History

East San Jose's Mexican community, which grew rapidly through farm-worker migration from the 1940s through the 1970s, brought the taquero tradition north from Jalisco, Michoacan and Oaxaca. Loncheras and taco trucks began appearing on Alum Rock Avenue and Story Road in the late 1960s, serving construction workers and cannery employees who needed fast, filling food. The trucks evolved into institutions: some families have run the same spots for three generations, and the spit-roasted al pastor preparation remains unchanged.

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Make it at home

Yield Makes 12 tacosHands-on 40 minTotal 2 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 600 g skirt steak or flap meat
  • Marinade: 3 tbsp orange juice, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 4 garlic cloves minced, 1 tsp cumin, salt and pepper
  • 12 fresh corn tortillas
  • Half white onion, finely diced
  • 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • For salsa roja: 4 dried guajillo chillies, 2 dried ancho chillies, 3 roma tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, half onion
  • Lime wedges
  • Optional: sliced radishes, avocado

Method

  1. Combine marinade ingredients and coat steak. Marinate 1 to 4 hours refrigerated.
  2. For salsa roja: remove seeds from dried chillies, toast in dry pan 30 seconds per side. Soak in hot water 20 minutes. Blend with tomatoes, garlic and onion. Season with salt. Simmer in a dry pan 10 minutes.
  3. Grill steak over very high heat 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Rest 5 minutes.
  4. Chop steak into small pieces against the grain.
  5. Warm tortillas directly over a gas flame or in a dry pan, 20 to 30 seconds per side until charred at edges.
  6. Double up each tortilla. Top with chopped steak, diced onion and cilantro.
  7. Serve with salsa roja and lime wedges on the side.

Tip from the editors. Double-stack the tortillas before serving: a single corn tortilla will split under the weight of the meat.

Where to eat east san jose taco

East San Jose taco in San Jose

La Victoria Taqueria San Carlos ★ 4.4

$ MexicanDowntownUntil 03:00 daily

La Victoria on E. San Carlos is San Jose's ultimate late-night institution, serving overstuffed burritos with legendary house-made orange sauce until 03:00.

TryBreakfast burrito drenched in house orange sauce

Directions

Adelita's Taqueria ★ 3.8

$ MexicanSouth San Jose

Adelita's Taqueria is a family-owned San Jose fixture since 1998, with authentic Mexican dishes including a celebrated chile verde burrito made in-house.

OrderChile verde burrito and California burrito

Directions

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