With organic, seed oil-free ingredients in recipes cultivated over decades, Taco Time aims to be La Jolla’s go-to Mexican spot.
Driven to serve the community it calls home, Taco Time Cantina strives to raise the bar on fast-casual Mexican food in La Jolla and is inviting people to experience the blend of quality ingredients with decades of culinary experience.
Opened nearly a year ago by Ryan Salem and chef Cesar Sanchez, who also operate Johnny Mañanas in Ocean Beach and Oceanside, Taco Time Cantina stays true to its taco shop nature while elevating the experience with quality and community connection that the team hopes will make a return trip inevitable.
Those upgrades come in the ingredients, including organic chicken, organic corn from third-generation Mexican corn growers and the sole use of avocado oil, making every dish a seed oil-free, quality-rich plate that demonstrates a commitment to authenticity.
“We’re taking the extra steps,” Salem said.
At Taco Time, customers will find items like lightly fried fish, carne asada and quesabirria tacos wrapped in two-tone, handmade tortillas; birria nachos with two taco dressings and real cheese melted to order; and a cheesy California burrito with a secret sauce that Sanchez said is a top seller.
“People see the difference,” he said.
Also on the menu: A combo platter of eating for pleasure and nutrition.
“When you eat … you’re actually getting fed,” said Sanchez, a native of Tijuana, Mexico with 25 years’ cooking experience.
“We’re giving everybody the real deal,” Salem said, adding he and Sanchez have been happy to bring quality tacos to La Jolla, with a spot in Sycamore Court off Fay Avenue that invites relaxation and enjoyment.
The attention to detail Sanchez brings to his cooking – what he calls his “obsessive and artistic” nature – is perhaps a transfer of skills from his past decades as a renowned opera singer who performed globally with Placido Domingo and others for 20 years.
The “Tijuana Tenor,” who had his first concerts in La Jolla at the La Jolla Community Center and St James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, found himself transmuting his focus and passion for opera into his recipes.
Being able to share his zeal on a plate with the community he loves is a gratifying contribution, he said, adding that he derives “a weird pleasure watching them eat.”
Hence the commitment to quality ingredients: Mexican food in Southern California isn’t the best quality, Sanchez said.
“I wanted people to experience what we Mexicans eat at home.”
Taco Time serves “real, home-style quality,” Salem said, owed to Sanchez’s experience and skill. “This is not something you can just wake up and do.”
That Salem and Sanchez take pride in their place in the La Jolla community is evident in the number of passersby who stop to greet Sanchez warmly.
“That’s why I’m here every day,” Sanchez said. “I want people to know me.”
“We want you to feel at home when you’re here,” Salem said. “We want this to be a second home for people in La Jolla.”
