Much has changed in the San Diego culinary scene since Gerry Torres opened City Tacos in North Park 10 years ago. Some of that change is thanks to his work educating the public about what authentic Mexican food should taste like through his affordable gourmet tacos.
Torres and executive chef Eduardo Baeza are both from Mexico City. A decade ago, Torres felt like Mexican cuisine in San Diego consisted of the same menu at every taco shop with the same five ingredients in each dish plated in 25 different ways. In 2014, he opened an authentic taqueria with flavorful offerings foreign to San Diego palates.
The original menu had five tacos: Borrego (lamb), Chile Relleno, Chorizo, Pollo City, and Portobello. Customers vote on new tacos every month, building an ever-evolving menu with some favorites that have never been voted off.
“You do have to educate your client base. You do have to make them think outside of the norm,” Torres said of his time helping the public embrace his philosophy of tacos.
He believes tacos must always be eaten fresh at a taqueria, remembering his time in Mexico where tacos were made to order one at a time so none went cold. It was only during the demands of the pandemic that City Tacos grudgingly began offering takeout and delivery.
He succumbed to public demand again when adding a traditional taco menu of birria, carne asada, pollo asado and carnitas which still eschew flavorless toppings like iceberg lettuce.
“We are not necessarily looking to continue tradition; we’re looking to set tradition,” Torres said.
Each taco is complex with many steps to be ready to serve. Almost every one has a unique sauce and toppings. Take for instance one of Torres’ favorite tacos, the Crunch Time Shrimp Taco, that is essentially a rolled taco stuffed with shrimp, bacon and cheese set inside a flour tortilla bursting with cabbage, asadero cheese and avocado all drizzled with pico de gallo, crema fresca and creamy serrano salsa. With so much stuffed into the taco, each bite tastes different.
“I believe they are ready to eat once they come out of the kitchen. America is a condiment nation. Hence the salsa bar,” he said.
Consistency is maintained throughout all locations thanks to his commissary kitchen. Making everything from masa to sauces from scratch and handling delivery to the shops also keeps costs down while guaranteeing quality ingredients.
“You can’t mask food. It will find a way of shining through whether it’s good or bad,” Torres said. “It’s about quality.”
Menus at all locations are also the same with a few exceptions, such as limited space in the East Village kitchen that has kept a few tacos off the menu.
While Torres wanted to provide an authentic taqueria experience, he never wanted the flavors limited — which is not to say Mexican food is limited. With French, Spanish, Arab, and US colonization influencing indigenous foods, it is one of the most complex cuisines in the world with a huge variety across states.
“It’s part of our history. It’s part of the flavors and flavor profiles we’ve enjoyed over the years,” Torres said. “Food has always been evolving.”
Torres originally wanted to name the taqueria The World in a Tortilla but rejected the monicker as too wordy. While the name did not stick, it could still be a motto of the business as global flavors and influences are an important aspect of the daring toppings inside his tacos.
“It was always about doing something different than what was out there,” he said. Toppings being limited to onion, cilantro and tomato would have been easier than the 20 ingredients on the line staff must learn, but would not taste as good.
He settled on City Tacos as it is easy to remember yet still cosmopolitan. When growing up in Mexico City, Torres’ parents worked as pilots and would bring home snacks from around the world. His palate was shaped by marzipan from Lübeck, gulas (baby eels) from Spain, cheese from Holland. His partner Baeza is French-trained, a background evident in many of the restaurant’s sauces. Torres’ travels continue to shape the menu. His recent trip in Asia might result in a Vietnamese-themed taco or Wagyu taco – depending on customer votes.
“We are not necessarily looking to continue tradition; we’re looking to set tradition,” Torres said.
His efforts to challenge customers to eat outside their comfort zones has caught on with City Tacos so successful it now has eight locations.
The growth of City Tacos has been careful and methodical. The eatery has never been in debt and all locations are solvent. When finding a new location, Torres walks the neighborhood to see if it is a place he would enjoy visiting. This has led him to La Mesa, Ocean Beach, Encinitas, Petco Park, Pacific Beach, Sorrento Valley, and Los Angeles.
“La Mesa is near and dear. Not only because it’s the site of my first restaurant [Tiramisu Trattoria], but because it’s a community,” Torres said. When he visits, he gets to see many old friends. These long-term relationships are something he loves about the restaurant industry.
Torres is known for giving back with free tacos, frequent fundraisers and being very supportive of his staff, many of whom have been with him for eight years or more.
He is also thankful the community reciprocates his support. He recalls being sent a video after the riots in La Mesa in 2020 with one person going to wreck the restaurant and another intervening, saying, “Not City Tacos! That place is dope.” Torres sees this as a reflection of the love he receives back from the community that has helped his business thrive.
“That has allowed for us to donate in so many different ways to so many different charities, to change perceptions of Mexican food, to change what a service culture should be, but more importantly, to change lives,” Torres said.
His next steps are to open a northern commissary kitchen and another location in Los Angeles with eventual plans to make it to San Francisco.
Through the growth of the business, Torres’ wife of over 20 years Cristina Benavente is the unsung hero of City Tacos. He describes her as an excellent, experimental cook whose culinary endeavors are often the inspiration for tacos of the month.
“She is a foodie just like me… and she likes to excite my palate by doing creative things,” Torres said.
She also took on extra childcare duties in the early years of City Tacos. Now, Torres limits himself to eight-hour days and takes one day off per week. His two adult children returned from northern California and Florida respectively, of their own volition, to help with the family business.
“It brings tremendous joy because the family has enjoyed the ride along with me. We are a very close-knit family,” Torres said.
His son Hector Aguirre is a regional manager and his daughter started the company’s Instagram account in addition to being a shift manager.
“They made me hip, or tried to make me hip. The kids have been instrumental in moving the process along,” he said.
His youngest son, now 13 years old, may not be old enough to officially work for City Tacos but is still an inspiration for City Tacos’ most ambitious endeavor, the taco playground in Ocean Beach. Torres found his teenage son glued to his computer and had trouble relating.
“We wanted to be out and about and enjoying life. The OB Playground is about that. It’s about, turning off the devices, socializing with your kids, playing with them,” Torres said. The open-air location is decorated with murals made by local elementary students and filled with giant games like Jenga and checkers.
“I’ve seen that flourish. I haven’t seen any tablets or phones within the space, which nowadays, that’s pretty much [impossible],” he said.
OB Playground at 4896 Voltaire St. will be the location of the biggest anniversary celebration as well on Saturday, May 4. The restaurant is opening early at 10 a.m. with a mariachi band at noon and circus performers at 1 p.m. In honor of the mascot Pepe the Pug, anyone who brings a pug between 10 a.m. and noon will receive a free taco. Later in the day at 4:15 p.m., the circus heads to the Pacific Beach location for another performance. On May 5, circus performers head to La Mesa City Tacos from 12:30-1:15 p.m. then to the original North Park location from 1:45-2:30 p.m.
There are also several specials going on that weekend, including two tacos and one Mexican beer for $10. The Taco of the Month will be Borrego, one of the five original tacos on the menu in 2014. The whole month, there is a flight special of three tacos for $13 when choosing from the five original tacos Borrego, Chile Relleno, Chorizo, Pollo City, and Portobello. More details at https://citytacossd.com/.
