Photography by Kathy Tran
TIJUANA MANAGED to drop its indecent reputation and become a trendy and artistic border town.
The old Eagle Ford Road is now Trinity Groves.
And Jesús Carmona is back.
Milagro Tacos opened earlier this year after Carmona was forced to close the two locations of his Tacos Mariachi in 2020 because he broke his foot and couldn’t work during the pandemic-related restaurant slowdown.
So he started a whole other restaurant, Chimichurri Argentinian Restaurant & Bar, in Bishop Arts, while still in a walking cast.
Then came the “miracle.” Carmona says real estate investors — Mr. Hail Mary himself, Roger Staubach, and business partner Robert Shaw — asked him to come back to Singleton Boulevard in a corner space a few doors down from his original taquería, in the ground floor of an apartment building.
It’s great because there are customers in residence, he says.
Milagro Tacos gives some of the Tijuana hipster vibes of the old place, and it has the octopus tacos that made it Guy Fieri famous.
But this is a streamlined version with an emphasis on cocktails, fish and seafood. There are a dozen tacos on the menu, plus daily specials like fish tacos with crumbled chicharron and avocado mousse on Tuesdays.
Birria fish tacos are the Thursday special — asadero cheese and codfish birria served on corn tortillas with consomé.
The Campeona burger has no beef. It’s sauteed shrimp, asadero cheese, crumbled chicharrón, jalapeño glaze, cabbage, pico de gallo and guacamole.
The “trendy tacos” menu features a shrimp taco served with chile de arbol sauce and asadero cheese on a flour tortilla. The Chefs for Farmers taco is a vegetarian option: julienned carrots, zucchini and yellow squash with cilantro pesto, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.
Carne asada, carnitas, barbacoa and chicken are the “traditional” options.
Tacos Milagro also serves tortilla soup every day. Sides and snacks include the queso, guacamole and salsa trio with chips, plus mole fries and Mexican street corn.
A mangonada margarita and mezcal bloody mary stand out on the cocktail menu, and brunch is from 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Carmona says the weeks after he broke his foot were among the lowest in his life, and Chimichurri was his way of moving on from losing the taquerías that were his pride and joy.
The original Tacos Mariachi was demolished recently, along with an entire block of one-story buildings, to make way for more apartments, which will only bring him more customers.
“I got an offer that I couldn’t resist,” Carmona says. “They gave me a great space. They were really nice to me, so I decided to get back into the taco business.”
Milagro Tacos & Cantina, 440 Singleton Blvd. 469.872.0168. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday- Friday, 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.
