La Birrieria

What's it like?

There's a section of Kings Canyon Road. near the fairgrounds that I've always noticed to be populated with Mexican food joints. Unfortunately for them, Tacos Tijuana is nearby so anytime I'm there and taco-hungry, Tacos TJ gets my business.

Recently, though, another place had been catching my eye. It's called La Birrieria. It's right across from University Medical Center. And it's had signs outside advertising 99-cent tacos for a while. I figured it was worth a taste.

I went in for a late lunch (maybe 1:15 p.m. or so) and there was only one other party eating. At least that meant the service should be prompt! The first thing that I noticed was the atmosphere -- the place had these odd round wooden chairs and way more space than it looked like from the outside. It was clean, worth noting for anybody who might find that part of town a bit seedy.

I expected to walk up and order, but I was instructed to sit and was handed a menu, which was actually packed with options. La Birrieria does everything from breakfast and menudo to seafood and mole. But I knew why I was there -- tacos. They offered carne asada, adobada and carnitas, so I tried each one.

First, they brought out some chips and salsa, which is always appreciated. The salsa was green and chunky, obviously freshly made, and packed a kick. When my tacos came out, they came with a red salsa, which wasn't at all chunky, and had a bit of spice to it too. I liked both -- and found, actually, mixing them to be a good solution.

Now onto the tacos:
- The carne asada was diced very fine. It was a tad bland in taste, but the texture was nice. If the meat was seasoned better, it would be a winner.
- The adobada was chewy, and probably my least favorite of the three.
- The carnitas were a bit dry on their own, but when paired with my salsa mixture equaled a pretty good taco.

The tacos were tiny, served on two white corn tortillas, like you'd get from a taco truck. In fact, they very much reminded me of something I'd after 11 p.m. from a taco truck. Except perhaps they weren't as greasy.

While none of three tacos I tried at La Birrieria were standouts, they were all good -- and most certainly worth the price. I'd go back. Especially if I was looking for something cheap.