3 days ago
One of Tijuana's Most Legendary Taco Spots Opens in San Diego
The opening of Tacos El Franc, one of Tijuana's most famous taquerias, is the moment San Diegans have been waiting for. The taqueria opens on June 11 inside Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City from the founding Valadez family, along with partners Roberto Kelly and Salvador Lombroso. The legendary taquería illuminates a wide stretch of Sánchez Taboada and beckons a steady flow of diners looking for Tijuana-style carne asada and spicy adobada on handmade corn tortillas. Tacos El Franc has big expansion plans in the U.S., with a second location coming to San Diego's Gaslamp in just a few weeks.
Tacos El Franc founder Don Javier Valadez started serving tacos from a street cart in Tijuana's Colonia El Soler in 1974, saving up to open a first brick-and-mortar taquería called Tacos La Glorieta just a few blocks away. The red-and-white checkerboard tiled fonda remains one of the city's most respected old-school destinations for tacos in Tijuana. Then came Tacos El Francés in 1986, advertising Mexican flavors with a French twist to hint to the French ancestry in the Valadez family tree (the 'A' in the storefront sign forms an Eiffel Tower). Tacos El Francés eventually moved to its current location in Playas de Tijuana, but the business really took off with Tacos El Franc on Sánchez Taboada, near the intersection of downtown Tijuana and Zona Río. Tacos El Franc has been recommended in the Michelin Guide and was featured on Netflix's Taco Chronicles .
Tijuana taco culture continues to proliferate in the U.S., with a nationwide Tijuana-style beef birria frenzy that began in Los Angeles in the 2010s. Chains that serve guacamole-covered carne asada and adobada, like Tacomasa, Tijuanazo (and its sister restaurant Tacos Frontera), and Tacos 1986, continue to expand across Southern California. In Las Vegas, Tacos El Gordo serves more than 4,000 tacos a day. With the Westfield Plaza Bonita opening, Tacos El Franc joins hometown competitors Tacos El Gordo, with seven U.S. locations, including in San Diego, Chula Vista, and Las Vegas, and, most recently, Tijuanazo, which expanded in East Los Angeles and Hillcrest in 2024. The restaurant design features red-and-white tile walls and counters that recall the original Tacos La Glorieta, as well as brick walls in the dining area. The stainless steel kitchen area is filled with cooks working shoulder-to-shoulder, smoke and steam billowing out between them as they move swiftly. The taquería may be inside a suburban mall, but the show behind the counter is pure Tijuana. For Kelly, this opportunity has been 23 years in the making. 'I've been a customer since I was a teenager and always wanted to get Don Javier to open in San Diego,' says Kelly, who grew up working in his mother's Tijuana restaurant and is now an entrepreneur. 'Once I felt ready, I approached Don Javier with a plan.'
Don Javier is supervising the project to ensure his tacos, mulitas, quesadillas, vampiros, and tostadas are filled with quality ingredients. Steaks must be cooked over mesquite, and the kitchen team must work in a traditional taco brigade system. 'We will have two trompos with taqueros, another on the tacos de fritanga station, one for the steamed meats, and a master taquero on carne asada supported by a pair of expeditors,' explains Kelly. Don Javier trained the taqueros in the new National City location, while a team traveled to Tijuana to learn the salsas, vegetable preparation, and marinades.
Westfield Plaza Bonita's Tacos El Franc uses top sirloin for its tacos de carne asada and pork picnic roast for adobada that will be sliced from the trompos. Each trompo can hold more than 200 pounds of meat. From the tacos de fritanga station, cuts like suadero and tripas are fried in fat along the inside rim of a stainless steel disc. The last part of the kitchen steams beef head and tongue, just as in Tijuana. Tacos de carne asada are served with hand-pressed corn tortillas, while premade tortillas sourced from a San Diego tortillería are used for all other tacos. Kelly says any taco can be upgraded to a handmade one for an additional charge.
The menu also includes simple vasos de frijol (whole beans), or prepared cups of beans with meat and cheese. The U.S. Tacos El Franc team promises the full Tijuana experience in terms of speedy service and flavor, but they also hope to mix in a little bit of San Diego with the menu additions of carne asada and adobada fries.
'We have plans to expand to Las Vegas, but for now we are focused on these pair of San Diego openings,' says Kelly, who knows Don Javier was approached with many offers to open in the U.S. but ultimately chose to partner with him. 'I'm shocked every day that this is even happening, that Don Javier agreed to work with me and fulfill my dream.' Tacos El Franc opens on June 11 and will serve daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Westfield Plaza Bonita, 3030 Plaza Bonita Road, Space 1108, National City, CA 91950. See More: San Diego Restaurant Openings
