SD’s famed Baja-style chef Javier Plascencia picks his South Bay favorites
South Bay isn’t just Mexican food. But it’s the best Mexican food. This is where cross-border families live, work, and barbacoa. Food truck fan? They all hang out at the Toys “R” Us parking lot. As for restaurants, there’s no better sherpa through the scene than Javier Plascencia, chef-owner of Romesco in Bonita and Mision 19 in Tijuana. Widely hailed as one of the best Baja-style chefs, he and his family own 10 restaurants on both sides of the border. But here, he names favorites not in his own portfolio.
Aqui Es Texcoco
“Great authentic barbacoa de borrego,” says Plascencia. Barbacoa is the official scent of Mexican weekends—whole-roasted animals smoked until disintegrating, folded in masa, spiced up with pasilla. Borrego is lamb, a highly specialized Mexican tradition that Texcoco’s been working at since 1990 in Tijuana before expanding to Chula Vista. Call yourself a Mexican food fan? Not until you’ve eaten this. They’re looking to expand soon.
1043 Broadway, Chula Vista, aquiestexcoco.com
