Mike's Red Tacos (Clairemont)

I recently had to run some errands and was in the area near Genesee and Balboa. In need of some lunch I decided to give Mike's Red Tacos a try...or make that another try. You see, I paid several visits to the truck when it was parked on Morena and was rather unimpressed. The truck was super popular, especially since birria had taken the US by storm....one of those food fads. I was interested to see if the birria (and consomme) at the newish brick and mortar shop would be better.

Mike's occupies the former location of Wings Republic which I visited once, but had such a lousy meal that I never returned, nor ever did a post.

The young ladies working the front were very nice and cheerful. I ordered the #2 combo which came with chips and consomme. My order was ready fairly quickly and I made sure to grab some salsa from the salsa bar before heading home.

Arriving home I opened things up and proceeded to dig in.

  First thing I did was take a sip of the consomme. Which, sadly is the same as it was from the truck. Weak in flavor, greasy tongue feel, in my opinion only good for moistening your taco. The birria itself is a bit better than what I'd had on my visits to the truck. It is less stringy and more tender though still not quite as beefy as I enjoy.

Strangely, my favorite item were the chips as they were crisp, had a nice maize-ness to them, and were well dusted with seasoning.

   I did enjoy the salsa rojo which had a nice spice and a kick of citrus. The tortillas this time around did not hold up as well, they started to tear as I picked my tacos up. These tacos just aren't beefy-savory-spicy (without the salsas) enough with that flavor which dances with a hint of smokiness from dried chilies. Like I've said before, to me this is "birria not to offend".

And before you say "look at Kirk, he's going to pull the Fernandez card again", let me just stay in the area and say I prefer the birria (and consomme) from El Viejon. And KennethB, I do wish Emily's was still open!

For now, I'm going to head further down to Convoy, if I'm not checking out Fernanadez or other places for birria. That said, Mike's seems to have improved a bit, but not enough to stop me from looking for other options in the area.

   Please check out Soo's post on Mike's as well.

Mike's Red Tacos
4310 Genesee Ave. Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 11am - 930pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 1030pm

Comments

[Matt]

You’re wrong here. Mike’s is super. What a Debbie downer!

[Kenneth]

Oh man, thanks for the (sad) reminder about Emily's. That place was fantastic. I think I'm going to ask them today at West Coast about making birria as a special now and then. Birria de chivo, that is.

[Som Tommy]

That’s good the tacos are getting better

[Soo]

Thanks for the link! I still need to try El Viejon.

[kat]

at least there are other places to get your fix

[Kirk]

I can only provide my observations and opinion Matt. I'm wondering if you've tried birria at other places.

I'm hoping that Emily's returns one of these days Kenneth!

I hope they do keep improving ST.

Check them out Soo!

Yes, I'm happy for that Kat!

[Loren]

At least you didn't make an even bigger mistake by getting the Birria Ramen........lol

[Kirk]

Lol Loren. Well, if you put it that way.... Nice to hear from you and hope all is well.