Tacos, Tacos, Tacos – Jimmy’s Tacos • Tampa, FL
I’ve been on a slow journey looking for really good Birria tacos. It was been such a crazy trend and it’s for a good reason, it’s REALLY good! I’ve tried a handful the past couple years and I was just not impressed, wrong place, wrong time, who knows! It wasn’t until recently that I started to really do some research and that’s when I could see why some people would fight you on this topic. Birria is a traditional Mexican meat stew, it could be made from goat, beef, lamb, mutton or chicken. The dish is made from slow-cooked fall-apart tender meat with a mixture of dried chilies, garlic, herbs and spices. I’m not sure when it happened, but we started to use this meat inside of tacos, add some cheese and WHABAM! We have ourselves the famous Quesabirria tacos, & without cheese – it’s a birria taco, you get it!
A lot of people recommended trying Jimmy’s Tacos out and it’s been on my list for awhile. I don’t visit Ybor often, but we were going to drive through on our way to Orlando so I thought we could grab a bite while we fight our way through 2 hours of traffic. I do not regret any of this.
The bright yellow building can not be missed, they have a small menu of tacos, burritos, and tortas. This was a very chill spot and they do not have any inside dining, just chairs and tables outside. You also get to hang out with the famous Ybor Chickens. (I’m serious, they just chill with you)
We ordered a total of 6 tacos to share – Carne Asada taco ($3.75), Al Pastor taco ($3.75), 2 Quesabirria tacos ($4 each), and 2 Grilled Shrimp tacos (13.50). Oh we also got a small Horchata ($3.25) and a Coke Zero ($1.75). To be honest, we weren’t full, but it held us over until we got to Orlando for more food.
The Carne Asada had good flavor, but I personally did not care for the texture. It was a little tougher than I would like so it wasn’t for me. I have also been on a search for really good Al Pastor tacos (chasing it from the West Coast) and have not been successful. The flavor of the pastor was not bad, but it didn’t hit that itch that I have.
The Quesabirria tacos were pretty good! I think the flavor of the birria was nicely seasoned and there was a really nice cheese, meat and tortilla ratio. I did like how crispy the quesabirria was at Tacos Las Californias, but the flavor of the birria and consome was better here at Jimmy’s. I do wish the consome could have been thicker, richer and spicer though, but overall I thought it was a really good quesabirria taco!
I did absolutely fall in love with the Shrimp Tacos though! The shrimps were so meaty and plump which gave it such a satisfying bite. The salsa worked so nice as well because it gave the dish a more refreshing flavor. I thought this taco was by far my favorite of all the ones I tried at Jimmy’s.
The Horchata was also REALLY good! It was not overly sweet and the ratio of cinnamon was just right. It was creamy but not overly thick or too overpowering.
