Chef Priscilla Curiel opened her quaint taco shop Tuetano Taqueria in San Diego's South County border town of San Ysidro in 2018. A graduate of the culinary program at the Art Institute of San Diego, Chef Curiel was raised to be a restaurateur. She grew up working in all facets of the industry at her family's restaurants on both sides of the border - Talavera Azul in Chula Vista and La Espadaña in Tijuana.
In its short tenure, Tuetano Taqueria has been spotlighted by a multitude of publications, ranging from a glowing review in Food & Wine Magazine, to a mention in GQ's Best New Restaurants List, and most recently, being named as one of 25 Delicious Discoveries Across California and one of eight "Best Mexican Restaurants in San Diego" by the highly respected Michelin Guide California. In late 2020, Curiel opened a second concept, Mujer Divina, a Mexican coffee house and authentic burrito shop in National City. Chef Priscilla closed her San Ysidro location of Tuetano Taqueria in October 2021 to relocate the concept to central San Diego within the new Old Town Urban Market food hall.
Chef Priscilla has now secured two storefronts on the same block as Vogue Theatre on Third Avenue in Chula Vista in order to relocate Tuetano Taqueria and open a new branch of her Mujer Divina Mexican cafe. Tuetano Taqueria offers a menu centered around slow-cooked, fall-apart beef birria de res, with the option to add the restaurant's namesake tuetano, or roasted beef bone marrow, to compliment any taco, torta or dish. Mujer Divina is a traditional Mexican Coffee Shop offering an array of Mexican-inspired coffee drinks and lattes, including the famous Cafe de Olla cinnamon coffee. Mujer Divina also offers a concise menu of burritos "Hilera-style", the traditional burrito preparation with a fresh flour tortilla folded around slow cooked, stewed meats.
Tuetano Taqueria will depart Old Town Urban Market by the end of September. Construction of the South County spaces will begin once permits are approved.
"This past couple of years in Old Town Urban Market have been crazy," commented Tuetano Taqueria founder, Chef Priscilla Curiel. "We've been blessed with business, but I think we made a mistake on moving there because Old Town Urban Market wasn't very organized. I'm from Chula Vista. It's close to my home and heart. It will be a full circle moment to return to my home city."
Replacing Tuetano at Old Town Urban Market is Fuego Sushi, a Japanese-Mexican fusion eatery from Chef Isaac Fernandez, who also owns Otay Mesa's 905 Sushi. Expect a menu of sushi rolls and even an omakase option where dishes are left up to the chef.
