La Lupita Taco & Mezcal

La Lupita Taco & Mezcal occupies a courtyard off Calle Doblado in the historic centre of San Jose del Cabo, in Baja California Sur, and belongs to the generation of Mexican taquerias that treats the taco as a composed dish rather than street fuel. The kitchen works with regional sourcing, using Baja fish, local pork and produce from the San Jose farm belt, and applies technique that would not be out of place in a full restaurant. The Baja fish taco at about $5 uses beer batter and a chipotle crema in the Ensenada style; the al pastor near $4 comes off a trompo carved to order; and the smoked marlin taco at roughly $6 uses the cured marlin that is a Baja California Sur staple. A rotating list of seasonal specials, among them duck carnitas, chicharron de rib-eye and roasted vegetable with requeson, changes with what the farms deliver. Portions are single tacos, so the sensible approach is to order three or four across different fillings rather than committing to one. The other half of the identity is agave. The bar carries an unusually serious mezcal selection for a taqueria, spanning espadin from Oaxaca and small-batch wild agave bottlings, poured neat with orange and sal de gusano, alongside mezcal cocktails and Mexican craft beer. Staff are used to walking visitors through the list. The dining room is a covered patio of string lights, painted concrete, communal-leaning tables, murals and a soundtrack that keeps the volume up. It reads as young, loud and celebratory rather than intimate, and dress is entirely casual. Reservations are not taken and the courtyard fills quickly between 7PM and 9PM in high season, when waits of half an hour are normal; arriving before 7PM or after 9:30PM usually avoids the queue. The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays and runs from noon to 10PM otherwise, which makes it a viable lunch as well as a dinner stop for anyone walking the San Jose art district and the Plaza Mijares area nearby.