Nestled between Elote and another store (that I believe sells candy) inside the Old Town Urban Market, Ruth's No. 5 is a chips and salsa shop that has apparently made rounds across many farmers markets around town. After great success, the owner decided to open up a physical storefront earlier this year. Amazing!
Being a tourist to San Diego (especially Old Town), I was eager to try local food! I realized I had passed by Ruth's No. 5 while I was on my way to Tuetano Taqueria. However, I was unaware of Ruth's No. 5's offerings at the time, but one of my greatest regrets during my trip was not buying any salsa on my first day in SD. (But that's another story for another time.)
On the penultimate day of my trip, I finally stopped by Ruth's No. 5 to see what they're all about. The gentleman manning the store was very friendly and greeted me as I entered. He also told me I could sample any of the salsas.
The shop offers a variety of fresh-made, small-batch salsa, which include:
- Roasted salsa verde
- Salsa roja
- Spicy pineapple
- Mango
- Spicy roasted roja
- Salsa verde
- Habanero
In addition, they vend two types of homemade tortilla chips: regular and chipotle, which has a bit of a kick if you're not into spicy.
I ended up buying the roasted salsa verde with chipotle chips, and the store associate was kind enough to give me a caveat the latter was spicy. He also told me his wife makes the salsas with fresh ingredients and no preservatives, so it's best to consume the product within a week. I told him I'd probably eat it all within a day.
When I got back to my hotel, I was so excited to try these chips and salsa! The salsa definitely smelled fresh as I opened the container. Its flavor was tangy with notes of roasted peppers, and it had great texture from the onions. The chips had a great crunch with a smoky flavor present, but I couldn't really discern the spiciness (my love of hot sauce has probably burned off some of my taste buds).
The next morning, I had a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, and the salsa complemented it beautifully, adding much-needed acidity to balance out the fattiness of the croissant. And I definitely stayed true to my word of eating up the salsa in a day! The chips ended up lasting me a while (about a week afterward), so I recommend buying two or three containers of salsa if you wanna use up all the chips. The only reason I'm not giving five stars is because the salsas are a bit pricey compared to the grocery store, but it's artisan salsa made with love... so one may argue you can't really put a price on that!
Regardless, I'm going to be back in SD soon, and I look forward to stopping by and trying their other products. :D read more