A taco shop is opening soon on Shaw Avenue near Highway 41 — but this is no ordinary taqueria.
Tacos El Franc has been recognized by the Michelin Guide and has a location in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
The Tijuana-based restaurant is taking over the Heroes Comics shop that closed in 2023, next door to Rocket Dog Brats and Brew.
Construction is underway and Tacos El Franc is expected to open in about 90 days.
What is Tacos El Franc?
Javier Valadez started with a taco cart in Tijuana decades ago. Then came the taqueria that drew customers from both sides of the United States-Mexico border.
Now it has the Gaslamp location and another just south of San Diego.
The restaurant was featured in Netflix’s Taco Chronicles.
The Tijuana location was recognized by the Michelin Guide in 2024 and 2025. It didn’t win any stars, or even Michelin’s Bib Gourmand award. It just means that Michelin inspectors recommend the food there.
And don’t let the Michelin label fool you — this is no fancy place with snooty waiters or astronomical prices.
It’s street food. The Tijuana taqueria has open walls, a covered roof and a Costco down the street.
Says the Michelin website: “Grab a table, then place your order from one of the pleasant apron-clad ladies circulating throughout the room. There are different stations cooking specific items, and the sounds of sizzling and chopping rise above the cacophony.”
Tacos El Franc makes the Tijuana taco.
“When people mention the Tijuana style, it is a style, but we really are part of the group of pioneers that came up with the Tijuana taco,” claims current owner Roberto Kelly.
Meats are grilled on mesquite charcoal and tacos are served with creamy avocado.
There’s adobada made from pork marinated in smoky red seasoning, carne asada, chicken, suadero (fried beef brisket), tripe, lengua (beef tongue) and beef cabeza (cow’s head meat).
All of it is available on tacos, quesadillas and on french fries cooked in beef tallow. Vegetarian options are available too and everything is gluten free.
Aguas frescas and Mexican coke in glass bottles are available too.
Tacos cost $4.75 each, a price Kelly says is worth it.
“We would really rather bring up the price of our taco than lower the quality of our taco,” he said. “We actually go very high-quality on everything we do.”
Spices are from Mexico. Meats are from the U.S. — a combo he said works well together.
“We work with American companies,” he said, “because we have amazing proteins in the U.S.”
Why Fresno?
Tacos El Franc is in the process of expanding. There’s a big population in Fresno that fits its target customer base, Kelly said.
“We really, really like Fresno,” he said. “We’re very close to the farming industry. Where better to go than the epicenter of what made California great.”
The former Heroes Comics spots is getting a major overhaul.
“It’s not a remodel — it’s a reconstruction,” Kelly said.
The building was apparently once a bank and still has a drive-thru. Kelly said the hope is to eventually use it as part of the restaurant.
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Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.