La Super-Rica Taqueria

A small, cinderblock-and-screen-door taqueria on Milpas Street, four blocks east of downtown. La Super-Rica has been making Mexican food in Santa Barbara since 1980 and has barely changed in the meantime. The menu is on a hand-painted board: handmade tortillas, tacos de adobado, chilaquiles, the daily special.

There is almost always a queue out the door at lunchtime. Order at the window, take your tray to one of the covered outdoor tables, and assume that whatever sauce is recommended is the right one. Cash only.

eating out restaurant mexican
A story
Julia Child, who lived part-time in Santa Barbara, said in interviews that La Super-Rica was her favourite restaurant. The owner, Isidoro Gonzalez, never quite believed her endorsement — by the time he understood who she was, she had been recommending the place for fifteen years.