Fish Taco appears as a signature dish in 1 United States cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Fish taco · San Diego
Beer-battered white fish, fried golden, served on warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, white sauce, salsa fresca and a wedge of lime. The Baja-California original; San Diego made it national in 1983.
The fish taco crossed the border with surfers and fishermen from San Felipe and Ensenada, where Baja-California fishing villages had served beer-battered fried fish in a tortilla for generations. Ralph Rubio brought the dish back from a 1973 spring break trip, copied the recipe over seven years and opened the first Rubio's Deli-Mex at a former Orange Julius on Mission Bay Drive in 1983, selling fish tacos at 99 cents. The Rubio's chain put the dish on the national map; San Diego is now the American capital of fish-taco interpretation, from beer-battered originals to grilled mahi mahi at Oscar's and ceviche variants at Blue Water Seafood and Mariscos German trucks.
Where to eat in San Diego:
- Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop
- Tacos El Gordo