When done right and monitored constantly, the buttery fat drips down, gets blasted with the flame and chars the meat, yielding that ethereal, almost-crunchy texture. Gringas are $7 tacos are $3.50.Īssembling a trompo is complicated, Raul says, and requires meticulous layering of the tenderest cuts. And that doesn’t include the quesadilla-like gringas, which are larger and stuffed into flour tortillas with cheese. Today, along with their growing crew, the Fabians churn out close to 1,000 al pastor tacos a day. “The following weekend, we added more meat and brought more family members to help,” says Raul, in Spanish. And they sold 500 tacos in a matter of hours, with many customers still waiting in line. Raul and Hector, who were working in a Japanese restaurant at the time, set up their trompo with 60 pounds of pork that they marinate in more than 20 herbs and spices, including the ruby-red guajillo chiles that give the al pastor its signature color. That family-vibe is what drew the brothers, who started Tacos Al Pastor about two years ago. Cars are often double-parked, and as many as 20 vendors pack the sidewalks. It is particularly lively on Sundays, when you might spot strolling musicians or dancing couples. The Fabians - Alberto and his brothers, Al Pastor Tacos co-owners Raul and Hector - are just some of the many vendors who set up weekend stalls along this industrial strip. The eatery pops up on Coliseum Way in Oakland on the weekends. The authentic tacos al pastor from Al Pastor Estilo Puebla come with pineapple and all the fixings.

But you can score them and a plethora of other Latin American eats, from gorditas to Venezuelan arepas and handmade aguas frescas, on this narrow corridor along Interstate 880, not far from the Oakland Flea Market. These family-made tacos - authentic, Mexico City-style al pastor - are hard to find in the Bay Area, even here in taqueria-packed Oakland. The taquero hacks off a slice of the caramelized fruit, which dribbles juices as it lands on the tender meat, and adds spoonfuls of cilantro, onions and fresh pineapple.

On a recent Saturday morning, Alberto Eugenio Fabian of Tacos Al Pastor, a sidewalk eatery on Oakland’s Coliseum Way, shaves tender slices of scarlet-red pork from a flaming, pineapple-topped trompo, or spit.

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