When Roberto Kelly was 15 years old, he tried Tacos El Franc in Tijuana for the first time after a night out with friends. He said he fell in love with the flavors, and after that, would go every week because he was a fan of the food.
Almost 20 years later, Kelly is a co-owner, leading the restaurant’s expansion with the opening of its first U.S. location at Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City on Wednesday.
Tacos El Franc began as a street cart by owner Javier Valadez in 1974. The brick-and-mortar location opened in Tijuana in 1996. Over the years, Tacos El Franc has been honored with media attention, including an appearance the Netflix series “Taco Chronicles” and recognition by the Michelin Guide Mexico.
To open stateside, Kelly said several things had to happen, including convincing Valadez and his family to trust that he would be able to expand Tacos El Franc the right way.
“What I wanted was to bring what we had (in Tijuana) to this side of the border, for many reasons, but primarily because it was something that I just loved and I couldn’t comprehend why it wasn’t on this side of the border,” Kelly said. “So if you see me working everywhere, it’s because I want to make sure that the clients experience the same thing that I experienced when I was a teenager.”
Tacos El Franc is cooking meats on a charcoal grill, making corn tortillas on-site and dedicating employees to the spit that cooks the adobada.
Kelly said having a charcoal grill was essential in keeping the flavors and authenticity of Tacos El Franc, even though it delayed the opening of the taqueria because there was more construction work and permitting needed to get it right.
“But most importantly, we put a bunch of time into transitioning the food, in the kitchen, there to here and being able to have the same product quality the same flavor of the tortillas the masa that was critical,” Kelly said about the work to get the taco shop up to standards of the original location. “We worked with an amazing local tortilleria that helped us out, and they stuck with us for a very long time until we got it perfect, and I believe the clients will be able to see the quality of tortillas that we have.”
Kelly added that National City was chosen as the first site for Tacos El Franc in the U.S. because of its proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, the parking available at Westfield Plaza Bonita and nearby freeways.
The National City venue has a dedicated bar area where guests can sit and order Mexican beers, micheladas and aguas frescas. The sit-down restaurant seats about 200 people with indoor and outdoor seating, including seating in front of the cooks.
All of the menu items available at the Tijuana location are available at the National City shop.
Customers can try tacos, tostadas, quesadillas and mulitas (taco sandwiches) of carne asada (grilled steak), adobada (marinated pork), cabeza (beef head), suadero (beef brisket), tripa (tripe) and lengua (beef tongue). There are also vegetarian options that come with beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, cheese and salsa. Plus, the National City site serves half an order or a full order of fries with your choice of protein. Fries are not available at the Tijuana shop.
I tried five items at the grand opening.
Carne asada taco
The carne asada taco is a staple of any taqueria, so it is a must-try. It came with a handful of frijoles de la olla (beans steamed in a pot), which is not common at San Diego taco shops, from my experience. The beans have a slight nutty taste with hints of onion and garlic. The taco is also made with creamy guacamole, diced raw onions, slightly spicy salsa and cilantro sprinkled inside a handmade corn tortilla. The grilled steak has a smoky taste to it. The tortilla is thick and holds all the ingredients together well without breaking after several minutes of sitting on a plate.
Fries
Steak and chicken on a bed of fries is a common offering at taco shops in San Diego County, so it makes sense that Tacos El Franc would include the dish on its menu. These fries come with a choice of protein on a foundation of thick fries with melted cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo and salsa. The fries have more of a starchiness to them because they are not shoestring fries like you would find at some local taco shops such as Lolitas. I ordered the mixta (mixed) fries, which come with a mountain of smoky carne asada and spicy adobada on top. They tend to get soggy quickly, so I would suggest eating these first or sharing with a friend.
Vampiro con adobada
An item that is more common at Tijuana taquerias than San Diego County taco shops, from my experience, is a vampiro. It’s a toasted corn tortilla with melted white cheese. Tacos El Franc takes its in-house handmade tortillas and toasts them on its charcoal grill to create this strong tostada that keeps it together after every bite. I tried the vampiro with marinated pork. It is super crunchy with a great bite to it. The adobada, guacamole, raw onions, cilantro and salsa do not fall off the toasted tortilla after you bite into it, like store-bought tostadas do. The salsa on the vampiro did have a nice spicy kick that tickles the lip and tongue.
Mulitas
A small taqueria hack that I often tell my friends is to get a mulitas, if it’s on the menu. It’s like getting two tacos in one order because it’s built like a sandwich. A mulita comes with two corn tortillas (that act as slices of bread) and will have grilled, melted white cheese inside. Tacos El Franc mulitas can be ordered with the various proteins offered. I sampled it with suadero, or beef brisket. The meat is diced into small salty pieces, with some pieces being crunchy and others soft. It also came with cilantro and onions.
Vegetarian quesadilla
For those who do not eat meat, Tacos El Franc does have some vegetarian options. One of these is a vegetarian quesadilla. It comes with a corn, not flour, tortillas that are bigger than the normal-size taco tortillas. The veggie quesadilla is filled with frijoles de la olla, guacamole, cilantro, onion and melted, gooey white cheese. It was a little bland for my taste buds, so I suggested adding some homemade salsa Mexicana and spraying some lime juice in it.
