Calling Lola 55 a taco shop is akin to calling a hurricane an autumn shower. You may be technically correct and even able to fool yourself for a hot minute until the full force and fury of the spices, acids and myriad textures you’ll encounter here permanently change your reality…from the inside out.
Now feeding famished taco lovers on the literal edge of gentrification in East Village, still a few blocks the wrong direction from San Diego’s downtown area and a much shorter span from on-going modernizing construction, Chef Drew Bent and owner Frank Vizcarra, after seemingly a decade in development (closer to a year and a half) have created what may be an instant classic in Lola 55. Fast casual counter service and tortillas freshly made on the line while you wait for your order will soon be enhanced by a full bar (oh, the wonderful delays of bureaucracy at its finest).
You’ll have a hard time not wondering how Lola 55’s inventive tacos, including vegan options, all of which are more like fully developed, flavor saturated meals plated on tender tortillas, go for 30ish% less than other “high end” tacos in town. You may even ponder how the sides like elote corn, fresh roasted in house, and ever so perfectly tart pozole verde almost make you forget you came for the tacos.
You needn’t waste your energy.
Go. Eat. Be merry. And, save me a seat. Cheers, my friends!
P.S. Dessert at most places can be a waste of precious belly food storage space. Here, it’s a requisite for enjoying the full experience. One word: gettheicecream
Some photos mercilessly ripped off from @_jmwaite
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