Rico Rico Taco Now Open in San Ramon
A popular Oakland taqueria known for its handmade tortillas, spit-roasted al pastor, succulent carnitas, and veggie tacos is now open in San Ramon. Rico Rico Taco softly opened in the City Center Bishop Ranch on Tuesday, on the ground floor of the shopping center next to Fieldwork Brewing. It’s the third project from husband-wife team Ricardo and Marisol Montero, who followed up their acclaimed taqueria with a vegan taco concept, Rico Rico Vegano, in Oakland’s Grand Lake district.
In San Ramon, says Ricardo, they will open with a menu mirroring their flagship offering tacos, burritos, and bowls filled with quality meats and vegetables, in addition to quesadillas, flautas, sopes, huarachitos, and a few breakfast items. The restaurant is known, in part, for its al pastor tacos made from layers of chile-marinated pork grilled then carved to order from a vertical trompo spit topped by pineapple. Ricardo learned the technique from his parents, who have been offering tacos de trompo for decades via Tacos El Gordo, a popular longtime taco purveyor with locations in Oakland, Hayward, and San Leandro. Ricardo and Marisol hail from East Bay taco royalty: Marisol’s parents run the beloved Tacos Sinaloa with food trucks and stands throughout Oakland and Berkeley. Each of the duo’s parents, in fact, comes from a different region of Mexico—Mexico City, Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco—which is infused into the menu offerings at Rico Rico.
“We joined both of our backgrounds, and our food is a reflection of that,” says Ricardo. “We have favorites from everywhere that we come from. The al pastor on the trompo is inspired by Mexico City. We have traditional carnitas that are my wife’s family recipe that we put our own twist on. The fish taco is based on a Baja-style beer-battered version. So, every item that we offer we make sure stays true to the region it comes from.”
Mexico City is also known for its vegetarian fare, which Rico Rico honors by offering tacos filled with hongos (mushrooms), nopales (cactus), and sauteed veggies, and a full vegan taco lineup at Rico Rico Vegano. That menu will, eventually, be available in San Ramon, says Ricardo, who is currently working on refiguring the kitchen to make sure the vegan dishes can be prepared separately from the meat ones. He plans to expand the menu with those offerings in the coming weeks, which will include Vegano’s signature bright pink tortillas colored with flesh from pitaya dragon fruit…