Tacos El Pirata Mayor treats North Broadway to authentic Mexican cuisine

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Buried in the back of El Gallo Market’s parking lot, lies a hidden treasure that doesn’t require a scavenger hunt. 

Inside the white trailer labeled with bright gold letters and a cartoon chef smiling behind his signature goatee, a family serves up five-star flavors in under five minutes. 

Luis Gutierrez owns and operates the Tacos El Pirata Mayor food truck, alongside his wife, Veronica. Together, they serve authentic Mexican food loaded with flavor ready to wow your taste buds.

The quesabirria is a must-try. 

Cheese melted to the ideal viscosity joins forces with beef tenderized to a melt-in-your-mouth consistency. The combination taco-quesadilla comes with a consomé broth made from the juices the meat cooks in. The soup/dipping sauce elevates each bite of mouthwatering beef. Luis cooks it to a well-done temperature and adds three seasonings to the beef. 

The recipe is Luis’ mother’s original. 

Tacos El Pirata Mayor started with Luis catering for family and friends with his mother’s famous recipe in 2017. The reception was so overwhelmingly positive, he started the food truck in 2021. With his mom now passed on, sharing her food is how Luis keeps her spirit alive. 

Tacos El Pirata Mayor offers patrons four main dishes: burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and tortas—Mexican sandwiches. 

Customers can choose from about 10 different meat options. 

For pork options, there’s asada, classic grilled marinated pork; al pastor, thin pork shavings marinated with dried chile peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and pineapples; chorizo, a spicier minced pork ground with paprika, garlic, oregano, and sometimes dried chile; and carnitas, crisp, tenderized pork, shredded or chopped into bite-sized pieces. 

Along with shrimp, which goes by its Spanish name, camarón, customers can also choose cabeza—cow’s head—lengua, its tongue.

The mar y tierra provides another journey to Flavortown. It includes shrimp, asada pork, and cheese.

A keen observer might notice an orange-yellow hue to the tortillas in Tacos El Pirata’s dishes. Luis dips the tortillas in a secret sauce to give each dish even more flavor. 

“It tastes like Mexico,” said his daughter, Ellianna, who helps out when she can. “That’s the best way to explain it.”

The food truck also offers keto tacos, as Luis and Veronica both follow the keto diet. 

Instead of traditional corn or flour, they come in a tortilla made of cheese. 

Along with three salsas—green, red, and yellow in order of increasing spiciness—Tacos El Pirata Mayor offers horchata and Jamaica aguas frescas. 

The meat for Tacos El Pirata Mayor comes from right next door—Mercado y Carniceria la Mia at 112 E. Grant St. Luis proudly displays La Mia’s name, address, and phone number on both sides of the truck for any interested customers. 

Tacos El Pirata Mayor isn’t the only company Luis manages. He also runs his own landscaping business. 

On weekdays, he works from 6 a.m. and stays until 2:30 p.m. before going right to the food truck. That means he works more than 16 hours every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before finally making it to bed around midnight. 

Luis said he wouldn’t run the food truck if he didn’t love it. Feeding people brings him fulfillment, and he puts the same love he has for his mother into every dish he cooks.

Now that the cycle has come full circle for Ellianna and she’s the one serving her family’s recipe alongside her parents, she said she’s proud to carry on the tradition. 

Along with asada burritos, she recommended the torta ahogadas—the famous dish of her parents’ hometown in Mexico’s Guadalajara, Jalisco. Ellianna said the torta ahogadas are only made on Sundays and include carnitas, beans, and a chile sauce. 

She said the love her father puts into his food gives it a quality nobody else can match. 

“It’s something new, something fresh, and something you’ll absolutely love,” Ellianna said. “You’ll regret it if you don’t come.”

Reach Staff Writer Reece Coren at rcoren@santamariasun.com.

This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 6, 2025.