{"id":12213,"date":"2023-10-26T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?p=12213"},"modified":"2023-10-28T06:39:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T13:39:13","slug":"eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my opinion, San Pedro does not need any more Italian restaurants, pizzerias, sandwich shops, or Mexican food spots.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>While they fully represent what our community has been known for, it\u2019s also time to encourage the opening of a variety of independently owned gastronomic establishments. Of course, the stipulation is they offer unique and well-executed dishes. As it turns out, two new places recently opened that stand out. They are not your average \u201cMexican\u201d restaurants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Tacos El Goloso’s birria tacos dorados. (photo: Sanam Lamborn)<\/p><\/div>\n

I was excited to see a sign for Tacos El Goloso<\/strong> (247 N. Gaffey St.) when driving into town on Gaffey from the freeway because my husband and I have been to their Harbor City location and enjoy their food.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Their new San Pedro location has a history of adversity, as several restaurants have come and gone in recent years. I predict Tacos El Goloso won\u2019t suffer the same fate, as their food is good, and most importantly, their specialty birria can\u2019t be found at this level, consistency, or speed in town.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Authentic birria is made by stewing goat meat in red adobo sauce, and it\u2019s served in a bowl with its broth and a side of tortillas. However, lately, it has been reinvented into tacos, made with beef instead of goat and served with consom\u00e9, the broth in which the meat is cooked, for dipping.<\/p>\n

I order three menu items at Tacos El Goloso exclusively with birria. First, their tacos dorados stuffed with generous chunks of meat, cheese, onion, and cilantro. A new item to me is the vampiros, a tortilla crisped on the griddle topped with meat, a layer of golden fried cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, onion, and cilantro. They include an additional crisped tortilla on top to scoop up the delicious concoction. Lastly, their quesadilla \u2014 it\u2019s pretty messy and greasy but finger-licking good. All three items are served with a small bowl of consom\u00e9 for dipping, green or red salsa, and a roasted chili pepper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The meat in their birria is consistently tender, and the consom\u00e9 is very flavorful. They declare to have the best birria in town; I agree, it\u2019s not hype. It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jefe’s Cocina’s lengua quesadilla. (photo: Sanam Lamborn)<\/p><\/div>\n

I am told the owners of Jefe\u2019s Cocina<\/strong> (726 S. Pacific Ave.) are originally from Guatemala; however, their menu also includes options inspired by Mexican and Salvadoran cuisine. I was immediately drawn to their lengua (tongue) quesadilla. Imagine my elation when my food arrived, and I saw that the tortilla was handmade. I was impressed. I was even more impressed that the meat was not minced, but the quesadilla was stuffed with big pieces of tasty tender lengua and cheese. Equally good are their Salvadoran pupusas (filled with your choice of chicharron, cheese, or beans) served with curtido (a tangy slaw made with shredded cabbage, carrots, onion, and oregano) and salsa.<\/p>\n

A must-try is their signature sandwich, La Mamalona. I equate it to a comfort sandwich made with toasted bread filled with refried beans, cheese, guacamole, and meat of your choice. By the time my carne asada La Mamalona arrived, the cheese had melted from the heat of the beans and meat, and it was incredibly satisfying. What makes this sandwich even more over the top is the housemade mango habanero sauce that it comes with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I highly recommend the Guatemalan garnachas, which are crispy small tortillas topped with braised chicken or beef, curtido, salsa, and cheese. These are one of their weekly specials, so they are not on the regular menu. Noteworthy are their housemade salsas, which have a superb balance of spice and flavor and a dense, almost creamy texture since they are not watered down for volume. The signature Jefe\u2019s sauce, a puree of serrano peppers and garlic, is delicious.<\/p>\n

Overall, the portions are large, all tortillas are handmade, and to my amazement, despite the generous amount of cheese in various dishes, the food is not greasy at all. spt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In my opinion, San Pedro does not need any more Italian restaurants, pizzerias, sandwich shops, or Mexican food spots. \u00a0While they fully represent what our community has been known for, it\u2019s also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":12270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In my opinion, San Pedro does not need any more Italian restaurants, pizzerias, sandwich shops, or Mexican food spots. \u00a0While they fully represent what our community has been known for, it\u2019s also […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/san-pedro-today-tacos-el-goloso-birria-tacos-dorados.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"956\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sanam Lamborn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sanpedrotoday\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sanam Lamborn\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/034b9f2a1a31a4f4301c7074b6b70d7d\"},\"headline\":\"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\"},\"wordCount\":692,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Food & Dining\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\",\"name\":\"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"San Pedro Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"San Pedro Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/034b9f2a1a31a4f4301c7074b6b70d7d\",\"name\":\"Sanam Lamborn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4449e3dfc907816526b7f43830aacad5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4449e3dfc907816526b7f43830aacad5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sanam Lamborn\"},\"description\":\"Sanam Lamborn created the Eat in San Pedro Facebook group and Instagram account in April 2020 to entice people to patronize San Pedro\u2019s eateries.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/sanamlamborn\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today","og_description":"In my opinion, San Pedro does not need any more Italian restaurants, pizzerias, sandwich shops, or Mexican food spots. \u00a0While they fully represent what our community has been known for, it\u2019s also […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/","og_site_name":"San Pedro Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","article_published_time":"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":956,"url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/san-pedro-today-tacos-el-goloso-birria-tacos-dorados.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sanam Lamborn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sanpedrotoday","twitter_site":"@sanpedrotoday","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/"},"author":{"name":"Sanam Lamborn","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/034b9f2a1a31a4f4301c7074b6b70d7d"},"headline":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene","datePublished":"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/"},"wordCount":692,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Food & Dining"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/","name":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene - San Pedro Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-26T19:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-28T13:39:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2023\/10\/26\/eat-in-san-pedro-new-to-the-scene\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eat in San Pedro: New to the Scene"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","name":"San Pedro Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#organization","name":"San Pedro Today","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/spt_logo_400x100.png","width":400,"height":100,"caption":"San Pedro Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanpedrotoday","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sanpedrotoday\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/034b9f2a1a31a4f4301c7074b6b70d7d","name":"Sanam Lamborn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4449e3dfc907816526b7f43830aacad5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4449e3dfc907816526b7f43830aacad5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sanam Lamborn"},"description":"Sanam Lamborn created the Eat in San Pedro Facebook group and Instagram account in April 2020 to entice people to patronize San Pedro\u2019s eateries.","url":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/author\/sanamlamborn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12213"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12455,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12213\/revisions\/12455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}