"When you think of good tacos, you probably don’t picture a grocery store on Bainbridge Blvd, a country road from South Norfolk (SONO) to God knows where in North Carolina. I saw the small, unassuming store and decided to see if it was truly authentic Mexican. Only after I went inside did I realize that half of the building was a little taco shop that didn’t show up on my Google Maps. A quick tour around the grocery store and I headed straight for the lunch counter. There were three or four ladies doing all of the cooking, ordering and waiting on tables. They had a decent size crowd in there, I think I was the only Caucasian. Being from San Diego, I go out of my way to eat at taco shops where no white people dare enter. The only English I heard spoken was when they talk to me, this is how I knew it was gonna be authentic. I ordered three tacos, one Cabeza, one Lengua and one tripe. Don’t get me wrong, I love Carnitas, Carne Asada and Adobada but the true measure of an authentic taco shop is how they cook the lesser known proteins, which are sometimes sought out for their down-home taste. Many people who grew up poor didn’t have access to steak, and yet their parents somehow made delicious meals out of inexpensive pieces of meat, things most people would discard as waste. If you can make those taste good than the rest of the menu can’t be hard. I just flew in from San Diego yesterday and I am very familiar with these three products. They had their own spin on them but the taste was very authentic. The Cabeza, which is one of my favorites, didn’t have much if any fat or connective tissue. Some places that don’t know what they’re doing have big chunks of fat and gristle in their Cabeza. This Cabeza had a very good taste, Rich with a hint of salt. It also had a few touches of crispiness, I think from where they put it on the flat iron to get it ready to serve. Most places in San Diego take it straight out of the steam table and onto your tacos. I really enjoyed this slight spin on my Cabeza. The standard way it is served is with chopped white onions and cilantro with lime on the side along with two corn tortillas. The tripe was also very good, it was a mixture of a fine cut and a chopped cut. I am used to slightly larger pieces sliced thin but these were small dices of tongue along with a mixture of what seems to have been more shredded pieces. I do like the gelatinous texture of a decent size piece of tongue but this was a very good spin on tradition. Again this was served with chopped white onion, cilantro and two tortillas. The tripe de res seemed more like a pork buce to me. The rings were very small, indicative of the small intestines of the pig. I prefer the honeycomb tripe from cows in my Menudo but I prefer the buce when I am eating tacos. This definitely reminded me of the buce, and again, like the Cabeza it seemed like it had a little bit of a crispness along the edges which I really enjoyed, it gave me a different texture from what I’m used to.There is a red and a green salsa served on the table along with a bowl of salsa Fresca. All of them were very good, the green had a nice mild flavor and the red had a kick to it, the kind that hits the side of your tongue and stays there for quite some time no matter how much Fanta you drink. The plates were garnished with lime, radish, grilled onion and grilled peppers with a slight hint of vinegar, so good. I washed it down with the aforementioned Fanta and was a very happy camper. If you’re afraid to eat here, at least stop by and get a Mexican Fanta or a Mexican Coke, it will change your mind. Mexican Coke and Fanta does not use high fructose corn syrup but instead uses cane sugar which makes for a much better product.I was ready to put on my San Diego filter, realizing the location of the food I was about to eat might not match up with what I’m used to. But these tacos would stand by themselves in Barrio Logan. I can’t wait to eat here again."
