If you live in South Philly around Front and Dickinson streets, you may often wonder why there are occasionally long lines of people wrapped around your block.

Well, the mystery is solved. Mi Pueblito is a food truck that often sets up shop there, serving up some delicious authentic burritos, tacos, and their most popular dish: birria tacos.

Their recipe is rooted in Rosalinda De Los Santos’ family, who immigrated from Jalisco, Mexico, to Philadelphia over 30 years ago.

“My parents started bringing the recipes like pozoles and al pastor tacos over here,” De Los Santos said in a recent interview with AL DIA News. 

With family and culture in mind, Rosalinda’s parents purchased a food truck and turned a small family business into a cultural lesson for Philly locals.

“Everyone in our family works in the truck,” said De Los Santos. 

Her mother and grandmother were the first to bring up birria tacos as a way to highlight the importance of their culture and authenticity using a dish that was born in their state’s capital of Guadalajara.

“At first, the birria tacos did not sell much,” said De Los Santos.

That was three years ago. But as birria tacos rose in popularity on social media platforms like Instagram, her family brought the delicious tacos back on the menu.

“Now they are very popular, a lot of people stop by and order a lot of platters,” she said.

Birria tacos are far more different in flavor, texture, and taste than your ordinary tacos.

“My mother and grandmother wake up very early and start the cooking process,” said De Los Santos.

Her grandmother starts by cooking the beef, which takes up to five hours to finish. The flavorful consomme sauce is then also cooked for hours on end to give it that deep red look.

The family uses two fried corn tortillas that are filled with either meat or cheese. They then add onions and cilantro before lightly soaking the taco in the consomme sauce. The dipped taco is then served with a cup of the consomme on the side for dipping.

“The cheese tacos are the quesabirria tacos, which are also popular,” said De Los Santos.

The handcrafted tacos are made the traditional Jalisco way.

“I know that a lot of people are doing it now, but most of them are from Puebla, Tijuana, but ours are traditionally Jalisco style, where the dish was made,” she said.

The family recently changed their food truck’s location from Fishtown to Pennsport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When the pandemic started, we had some customers stop by, but it wasn't the same as before, so we moved to our new location in South Philly,” said De Los Santos.

Ever since their spot became a part of the South Philly food scene, business has been booming. 

Her family is now searching for a modest storefront to keep the cooking going and expand.

“Hopefully we can find something soon because we want to add more to our menu, but we need the space for it first,” said De Los Santos.

Mi Pueblito Tacos is open Saturday through Sunday, 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. Despite the limited hours, customers continue to flock to Front and Dickson Street for the Jalisco staple.