{"id":397824,"date":"2026-07-14T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397824\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T12:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:00:34","slug":"can-you-find-san-diego-style-rolled-tacos-in-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397824\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you find San Diego-style rolled tacos in Denver?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This is part of The Know\u2019s series,\u00a0Staff Favorites<\/a>. Each week, we give our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We\u2019ll also let you in on some hidden gems.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Few sights are more welcome to hungry people than a 24-hour taco stand after a night on the town. Metro Denver has a few of these, but I was first introduced to the concept in San Diego, where there is a particular style of Cali-Mex cuisine that still doesn\u2019t exist anywhere else.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree rolled tacos with guacamole and cheese at Raliberto’s, 4020 Wadsworth Blvd. in Wheat Ridge. (Jonathan Shikes\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Examples include enormous hand-held burritos stuffed with everything from grilled carne asada to smoky adobada-marinated pork to simple lard-flavored refried beans with heaps of guacamole. One distinct aspect of San Diego-style burritos is that many also include French fries. Then there are the fish tacos and burritos that come with fresh lime, avocado, salsa and cilantro.<\/p>\n

The go-to spots typically end in \u201c\u2026berto,\u201d as in Alberto\u2019s, Rigoberto\u2019s and Roberto\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Sure, these same dishes can be found in Colorado and just about anywhere else, in some form, but there is a magic that simply hasn\u2019t been replicated. Maybe it\u2019s in the cooking technique or the specific ingredients, or maybe it\u2019s just the sense of place. Whatever it is, San Diego-style Mexican or Cali-Mex food is hard to find in Denver \u2013 surprising in a world where we can have just about everything at our fingertips.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean I haven\u2019t tried. In particular, I\u2019ve searched for rolled tacos, or more specifically, three (or five) rolled tacos with guacamole and cheese.<\/p>\n

\"FiveFive rolled tacos with guacamole and cheese at Taco Star, 6151 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver. (Jonathan Shikes\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

In San Diego, they are a staple of every taco shop, and it\u2019s almost impossible to leave without a Styrofoam plateful \u2013 even if you\u2019ve also ordered something else. Corn tortillas filled with beef, tightly rolled and fried, they are almost entirely covered in guac and melted cheddar. Small plastic containers of red salsa (rarely green) complete the picture.<\/p>\n

But here, rolled tacos are few and far between. Some restaurants serve them, but they are often loosely rolled, closer to flautas or made from flour tortillas. Or worse yet, overcooked to the point of not even being able to crack them open with your teeth.<\/p>\n

The closest I\u2019ve found come from Raliberto\u2019s Mexican Food, which has two locations, including the one I went to at 4020 Wadsworth Blvd. in Wheat Ridge; Taco Star, with multiple metro Denver locations, including the one I visited at 6151 E. Colfax Ave.; and Viva! Burrito, 6990 Leetsdale Dr.<\/p>\n

All helped to sate the cravings, but none quite lived up to expectations.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. I love all aspects of Colorado\u2019s Mexican food scene, from the upscale versions of regional cuisine found at places like La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal, Alma Fona Fina, and Xiquita, to the Colo-Mex classics like Tacos Jalisco, El Taco de Mexico and La Fiesta. And of course I love green chile.<\/p>\n

But there is something about those San Diego taco stands that I\u2019ll just have to keep dreaming about.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This is part of The Know\u2019s series,\u00a0Staff Favorites. Each week, we give our opinions on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[551,421,181,971,412,159773,74,76,75,159774,4929,159775,420],"class_list":["post-397824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-colorado","tag-food-and-drink","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lifestyle","tag-restaurants","tag-restaurants-and-dining","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-staff-favorites","tag-tacos","tag-the-know","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}