Midtown Lunch

Last year I conducted a taco showdown on Culver Blvd. between Inglewood and Centinela that pitted three Westside goto taco places against each other.  Pepe’s Tacos fared well against Tacomiendo and Taqueria Sanchez, but there was something I had neglected to notice about this small (but pretty popular) lunchtime taco destination on Centinela:  they serve carne asada fries. Here’s where I admit that despite my public love for stuffing french fries in burritos, I have never actually eaten lunch in San Diego, a city that seems to be obsessed with combining their Mexican food with fried potatoes (hence, carne asada fries).

So when a friend told me that I could get a great version of this San Diego classic at Pepe’s Tacos I was pretty excited- despite having no idea what exactly carne asada fries are.  Spoiler Alert: There as great as they sound.

Warning: Object in Photo is actually as large as it appears

I should have known what I was getting into when I saw the carne asada fries listed under the nachos section of their paper take out menus (the dish isn’t actually listed on the menu above the counter.)  A ginormous pile of shoestring french fries, covered in a ton of cheese, pico de gallo, crema, guacamole, carne asada, and jalapenos. I have nothing compare it to, but if you were going to take a huge plate of nachos and replace the tortilla chips with french fries I can’t imagine there being far better versions than this one. I suppose if the potatoes were fresh cut, and the carne asada was higher quality, it would make the dish better? But I’m not willing to bet my life on that. The shoestring fries provided the perfect vehicle for the mess sitting on top of them, and I actually kind of loved the fact that the carne asada was all crispy and charred bits. In other words, it all worked.

At around $7 it’s certainly not cheap, but it’s huge. And they give you free chips and a great spicy salsa. It’s the kind of lunch I’m still thinking about a few days later. And the best part is, I don’t have to drive to San Diego to get it. (Or maybe that’s the worst part…)

Pepe’s Tacos, 4582 Centinela (nr. Culver), 310-391-8667