Reyberto's Taco Shop

*** Reyberto's has closed.

This version of a "something - Berto's" taco shop is sort of an old crime scene to me. A crime against my palate! When we first moved to the area several years back we tried some carne asada and other items here and were totally grossed out! It was terrible(ever had sour carne asada), and I vowed never to return. But along comes this food blogging thing, and a few recommendations that included Reyberto's, and here I am again.

So a few weeks ago, I decided to give Reyberto's another shot. After all there are two other Taco Shops within a block of Reyberto's; an outpost of Roberto's, and a location of Cotijas, and yet Reyberto's survives. In case you can't find Reyberto's, just look for the large "Gyros" poster! Yep, you can't miss it. Say what!!!!!

Not being in the mood for carne asada, nor brave enough to try the "Mexican-Gyros", I ordered the Al Pastor Burrito($4.25):

Honestly, not too bad. A bit on the mild side as Al Pastor goes, and too much tortilla, or maybe it's too little filling for such a large tortilla. But the decent creamy guacamole, and pico de gallo, went well with the Al Pastor. A vast improvement over my last (and I swore it would be my last) visit.

So after a recent shopping stop at the market in the mall, I stopped by Reyberto's again and ordered the 5 "mini" Al Pastor Tacos($5.25):

Funny thing; as I was waiting for my order and grabbing some salsa and carrots at the salsa bar:

There it was again! Another Gyros poster! Man, they're really pushing that stuff...... By the way, did you know???? Actually, I'm surprised it's not four out of four people.

So I manage to get my tacos, and myself(sans Gyros, thank-you-very-much) home:

This time around the Al Pastor were on the tough side, and still mild in flavor. The tacos were a bit larger then what I would call "mini", and the size of basic "street-tacos". This was quite a bit of food. Not great, not good, but not bad.

And strangely enough, I found myself at Reyberto's again recently after a long day at work, and a grocery shopping excursion to the market.

And was again assaulted with the Gyros advertising. Now who can resist "Authentic" Gyros? Especially "authentic" Gyros from a taco shop? So I gave in and ordered a Gyros Sandwich (you won't tell on me, will you?). When I watched them prepare the Gyros, it all came to me...duh!!!

Gyros are served to maximize the use of the Trompo(vertical spit). So when it's not in use for Al Pastor, it's in use for Gyros meat.

So at long last here it is the Gyros Sandwich($3.95):

I didn't quite know what to expect. Perhaps gyros meat laid upon a tortilla? What I got was a good amount of typical gyros meat on a store bought pita. The sandwich was quite large and filled the entire Styrofoam container. Along with the meat were a few slices of crappy tomato, and a good amount of onion. So no guacamole, salsa, jalapenos, or anything that would have made this sandwich interesting. The Pseudo-Tzatziki was a bit strange. First of all, there was way too much of it, the sandwich was practically floating in it. But the tzatziki had more of a sour cream flavor then the usual yogurt flavor. hmmmmm....

As a whole Reyberto's serves up average taco shop fare, at a decent price. No more, no less. But then again if your having a bad day, perhaps Carne Asada fries will help make your day a bit better. Or at least put you into a food coma......

In case you think I'm really serious, I hope you understand the irony(I know that Kronos is the largest supplier of "food court" gyros meat), and slight sarcasm of this post. Reyberto's serves average to mediocre taco shop fare. But then again, there are those Gyros.........

Reyberto's Taco Shop
3017 Clairemont Dr
San Diego, CA 92117

Comments

[dietchilicheesefries]

AB Kirk,

soo.. which ****Bertos is the best??

i think i've been to Rigobertos, Reybertos, somethingelsebertos and of course Albertos.. honestly, i really can't tell if theres a big difference, kinda like the whole west coast charbroiled greek burger joint phenomenon.. i'll have to tell you about my theory on that one some other time...

[Kathy]

Holy Moley Kirk. I've never seen such a maaaasssive plate of fries in my entire life. I think we could split it and still die of a heart attack!

[Scott]

I think I had a slight heart attack looking at some of that food - great report, as always!

[john66661]

If you like really large amounts of carna asada fries try Cotixan on Genesee.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

Gyros in a taco shop...great concept, but were you have gyros with the tzatziki sauce? LOL! Those carne asada fries look like a what Scott just said, a heart attack waiting to happen!

[thess]

Hi Kirk! long time no 'c', how have you been? I mean after trying out all those? *wink*

here, chinese restaurants offer dutch potato fries on their menus he he

tc and btw, can you now access my blog?

[dave]

you should have asked for extra tzatziki for the gyros...

[James]

Hey this is right next to Kiel's, right? Me and some friends used to stop by here often after a good day of snorkeling in La Jolla Cove or boogie boarding at the Shores last summer. Good times...
As for the food, I tended to get the machaca burrito from Reyberto's. They're not half-bad.

[Kirk]

Hi DCCF - I like Roberto's, they also claim to be the "original" something-berto's taco shop:

http://www.robertos.us/history.html

But who knows. But then again I like the Carne Asada Chips from...oh, forget it!

Hi Kathy - And just to think, it's not the biggest!

Hi Scott - Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

Hi John - Thanks for commenting and the recommendation. I've had other stuff at Cotixan, but never then fries. I'll try them when my arteries recover.

Hi Reid - The "tzatziki" tasted a bit strange. Oh, and you should the Gyros-Fries!

Hi Thess - Welcome back, I've missed you. And yes, I'm able to access your site with no problem. I'd love to see what Chinese food is like in Holland.

Hi Dave - Ha! LOL! The thought of some gyros meat floating around in tzatziki soup makes feel a bit ill.

Hi James - Yep, that's the one. We live in walking distance. It's funny which taco shop you choose with 3 of them within a 1 block radius.

[Cathy]

Oddly, when we drove through Commerce (just to avoid a traffic thing on I-5, not to actually stop there) we noticed almost all the cheap Taco shops had signs with "pastrami" on the big signs-visible from far away (not just posters in the windows..)

[Kirk]

Hi Cathy - What, you didn't stop at the Citadel or Northwoods Inn? LOL! I never really noticed those signs before....but will keep an eye out next time.

[thess]

Well then, the next time we visit my dad in law's favorite chinese restaurants (3 actually) I'll be using my camera (husband's prohibiting me from using it, I embarass him *lol*)
but to be honest, I don't find them (chinese food preparation here)special..or maybe because I'm a thai (foodie) at heart? ;)

[Kirk]

Hi Thess - Good to see you posting again! I don't know....we wouldn't want to cause your Husband any undue embarassment......

[thess]

i rather embarass him (sometimes) than stop blogging! ha ha ha *wicked wicked wife!*
we're having a long weekend holiday that's why i could blog hop, but i'll be gone again for a month or 2, kitchen/living room renovation..btw i am excited to get a wok like yours ('read the entry w/ wok) im using an induction right now & i can't wait to switch to gas, yes!

[Kirk]

Hi Thess - Well if it's for the sake of blogging, then full speed ahead!!! :o)

[Larry]

Hi Kirk,
I'm kind of discriminating eater in terms of ethnic foods. For something as simple as mexican tacos, have you tried "Tacos El Gordo"? I guarantee :) you won't be disappointed by the quality at these joints. It's DIRT cheap to boot.
--Larry
http://yp.yahoo.com/py/ypResults.py?stx=el+gordo&stp=a&tab=B2C&city=San+Diego&state=CA&uzip=92101&country=us&msa=7320&slt=32.715710&sln=-117.156479&cs=4&Submit=Search

[Kirk]

Hi Larry - Is that a nice way of saying "picky"??? LOL! I enjoy the La Cabeza, and other tacos from Tacos El Gordo, I'm thinking of doing a post on what to grab at various trolley stops in San Diego, and since the one I eat at is on H St, and close to the trolley stop, I'll tie it in with that post. BTW, the best Cabeza I've had so far was in Yuma. Still haven't been able to bring myself to try Sesos, though. I don't know if most people understand, this isn't really a "food review" site(you may notice that I don't ever say I'm a reviewer), it's just a blog of places that I try, or eat at.

[tania guerrero]

hey everybody thanks for the comments am the owner of reybertos