Frank Sabatini Jr.| Restaurant Review

Restaurateur Gerald Torres vows that he will never serve chips and salsa or burritos at his wildly popular City Tacos, which he opened recently in the commercial heart of North Park. The small, industrial-designed taqueria isn’t a place where you’ll find carne asada or carnitas either. 

Instead, think lamb, smoked yellowtail, bay scallops and other proteins that you normally don’t encounter in everyday taco crawls. With only nine tacos in the offing and no refried beans or rice in sight either, this Mexico City native is breaking every rule in the book when it comes to “Mexican border food,” as he puts it.

“In San Diego taco shops, everything tastes the same,” Torres said. “Things are very different here.”

The chorizo asado taco, for example, is constructed with lusciously sweaty pork sausage, caramelized pineapple and melted Oaxaca cheese tucked loosely into a crispy, house-made corn tortilla. If you’re looking for Jack or cheddar in any of your tacos, go elsewhere.

Admittedly, the notion of fruit inside a meaty taco seemed a little wacky to me when I read it on paper. But the pineapple tasted like a natural fit, more so than it does on Hawaiian pizza, which I never cared for. Torres says the taco is “100 percent Mexico City.”

Mango-habanero jelly finds its way into the mahi al adobo taco using a flour tortilla. The grilled fish receives a spicy rub and is further enhanced by smoked chipotle and avocado cream. In terms of spiciness, it’s actually a couple notches below the callo con rajas, a much louder taco that mingles sweet bay scallops with pasilla peppers, bacon bits and cayenne pepper cream sauce.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a casual Mexican kitchen in San Diego using pulled lamb in their tacos, let alone seeing it smothered brilliantly with fried leaks and wild mushrooms. Cotija cheese, tomatoes and cilantro serve as the perfect accents, enough so that the inclusion of chipotle cream made it perhaps a little too busy. It’s currently the only red-meat taco on the menu, at least until Torres introduces one containing New York steak.

“I’m still playing around with ideas,” he said, referring to the strong possibility of octopus and lobster tacos also coming into rotation soon.

The atun ahumado is a Baja-style newcomer featuring smoked yellowtail complimented by a puffy, fried flour tortilla and unique ingredients such as radish sprouts, basil and hibiscus reduction. Torres says the recipe was clenched after 20 days of taste testing, resulting in a profile of flavors and textures that left us lusting for more.

I skipped the hot-selling pollo asado taco not because it’s so far out of the ordinary, but because I’m not a fan of blond raisins, which are joined by toasted almonds, arugula and tamarind aioli. Perhaps with a pair of tweezers I’d give it a go.

Vegetarians can take solace in a big-flavored taco containing Portobello mushrooms, corn, black beans, arugula, chilies and Oaxaca cheese. It’s drizzled with jalapeno cream sauce to boot.

The salsa bar is a footnote to City Taco’s gourmet concept. There’s green and red, but we never felt the need to apply either to anything we ate.

“It’s just there for people who really want it,” Torres said.

We did partake, however, in the jicama and cucumbers at the station, which serve as pleasing substitutes for chips and salsa while awaiting your food orders. Dressed in chili powder and lime juice, they’re no less addicting.

Much like Lucha Libre in Mission Hills — San Diego’s other iconoclastic taco shop — the fan base here reveals steady streams of neighborhood bar-goers and foodie hipsters, at least on the Saturday evening we visited. The line at the order counter never subsided.

Seating is limited, with only five tables inside and a few outside, including a picnic table on the front sidewalk. The beer selection features more than a dozen Mexican crafts as well as a few domestics.

Torres hinted that his North Park venture is a pilot for more locations to come in San Diego.

“Mexican food is a thing of beauty. And I can transmit my passion for it through tacos.”