Yelp’s pick for the top taco spot in California is near Riverside

Business has been brisk at Birrieria Little Tijuana near Riverside since Yelp picked it as California's No. 1 taco spot for 2024.

The eatery is at 12702 Magnolia Ave., Unit 25 in the middle of Lincoln Square, a strip mall near McKinley Street and the 91 Freeway in the Home Gardens neighborhood between Riverside and Corona.

"Due to high volume we are experiencing higher wait times than usual," read a handwritten sign on the door on Friday, Sept. 27.

Inside, customers picking up orders at the counter recognized the staff from recent TV news reports about the honor.

The eatery specializes in beef birria, Mexican beef stew. Yelp users praise its quesabirria tacos, which are served in tacos coated in melted cheese and sell for $3.99 each. They are thick with beef but come with salsa, chopped cilantro, red onions and lime wedges on the side. A 12-ounce container of consomme for dipping is sold separately.

Yelp's list of the best taco spots in every state came out last week, a few days before National Taco Day , which falls on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Yelp also awarded Birrieria Little Tijuana the No. 2 spot on its Top 100 U.S. Taco Spots for 2023 .

According to Yelp, Birrieria Little Tijuana taps into a couple of trends. The first is birria itself, which the National Restaurant Association predicted would be a top dish for 2024 . Another trend is specialty menus, taquerias with a narrowly focused menu. While Birrieria Little Tijuana serves a few other things, including wings and grilled cheese sandwiches for kids, the focus is on birria.

In addition to tacos, the menu includes birria ramen, birria nachos, birria fries, pizza birria and birria by the pound.