Wilmington: Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo

It took me close to a year to finally try this place out. My homie Carlos had told me about this spot and praised the shrimp tacos. I never went mostly because this resturant is located deep in the east side of Wilmington between diesel  gas stations, dingy motels and lots of industrial traffic. I love grimy streets don't get me wrong, but sometimes when it comes to my food I get picky. I trusted my homie's opinion, but I just had not got around to hitting the place up. Last week at a Slanguage meeting, Carlos came by the studio and I asked him about the place;  a year later he still highly recommends it. I told him the reason I was leary about it but he mentioned that was a natural reaction because of location. When he first went  it was with Slanguage artist Steve De La Torre, Steve really liked the shrimp tacos and mentioned, " Only crackheads and Longshoremen know about this spot." I started laughing!

The community of Wilmington is home to the largest port on the west coast, there are also four refineries and plenty of other industrial based businesses. There is tons of traffic and movement in the area  With that also comes unwanted pollution and as every town has is,  "crackheads."  Despite the downsides the ladies and gentlemen who work hard all day need to eat, so that is where Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo comes in. 

Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo  is located on the corner of Pioneer and Anaheim St. Sahauayo is a city located in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. Typical Sahuayan food is carnitas, birria and Tacos al pastor.

The resturant was a nice decent size. We were greeted by the senora who owns the resturant along with her husband who is the cook. Carlos knew the lady from going there often, so she was real sweet with us. We sat down and ordered, I knew I wanted the shrimp tacos so I got two with the works. This place did not offer chips and which is a downside, but I was not too concerned. Carlos also ordered an appetizer called Queso Fundido or Cheese Fondue. I have heard of this dish before, but I never knew much about it. All I knew it usually was heated up in a metal pot and set down at parties and people would dip into it kind of like nacho cheese. After some reading on cheese fondue I read it was a popular party dish back in the fifties, sixties and seventies. The origins are said to come from Switzerland because it was a way to get rid of hardened cheese. The meaning of the word is actually French  fondre, meaning "to melt."  I was surprised to eat this item in a Mexican resturant, but am glad I did . The lady explained that they used a queso popular in Michoacan. She said that they were not able to provide customers with the actual fondue pots because of certain regulations being it is an actual fuel burner in the pot. 

Since there was no pot we had to dig in the cheese quick before it hardened but oh was it so yummy!

  The cheese came with a nice Pico-de- gallo, chips and tortillas.

 The best way Carlos suggested was to spread the queso on a tortilla and top it off with pico de gallo.  The choice was excellent, it reminded me of a really good quesadilla on corn tortilla since. I usually eat quesadillas on flour so this was a great alternative.

Now to the main item! I was very well pleased with these tacos they were so on point. First of all the corn tortilla is layered with beans which as Carlos pointed out not too common in shrimp tacos, that touch  gave it an extra kick. The shrimp is sauteed with spices and topped off with cheese, lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes and onions. Add some limon and take a bite of Jalapeno your tummy feels the goodness. Two tacos were really filling and cost around $ 2.50.

Do not be intimidated by the location ( like I was) or even the clientele and no there is no crackheads hanging around outside. The reason for that saying was because in there was another location with an outdoor patio that sometimes had that problem. They shut down the other location and have been successful at this spot.  They do close early since they cater to the lunch crowd in the area. Now go and try  this place out for yourself.

Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo
1134 E. Anaheim St
Wilmington, Ca 90744
(310) 835-3534
9 a..m.  to 6 p.m.