Todo Pa’ La Cruda Is Bringing Acapulco Specialties to the Former Salud Taco Space

A family-run Mexican restaurant in Grant Hill is opening a second outpost on Logan Avenue in the space that housed Salud Tacos until the popular taqueria’s abrupt shutter in June. Todo Pa’ La Cruda is owned by Elizabeth Ruiz, whose family moved from Acapulco to San Diego in the early 1990s. Ruiz opened her original restaurant on Imperial Avenue in 2020, keeping it open through the pandemic to the delight of her neighbors — many hailing from the state of Guerrero — who were happy to find much-missed products like Yoli, a lemon-lime soda made in the southwest region of Mexico.

Ruiz, who is also a real estate agent, says that she had long admired the Barrio Logan corner spot while passing by on the way to the nearby Restaurant Depot, Telling Eater that her bid was one of many for the coveted space, she has secured a five-year lease and is planning to open the new Todo Pa’ La Cruda within the next week or so. Besides the addition of some homey touches, the interior — including the custom murals — remains the same.

Her mother, Doña Antonia, used to cook for celebrities and dignitaries in Mexico and still trains the restaurant’s chefs on her recipes. With a name that translates to “everything for the hangover”, Todo Pa’ La Cruda’s all-day menu includes restorative dishes like menudo, caldo de mariscos, and pozole verde made from scratch but extends to mole chilaquiles, shrimp aguachile, and plates of birra along with tacos and burritos.