SoCal-style rolled tacos at Taqueria el Buen Sabor

rolled tacos, taquitos, buen sabor, food, mexican food, mission district, san francisco

As many a southern transplant knows, it’s damn near impossible to find a decent plate of rolled tacos in San Francisco. Primarily the provenance of SoCal surf shacks, those golden cylinders of high-octane awesome heaped high with cheese and guacamole are few and far between in The Mission’s culinary burritoscape.

For everyone who’s ever craved a clutch of fried taco glory, Taqueria el Buen Sabor has you covered. All of the essential components are there – crispy deep fried tacos inundated with a wanton mess of lechuga, crema, guacamole, and queso.

rolled tacos, taquitos, taqueria el buen sabor, food, mexican food, mission district, san francisco

36 Responses to “SoCal-style rolled tacos at Taqueria el Buen Sabor”

  1. Linda says:

    My people call them Flautas. Maybe you didn’t know that and were looking under rolled tacos (???).
    In any case I’ve seen them plenty of places.
    I think Taco Bell refers to ‘em as taquitos.

  2. kiya says:

    These are one of my go to hangover snacks, i think El Buen Sabor is super underrated, and they used to be one of the cheapest in the Mission until a few weeks ago when they raised their prices up to “market value”.

  3. Heather says:

    Yeah, flautas are pretty common and easy to find in San Francisco. My favorite Tenderloin taqueria has them.

  4. lies! says:

    flautas ≠ rolled tacos. Ruined my night.

  5. Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

    Those just look like flautas to me. What’s the difference?

  6. Vic Wong says:

    My take is that flautas are puffed a little. A bit of a pastry element going on there. Rolled tacos are just a corn tortilla that’s been fried in oil, so it’s more crunchy.

    • Al says:

      Ding ding ding! Senor Wong for the win. Flautas, while delicious, are more cakey. You can taste the deep fried pastry quality of the tortilla. Taquitos, rolled tacos as we affectionately referred to them in my native San Diego, are all about the crunch. Even when doused in a heap of guacamole, crema, lechuga and cotija, a rolled taco worth its salt still has epic crunch.

      Senor Chino, can you please deliver some to my office? Al wants them for lunch. K. Thx. Bye.

      • ciao says:

        leave it to white people to try and give 100 names to everything. those are flautas, you may be into some more gringo-fied variations, but they are all flautas.

      • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

        The flautas at El Taco Loco are very crunchy

  7. olu says:

    Never had a “rolled taco” but those look a lot like flautas, and if you get them made fresh all they are, is corn tortilla deep fried with some shit in them.
    Anywhere that makes them fresh is dope.

  8. Steve says:

    Flautas are, for the most part, similar to rolled tacos, but they aren’t quite the same. Flautas are usually bigger and meatier. Rolled tacos are like a slightly less fancy flauta, they are smaller, crunchier, and, typically, cheaper. My favorite place in San Diego, Valentine’s on Market, has 5 rolled tacos piled high with guacamole, lettuce, salsa, and cheese for $3-$4. It’s a fast-food type thing. I consider flautas to be, I guess, slightly more formal, usually served with rice and beans in a sit down restaurant. It’s a subtle difference, but as a SoCal transplant that’s lived here for 15 years, it’s noticeable.

  9. SCUM says:

    I flout your flautas sir.

  10. 0101 says:

    lol at white people talking about mexican food. move to the mission and become an expert riiiiight?

    • Ben says:

      You picked up our talent for never missing a chance to tell people you’ve been in the know soooo much longer than the rest of us, we picked up a taco.

  11. TC says:

    I’m Mexican, they’re all called flautas. They’re just different styles. The smaller ones may be referred to as “casera” because they’re simple and more closely resemble the ones made en la casa (casera=homemade). The more ornate ones that use thicker tortillas sometimes powdered with flour to give it that “”cakey” texture, are just a different style, usually at more formal sit down restaurants, the heavier tortilla being more ideal for supporting heavy topping like at restaurants. But they are all flautas. Also shouldn’t be confused with tacos fritos which are a whole other tasty delicacy.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Thank you for bringing some reality into this conversation.

  12. Going with flautas, too. Try ‘em. Minor variations are covered by personal preferences.

  13. Nate says:

    Fuck the flautas, they’re rolled tacos. That’s what we call em in San Diego where they actually exist. Fuckin white boys think they know what they’re talking about. I got fucked up at Valentine’s in SD. I ate 20 rolled tacos in one sitting with ten tequila shots. That was an awesome birthday. Rolled tacos on every corner. A fuckin paradise.

  14. mimi says:

    FLAUTAS are made with flour tortillas. THAT’S why they’re “cakier” as people keep saying. TAQUITOS (aka “rolled tacos”) are made with corn tortillas.

  15. Bill P says:

    They’re called Mexican corndogs, gringos. In Mexico they’re just called “corndogs.”

  16. TC says:

    San Diego didn’t invent shit, rolled tacos my ass. Doesnt matter if they’re made from corn, flour, PVC, hemp, they’re called flautas.

    But go ahead and keep calling it whatever the “bros” in San Diego call it. Follow it up with an enchurrito and a Mexican pizza from Taco Bell. Then you can polish it off with some piss water, err I mean Corona, before you head over to TIjuana for some more authentic Mexican culture aka a Donkey Show.

    Que pendejo

  17. THX1138 says:

    Flautas are made with flour tortillas, while taquitos (aka rolled tacos) are made with corn ones.

  18. Winona Writer says:

    Roberto’s kicks your culo.

  19. La Verdad says:

    How many tacos does $4.50 buy at La Taqueria? How many at Taqueria Vallarta?

    If your answer is “Where’s Taqueria Vallarta?”. You’re probably a gringo who thinks “rolled tacos” are a distinct Mexican food you discovered in San Diego and you are stunned to learn that they are, in fact, taquitos.

    And, you’re probably afraid of real street food like the taquitos, ahem “rolled tacos”, served out of shopping carts by Mexicans at the 24th st BART station. You can find your “rolled tacos” in lots of other places if you know what to ask for, taquitos.

  20. El Pito says:

    Trader Joe’s has great “rolled tacos”. Pinche culeros….

  21. Matt says:

    The world would be a better place if people were big/smart enough to realize that things have different names in different place and by different people, and that’s OK.

  22. el jeffe says:

    FYI: according to the menu at Taqueria El Buen Sabor, they’re serving “Flautas.”

  23. La Verdad says:

    At La Espigo de Oro (24th and Florida) they are called “tacos dorados” and also called “falutas”. They are hella good! And inexpensive.

    So, I guess the lesson here is that Mexicans call “rolled tacos” by various names including “flautas”, “taquitos”, and “tacos dorados”. And, if you’re a gringo from San Diego, you can find your precious “rolled tacos” in many places in SF if you can just get comfortable speaking a little “Mexican”.

  24. Incluyo says:

    This post makes me want to take a trip back to San Diego where the menus are short and the rolled tacos are non-brittle crunchy delicious.

  25. Chrispy says:

    I’m Mexican, born in Mexico. Grew up in San Diego. I moved away when I was 29 to San Franciso. Ive lived in SF for 8 years and the Mexican food here is way different.
    Rolled tacos or Taco roles are made from corn tortillas and deep fried, covered with cheese and guacomole. And they don’t exist in NorCal. That’s why I love goin home for some good eats. Flautas or tacitos or encharitos or whatever Americans call them, they can keepem. Lol

  26. pinchegabacho says:

    What I gather from ciao’s comment above about “white people” is that (1) white people aren’t allowed to have opinions on Mexican food (even on matters as culturally innocuous as the rolled tacos vs. flautas) and (2) Mexicans/people of Mexican descent are incapable in engaging of innocuous Internet discussions, so any commenter who attempts to describe Buen Sabor’s fried corn tortillas as either flautas or rolled tacos must be white.

    Thanks, ciao. Your verdict of “flautas” has been duly recorded.