What do you get when you take the California city closest to the border (San Diego), pair it with SoCal's #1 cuisine (Tacos) and smash it together with one of Mexico's greatest past times (Wrestling)? The infamous Lucha Libre Taco Shop, of course!
A colorful place to say the least, Lucha Libre is deeply committed to the wacky theme at hand here; there's simply no space where Mexican wrestling decorations don't adorn the place.
They also serve food, but we'll get to that later.
You've got Mexican masks, lurking in every corner and crevice, and the walls are filled with skateboards, posters, murals and Lucha-inspired pop art. There's also a "Champions Area," which I can only assume is reserved for actual Mexican wrestlers coming in for a pre-fight bite.
Also, did I mention there were masks at every corner? You can even comfortably sit on one as you dine.
There are also jokes and puns a plenty around the place. This one sticks out as a winner, though I see a potential lawsuit in their future.
Plus, it's got this beautiful piece of vibrant art, which I'm sure has Andy Warhol turning in his grave.
NOW, we can finally talk about the food here. As you'd imagine, they specialize in unique tacos/burritos and they're actually pretty incredible.
These are truly unique tacos (my favorite kind) to the max; they're ginormous and stuffed with such exotic ingredients as "the french fry" and the classic "unnamed yellow sauce that tastes good, although you don't know exactly what's in it." I believe the one below has queso cheese, chipotle sauce, fried shrimp, avocado, fries, cojita, cabbage and hot sauce. Not sure how you can ever go wrong with any of that wrapped in a flour shell.
Each bite is a truly a party, and not one of those crappy high school basement parties, I'm talking major blowout style: confetti, champagne, humans wandering around in snow globes, Kool and gang blasting, etc. That kind of party.
PRO TIP: the place is always hopping, so come prepared to wait in line at any given hour. And though I'm not one who normally likes waiting 45 minutes for fast food, I found the experience to actually be quite tolerable-- the smells are nice and standing around gives you the opportunity to soak in the atmosphere and properly "feel the Lucha," which is important in this type of environment.
Between the delicious greasy good food, lucha themes and colorful vibes, nobody loses at Lucha Libre Taco. Much respect to this place!
HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?
Opening in January 2008, Lucha Libre Taco was the brainchild of three brothers (Jose, Maurilio and Diego) and their mother (who does the cooking!), who simply wanted to open a restaurant for people to enjoy delicious Mexican food and soak in the vibes of the namesake wrestling tradition. Mission accomplished, gents and mama!
CHECK IT OUT
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