ARGH!!! I stayed right across the street from Bracero a week before it opened!!! Talk about a tease!! Great to hear it’s living up the expectations. We were consoled by excellent meals at Romesco and Mision 19
–Dommy!
Alright, a reason to go down to SD haha
One of many. Also of note, Javier along with Gustaf Rooth has designed a new type of cooking oven based on a Caja China. They call it a Baja China and it is a monstrous contraption that uses hot wood coals both above and below the cooking area and allows for multiple things to cook simultaneously in different temperature zones. It cooks meats much more quickly while remaining succulent and flavorful. It has glass sides so he can see whats going on inside. Got to see it to believe it. One of a kind.
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i would do a little more research before taking the drive to san diego just to go to bracero.
i thought it was good, some things were very good, but nothing was great.
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I will just decide it for you.
It is not with driving to SD just to go to Bracero.
You and me both, I’ve been to Anaya and thought it was nothing special. I know it’s bad when my favorite meat is the chicken.
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Well the “Chicken” tacos, etc… is usually universally bad in most tacos places… SO…
Best Chicken Tacos are the Cilantro Yogurt Chicken at Revolutionario.
–Dommy!
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Can tacos really be said to be great if the tortillas are awful? Have they perhaps fixed those issues?
That sounds yummy!!
As others said Bracero is definitely not worth a drive to SD - too many mediocre dishes between some good (but nothing outstanding) dishes
Agreed. But at least it’s a nice addition to SD…
Honk, I believe it’s not only difficult, but possibly unfair to make such a definitive statement based on your one and only visit during the initial growing pains of this establishment The wood grilled octopus is outstanding tender moist and flavorful. The bone marrow and camarone sopes, the peanut smoked lamb shanks, and many of the tacos, especially the lengua and the beef cheek are all outstanding IMHO.
That may all be true, but the point remains that it is not worth the drive from LA to SD just to eat at Bracero.
Now, if one were to make a day out of it, say, the Mercato in the morning, then perhaps brunch/lunch at Crack Shack, followed by afternoon coffee and gelato at Pappalecco and then a nightcap at Bracero, then sure, why not.
But just to drive down to SD for Bracero? When there more and often better and more interesting Mexican fare up in LA? No.
Sorry but at this level of hype, price point and competition in SD I expect a restaurant to perform much better in the kitchen and FOH even after one visit. The kitchen had too many disappointments in one visit and the service was one of the weakest at high-end restaurants in SD (or anywhere)
Hasn’t been my experience or a great many others on the board. Maybe you need to give them another chance. And while I generally agree that LA has better restaurants (in most categories overall), I don’t think there’s anything quite like Bracero in LA.
Btw, my friend said her favorite taco truck in Austin was on riverside drive near burton. She forgot the name said she hasn’t had it since 2008.
Think again.
Broken Spanish, BS Taqueria, Taco Maria and Bizarra Capital, to name a few.
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Corazon y Miel…
CyM is great, no doubt.
But I fear it slants more towards Salvadorean/Latin American than updated Mexican fare. That said, CyM is indeed in the same spirit of restaurants like Bracero even though the underlying cuisine may not be the same.
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I have to second everyone who is shouting out Anaya. Their menu is so plain but their food is so outrageously good. Their breakfast burrito is just potatoes eggs and cheese, but they must sprinkle crack in it because it is so delicious. Also their asada is proper steak as opposed to most mexican places
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