Aporriadillo, Barbacoa, Sopes y Tortillas de Maiz Hechas a Mano at Tacos Los Gemelos (truck), Redwood City

[Melanie Wong]

This evening I rec’d an email about Tacos Los Gemelos from a chowpal, “have you been here? the birria tacos were remarkable. i tried a taco al pastor, and birria. then i went back and had another birria and a carne asada. next time i'll go and have 4 birria. :) they also sell sopes which make me curious. the spicing was great, and getting hand made tortillas from a truck was a total treat for me.”

As a matter of fact, yes, GMTA, it’s a terrific taco truck. I tried it last weekend so I guess I’d better report on it now to answer her. I’d passed by Tacos Los Gemelos truck many times on El Camino, stationed in the auto repair lot next to Enterprise, and wondered why it doesn’t seem to be on the chowdar. Finally Saturday morning I pulled in to check it out.

The menu looked quite interesting for a truck, offering up tortillas and quesadillas hechas a mano, as well as sopes. I confirmed with the lady cook that the sopes were made by hand from fresh masa as well. As a side note, I found the stacks of Maruchan cup of noodles on display, every single one shrimp flavor, quite curious.

While carnitas is missing on the list of carnes (meats), the specialties here are barbacoa de res, birria and aporriadillo. Aporriadillo was a new one for me. The cook said it was “dried meat, steak”. Good enough for me, I ordered a taco de aporriadillo, $1, and a sope de barbacoa, $2. Researching it later, aporriadillo seems to be a Michoacan specialty similar to cecina. Prices are rock bottom here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/3622817392

The tortillas for the humble tacos are made by hand. Thin and delicate with a slight chewiness, yet the tortilla had enough tensile strength in a single ply to contain the filling without breaking. The aporriadillo did remind me of cecina but cut into a coarse dice, so that it had a lot of chew to it as well as concentrated beefy flavor. Scrambled with eggs and spicy red salsa, this felt like a morning meal. Anyone who likes real machaca made with carne seca could get into this, if you can handle the rather tough and chewy texture.

The sope was indeed made to order, griddled well and not doughy. I admired the thin, hand-pinched rim. The tender masa boat was topped with a layer of frijoles, then the spicy beef barbacoa, and finely shredded cabbage on top. Quite a bit of deliciousness here for so little money.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/3622817380

Tacos Los Gemelos is one of the top trucks I’ve run across and hope that the local ‘hounds give it a try. The white-painted truck gleams, and is neat as a pin with shiny chrome wheels. It’s available for catering for all occasions. The ladies said that they’re here from 9am to 6:30pm M-F, and 9am to 3:30pm Saturday and Sunday.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/3622817398/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

-----
Tacos Los Gemelos truck
2801 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA

[RWCFoodie]

I got a chance to stop by the truck today - it was very busy - at least a dozen people either waiting to order or for their food. What a great find! My sope de barbacoa had a layer of a guacamole type salsa under the meat. Maybe it's a weekend addition? It was so tasty; I tried to eat it slowly but just gobbled it down. I also had a taco de cabeza which was very, very good too.

This will be a regular stop for me from now on - and I'm up and down this stretch of El Camino quite frequently... not good for my waistline but certainly good for my feelings of well being!

[susancinsf]

thanks for the additional report...I didn't make it that far on this bay area trip (but had some other great meals I will report on seperately) but will definitely check out the quesadillas soon.

[gordon wing]

I had two tacos - a barbacoa one and one al pastor. preferred the barbacoa - it had a nice spicy finish and was moist - squeeze or lime rounded out the flavors. liked the tortilla also........ only $1.00 - The al pastor was OK but not as tasty/well seasoned as some others I've had recently. Didn't see anyone ordering the instant noodles.

[bbulkow]

Sounds great --- I think there's a Los Gemelos restaurant / stand on Middlefield, near my coffee source, any relation? I can't find any trail of the middlefield location doing searches, maybe I'm just wrong.

[Melanie Wong]

I had the same feeling and had searched for such in Menlo Park or RC, but didn't find one. I look forward to hearing how you like this truck.

[maigre]

According to a family member of the owner, the place on Middlefield is the same as the truck, same menu, everything. It's only been open a month.

I ate a bunch of things with my family at the truck today. Mostly, the tacos and sopes we had were really good, a terrific bargain, very Mexican in their style, if not uniquely so. The fresh masa tortillas and sopes are always a big plus right off the bat. The birria was probably my favorite, too. The barbacoa and lengua were very nice. I had a consomé de barbacoa (a styrofoam cup for $1), which tasted good, but I don't like all the fat that was in it. But that's me. Tacos al pastor are usually not that good in the US, but this was a tolerable version with small, sort of crunchy pieces of pork. I wouldn't go there just to eat al pastor. They were out of carne asada, so we didn't get to try it. I didn't get around to the aporriadillo. Now the bad – the pollo asado burrito that my kids had was awful, needlessly greasy, bad texture, wouldn't get it again for anything.

Yes, the Maruchan cup-o-soup with shrimp was an attention getter.

Bottom line – go there (or to the place on Middlefield, probably) and enjoy! Personally, I prefer the tacos to the sopes because to my tastes the creamy topping on the sopes makes them a bit soggy and take away the distinctiveness of the flavors. But others would differ. Give it a shot and see what you think. Careful for that chicken, though.

[RWCFoodie]

maigre: could you get us more info on the Middlefield Rd. location? I can't find anything searching on-line other than the truck (I know I could drive around and try to find it but it would sure be great to have the info). Does it have the same name? It would be great to have the address and any other info you can get.... I loved the truck but would really like to be able to go to a sit-down place with the same food.
Thanks!

[maigre]

Playing around with the street view at Google Maps, I'm going to say that it's at 2855 Middlefield in what's no longer the restaurant that's in the images there. It's now painted a can't miss yellow with some green accents. Enter that address at Google Maps, select El Taco de Oro, click Street View and you ought to be looking at a photo of the erstwhile state of things. No guarantees on that address, but I'm 95% sure it's right given it's relative location to La Casita Chilanga, up the road and on the other side of the street.

[bbulkow]

Yes, I was there this morning; I'll guarentee the address.

2855 Middlefield Road. Near dumbarton, within view of the train tracks, same block as my coffee supply.

Same menu as described. *super* clean and cool on a hot day, very friendly - the cook came out and smiled - yellow and green.

Tacos are amazing. The made by hand really comes through. They fold the tacos, and they've got a different texture than machine made - almost more like dumplings.

The meats leave a little to be desired. Could be more --- meaty. 3 tacos for $3 was truly only a snack, but there's no way one could go there and get a torta. I think I'd have to get 6 tacos for a meal.

A great place, deserves a try.

-----
Los Gemelos Taqueria (store)
2855 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA

[Fig Newton]

I checked out the taqueria on Friday and think that the quality of food coming from the truck and the taqueria is similar, if not identical. We purchased 4 barbacoa tacos and 4 birria to take to a friend a couple miles away. The tacos suffered a tad in the transport, but the flavor + quality of the tortillas was still there. The birria tacos are hands down my favorite.

This would be a great place to take friends as an introduction to Middlefield Road. The store is impeccably clean, the staff is friendly, and the food is great.

[susancinsf]

ooh. ooh! 'Quesadillas hechas a mano'...presumably also made from fresh masa. I know what I am going to try if I can convince hubby or one of my chow pals to go as far south as Redwood City when I am in south city this weekend! Actually, I also have a weakness for tacos dorados. Too bad my own gemela won't be around to help check them out.

Thanks for the heads up, Melanie.

[Melanie Wong]

Yes, the quesadillas are made from fresh masa, and I would love to hear how you like them. Because of the carnes I chose, i didn't really get a clear sense of the salsa here. But even so, I think this is a very worthy truck. Maybe you can lure your husband down there with promise of a stop at the new Martins West gastropub in Redwood City as well. It just got its liquor license and the beer and cocktails should be flowing.

Anyone have any insight into the cup of noodles, I mean, is shrimp ramen the preferred flavor for los machos?

[janetofreno]

I don't suppose you could fed-ex about three quesadillas to a certain hotel in the DC area.....:-)