City Tacos OB Playground in Ocean Beach


City Tacos is scheduled to open a 10,000-square-foot concept called OB Playground in Ocean Beach in July. It will be the seventh San Diego County location for the Mexican eatery, which was founded in 2014 in North Park. Founder Gerry Torres made the announcement.

The family-friendly OB Playground at 4896 Voltaire Street (at the northeast corner of Cable Street) will also house a to-be-determined coffee shop and flower shop. The courtyard area will have picnic-table seating, lounge seating around fire pits, and bar stool seating. A canopy will provide shade to a portion of the space.

OB Playground will include a gated dog park with tables lining the fence so guests can eat while watching their pets. Giant-sized games like checkers, chess, Connect 4, and Jenga will be on property, as well as cornhole sets, bocci ball, and foosball tables. Acoustic guitar players and other musicians will perform regularly.

“It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to create an all-ages community hub like this for one of the vibrant areas of our city – a place where people can play, enjoy, and relax,” said Torres, who was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to San Diego in 1992. “I love the OB community and I can’t wait to hang out and eat tacos with everyone. Extending my footprint into OB really is a testament to the great people of San Diego. Their passion for City Tacos means more City Tacos.”

City Tacos last September surpassed three million tacos sold in San Diego County. This Friday, May 5, officially marks the establishment’s ninth anniversary. Torres became a United States citizen last June in a ceremony held at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in downtown.

OB Playground will have 10 taps for beer, all of which will come from local craft breweries. Mexican beers, as well as wine and seltzers will also be available. Later in the year, Torres will rotate food trucks into the space. Craft fairs and other small festivals are planned as well. OB Playground will stay open until 10:00 p.m.

Sevahna Anderson, an Ocean Beach native and founder of OB’s Voltaire Art & Makers Walk, is coordinating with a dozen local artists to paint murals on the perimeter fencing of the concept.

The City Tacos menu features traditional tacos (pollo asado, carnitas, carne asada), caseros “homestyle” tacos (pulled pork with Mayan achiote sauce, beef shank, mahi mahi), and several other meat, seafood, and vegetarian options. Currently, 13 of City Tacos’ 15 tacos on the menu are less than $5.00.

City Tacos’ other San Diego locations are East Village (Ballpark), Encinitas, La Mesa, Pacific Beach, and Sorrento Valley. There is also a location at The Village at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

City Tacos has won Best Taco accolades from Ranch & Coast magazine’s restaurant survey of its readers for three years in a row beginning in 2020. City Tacos also won Best Cheap Eats – Critic’s Pick honors from San Diego Magazine’s 2022 Best Restaurants list. It also took home Best Taco – Runner-Up from the readers of the publication.

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