wish my friends in Chicago would do that with deep dish pizza for me -
re: Cathy
hatless
Jul 19, 2006 03:49 PM
I have no idea whether you or your friend in Florida consider Roberto's good enough to ship. Some folks on this thread seem to think so. You also didn't mention what part of Florida she's in.
If she happens to be in reasonable range of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, Roberto's opened three locations a few years ago. Something happened, and they got renamed Ernesto's 24-Hour Taco Shop but kept the menu and food didn't change one bit.
-
-
Carne asada burrito sounds great. So if you were going to get one, where would you go? San Diego is new territory for us but we are trying to get to know it as daughter is starting school at UCSD in Sept. Thanks.
›5 Replies-
-
-
re: hatless
Yes, Roberto's as in the chain (though the variability between various Roberto's is quite high, in my opinion). Maybe some of the stores aren't so good, but most are OK, and some are pretty good. It is a reasonable starting point for a carne asada burrito, much in the same way as Rubio's is a reasonable starting point for a fish taco.
If dimsumgirl is talking about eating around the UCSD area, the Roberto's on Carmel Valley Road near the ocean has been pretty reliable for me in the past. This one bills itself as "Roberto's Mexican Food" and not as a "Taco Shop", but I don't think the distinction means a lot.
But "good enough to ship?" How in the world could you take what I posted and exaggerate it to that level? Yikes!
-
re: RB Hound
hatless
Jul 19, 2006 07:49 PM
Relax. I know nothing about San Diego and was surprised to see Roberto's earning any mention at all. Then someone else mentioned she ships burritos from SD to a friend in Florida. So I just gave a heads-up to that person that there are what amount to a few actual Roberto's Taco Shops in Florida in case that might tide the transplanted San Diegan over between care packages. Can't know without asking. Easy there.
-
-
-
-
re: dimsumgirl
Here is a recent thread on UCSD options:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...
Also, ask your daughter to join my UCSD Chowhound Facebook group by searching Chowhound. Thanks!
-
-
soulshine
Jul 19, 2006 12:14 AM
Ha! Yes, he is smart fellow, indeed. I have family in Illinois who yearn for a good old Robertos carne asada burrito, and some rolled tacos w/ gaucamole. Every time I speak with my cousin to reminisce about our summers spnet at Mission Beach, she begins to groan about the ache she has for such a meal. She said there are places out there that try, but fall so short of the mark, she won't even bother. Once when my aunt came out without the kids, they all pleaded with her to get carne asada burritos sans gauc and put them in a cooler. In fact I know several people, including family members, who have relocated and the first thing out of anyones mouth when talking about coming back to SD is how they want to go straight from the airport to get a carne asada burrito, heh.
