If I hadn’t known to look here, I never would have known to look here. It’s in a typically San Diegan strip mall, tucked away in some unassuming corner. Apparently invisible, I know for a fact this location used to be at least two other taquerias in the past. And every time I tried it, I was totally satisfied. Credit goes to Stimy for originally turning me on to the location, back when it was called… Lolita’s, I think. Linda’s, maybe. Either way, it was good then, so I was anxious to see how it was now.

With holiday greetings melting into choruses of ‘happy new year’, the pace of everything slows down. Especially taco joints at 10 am. The atmosphere is laid back and appropriately empty. Another couple wander in. The guy behind the counter (whom I take to be thee Nieto since he made change out of his own pocket) moves efficiently to cook up our orders. It is not lost upon me that he washes his hands after handling the money. As the only guy there (the other having called in sick, ahem), he handles the morning business like a pro.

I am encouraged by the friendly mood and the smell of delicious about to happen. After some debate, I had decided on rolled tacos and a bean and cheese burrito. As my last stop of the season, I played it safe. I hadn’t had a bean burrito yet, and well, them rolled tacos are pretty damn elusive up North. Good, solid standard fare to send me on my way.

That’s when I noticed the hotsauce stand. Ohhhh, yeah. Self serve seas of varying intensity. Complete with the requisite jalapeño/carrot mix. I was feeling better and better about the location standing the test of time, when my order came up. I filled my hot sauce cup o the top with the ‘hot’ variety – learning from experience not to start at ‘extra hot’ – and sat down at a window to stare at the strip mall parking lot.

The rolled taco had the wrong kind of cheese on it, but that didn’t matter. It was delicious. The hot sauce itself was flavorful and not overpowering. The rolled corn tortilla was thick and somehow felt not fried. The meat inside was chunky and large. A very high quality rolled taco. Sufficient guacamole piled on top along with the taste made me forget about the missing finely grated cheese blend that seemingly is harder and harder to find. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with this cheese, it’s just different is all. Sometime picky bastards like me need to just shut up and eat.

The bean and cheese burrito was next. A lot bigger than I thought it would be, I started to make plans in my head that it would make a great airplane snack since they didn’t want to serve me pretzels last time. I didn’t get a chance, the burrito was too delicious. First bite and I could actually taste the cheese (yes, the right kind). The beans were delicious and went well with my quickly disappearing ‘hot’ sauce. Time to try the ‘extra-hot’… good, but not as flavorful – more like a spicy-juice for those pepper addicts, I went back to ‘hot’…

…it fell apart. I laughed to myself because of it. I ordered a bean and cheese in the hopes that THIS time I would be able to finish it before it decided to commit burritocide. No such luck. It was a San Diego perfect record; every burrito I had (and one torta) gave up on me before I could finish. Oh well, it’s not like I couldn’t eat it – it was just a little messy. Perhaps it was me, I had simply forgotten how to eat San Diego Mexican food.

In my head I was already starting to plan my return trip. This would be the first stop this time. Nieto’s has proven to me that they understand deliciousness… and since my burrito had fallen apart on me anyways, I knew I had to try their carne asada… but I for sure wasn’t gonna chance that on a plane. Using rolled tacos as spoons to scoop burrito guts is one thing in a taqueria, quite another crammed into a too-small seat with too-close neighbors. It is important to know thyself and where you stand in the burrito universe. And one thing I absolutely learned is that even delicious can fall apart, so you might as well prepare for it.

Until next time, San Diego. I will prepare accordingly.

Nieto’s – Genesee Ave at Balboa Ave.