Eating My Way Through University City: Flaco’s Cocina

Despite its brightly colored exterior, is rather easy to miss, tucked away in the corner of a strip mall on Delmar off of I-170 (8400 Delmar Boulevard). So easy to miss, in fact, that my husband Ryan claimed he’d never before noticed it when we pulled up on a rainy Wednesday evening. Had it been a nicer day, we would’ve loved to sit out on their patio. Instead, we selected a booth inside the fairly small restaurant.

Flaco’s website describes itself as Caribbean and Latin, with a South Beach flair. A perusal of the menu led us to believe it was reminiscent of Mexican cuisine, with an emphasis on seafood. We were immediately handed a tiny bowl of chips and house salsa. Unlike most Mexican restaurants, however, there weren’t free refills. Because I have a poor habit of overdoing it on chips and salsa and spoiling my appetite, I didn’t mind. Had there been more than two of us, we certainly would’ve needed to purchase more.

Neither of us was particularly hungry, so we skipped an appetizer (though there were plenty on the menu that we liked the sound of). Both Ryan and I had a hard time selecting what to order. In fact, I don’t remember being so indecisive at a restaurant in a long time! Eventually, we each settled on two tacos—grilled mahi mahi and roasted vegetable for me, blackened tilapia and tuna for Ryan.

During the quick wait for our food, we took in the sights and sounds of the place. It was halfway full, with several patrons sitting at the bar and taking advantage of the Happy Hour specials. A television in the corner played a basketball game, but no one seemed to be paying attention. Our server was both attentive and cheery, refilling water glasses and chatting with us.

Our tacos arrived stuffed to the brim. We both struggled to pick them up and eat them without their contents spilling. I was pleasantly surprised by the mahi mahi taco—a mild fish that non-seafood lovers probably wouldn’t mind. The roasted vegetable taco, on the other hand, was a little disappointing, only because our server described it as a combination of peppers, onions, asparagus, and carrots. Intrigued by the combination, I ordered it, only to discover it was nothing more than peppers and onions (as well as the special sauce, pico de gallo, and lime spiked cabbage). Still, it wasn’t a bad taco. Similarly, Ryan was pleased with his selections. He described them both as good, but not the best fish tacos he’s ever had (but when you’ve had fish tacos from a truck in San Diego, your perception is different than the average person!).

Prices were reasonable, and Flaco’s has a number of weekday lunch specials that made me wish my office were closer! We’re already excited to return, as there were still several items calling to us from the menu…the fried egg burrito in particular!