El Matador

Los Angeles is a taco town. New York and Chicago may quarrel over who has the better hot dogs and San Francisco may have the mission style burrito but when it comes to tacos Los Angeles has no equal. There are sunny days year round in Los Angeles which allow this taco environment to thrive and when the sun goes down it's never too cold to enjoy a plate of tacos at a taco truck or outdoor cart.

Which brings us to El Matador, a taco truck on Western and Lexington Ave in East Hollywood. This taco truck has been on my radar for quite some time and I was eager to test the asada and al pastor. After a cumbersome drive up western blvd during rush hour(seriously took me 45 minutes to go 2 miles) the truck came into view just before the 101 freeway parked on the property of an auto shop.


A no frills menu of tacos, burritos and tortas as well as your choice of meat keeps things quite simple when ordering. I almost went completely off the deep end to order a burrito de sesos(cow brains) but I caught myself just in time to order two asada tacos and one al pastor. My tacos came with onions, cilantro and a delicious spicy salsa roja. The salsa had alot of kick to it but also alot of flavor with a hint of grilled habanero pepper.



As far as the tacos the al pastor was a real winner. With a saucy blend of grilled onions and spiced pork combined with the salsa there was alot of flavor here. The asada wasn't far behind with charred beef with the right balance of moistness and crunch. No bits of fat on either taco could be found which is a testament to the cooks. These guys really know how to prepare their meats.


charred fine cuts of carne asada with a delicious salsa roja

I was tempted to order some more tacos but a line started to form and I decided my taco business was done here. I'll be coming back here again and again for the al pastor, charred beef and salsa roja but next time I'll wait for the traffic to subside.



1174 N Western Ave in East Hollywood. Nightly after 7pm. Tacos are $1 each

Where the trucks have no name

I had an hour for lunch and decided to grab some tacos in Lincoln Heights. Lincoln Heights is a small community just east of downtown LA and by all accounts quite a taco haven.

Heading east on Hill St I turned on the radio to hear Steve Jones from indie 103.1 singing some song about him being a fat sod and not getting any birds. I must have been distracted by the fat sod on the radio cuz the next thing I know I'm on the 110 north heading through the tunnel towards highland park.

It turns out that Hill St runs straight into the 110. Before this taco hunt I would rarely venture east of downtown for lunch and would usually stick to downtown eateries. I've come to realize that the downtown freeway on and off ramp design is FUBAR.

So there was a change of plans and with time being a factor I decided to pull off the freeway in highland park and stop at the first taco truck I saw.


Driving west on figueroa it didn't take long for a taco truck to come into view. I noticed a taco truck pulled up in front of a Foods for Less market at figueroa and 51st st.


As I walked up to the taco truck I noticed that the truck didn't have a name. I know it's bad luck to not name a boat but I'm not sure if the same rule applies to taco trucks. I dont think it should but if I had a taco truck I'd give it a name.

"your taco truck doesn't have a name" I said to the girl at the window.

"oh hehehehehe" she giggled

I was going to suggest a name. Perhaps Bandini's tacos but instead I ordered 3 asada tacos con todo and popped open a lime jarritos.



My tacos came on two large sized corn tortillas with a tomatillo and chile arbol salsa. I'm more of a fan of a classic taqueria red salsa but this salsa was pretty good. It didn't have any kick to it but it had some interesting flavors that went good with the beef.

As far as the asada It was stewed beef and quite tender. It was different from pretty much every asada taco I've had on this taco hunt in that it wasn't grilled or broiled and had a soupy texture to it. I enjoyed it but I wasn't overwhelmed. I'm hard to please tho and I'm stubborn when it comes to a great taco. I like a taco and a hot sauce to make me sweat a little.

I think I will make it a goal of mine to try every taco truck in Highland park before spring. Like a taco conquistador I will march through this interesting taco town and devour their tacos and make love to their women.

ok maybe not the make love part but i'm gonna eat alot of tacos.



unamed taco truck at figueroa and 51st st. tacos $1 each

Garcia Bros

While the valley and east side of Los Angeles have endless amounts of taco trucks this phenomenon has yet to hit the westside. I can probably count the amount of westside taco trucks on two hands and when the sun goes down half of them go home as well.

Garcia Bros is a truck on the westside that only comes out at night. Parked in front of an auto shop at La Cienaga and Venice this taco truck serves up a large menu of mexican fare with clayudas, quesadillas, tortas, memelitas and something called guarache to go along with the tacos and burritos.

I ordered dos tacos de asada, un de chorizo y dos de al pastor. Each taco comes with chopped onions,cilantro and salsa verde. The salsa verde is really special. It's jalapeno based and I could taste hints of avocado in it. I suggest having a cold beverage handy because it packs quite a wallop.


The finely chopped juicy bits of asada blend well with the strong presence of the salsa and between the juicy tenderness of the beef and the aroma of the salsa verde there was a lot of flavor here to enjoy.

The chorizo was good but after having the chorizo tacos at Tacos Por Favor I dont think I can ever look at chorizo tacos the same way again. The bar has been raised to where I doubt it will ever be challenged.



As far as the al pastor this was the winner of the night. The strong pungent flavor of the seared chunks of pork blended just right with the salsa and soft grilled corn tortillas . I got a little over-indulgent with the salsa verde and had to buy another bottle of water to cool myself down but it was worth it. These were good tacos.

If you're ever stuck in rush hour traffic on venice blvd I suggest taking a moment of serenity to pull over and enjoy a plate of tacos and a cold beverage. I even suggest going out of your way to eat at this taco truck. It's probably the best on the westside.



Garcia Bros are on the NW corner of venice blvd and la cienega 6pm - N/A. Tacos are $1.25 each

Rate Garcia Bros

Rincon Taurino

The San Fernando valley is a frontier for taco establishments. From the carnitas michoacan huts to the trucks with blinking taco signs there is a abundance of taco destinations to choose from. But I didn't come for the carnitas michoacan this day nor was I on a hunt for a hidden taco truck in any back alley. I was on the hunt for a bull in the region. Rincon Taurino to be specific.

As you can tell from the name and the photos Rincon Taurino is another taqueria with a bullfighting theme. I was eager to test my theory that any taqueria with a bulls head mounted on the wall must have delicious tacos so I headed out to Panorama City.


The girl at the counter didn't speak english so I pretended I didn't speak english either and ordered in spanish. Dos tacos de asada y un de pastor para aqui. After a brief staring contest with the bull head (the bull won) my tacos were ready.


"hey gringo...you better like my tacos"

Looking for a place to sit I was surprised by how expansive the seating area was. Rows of booths with vinyl seats, stools propped up against wooden counters and several tables outside. They are open til 3am on the weekends so all this seating probably comes in handy for the late night club crowd looking for that taco fix.



I bit into the al pastor first. Tender seasoned pork with a crunchy glaze. In a word, fantastic. Some of the best al pastor I've had. The salsa roja was a perfect compliment to this salty pork that i'm already starting to crave again.

The asada was equally impressive with heavily seasoned braised beef on top of tortillas seared with the taste of the grill. The salsa roja at Rincon Taurino has a real distinctive flavor and alot of kick that goes well with the fine cuts of savory beef.

So once again I've looked into the eye of the bull and have yet to be disapointed. The theory of the bull may have some truth to it.

One of these days I want to dress up as a matador and walk into one of these places.I would walk in and claim to be a real matador and offer to sign autographs only after I was brought a plate full of tacos and a rice horchata.

On second thought I'll just stick to eating tacos.



Rincon Taurino is at 8708 Van Nuys Blvd, Panorama City. Tacos are $1.15 each

Tacos Por Favor

After making my yearly donation to the city of Las Vegas and having not had any tacos in over a week I needed to return to farmiliar territory. Now, I've grown up on the Westside but I've been everywhere man just like Johnny Cash. Everywhere in LA that is. But I've never had a taco with so much to offer to the palate than the chorizo and cheese tacos at Tacos Por Favor. From the al pastor carts in the barrios of east la to the taco trucks of highland park you may think you've tasted it all but unless you've had a chorizo and cheese taco from Tacos Por favor you havn't come close to taco utopia my friends.



sizzled chorizo and gooey cheese

On the outside Tacos Por Favor doesn't look like much but once inside it's quite a laid back taqueria. Two dining areas with wooden tables and chairs as well as a salsa bar with a marinated carrots, a pico de gallo, salsa verde and a salsa roja that rivals King Taco for heat factor.

On the weekdays the lunch crowd can get pretty busy from the local business crowd and college students but on saturdays it's a pretty chilled out atmosphere with patrons in flip flops reading LA weekly mags and waiting for their fresh made to order mexican food. I usually go on a saturday and order 4 chorizo and cheese tacos as well as a pint of their deliciously flaming hot salsa roja. The salsa keeps about a week and I use it to spoon on carne asada I grill at home.

As far as the chorizo and cheese tacos at Tacos Por Favor dont get crazy with the salsa roja. There is so much flavor already in the taco that I've found that only a drizzle of salsa is needed to complete the taco.

Just have a cold beverage handy and sit back and enjoy the taste explosion.


Tacos Por Favor is at 1406 Olympic Blvd in Santa Monica. Tacos are $1.80 each. Mon-Sat 8am to 8pm closed Sundays

Rigo's Tacos

After a few days without any tacos I was back in the saddle and decided to check out Rigo's Tacos on Washington and Arlington. Having been to Rigo's once before I wanted to try something other than carne asada. I recall the asada being above average but since it was before this taco hunt I will just stick to what I ordered this time around.

Rigo's has asada, al pastor, carnitas, lengua, and cabeza to choose from. I ordered two al pastor tacos and one carnitas taco. My tacos came with some fresh tortilla chips with a dollop of refried beans on top of them. It's a nice touch and the hot tasty refried beans prepared my palate for the tacos.

One of the good things about Rigo's is their salsa bar. It is a circular bar in the middle of the resteraunt with several different salsas as well as limes, marinated carrots,jalapenos, and sliced cucumbers. If you like a mild salsa I suggest the salsa verde. It's a tomatillo and jalapeno salsa that wont make you sweat or reach for that cold beverage. But if you are like your humble taco correspodent and like to sweat it out go with the roja. It's worth it.

And that's what I did. I doused my tacos with salsa roja and dug in. First up was the al pastor. The tortillas and salsa roja were just right completing 2/3 of the the taco triangle. But something was not right and although it took eating a whole taco to realize it I noticed that the al pastor was mostly fatty bits and very little edible pork. The sheer power of the perfectly grilled and oiled tortillas and aromatic and spicy salsa roja hid this defect in the first taco. The second al pastor taco didn't go down as well and I started to finger aside fatty bits until I was left with just salsa, tortillas, and a few slices of pork.


Ultimately dissapointed in the al pastor I eyed my carnitas taco. There was no worry of getting a gob full of meat fat but as I bit into the taco the only thing that saved the dryness of the carnitas was the salsa roja. While I did enjoy the carnitas more than the al pastor the truth is both tacos were saved by a good foundation of corn tortillas and salsa and in the end I can't say that either were good tacos.

I didn't come away entirely dissapointed however. The salsa roja and the corn tortillas as well as the refried beans on top of tortilla chips left a good impression. If I can find a meat at Rigos I can enjoy I'll chalk this up as a taqueria to visit more often.

It could have been a bad day for carnitas or I could have gotten a bad cut of al pastor.Ordinarly I wouldn't make excuses for a taqueria but the salsa roja has seduced me into giving this one a second chance.


Rigos Tacos is at 2512 Washington Blvd. Tacos are $1.25 each