DowntownRob The best, the luxurious, and the unique in San Diego
I’ve been back in San Diego for a few years now, and it still feels so good to say that.
Before coming back, I spent about a year living in Las Vegas, right up until COVID hit. When I returned to San Diego, I landed in Mission Valley, then eventually moved to North Park, and finally found my way downtown, where I’ve been fortunate enough to live in a wonderful condo.
One of the things I love about being back in San Diego is that you never really know who you’re going to run into. Today, while we were walking to breakfast in Liberty Station, one of those random San Diego moments happened.
I ran into Gerry Torres. If you love tacos in San Diego, you probably know the name.
Gerry is the guy behind City Tacos, the local taco empire that started in North Park in 2014 and has grown into one of the city’s best-known taco brands. And yes, I am absolutely a taco guy, so running into Gerry was a pretty great way to spend part of my day.
But what really struck me wasn’t just the food. It was Gerry himself. He was incredibly nice, genuinely friendly, and happy to talk about San Diego, food, family and what he has coming next. It was one of those conversations that starts casually and ends with you realizing you’ve just gotten a little glimpse into the story behind someone who has helped shape the city’s food scene.
A short back story; Gerry was born in Mexico City and moved to San Diego in 1992. His food curiosity started much earlier. Growing up, his parents were pilots, and whenever they returned home from trips they would bring back foods from around the world. Marzipan from Germany, Arabic candies and all kinds of flavors that were probably pretty unusual to encounter as a kid.
That curiosity never really went away.
Before City Tacos, Gerry spent years working in the food and beverage business, including time in San Diego, Miami and Hawaii. He eventually opened the original City Tacos in North Park in 2014, with a simple but pretty bold idea: tacos didn’t have to be limited to the same handful of ingredients and combinations that San Diegans had seen over and over again.
The original City Tacos menu had just five tacos. Today, the brand is known for a much broader menu that can include everything from traditional carne asada and carnitas to seafood, vegetarian and much more adventurous combinations.
And San Diego has noticed!
City Tacos has won the Best Taco honor in Ranch & Coast’s readers’ survey for years, including a run from 2020 through 2025. The brand has also picked up recognition from San Diego Magazine and other local publications. At one point, the growing chain was selling millions of tacos across the county.
That is a lot of tacos.
As someone who loves tacos, I appreciate that Gerry doesn’t seem interested in simply doing what everybody else is doing. His philosophy has always been about flavor and experimentation, and that spirit seems to carry through everything he does.
That brings us to Fonda del Barrio in Barrio Logan, which I had not yet heard about, and will definitely be going ASAP.
Fonda del Barrio is Gerry’s more recent venture, and it is a very different experience from walking up to a City Tacos counter. Located at 2234 Logan Avenue, the restaurant takes its inspiration from the traditional Mexican fonda and the rich culinary traditions of Mexico’s various regions. Gerry created the restaurant with Executive Chef Eduardo Baeza, his longtime culinary partner, with the goal of bringing ancestral Mexican food and flavors to Barrio Logan.
The restaurant is intentionally designed to feel like stepping into another time and place, with a hacienda-inspired setting and dishes influenced by regions and traditions throughout Mexico. Handmade masa, Oaxacan moles, Mayan achiote and fresh seafood are all part of the story.
And there is a personal connection there too. Gerry has talked about how important Barrio Logan is to San Diego’s Mexican and Chicano culture and how he wanted Fonda del Barrio to help showcase what Mexican cuisine is capable of.
There is also a pretty great family story woven into Gerry’s restaurant world.
His son, Hector Aguirre, has followed him into the food business and is behind Quiero Tacos, which operates with Mike Hess Brewing at Seaport Village. I eat there maybe once a week, living so close by. If you’ve walked along the waterfront and spotted the tacos and beer overlooking San Diego Bay, you’ve probably seen that family connection without even realizing it.
And then there is another part of Gerry’s story that I learned about that made me smile.
After moving to San Diego from Mexico, he eventually became a United States citizen in 2022. His naturalization ceremony took place downtown, and Gerry described it as a very emotional moment after roughly 30 years as a permanent resident. He talked about seeing the Fourth of July differently as an American citizen and being proud of the opportunities the United States had given him.
So when you hear Gerry talk about San Diego, food and community, there is clearly more behind it than simply opening restaurants.
And now he is doing it again…
During our conversation today, I got a sneak peek at what Gerry and his team are planning for their newest project, El Punto, coming to Liberty Station. We were walking by, talking about this spot that is opening soon, peeking at the patio, but not sure what is was going to be, and there he was, walking towards the gate we were walking past! He greeted us, and I asked him about his City Tacos polo shirt, and he shared about that, and this new endeavor.
And this one sounds like it could be a lot of fun.
El Punto will take over the roughly 8,800-square-foot space at 2885 Perry Road, and Gerry isn’t simply putting another Mexican restaurant into the building. The plan is to create a place where families, friends and even the family dog can hang out.
There will be a large indoor dining area, covered outdoor seating, a big patio, a dedicated kids area with life-size games and an enclosed off-leash dog park.
Yes, a dog park. As a dog owner, that immediately got my attention.
The food sounds just as interesting. Executive Chef Eduardo Baeza, who has worked with Gerry for more than 25 years, is heading up the kitchen… they previously worked at Candelas (one of my fav spots back in the day!) in downtown San Diego, where Torres was a waiter and Baeza was the executive chef.
The menu will bring together coastal Mexican flavors, locally caught seafood, ceviche, oysters, tiraditos, entrees, shareable dishes and, of course, some of the City Tacos favorites.
There will even be a fresh seafood bar, he said!
The whole concept sounds less like a restaurant you simply stop into for dinner and more like a place you could spend an afternoon. Grab some tacos, have some seafood, let the kids play, let the dog run around, sit outside with a drink and enjoy being in San Diego.
That feels very Gerry Torres.
El Punto is currently targeting an October 2026 opening, starting with dinner service. The plan is to add weekend brunch afterward, followed by lunch service later on.
And Gerry tells me the project has already received its A health rating, so now it is really about getting everything finished and ready to welcome people through the doors.
After talking with Gerry today, I left with the feeling that El Punto isn’t just another restaurant opening.
It feels like another chapter in a story that started with a guy from Mexico City who came to San Diego, developed an obsession with food and eventually decided to change the way people thought about tacos.
Thirty-plus years after arriving here, Gerry Torres is still dreaming up new ways to feed people. And San Diego is better for it.
For me, the best part of today’s encounter wasn’t getting a preview of a new restaurant. It was getting to spend a little time talking with a genuinely nice guy who clearly loves what he does, loves his family and has a real passion for this city.
I’ll definitely be watching El Punto as it comes together.
And when those doors open in October, there is a pretty good chance you’ll find me there.
Probably eating a taco.
Follow along here: El Punto on Instagram
Note: The top featured image is a fun generated rendering based on this text, and it not representative of actual brand assets.
