The North Bay is well known as a Wine Country destination, but it depends on your perspective, as well as your appetite. North of the Golden Gate Bridge, it can look less like a wine road and more like a taco trail. When a taco craving comes on, there’s an abundance of authentic restaurants, taco trucks and taquerias, serving up one of the most beloved folded finger foods of our time.
The word taco stems from the Nahuatle word tlahco, meaning half, or in the middle. The taco has been a staple in Mexican cuisine dating back centuries. In the United States, the popularity has been ever-rising, with limitless variations making their way to cuisines outside of Mexican, like California-style tuna tartare tacos, East Coast lobster tacos, coastal fish tacos and more.
The North Bay is a great destination for authentic Mexican restaurants, taco trucks and trendy variations at our convenience. In fact, there is an abundance of local businesses serving up tacos for locals and tourists to enjoy. So where does one begin on a quest along the taco trail? Here are a few favorites to try—and perhaps some places you’ve never even heard of—making tacos.
Los Moles Hecho En Casa
San Rafael
Beginning south on the taco trail In San Rafael on Lincoln and 3rd Street, you’ll find a little gem of a restaurant south of the border. Los Moles Hecho En Casa has an authentic feel as soon as you step inside. The décor and the aroma of flavors filling the air all add to an ambiance, but the real authenticity comes in the form of its taco selection. For starters, fresh, corn tortillas are handmade there daily, raising the bar on taste.
Owner and chef Lito Saldana is a seasoned veteran in his Mexican cooking and successful restaurants locally, with locations in Emeryville, Albany and El Cerrito. His use of family recipes keeps the menu traditional and the flavors irresistible.
More than just traditional tacos, like carne asada (beef) carnitas (pork) and pollo (chicken), the restaurant has created unique additions that appeal to a diverse group of diners.
At Los Moles, they’re shaking up the taco experience with enticing menu options such as meatless Mondays, featuring a vegetarian taco menu. The quesabirria (a cross between quesadilla and taco) plant-based vegan taco is served with handmade corn tortillas, vegan mozzarella cheese, onions, cilantro and served with a traditional consommé. Other meatless options include mushroom and spinach; mixed vegetables; and rajas poblanas, which features grilled poblano peppers, sautéed garlic, onions and vegan cream.
If you’re not leaning toward meatless, and crave a classic taco, the restaurant offers “tabla de tacos,” a selection of tacos served on a long, wooden plate. Guests can order up to 20 tacos, with many options such as pollo al pastor, using organic marinated chicken in an al pastor adobo sauce, served on a handmade corn tortilla and topped with onion and cilantro; birria de pollo, featuring organic chicken birria, cilantro and onion; ribeye tacos with organic grass-fed beef, grilled onions, cilantro and salsa casera.
Seafood lovers rejoice! The restaurant’s sway fish tacos are hard to say no to, with avocado slaw and habanero cabbage salad, not to be missed.
Located in the heart of downtown San Rafael, Los Moles is a great place to start a journey along the taco trail.
Los Gallos Taqueria
Rohnert Park
The most popular item on the menu is the quesabirria taco. Marinated pork in a crispy, fried white flour tortilla topped with onion, cilantro and salsa verde, this taco has a loyal following. It’s served with a cup of traditional consommé, deep red in color, to dip the taco in or enjoy as a soup. The quesabirria taco is usually prepared using goat meat, he explains, but at Los Gallos, it’s prepared with beef.
A Los Gallos employee taught Echeverria how to make the taco, and he keeps it traditional while taking steps to create an elevated experience. “We cut all our meat here in house,” he says. “We buy it, slice it, and try to control the texture and quality by cutting off any unwanted gristle or fat.”
While other taquerias remind Echeverria he’s tossing away profit each time he eliminates the unwanted meat, he confidently reminds them it’s all about the quality. “I’d rather the experience be amazing,” he says.
And according to Echeverria, the real star in an amazing taco isn’t what’s inside. “It’s the tortilla,” he says. “The tortilla matters a lot. We use La Finca tortillas,” he says. La Finca Tortilleria is based out of Oakland, a family business started in 1983. “We use the white tortillas,” he says. “Our new location will use yellow tortillas,” which he says are his personal favorite. However, they need the white tortillas for the quesabirrira tacos since it makes for a crispy hard shell.
If the quesabirria isn’t for you, try a crispy taco. A hot, fried tortilla shell serves like glue to the peppering of parmesan generously sprinkled on top, and filled with a meat of choice and shredded iceberg lettuce.
At $4.25 for a crispy taco and $4.50 for a quesabirria, hungry patrons order them by the dozens. On Saturdays and Sundays, Los Gallos prepares handmade tortillas for its patrons.
El Molino Central
Sonoma
Inside, the kitchen is bustling with activity as the kitchen crew prepares its famous tamales, huge batches of roasted butternut squash for their tamales and enchiladas and squeezing by one another to get the food out the door to the patio where dozens of patrons dine outside.
Its menu is seasonal. On the winter menu, Bohemia beer-battered fish tacos ($12 for two) are one of their most popular taco dishes, served open-faced on homemade corn tortillas. The batter on the fish is thick and crunchy, and the pieces are almost hidden by the mound of fresh green cabbage along with salsa de arbol and avocado-lime mayonnaise. For beer-battered fish taco lovers, this is the spot along the route to satisfy the craving.
The menu also features two additional taco variations—tacos al pastor (marinated pork) and their Riverdog Farm German butterball potato and two cheese crispy tacos. The al pastor tacos (3 for $17) are unique, oozing with their juicy, deep red marinade on a soft corn tortilla, and topped with two slices of pineapple, onion and cilantro–adding a pleasantly surprising sweetness, which balances the mild heat.
Come for the ambiance and location, and don’t miss out on their house-made salsa chipotle, which you may be tempted to eat on its own with a spoon. However, this is not the end of the road for fish-taco lovers.
El Coyote
Sonoma
The ultimate mahi-mahi fish taco, featuring huge pieces of fresh, grilled mahi-mahi is served up out of El Coyote’s taco truck in Sonoma on Broadway Street.
Conveniently located along the road, it’s a quick and easy place to grab a few tacos on your way through Wine Country. Owners Angelica and Jose Vasquez have owned the truck since 1999. On this day, Angelica is behind the truck dishing out the goods to countless guests making a quick grab-and-go. She happily explains that her husband makes batches of his salsa and meat marinades daily–his secret concoctions.
The mahi-mahi tacos are $4 each, surprising considering the massive pieces of fish inside. Topped with lettuce, chopped tomato, and avocado, it’s light and refreshing. The house-made chipotle salsa adds the kick of heat and a mild sweetness that leaves you wanting much, much more.
The chicken taco is another popular item on the menu. According to Angelica, her husband makes the marinade using guajillo peppers, which add a distinct and bold flavor with no additions needed. The cilantro and onion accompaniment is pure bliss, making it a standout chicken taco. At only $2.50 a taco, you’ll be tempted to return again and again.
Tacos El Pelon
Santa Rosa
Pelon]
At Tacos El Pelon on Sebastopol Road, the menu offers many classic taco favorites—carne asada, carnitas and, of course, pollo. But if you ask what they’re really known for, they’ll tell you without hesitation, the Cochinita pibil taco. This slow-roasted pork thigh taco is tender and topped with pickled red onions and a couple of slices of fresh radish. It’s simple, but packed with flavor from the homemade red sauce the pork has delicately bathed in.
At $3.50 a taco, this taco find is too good to order just one. There’s limited seating at Tacos El Pelon, but there’s ample parking, so it’s a great place to order tacos and enjoy them in the comfort of your vehicle while out and about. (It’s also another good reason to conveniently make your way back for seconds or thirds.)
Gun Club Bar & Lounge
Geyserville
It’s expected to see craft cocktails being shaken and poured as well as hot bar food being passed through the kitchen window to a server running appetizers to hungry locals and wine-tasting tourists. But a pleasant surprise is an unexpected selection of street tacos, casually written in chalk on their menu board—Korean street tacos and its daily taco featuring specific meat of choice.
With many patrons grabbing a quick drink and a light bite while awaiting a dinner reservation nearby, the tacos and other bar bites are all portioned as a perfect appetizer.
The restaurant’s Korean street tacos arrive plated, as a pair. A combination of shrimp, pork and beef marinated in Korean BBQ sauce, this tiny taco is bold in flavor. Topped with kimchi and bonito flakes, just the right amount of heat presents itself. Handmade corn tortillas add to a delicate and soft exterior. The tacos are only available a la carte ($18 for two tacos).
Additionally, the bar also offers their carnitas street tacos on this particular day (two for $16). Also served a la carte, the tacos are not overdressed, arriving topped with cilantro, lime and green salsa. The pork’s edges are crispy and charred, with a perfectly juicy element from the slow cooker.
Los Plebes
Geyserville
While the menu offers an abundance of choices, including breakfast, combination plates and tortas, the tacos are a hit, with many interesting choices to entice. Familiar favorites include carne asada, pollo, and al pastor. But don’t disregard the more exotic tacos—cabeza (beef brain), lengua (beef tongue) and buche (pork stomach).
The tacos are topped generously with grilled onions, cilantro, spicy salsa and grilled serrano pepper. At less than $5 each, these tacos are a great value and hard to pass up. Add a bottle of Coca Cola and your day on the taco trail is complete.
Blaze your own trail
There are so many taco joints to choose from in the North Bay, it may be hard to narrow down the choices along the way. A few words of advice: Let your stomach be your guide, venture off the beaten path to find the local spots, and don’t be afraid to try something new and unfamiliar–those tend to be the best finds along the way.
The Very First Taco Truck
Los Angeles’ Raul Martinez is said to be the first to introduce the taco truck in the early 1970s. Using his converted ice cream truck-turned taco truck, Martinez sold tacos outside LA clubs and bars, using corn tortillas, beef or pork, and homemade salsa. His success resulted in opening King Taco Taqueria in Los Angeles, with 20 locations in Southern California today.
Source: npr.org
Fun Facts about a Folded-Food Fave
Oct. 4 is National Taco Day.
95% of people say they enjoy tacos.
Carne asada is the most popular taco filling, with 1 in 4 people noting it as their favorite.
76% of people eat tacos every couple of weeks.
Mission is the top-selling tortilla brand in the U.S., out of about 450 distinct vendors.
The typical Mexican family of four eats more than two pounds of tortillas per day, which is similar to holding a single tortilla in one hand, and eight sticks [two pounds] of butter or margarine in the other.
Source: nationaltoday.com/national-taco-day/
