On The Hunt For Great Birria In Tijuana

Nearly every day, I see people asking for birria recommendations in San Diego. While there are some decent birria tacos in the United States, nothing in San Diego compares to the best birria in Mexico. Tijuana has built a reputation as a playground for foodies and travelers in the know. The best birria in Tijuana blows San Diego out of the water, and they are comprised of the same metropolitan area.

On a recent taco crawl, I bit into a birria taco that blew my mind. I had forgotten how much I love birria and how awesome the community of birria-loving Tijuanenses is. My mechanic is a block away from some great restaurants and this one birria taco inspired me to organize some taco crawls and write this article.

I highly recommend getting a passport and traveling to Tijuana to eat. My friends are astonished by the diversity of the taco scene and how much fun you can have south of the border.

An Overview of Tijuana-Style Birria

I have been somewhat conflicted about Tijuana-style birria. Having lived in Jalisco for many years, I always preferred the Guadalajara-style goat birria to beef birria. Beef birria is great in all but I always felt that ‘real’ birria was made out of goat meat and beef birria was kind of a misnomer.

Mexican food is regional. In Tijuana, most birria is made with beef. In Guadalalajara, the style of stewed beef tacos that are crisped up on the griddle are called tacos de barbacoa. Guadalajara-style tacos de beef barbacoa are not as red in color as the Tijuana-style birria because of the spices in the consumé are different.

I highly recommend forgetting about the birria that you tried in another part of Mexico. Just try and focus on the best birria in Tijuana and compare the broth of one taco stand to another. Once I learned how to let go of my preconceived notions of birria superiority, I became a much happier birria enthusiast.

The Best Birria In Tijuana

Probably not the best birria stands in Tijuana but more of a photo album of my favorite birria tacos. Making these lists of great places to eat in Tijuana has taken me to lots of new neighborhoods that I have come to adore. On a recent trip I found a tianguis, a new barber, and a coffee shop that I can’t stop raving about.

Get out there and explore. You won’t regret it.

1. Birria de Cabeza Alex

These guys make an absolutely marvelous taco that will most likely change your life. I had to completely reevaluate my life choices and remember why I got into travel blogging in the first place. It isn’t about making money, not that this blog makes any money. It is about finding tacos that absolutely blow your socks off.

I arrived to this taco stand mid-morning after dropping my truck off for some work and eating a taco next door to my mechanic. I had all day to walk around Tijuana looking for tacos and cool stories.

This is the best birria de res taco that I have tasted in my life. Using the meat from the cow head adds more flavor than I could have imagined. There are little pieces of cuerito floating around in the broth and the level of picante will scare away the beginners.

The Independencia neighborhood is a blue-collar area next to Downtown Tijuana. Most people eating here arrived in taxis or on foot. It is a neighborhood favorite and the owner knew a lot of the customers.

While the tacos were excellent, the consumé was on another level. It was spice before I added chile and lime, and had a lot of meat in it.

This list is a work in progress but I will be visiting Birria de Cabeza Alex every time I go back to Tijuana. It is that good.

If you are looking for the best birria in Tijuana, you need to try this place. It might just change you life.

Birria Alex Address: Calle Morelos 1881-A, Independencia, Tijuana, B.C.

2. Tacos Fitos

Tacos Fitos is a longtime favorite that is located across the street from Mercado Hidalgo in the Zona Río Neighborhood. It is consistently excellent and a total crowd pleaser. In addition to beef birria, they also serve tripe birria which is a great way to introduce your friends to tripe for the first time. On a recent trip, several of my friends commented that they preferred the tripe to the beef because it is served crispy.

If you are driving to Tijuana from San Diego, Tacos Fitos is three minutes from the border and easy to find. Parking is easy in Mercado Hidalgo which you should also check out.

Tacos Fitos Address: Francisco Javier Mina 1695, Zona Urbana Rio Tijuana

3. Tacos de Birria Paisa

This is the taco that brought me back in to the birria game. I kind of forgot how much I love birria tacos. My mechanic is just a couple of blocks away from here in the food rich 20 de Noviembre neighborhood. There are very good tacos on almost every block so I can only imagine the competition must be fierce.

If you need any work done on a vehicle, having great birria tacos nearby makes the time go by quicker.

Hanging out in the 20 de Noviembre neighborhood will make your more knowledgeable about Tijuana-style birria tacos.

Birria Paisa Address: Callejon Jalisco 47, Anexo 20 de Noviembre, Tijuana

4. Carmelita Molino y Cocina

Carmelita Address: Calle Jiménez 7771, Independencia, Tijuana

5. Birria Sí

6. Tacos Hector

7. Tacos El compita de Birria

There are a lot of reasons to visit Tacos de Birria El Compita but the absolutely delicious consumé is right at the top of the list. If that isn’t enough, the restaurant location is a perfect last-minute pit stop before getting in the border line at Otay Mesa.

I ordered a taco, a quesabirria, and a little cup of consumé. The quesabirria is starting to grow on me. El Compita uses what they called a Monterrey Cheese which is similar to the Chihuahua-style of cheese. It is a firm cheese that cuts thick and holds its form when it gets hot.

I recently flew through the Tijuana airport and after picking up my vehicle felt that a taco would make the border line a little less miserable. There is a huge parking lot across the street from the restaurant with safe parking.

Tacos El Compita makes a really enjoyable birria taco that you should check out the next time your are crossing back to San Diego through the Otay Mesa border crossing.

El Compita Address: Calle Venustiano Carranza 1570, Otay Galerias, Tijuana

8. Tacos de Birria El Sabroso

Birria de Chivo in Tijuana

There aren’t a lot of restaurants serving goat birria in Tijuana. Goat birria is more of a Jalisco-style tradition. However, there are a few and I will report on what I find.

8. Birrieria El Saucito

What a lovely family making great food. I had alread eaten way more than I need too and was getting ready to head for the border while going over Google Maps. Birrieria El Saucito just happened to be a few blocks away and is right around the corner from the San Ysidro Fast Pass border line.

I picked up two liters of goat birria for my parents back in San Diego before getting in line. While I have taken them to eat goat birria in Guadalajara many times, I am always nervous serving exotic meats. I didn’t tell them it was goat until they devoured a bowl each. Not only that, I confused the container with just macisa and the container with mixed cuts. They went to town on a bowl of leg, ribs, and spine birria without slowing down.

I would like to go back and sit down to eat at the restaurant some time soon. I looks like the place fills up on the weekends.

Final Thoughts on the Best Birria in Tijuana

This is really just the first draft of an article that I plan on working on for the next several years. I kind of forgot how much I love exploring Mexico for little taco shops with great good.

Many of these taco shops don’t see a lot of tourists exploring the back streets of Tijuana looking for awesome food. I throughly enjoy talking with a birria maker who wants to show me his favorite salsa or make a recommendation for how a taco might best be enjoyed.

Tijuana is a great food city and the local-style birria tacos are one of the reasons that we love this place. Make an effort to get down here and explore. There is a lot to see and do.