San Diego: The baja fish taco and my quest for the best.

I will be spending a few week's in San Diego this spring and when work informed me of this news, the first thing that came to mind was "I gotta find out where to go for fish tacos". I have never been to S.D but so im told the fish taco is to it what the dog and beef are to Chicago or the lobster roll is to Maine. Where do I need to go to get the best? Ill be sure to report back all my findings, thanks to all.

Da Beef wrote:I will be spending a few week's in San Diego this spring and when work informed me of this news, the first thing that came to mind was "I gotta find out where to go for fish tacos". I have never been to S.D but so im told the fish taco is to it what the dog and beef are to Chicago or the lobster roll is to Maine. Where do I need to go to get the best? Ill be sure to report back all my findings, thanks to all.

This isn't going to help with your fish taco search, but you need to eat at sushi ota. It might be among the best sushi I've eaten in the United States. It isn't particularly cheap, and you aren't getting atmosphere for your dollar, but the quality of the sushi is exceptional. PS- if you go looking for it, it's next to the 7-11 on Mission Bay Drive.

Sushi Ota
4529 Mission Bay Dr.
(Bunker Hill St.)
San Diego, CA
858-270-5670

NPR story on San Diego fish tacos:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=14333245

Wahoo('s) is a popular chain there. I am not as familiar with the local neighborhood favorites.

Santander wrote:NPR story on San Diego fish tacos:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=14333245

Wahoo('s) is a popular chain there. I am not as familiar with the local neighborhood favorites.

That's odd- I lived in San Diego for about 10 years and return all the time to family and can't ever remember seeing a Wahoo's. That said, Rubios, which I like a lot as does my fiancee, are all over the place. Where are you staying in San Diego?

Da Beef wrote:I will be spending a few week's in San Diego this spring and when work informed me of this news, the first thing that came to mind was "I gotta find out where to go for fish tacos". I have never been to S.D but so im told the fish taco is to it what the dog and beef are to Chicago or the lobster roll is to Maine. Where do I need to go to get the best? Ill be sure to report back all my findings, thanks to all.

I think you should do what Brittany Spears doesand head to Rosarita Beach, around 45 minutes South of Tijuana. Scroll down in the linked thread to see the fish tacos I'm talking about.

Go with JPs rec - Rubio's is what I was thinking of, I just wasn't able to find it quickly (but Wahoo's does definitely exist, and I ate there as well, and know there are multiple locations - http://www.wahoos.com/).

We eat at Rubios in Phoenix and it is decent for fast food mexican in the same vain as baja fresh. However, there must be a non-chain/beef stand "type" place in SD to get a fish taco. Also SD is known for the SD style burritto also. Maybe someone can enlighten us on where to find those too.

iblock9 wrote:We eat at Rubios in Phoenix and it is decent for fast food mexican in the same vain as baja fresh. However, there must be a non-chain/beef stand "type" place in SD to get a fish taco. Also SD is known for the SD style burritto also. Maybe someone can enlighten us on where to find those too.

It's significantly better than Baja Fresh.

This said, it's important to know where you're going to be as San diego is quite large and getting from place to place can take a long time, but good mexican food is a dime a dozen in san diego.

There is a Wahoo's in the old Village of La Jolla. Nothing special much like Rubio's. The short drive to Rosarita is fish taco nirvana as SteveZ notes.

Check this thread:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8581

my fav is
South Beach Bar and Grill
5059 Newport Ave.,
Ocean Beach, San Diego
(619) 226-4577

I agree with Leek that the South Beach has the best I've had in San Diego, plus I remember that they had a nice selection of beers, plus they're practically on the beach. But Rubio's is fine if the urge for a fish taco suddenly strikes--they're all over the place in San Diego, and you can get a beer there, but no fancy ones, if I remember correctly.

My boyfriend and I had fish tacos at South Beach Bar & Grill over Labor Day weekend. They had a couple of options grilled fish and fried fish. We each had 3 tacos, and they were delicious. Here is the link to their website.

My wife and I did an extensive comparative tasting when we were there last year. The general findings:

* Rubio's and Wahoo's, while excellent when considered as "fast food", were really subpar as fish tacos. The Rubio's version in particular tasted like a filet-o-fish on a tortilla, and the industrial-tasting cabbage and sauce really made their mark.

* The winner, at least in San Diego, was El Zarape, a little joint up near USD. Excellent fresh fish, it hit the perfect balance between crisp (cabbage), crunch (fish) and tang (sauce) that we came to look for in a good taco.



* In the "surprisingly good" category was the Brigantine in Del Mar, next to the historic Del Mar racetrack. Sit at the bar, have a margarita and a couple of their tacos - it made us feel like we were in a Cary Grant movie.

* The best of the best, though, were from Tacos Baja Ensanada in LA. Calvin Trillin, I believe, raved about this place. Very light cripsy batter - almost like tempura - and homemade tortillas made these almost ethereal. $0.99 each on Wednesdays, too.



Lots of other places in between that were fine but not worth writing about. South Beach wasn't on our radar but sounds like a definite must for our next trip.

- Fillay

Do not taint your search...avoid Wahoo's and Baja Fresh at all costs. I, too, am a lover and connoisseur of Baja fish tacos, and these two places are an insult to fish taco-dom. I can't recommend any places in S.D., but if you're in L.A. try:

Reel Inn
18661 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265
Phone: (310) 456-8221

Neptune's Net
42505 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA
(310) 457-3095

Hey it's been a while since I've posted but I felt the need as a native San Diegan to tell ya about Harbor Fish Cafe.

It's located up the pacific coast highway at

3179 Carlsbad Blvd
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 729-4161

If you have a chance drive to La Jolla and make your way up the coast highway. Beautiful drive. You'll be tempted to stop at a million restaurants on the way (and you will probably come back and hit some of them up!) but don't stop till you get to Harbor Fish Cafe. The location is right on a cliff overlooking the ocean and the tacos are tasty.

For some fun after, the city of of Carlsbad has a lot of shopping and whatnot. It's a lot of fun.


(By the way the best beer selection I've found in the city and the best Fish and chips are in San Marcos, CA at Churchill's Pub if you have a chance to explore north county check it out.)

Shoot me a message if you have any other questions about the city!

Chris

I've been to SD several times and always had excellent fish tacos at Margaritas Cantina in Seaport Village.

It's a a little stand- and a nice shopping center, too
a little touristy, but if the weather's nice, it's quite pleasant.
http://www.seaportvillage.com

irisarbor wrote:I've been to SD several times and always had excellent fish tacos at Margaritas Cantina in Seaport Village.

It's a a little stand- and a nice shopping center, too
a little touristy, but if the weather's nice, it's quite pleasant.
http://www.seaportvillage.com

Yeah Sea Port Village is a fun little area. Great place to watch the sunset with a cigar and cup of coffee. (If you smoke cigars check out Captain Hunt's Tobacconist.... cool little shop!)

My favorite fish tacos in San Diego are in the Pacific Beach area. You can get the fish either fried or grilled. The bonus of this little shop is that you get a good dose of surf culture along with tasty tacos.
Taco Surf Taco Shop
4657 Mission Blvd
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 272-3877

South Beach and El Zarape are two of the most popular places for fish tacos, but I have never been to either of them. My personal favorite is Bety's in Encinitas. The quesadillas and huaraches also are great and are hand made from fresh masa.

Bety's Tacos
1464 Encinitas Blvd
(between El Camino Real & Village Square Dr)
Encinitas, CA 92024
(760) 632-1512

There are some serious San Diego Mexican food fans on the Chowhound California board. You might try doing a search there.

If you are looking for an unusual Mexican food experience (albeit without fish tacos), you should go to Super Cocina. They serve Mexican home cooking - all of the chefs are women whose only prior experience is cooking for their families.

Super Cocina
3627 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 584-6244

The article linked below was published last week in the San Diego Reader. It focuses on tacos in general and has some recommendations for fish tacos that I have never seen before.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2008/jan/23/cover/

Enjoy!

chicagoexpat, thanks for the great article.

During my college days in Madison I would regularly get into arguments with the often off left coasters about Chicago being a much better place for Mexican cuisine than Cali, that being said however this article looks like San Diego may have better fare than the places I have been to and explored up and down. Ill def. be checking some of these spots out.

As a native Chicagoan, I have had the Chicago vs. San Diego Mexican food debate many times since moving to San Diego. For variety and number of Mexican restaurants, Chicago wins hands down. Most San Diegans cannot wrap their minds around that possibility!

The San Diego Mexican restaurant scene consists primarily of taco shops ending in "-berto's" featuring carne asada and California burritos. It does have a large variety of fish taco places compared to Chicago, though, so your mission to find the best is a worthy one.