WHAT: GALAXY TACOS
WHAT'S SO HIP ABOUT IT?: Trey Foshee, the chef at wildly popular George's at the Cove, opens a gourmet taco shop in La Jolla in an unassuming location.
WHAT'S GOOD? Just about everything, but don't come here thinking this is going to be TreyBerto's - this food has more in common with George's than it does with Las Quatros Milpas. Lots of tequila options to liven things up.
DRESS CODE: Flip flops and t-shirts are just fine - the location near La Jolla Shores guarantees a beachy crowd.
ADDRESS AND OTHER STUFF: 2959 Agenda de la Playa, La Jolla, 858 228-5655, $5 to $6 tacos at lunch, bigger entrees around $25 at dinner.
George's at the Cove often gets cited as the BEST restaurant in all of San Diego and there's no denying that the upstairs Ocean Terrace has one of the best views in town. When I heard that Trey Foshee, the chef behind George's, was opening a taco shop I had to stop and think. I thought, well, do we need another taco shop in San Diego? Yeah, I really thought that because we have a ton of great taco shops around town. But leave it to Trey to take the lowly taco shop and to elevate it to new heights.
I started my lunch with the seafood cocktail, a sundae sized glass filled with shrimp, scallops, crab, and octopus. Nicely cooked seafood, not the least rubbery, they know what they are doing. At $16 it's not cheap, but as you scrape the last bits out with your spoon you know that it was worth it.
But come on, let's get to the tacos!
Wait, what's with that weird tortilla? That's a homemade tortilla made from their own freshly ground masa with no-GMO's. It might look a little strange but tasty, tasty, tasty. The first taco is a lamb barbacoa topped with onion, tomato mint salsa, and yogurt. Fresh, clean tasting, and just enough spices to make this a great barbacoa taco. Winner!
Let me make one thing perfectly clear - I am not a vegetarian. I say that because I am not even sure this qualifies as vegetarian but I really loved this potato taco. Tangy with a crispy crunch from the kale chips, I could eat 10 of these. Another Winner!
The Birria de Res taco was confusing to me because my Spanish is so bad I had no idea what this one was going to be - but that did not stop me from ordering it. It turned out to be short ribs topped with pickled onion, cilantro and cabbage and was very delicious. Ding Ding Ding, another Winner!
I want one more. Hey, is that a Carne Asada Taco?
Ain't she a beauty? Tender beef topped with cilantro, guacamole, onion, and spicy smoked bone marrow salsa. And it was spicy, that's for sure. I wish they had not called this a carne asada taco because in San Diego carne asada is sacred and this taco, while good, failed as carne asada. Now if they called it something else, anything else, it would have been great but when I order a carne asada taco I want something that sort of looks like it came from, well, Roberto's. How about calling it Taco de Lujo? Translation: fancy taco :-) Or maybe a Pantalones de Lujo de Taco, aka the Fancy Pants Taco? Now that I would love!
So the verdict? I like it, pretty tasty and a fresh look at gourmet tacos. If you're from out of town know that these tacos are not what I would call authentic Mexican food, but they're not supposed to be. Hit the beach, kayak the caves, then go to Galaxy Taco and chow down on some great San Diego good eats and see how the locals like their gourmet tacos. And Trey, congrats on opening what I'm sure will become one of San Diego's most popular restaurants.
Local Wally