Jesse's El Taco De Mexico - Oxnard

One of the reasons that I put a picture of Jesse’s El Taco De Mexico at the top of my blog, is that I’ve always held their tacos in high regard. When I was much younger (much) I had some of their tacos after a trip to the local thrift store on Oxnard Boulevard and have not eaten there since. Will the tacos still be as awesome as I remember?


I got to Jesse’s just before the lunch rush. It’s been unseasonably super-hot down around Ventura/Oxnard this week so inside Jesse’s it was freaking sweltering. No matter, I ordered my usual trinity of tacos (Carne Asada, Al Pastor and Carnitas)

Jesse’s is small place with just a few spots to sit inside but has a great “hole in the wall” character. I personally love it. I also noticed they didn’t have much variety on the menu as far as taco fillings are concerned. The only “exotic” meats were cabeza and lengua.

The tacos came with a salsa roja on top plus the requisite cilantro and onions. There’s a small condiment area with limes, radishes and a salsa verde but I bypassed and dug into my tacos as soon as the plate hit the table.

For starters the Carnitas taco was a total disappointment; just dry and bland almost like shredded beef jerky. Didn’t expect that at all, not even the salsa roja could cover up how bad this was.

The Carne Asada was cut into small chunks and very tender. It was solid but as I keep finding out, except for maybe El Tapatio, no other place can get that charred flavor on the meat as well. Still, the combination with the salsa roja made this a good taco.

The Al Pastor taco was kinda weird. It was greasy and tasty and loaded with tender cuts of pork but not like a traditional Al Pastor. I’m not even sure I can identify the flavor much less properly describe it. I didn’t see it come off of a Trompo (Spit) or anything and it definitely did not have a traditional pineapple flavor to it at all. It was okay but I expected so much more.

All in all Jesse’s Taco El Taco De Mexico did not live up to the high standards I had from memory. So far, out of the 6 places that I’ve been to Don Gaby’s taco truck in Oxnard has been the best that I’ve had. Obviously this may change (since I’ve only just started) but until some other taqueria can convince me otherwise I’m putting Don Gaby’s picture at the top of my blog until further notice. 2.5/5 stars.

Jesse’s El Taco De Mexico
120 West 7th Street
Oxnard, CA 93030