At last! Clayfu's...ummm, La Princesita Taco Truck

Several months back, my good blogging "buddy", Clayfu, sent me an email telling me about a Taco Truck located in the parking lot of Joe's 99 Cent Store on Linda Vista. Now understanding Clayfu's, ummm, how shall I say it, rather "frugal" ways, when he described this Taco Truck as being really good, well I had to check it out! I did find the Taco Truck to be pretty good, though sometimes a bit inconsistent. I had a few meals, and took a few photos, and decided to wait until Clayfu did a post on the Taco Truck, since it felt like the right thing to do......and waited, and waited, and waited. Until finally Clayfu did his post on Friday the 13th of all things. You can read his post here. Now I won't pretend to be like the His Royal Highness of Taco Trucks, Bandini, but I did develop a fondness for Taco Truck cuisine during my little road trip to Yuma, thanks mostly to the one and only, Ed from Yuma.

Recently, the old Taco Truck has been replaced with a updated version. But luckily the food is the same.

Few things beat the smell of Carne Asada grilling at sunset! The drill is you walk up to the window and place your order. In addition to tacos, the truck also makes burritos. Once you get your tacos, you load up with Pico De Gallo, Salsa Roja, Salsa Verde, Lime, among other things......

This Guy is always very nice, and cracks me up!

On this night, the Missus and I were after a snack, and ordered Cabeza(beef head/cheek), Lengua(beef tongue), and Al Pastor(marinated, and in this case grilled, pork - all tacos $1.50). Lest you think this may be a bit expensive for Taco Truck fare, the tacos are loaded with meat.

The photo to the right is kinda odd, I guess I was focusing on the last taco in line, so it came out bright and clear, and the rest blurred...oh well, back to the tacos. On this night, the Lengua was numero uno! Very moist, with a nice beefy punch, and a mild gamey aftertaste. The Cabeza, was very moist and fatty with nice bits of gelatin, but lacked the condensed beef flavor of really good cabeza. The Al Pastor had a nice bit of caramelization, and was on the chewy side, with only a mild chili flavor. What you'll notice with these tacos, are that there's a lack of saltiness, so the true flavor of the meat comes through.

Here's a photo from way back when. On this evening, they were out of Cabeza and Lengua, so I settled for 2 Carne Asada and 2 Al Pastor.

I brought these home with me, with all the various garnishes and salsas in little sandwich size bags which are sometimes available. I started dressing my tacos, than remembered to take a photo, after these two photos, I was too hungry, so I just said the heck with it, finished loading up my tacos and ate them.

The Carne Asada was decent, fairly moist, with a nice salty, slightly citrus flavor. The Al Pastor on this evening was on the very chewy side, but had a really nice chili flavor.

So if you're in the Linda Vista area during the evening, and want some better than most Taco Shop tacos...just follow your nose!

La Princesita Taco Truck(well trailer actually)

In the Parking lot of Joe's 99 Cent Store
6882 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
Clayfu has told me that the hours are from 6pm to 11pm daily, but I've seen the trailer there from as early as 5pm...as to when they close, hey at my age, I'm usually done for by 11pm!

Thanks again for the recommendation Clayfu!

Comments

[ed (from Yuma)]

Thanks for the mention. Those tacos are packed with meat. With those doubled tortillas, each taco could become two (and you can't beat a $.75 taco). Just stumbled across a new (to me) truck here in Yuma that has tacos de mantaraya.

Good eatin'

[elmomonster]

Wow! I mean! Wow! You had me at "Taco Truck".

[Michelle]

Those tacos look so good.

[Little Miss Contrary]

Those tacos look tasty! Per your fantastic review, I went to Buga Korean BBQ over the weekend and it was fantastic--thanks for your foodie inspirations!

[nhbilly]

Man that looks so good I'm so glad I'm heading up to NoHo. :-)
That style of photography is call bokeh - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

[Darlene]

I'll have to search for this truck next time I'm in Linda Vista. Everything looks delicious! And at $1.50, it's a steal!

[Captain Jack]

I have this on my list of places to try. I think I will get liquored up one evening in the near future, and have Stinky Bob drive me over there to play the ever popular, "how many tacos can CJ eat" game.

[Sandy]

oh wow, I gotta come down for that! I'm hungry, those look like hungry people tacos...

[clayfu]

i'm going in a hour. i won't lie.

[Kirk]

Hey Ed - Ooooh Stingray Tacos!!!

Hi Elmo - There must be a bunch hidden around in the OC, just gotta find 'em.

Hi Michelle - These were pretty good, the Lengua and Cabeza are usually good.

Hi LMC - Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad this little ol' blog was of some assistance. You have a nice blog as well - keep up the good work!

Hi Billy - I guess if you intentionally shoot in this style it's called Bokeh....mine is probably just Bro-ken!!! LOL!

Hi Darlene - You won't have to work very hard...it's right in the 99 cent store parking lot right off of Linda Vista - you can't miss it!

Hi CJ - Remember to leave some for everyone else, okay?

Hi Sandy - I like that...."hungry people tacos"....sounds about right!

Hi Clayfu - Are you going to call ahead for reservations??? ;o) Now that you mention it...my stomach's growling!

[clayfu]

if anyone reads this.
I just took my friend there for the first time. He's been a student in SD for the last 5 years (so as a student we eat alot of mexican food).

he said i quote "the best carne asada i've ever had in san diego".

bam.

[Kathy]

Hey Kirk!
You had me all chasing for al pastor when I first moved here, and now I really feel like won't do LA justice till I've had cabeza and lengua! :)

[Kirk]

Hi Kathy - I just a picture in my head of you chasing a taco truck down the street! LOL!

[Alfred]

Hi Kirk, inspired by your post as well as my recent taco truck crawl in Yuma, I drove to Joe's 99 cent store last Wednesday. I arrived at 4:50 PM, hoping that La Princesita would be there. Nope, nothing. Time passed. Finally, at 6:30, resigned to failure, I left. On the way home, I noticed Filiberto's, on the corner of Ulric and Linda Vista. I'd driven by many times before, but never stopped. This time, my curiosity and hunger got the best of me. I ordered carne asada, lengua, and cabeza mini/Mexico City style tacos. Really very good, with heaps of meat on the two standard corn tortillas. They had cucumber, peppers, jalapenos, radishes, lemons, green salsa, and red salsa at their salsa bar. And a bargain at $1 each. Hankering for another taco as well eager to try their menudo, I returned to Linda Vista today. As I drove down Linda Vista, I noticed another little shop on the street immediately west and parallel to Linda Vista--and there was a sign for Taquitos, 99 cents. Of course I had to try one and I ordered another cabeza taco. Once again, the standard two corn tortillas with plenty of meat, cilantro and onions, as well as red salsa and green salsa on the side. Also very good. As I exited I looked down the street and saw La Princesita. Of course I had to have one of their cabeza tacos ($1.50 as you indicated). Also very good, with an extensive salsa selection. But, I had to get to the matter at hand. I returned to Filiberto's, and ordered their menudo--unfortunately, they were all out. The cashier talked me into the caldo de camerone, which was fine, but nothing special. For desert, a had a carne asada mini-taco with a coke. MMMMM. All that food for around ten bucks. In the land of the sunshine tax, lower salaries, and higher expenses, finally a bargain!

P.S. One of the great things I've noticed in San Diego is the multiculturalism; Hispanics slurping down pho at Vietnamese joints and Asians gobbling down carne asada at taco trucks.

[Kirk]

Hi Alfred - Wow, I had often thought of doing a Linda Vista Taco crawl, from the taco shop on the corner of Ashford and Beagle(no name - just "Tijuana Style Tacos" in the window) through the taco shop across from the small park, through Super Bronco, and ending at what used to be Cotixan, but is now Valenica's, but I didn't think I'd be up to it. You sure did a great job. Filiberto's is coming up, I've got some photos and stuff from a visit. Sounds like you had a great time!

[Marc]

Right on! Nice to see my hood still getting represented! Great place among other small jewels in LV town :)

[Kirk]

Hi Marc - You are right....there are many good places to eat in and around Linda Vista!