Taco review: It’s all about barbacoa at Rosita’s Taqueria

The tricky part is catching the restaurant when it's open.

Photo by Jose Ralat Maldonado

Rosita's barbacoa is a decadent mix of cachete and lengua de res, meaning beef cheek and tongue.

OAK CLIFF — Many taquerías look closed from the street, but I had never seen Rosita’s open, even though my friends at TacOCliff had reviewed it and another friend recommended it. “Trompo tacos done right,” he said of the “Monterrey style spot.” Over a weekend, I drove by to find its neon open sign aglow. In I went.

While I did find excellent trompo, I also found three large paintings of biblical scenes on the north wall: one of the Last Supper depicting Judas contemplating his exit; one of Moses, the 10 commandments in one hand, a staff in the other framed by lightning; and one of the Nativity. Photos of Pancho Villa hung one the opposite wall. As you see above, the signs of such religiosity began on the exterior of the strip-mall taquería.

The menu over the cake display advertised barbacoa, and it turned out to be a mix of cachete and lengua de res (beef cheek and tongue). I didn’t give it a second thought, and added it to my order, along with carne deshebrada.

While the barbacoa was slick and earthy — like a pastureland on a dewy morning — kicked with salt and flecked with chile, and the trompo was bright, cut with savory and sour notes, the deshebrada was a dud. Yes, the tortilla had been fried seconds earlier — a surprise, for sure — but it was brimming with cold, tasteless tomatoes, watery queso fresco, and iceberg lettuce atop bland brisket.

That the tortillas were slimy had me doubting that they were made fresh in-house. Fresh, they weren’t, and aside from the unfortunate taco de carne deshebrada, it was the only fault I could find with my haul.

But having the opportunity to eat Rosita’s barbacoa and trompo was worth it.