When I set out to find the best fish tacos in the East Bay, my first thought was to avoid tilapia because, even though it’s more sustainable than basa and other commonly used fish, I don’t find it particularly flavorful. But the deeper I dug, the more tilapia I found, especially at the best taco trucks in East Oakland and the mariscos joints on Foothill and International Boulevards. And these fish tacos are, of course, much cheaper than the versions made with wild fish. When I dropped my preconceived notion of what the perfect fish taco should be — locally sourced wild fish on a handmade tortilla — I discovered some perfectly respectable alternatives.
Here are six spots in total: two Fruitvale trucks, two popular Temescal destinations, an Old Oakland spot, and a downtown Berkeley gem.
The Taco Trucks
I headed first to Fruitvale Avenue in East Oakland, where my favorite tacos trucks dish up fast and delicious Mexican food into the wee hours every night. It was no surprise that the best fish tacos I found were at my two top trucks for asada, carnitas and pastor as well: Taqueria Sinaloa and Mi Grullense (in the Goodwill parking lot).
I group them together here because these tacos are virtually identical in every sense: Both use as the main ingredient diced and seared-to-brown tilapia smothered in a moderately spicy chile sauce. Grullense’s has more minced white onion than Sinaloa’s, and Sinaloa’s includes minced jalapeno, but they are otherwise twins, topped with chopped cilantro and served on two just-warmed La Finca corn tortillas (arguably, the best packaged corn tortillas on the east side of the bay), with chile and carrot escabeche on the side. And that’s it. At $2 a pop, there’s not much to complain about. (Both places have two trucks each, one for meat and one for fish, so be sure to get in line at the right truck.)
Taqueria Sinaloa
2138 International Blvd. [Map]
Oakland, CA 94606
Ph: (510) 535-1206
Hours: unpublished, but roughly 8am-9pm on weekdays and 9am-midnight on weekends
Price range: $ fish tacos ($2)
Mi Grullense Taco Truck
1301 30th Ave. [Map]
Oakland, CA 94601
Ph: no phone
Hours: Sun-Fri, 8am-midnight; Sat, 8am-2am
Price range: $ fish tacos ($2)
The Fried Fish Tacos
Despite everyone’s New Year’s resolutions, it would be remiss of me to exclude fried fish tacos. One might even argue that these are the most traditional; they’re certainly a worthy indulgence.
I made my first visit to La Calaca Loca Taqueria at the recommendation of friends. It’s a colorful, friendly place with Day of the Dead décor year-round and a large menu of mostly locally-sourced meat and produce. It’s the sister restaurant of Nick’s Crispy Tacos in San Francisco, and the fish tacos here are made with mahi mahi, a beautifully flaky fish, battered in a tempura style and served on creamy slaw inside a soft Guerrero corn tortilla with a thick slice of lime and “Baja” sauce (a pleasantly bitter, creamy, and mildly spicy chile sauce) on the side.
