Henri V.
Yelp
'You RED my mind!' It was Tuesday and that means Taco Tuesday. Mike's Red Tacos is actually in the Midway area and not Point Loma area of San Diego. Located in a busy strip mall with plenty of free parking.
Outdoor and indoor seating. The restaurant appeared clean and neat considering it's new. Staff behind the order counter were nice. The menu only offered beef and veggie options. No other protein: no chicken, no carnitas/pork, no seafood: fish, shrimp or octopus. I ordered their claim of fame Birria tacos with cheese with all the garnish on the side, especially the onions. There was a self serve salsa bar which featured the chili hot and spiciest AF, so of course I had to try it.
No table service, you pick up your order after your number is called. It's also self serve with utensils. Despite the fact that I went way past the lunch hour rush, Service from the kitchen was super sloth slow :(
There must have been at least over half a dozen staffers behind the counter, but it took so long. After finally receiving my tray of Tacos, I was disappointed that the tacos didn't look Red at all like they advertised, Mike's 'RED' Tacos!
To get the Red look, the corn tortillas are dipped in red chili oil salsa and then flash fried crisp. Well these tacos skipped that process entirely and were NOT RED at all :(
The concept of Red Tacos birria style had been around for years. In fact , in Venice Beach in Los Angeles County, the OG: Teddy's Red Tacos has been serving red tacos for over a couple of decades!
In Birria tacos, beef meat which had been boiled for hours thereby rendering it super tender, just like pot roast meat tender. I didn't order the consume dipping sauce, because I wanted to focus on the tacos and these tasted good, not too salty, but a tad bland, which relied on garnishes and salsas for more flavor. Looking around at what other diners got, most ordered only the tacos, skipping the consume sauce, which I read was on the salty side, which his why you're give a couple lime slices.
From the salsa bar, the best tasting were the Jalapeño crema and the Spicy AF, both were NOT that spicy hot at all. The salsa labeled Mike's mix was too watered down, had zero flavor IMO.
Whether or not it's Taco Tuesday, if you're in the area, a visit to Mike's Red taco is a must try, but ask them to make your tacos Red just like they advertise, 'You RED my mind.'
Mike's must stick to their theme RED Tacos. Don't misadvertise or customers will be in the RED with anger and disappointment!