Taco Nazo

Taco Nazo 121 S Beach Blvd La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 690-8078 Listing on Yahoo! Local Listing on Local.com Official Site

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Went with Mexican food-loving friends Aaron (from Phoenix' new Phosyzzle blog) and Rico a few weeks back to Taco Nazo in La Habra. Their website says they started from a lunch truck in 1978. It doesn't say where the lunch truck was or where it roamed or if it sold fish tacos then. It does say that three years later they opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, so they were doing the "start as a truck, then convert to a restaurant" thing long before the current craze. Anyways, if they were selling fish tacos here in 1978 then they predated Rubio's doing so by a few years.

Rico has been going to Taco Nazo for years himself and pointed out their "chile gueritos," the big chartreuse peppered pepper things you see in a number of the photos here. He said these used to be given out for free at the salsa bar but were so popular that their supply was depleted too quickly. Now they sell them at a nominal charge but they are worth it, especially if you like a good combination of heat and flavor. If they follow the recipe I have for these in a Mexican cookbook I have then they might have a secret ingredient of soy sauce in them. And sometimes you get a couple with your order.

Aaron offered these remarks on Taco Nazo: "These are the best fish tacos I've had north of the border. The fish was fresh and flakey as well as hot, crispy, and fried to order. The tortillas were very fresh as well as the pico and cabbage. The fire-roasted peppers were also delicious. I'll be heading back next time I'm in town, and bringing people with me too!"

Rico also got the campachena cocktail, which includes shrimp and octopus:

The following two photos were taken by Aaron

Taco Nazo Potato Taco

A couple weeks later I went with Rachel and we tried a few more things like their al pastor taco and albondigas soup:

Special thanks go to Rachel for letting me have her chile guerito. I think my mouth is still on fire. Oh, and Diamond Dog, their potato tacos here are freshly deep-fried.