El Gerente

After making my way back to rosarito from Ensenada after the bike race I was starving. I asked the parking lot attendant for a good place to get tacos. He told me if you want the standard tj style tacos, carne asada, cabeza, pastor, etc he said go across the street. If you want something different go around the corner to el Gerente. First I went across the street to the tj style tacos and had a couple and I wasn’t impressed so I drove around the block to el Gerente. It wasn’t your standard taco shop that I was use to ordering so I told the cook I wanted some but was not clear on what to order. That’s when he said they serve perones, something I had never heard of. At first I thought he perros, which I think is dog. I watched someone before me order and I told him I wanted the same thing. It’s basically a quesadilla filled with meat and whole beans from the pot and you can add quacamole, and a bunch of other stuff. This was really good, but what put it over the top was the roasted jalapeños they serve in lime juice. I forgot to mention the meat they use is super tender like it just came out of a crock pot. This place is a must stop if your in town

As far as we are concerned, El Gerente shares the «Best in the Western Hemisphere» award from Vogue Magazine for tacos with Yaqui’s down the street.
Whenever we arrive in Rosarito, our first stop is either Yaqui’s or Gerente — wherever the line is shorter.
I know people that drive from LA just to eat some tacos. You can’t take them with you — they fall apart. Ideally, when you are there, you only order one at a time and inhale it.
This is food that we crave…
(I just answered the Unilocal questions about the place. Please pay attention: yes, formal attire required; and ambiance is upscale…)

The perrones (flour tortilla, cheese, pinto beans, beef, salsas, guacamole, cilantro & onion) were delicious. Service was fast and friendly. They were able to serve our group of 15 within minutes. Everything was super fresh. Definitely will eat there again!

I’m typically not a fan of the flour tortilla tacos loaded with frijoles, but these are pretty good. Not only do the tacos have the usual carne asada, onions, cilantro, avocado and salsa, but there is a layer of melted cheese which makes a huge difference in flavor.
No much variety though, no pollo, al pastor or even Coca Cola which is a staple in every Mexican food vendor in Rosarito.
Two tacos is enough to fill you up. Add some grilled peppers for a little extra heat.

Solid place to get a bite to eat. It’s off the beaten path. The pricing is a little high for a baja taco stand but the quality of ingredients and flavor make up for it.

Perrones is what El Gerente makes. It was first made and given the name, perrones, by the famous taco stand three blocks away called El Yaqui. The owner of this restaurant was the manager at El Yaqui and started his own business — hence the name El Gerente.
Now, what is a perrone? Start with a handmade gordita tortilla (a fatty), fry it on one side on the flattop with some grease to give it flavor and some strength to hold the contents of this taco. Then melt cheese on the tortilla, toss on pinto beans from the pot (frijoles de la olla), diced onions, chopped carne asada and slather with guacamole
. Serve with radishes, wedges of lime and roasted jalapeños cut lengthwise and salted. Put the jalapeños over the top of the pile and squeeze lime wedges over the mess. Fold into any form you can and eat. This is messy.
This masterpiece has all the favorite ingredients that a Mexican mother would have in her kitchen. It takes us back to a simpler time in our lives — before Lipitor.
Now at the hair-​raising cost of 30 pesos ($ 2.40 US), you will need two. You may not eat both, but at that price, you’ll want to try.
El Gerente is not on the main Blvd in Playas de Rosarito. It is one block east. To find it, you need to find El Nido restaurant or the famous Flea Market curio shopping area. From either of those places, walk east across the main Blvd and one more block east. You will see dozens of the big green vans that are used as taxis parked along both sides of El Gerente because this is where they dispatch the taxis. The cross streets listed in the review are correct and the map is correct, but since there are no street signs, you can’t use the location information.