“As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine. Every autumn, when the wind turns cold and darkness comes early, I am suddenly happy. It’s time to start making soup again.”
— Leslie Newman
Tijuana Taqueria
It had been quite a long time since I had visited Tijuana Taqueria, which is located at 1762 Broadway in Placerville. Then I received a call from my friend Russ, who knows a lot about Mexican food (but doesn’t like cilantro for some reason), saying he had enjoyed a good meal there and asking if I wanted to meet him for lunch. So, a short time later we did just that.
It was a bit after noon when I got there, sat down at one of the wooden tables and looked over the menu. The place was clean, there were a number of people already eating and the phone periodically rang as people ordered food to pick up as a to-go order. Russ showed up a few minutes later.
I have learned to ask him what to eat at a Mexican restaurant, something I discovered when he invited me to try an unfamiliar restaurant in north Sacramento.
“I always have a torta (Mexican sandwich) when I first visit a restaurant,” he said. “The bolillo (roll) has to be good, or the sandwich isn’t.”
As we have done at other restaurants, we ordered two things to split, an asada (beef) torta and two carnitas (pork) tacos.
While we were waiting for our food, I visited the chips and salsa area, picking up a sample of each salsa to try. The restaurant has a nice selection of salsas, varying from mild to hot, and all very tasty. I also sampled some of the sliced and marinated onions and jalapenños, which found out were quite hot. When I looked up comments on the restaurant that people had left on the internet, the chips and salsa were one of the things liked the most.
I liked the torta, to which I added some salsa. The tacos were also very good, and quite full of meat (another multi-customer comment). Again I tried a bottle of Mexican “sangria,” which I mentioned before, tastes a bit like Delaware Punch.
The menu at Tijuana Taqueria includes quite a list of items, including tacos, tortas, burritos, supreme burritos, taquitos, tostadas, quesadillas, flautas, nachos, tamales, seafood and sides, served ala carte. Their meat choices are carnitas, asada, adobada, al pastor, chile verde, lengua, machaca, chicken, fish, diced pork and diced beef. The menu also includes one item and two item dinners, which come with rice and beans. To drink, they have Mexican and American bottled or canned soda, horchata, jamaica, iced tea, wine and both domestic and Mexican beer.
A number of people recommended the tamales, and said they were better than most. I love tamales, but am often disappointed with the masa and/or the amount of filling. Maybe I will try one of those next time.
The hours are from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. seven days a week. For more information call 530-622-9517.
Oh, yes the restaurant still has the buy five supreme burritos, receive one free card, and inexpensive street tacos for a limited time on Sunday.