Birria El Rey

Best birria tacos I've ever had! I would say that without hesitation! This is my second visit to Birria El Rey and this place doesn't disappoint! I had driven by El Rey several times and there was always so many customers around for an amazing lunch! It's a small location that will soon move to become a full fledged restaurant. And it will be well received once they get the other location opens. I finally made the stop, had their tacos and was sold! This last stop reconfirmed this place is The Bomb!

Birria El Rey was a taco truck turned into a permanent storefront location in Golden Hill area of San Diego. They are known for their Tijuana style Birria with tacos, burritos, tortas, birria loaded ramen, fries, and chilaquiles. My friend and I went to the storefront location on a late Wednesday night to try their Birria Ramen, Birria Taco, and Quesabirria. I loved the Birria Taco and liked the Birria Ramen. Flavors were good but there was a lot of grease on top of the Birria Ramen. My friend liked the Quesabirria - but it was drowned in sauce and grease (unlike the other pictures posted here on Yelp). Sounds like it was an off night.Service is casual. You order at the counter. There are a few tables on the sidewalk, and they will bring out the food to your table when ready.

Love this lil place. The birria tacos are great always, tho this time I went for for quesadilla. It's a big, filling serving so there was a bit left over. They also give you plenty of hot sauce, limes, radishes and these fantastic spicy sliced red onions. Always quick and friendly, and a constant flow of customers. Looking forward to their new space opening up but for now will keep frequenting the parking lot booth/mini restaurant (hard to describe). Take it to go or eat at one of the few outdoor sidewalk tables.

Good tacos, crispy, and good ratio of cheese to meat! Better than a lot of other popular birria places around San Diego.

Decent food, didn't exactly move the concept of getting a container of broth and then having to fish the beef out in order to make my taco. It didn't exactly seem like each container of broth was equitably distributed either. I was struggling to find meat and my friend was piling it high. The food itself was okay to me, I'll probably forget it once I leave.

Small taco truck. I've had food here before. The basic birria tacos are good. Today I branched out and tried the breakfast burrito on recommendation of the nice lady at the register. It was not great. Kinda soggy and lacking flavor. Very floppy and hard to hold. I'll stick to the regular tacos next time

The food is always good when we come here. We did try the rice and beans this time and they were just okay. Both definitely could've used more seasoning. The keto taco is normally good but today the cheese was a little burnt which didn't taste wonderful. The tacos with the consomé were delicious! Can't beat the tacos here! My wife loves the ramen and it's what she gets every time! The staff is always so friendly and accommodating if you need anything at all so that's always a plus. This is definitely our go to spot for birria just the few things mentioned is what I would change for consistency.

My gold standard for Birria in San Diego is Fernandez Catering for food and service. El Rey is a very close second, very close. The food in my opinion is better Fernandez Catering but it was missing some items that I get at Fernandez. I love diced onion and cilantro so I would have loved to get more on the side, there were large cuts of red onion though. The birria flavor and tenderness is AMAZING! I added the hot sauce only because I love that kick but the broth didn't need it. No salt needed either, perfect balance.Hands down the quesataco here is the best I've had. After one bite I paused from the sudden hit of flavor and textures all hitting at once. I live close by and I'm glad I found my new spot where I don't have to travel to the border anymore.I really appreciated that the aqua frescas were in the fridge so no ice was needed.$25 gets you a meal for two.

$4.25 for a birria taco may seem steep, but when they taste this good, it's worth it.After scarfing one down, I had to try their Taco con Nervio (birria and beef tendon), and to my pleasant surprise, it was even tastier! The snappy yet gelatinous texture contrasted against the meaty stringiness of the birria, and the mild flavor of the tendon complemented the herby stewed beef. This was well worth the $5.I'll be back to try the Taco de Nervio (just beef tendon).

I live near the area and I've had this place about 20-30 times over the years. I can honestly say I haven't had any bad experience with this place regarding quality and taste. The food is pretty consistent with flavor and the server/cashier is always welcoming. The restaurant always looks clean and taken care of. The prices are obviously San Diego prices so dont expect TJ prices. I would definitely recommend this place 9.5/10