San Diego has long stood tall as one of the premier taco cities in the United States.
A recent survey of “best Taco cities in America” however, had San Diego as number eight on the list — losing out to number one ranked Austin, Texas.
In fact, even Oklahoma City scored higher on their list, which based its rankings on U.S. Census community surveys and Yelp data and scored categories like the number of taco restaurants, the number of taco food trucks and something called “Taco Passion.”
Conversely, Yelp has recently named South Bay taqueria Ed Fernandez Restaurant the top taco shop in the United States.
America's finest (taco) city also ranked number one in observation of "Taco Tuesdays."
While these rankings might ruffle some feathers about which city is truly the best for tacos, author and Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano advocates for a more open-minded approach to metropolitan taco rivalries.
"I'm never going to hate on a place's taco scene unless I've actually had it," Arellano said.
Instead, he encourages passionate taco connoisseurs not to take "listicles" too seriously and to focus their efforts on trying new taco shops instead.
"When we hear about these [rankings] we immediately want to talk trash — don't hate until you've had it. San Diego has amazing tacos, Los Angeles has amazing tacos; stop the rivalry, We are taco cousins!"
Arellano, who is also hosting the Southern California-wide tortilla tournament, joined Midday Edition on Wednesday with more on the mass appeal of tacos across America.
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COVID-19 booster rates remain low, just as new omicron variants of concern emerge. Then, San Diego approves new agreements with the city’s eight private trash haulers, with new state requirements on recycling organic waste looming. Next, why was San Diego listed as only the 8th best American city for tacos in a recent survey? And Rick Steves explores stories of famous works of European art in a new six-hour series called “Art of Europe.” Finally, the San Diego Filipino Film Festival was founded to raise awareness for Filipino cinema as an important art form and tool for representation, education and entertainment. The festival returns to San Diego tonight. -
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