Last time I checked, the La Princestia Taco truck, a long time staple in the parking lot of Joe's 99 Cent store had lost his "lease" as it were, and had moved on to greener pastures. I read Dennis's post from back in March letting us know that La Princesita was now found out on ECB, in front of one of the Panaderias, and had spotted it myself a couple of days after. That's why I was kinda surprised to see what looked like said taco truck (or perhaps trailer is more appropriate) in the parking lot of 96¢ (ever wonder how to create the "cents" symbol on a keyboard - hold the ALT key, and type in 0162, then release the ALT key) & Up Store on Linda Vista. Fairly excited, I drove by the next evening, and nada...... the following Thursday, it was back.... the next evening, "zip". After that, I just put finding the truck on the back-burner, moving on to other things. Until.... a Friday two weeks ago. I received an email from FOY (Friend of Yoso) "Gustavo", who wrote letting me know the truck was back for good......
I wrote Gustavo back letting him know that I'd check it out the following weekend...... and last night seemed the perfect time. It was kinda strange, the store was closed, so the parking lot looked completely empty except for two vehicles, and of course, true to Gustavo's word, La Princesita!
Being pretty hungry, I went for four tacos ($1.50 each).
From left to right, carne asada, cabeza, lengua, and pescado.
I'd never had the fish taco from La Princesita, and my better judgment told me stick with the "carnes", but I decided to just try it out.
And in all honesty, I've had worse fish tacos.... it was a bit "crema" heavy, and the piece of fish was fairly small, and lost in all the shredded cabbage. But what fish there was tasted decent, but nothing I'd have again.
In my original post on La Princesita I mentioned that the Lengua was my favorite. And it was true on this occasion as well.
Well portioned, the lengua was very tender with a mild gamey beefiness unique to tongue. The texture is fairly slippery, and almost slightly creamy-gelatinous, without creeping into the waxiness of poorly prepared lengua. To be honest, the salsa roja is not really needed, I'm fine with just a touch of cilantro and onions.
The cabeza was just ok.
I like the texture, though I think it could use a bit more "ooomph", in the form of the condensed beefiness of good cabeza. Also, a bit more gelatinous bits are always welcomed. Still, this was not bad.
Of course I had to try the Carne Asada.
There was a time when the carne asada from La Princesita was highly thought of. Somehow, it seems to have fallen on hard times. The meat was tougher than I recalled, and lacked the salty-citrus flavor that I enjoyed in my first couple carne asada tacos from La Princesita. Perhaps this was just a fluke.
I hope it is......
As a whole, the tacos from La Princesita are served on moist double corn tortillas, and the portions are quite generous. It was kinda like seeing an old friend. Both Gustavo, and the gentleman running the trailer told me there were here to stay.... but as Paul McCartney said so well, "in this ever changing world in which we live in....." who knows. I hope they do stick it out at this location.
One thing though..... the sign on the sidewalk says 99¢ Tacos...... all of my tacos cost a $1.50, which in my opinion is a pretty reasonable price. So maybe they should saw off the 99¢ part unless they actually have 99 cent tacos???
La Princesita Taco Truck/Trailer
In the parking lot of the 96¢ and Up Store on Linda Vista Road.
Hi Kirk, I wanted to try the cabeza but they were out that night. Your lengua looks a bit more chopped than mine was and better. I'd probably try visiting the location again, just preferably not late at night.. Have you tried Manny's in Normal Heights yet? I'd be interested to know what you think.
Posted by: Dennis | Sunday, 08 August 2010 at 09:48 PM
Oh my bad, I thought the cart was still on ECB.. I need to read slower!
Posted by: Dennis | Monday, 09 August 2010 at 07:44 AM
Hi Dennis - No problem. I've been trying to check out Manny's, but things usually get going a bit late for an old guy like me!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 09 August 2010 at 07:45 AM
everything looks great! if they do have 99cent tacos that would be even better!
Posted by: kat | Monday, 09 August 2010 at 11:27 AM
Hi Kat - Yes, that would be even better!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 10 August 2010 at 04:59 PM
I used to go to this taco cart a bunch when my friend used to live in Linda Vista. I'll have to check it out again!
Posted by: Mary | Wednesday, 11 August 2010 at 02:26 PM
Hi Mary - It was nice to see them back in the neighborhood.
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 11 August 2010 at 08:14 PM
I was mislead by the sign too
but if you look closely, (and you can even see in this sign) at the bottom right hand corner it says "fish." And every time Ive been there the fish tacos are only a dollar.
Posted by: Phuong | Thursday, 12 August 2010 at 07:05 PM
Hi Phuong - That's interesting.... especially since I got charged $6 for my four tacos.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 12 August 2010 at 08:06 PM
Really??
I wonder if it's because you ordered more and they got confused? or you didnt get ring up by the usual cashier?
I think you should try it again! because a dollar for a fish taco is a steal in my book :)
Posted by: Phuong | Friday, 13 August 2010 at 12:06 PM