Chanos

greetings taco lovers!

I've been under the weather lately and my taco adventure took a backseat to thai lemongrass soup and halls mentho-lyptus. But I'm re-energized and back in the saddle again and on the taco trail to find the next great taco.

So I was in the mood for some carne asada and acting on a tip I recieved via email I headed to Chanos on Figueroa near downtown LA. Chanos is a place I've driven by often but have never stopped to check out. It's a local hangout for USC students and has a reputation for good quick mexican food. They also have burgers and pastrami on the menu but I came for the asada tacos.



My tacos came with juicy strips of seasoned skirt steak, pico de gallo and a light guacamole salsa on top of a two large corn tortillas. On the side I had cups of salsa roja which I liberally spread over the tacos.



The juicy steak and the light guacamole salsa were the perfect compliment to the spicy salsa roja. The salsa roja had alot of kick to it and made me reach for that cold beverage more than once. Although these tacos were $1.50 each they were big tacos and came with a lot of fixings and were well worth the price.

There is an addictive quality to these tacos. I'm not sure if it's the charred strips of asada or the spicy salsa roja but there is some magic going on between the soft corn tortillas.

If you're ever in the area and in the mood for carne asada tacos I highly reccomend Chanos. If you're too lazy to get out of your car they even have a drive thru.



Chanos is at 3000 S Figueroa 90007 , Tacos $1.50 each

Rudy's Tacos

hey taco lovers

I just got back from Rudy's Tacos in Culver city and I think I've found my new favorite taco truck.

It's hard to see from the main blvd but if you're looking close enough you'll see the flood lights shining down on this taco truck at Venice and Melvil(one block east of Cataraggus). They come out nightly at 5:30pm and stay open til 1am. Weekends they stay open until 2am.

I couldn't get a photo of the actual truck because of the amount of people hanging out in front of it but the actual truck wasn't much to look at anyways. It's what inside that counts and these guys really know how to prepare tacos. They specialize in tacos and in fact tacos is all they sell. Tacos de lengua, asada, suadero, pastor, carnitas, cabeza, sesos. They do it all.

I ordered asada and al pastor. The asada was finely cut with a spicy salsa roja on top of warm fresh tortillas and the al pastor was juicy and covered with carmalized onions. The salsa roja and the sauce from the al pastor blended together to make an incredibly tasty sauce.



There is something special about a truck that only sells tacos. There's also something special about a taco truck that lets you eat your tacos before you pay. These guys are so confident in their product that they know after eating a couple of their tacos you will want more. Which I did.

I've been waiting to "dos mas" since I started this taco hunt. I finished my last taco, nodded to the cook in approval and said "dos mas por favor" to which the cook replied "de que amigo?"

"de pastor con todo"



Rudy's Tacos is at Venice Blvd and Melvil, Culver City. Tacos are $1.15 each

Tacos Junior

Some days I wake up and I can tell if it's a taco day or not. Today wasn't one of those days and I wasn't counting on eating any tacos but driving down Venice blvd I noticed the yellow Tacos Junior truck. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to scratch another westside taco destination off my list so I pulled over.

Tacos Junior is a taco truck at Venice Blvd and Sepulveda that parks nightly at 6pm in front of an appliance store. It's closest competition is Tacos Chatos which is west of Sawtelle on Venice Blvd. Both Tacos Chatos and Tacos Junior allied together to defeat their arch enemy Taco Bell which is now in rubble.


taco bell is being turned into a dickies store


Tacos Junior has your usual suspects of meats: al pastor, carnitas, lengua, cabeza, asada. They were out of al pastor so I ordered two carnitas tacos and one asada taco.


look closely...I think that's baby Jesus on one of my radishes

The carnitas was crunchy with thick cuts of pork. Not usually how I like carnitas. I prefer a more juicy shredded approach but these tacos were pretty good and the salsa roja added some juice and kicked up flavor to the taco.

The asada was far too salty and I could barely get through the taco. It was only out of fortitude that I was able to eventually finish the taco and not even a lime jarritos could wash away the salty after taste.

The verdict? well I'd order the carnitas again and maybe even the asada to see if the saltyness was an anomaly. I'm curious about the al pastor and I'll most likely be trying Tacos Junior again.




Tacos Junior is at Venice Blvd and Sepulveda after 6pm. Tacos are $1 each

Vallarta

Vallarta is a supermarket chain with a latina flavor. You can find pretty much anything at Vallarta that you can at Ralphs but your local Ralphs doesn't have a tortilleria and carnaceria. Not to mention a taqueria that cranks out fresh mexican fare. For the mexican food lover Vallarta has it all. I only wish they would open a store south of mulholland.



I happened to be at the Vallarta in Canoga park stocking up on some essentials and decided to check out the taqueria. Checking the menu I noticed a taco special for only 3.75 that included three tacos of any kind with rice and beans. Quite a bargain and the tacos came with fresh corn tortillas from their tortilleria. I ordered the taco special with carne asada and a couple tamales de res for the road.




The tortillas were soft and fresh and really made the taco. The salsa roja was smokey and the asada lean and tender. Onions and cilantro were missing but I didn't mind, the taste of the fresh corn,the tender beef and the frijoles that settled on my tacos made up for it. These were delicious.

It's amazing the difference fresh corn tortilals can make. The smokey salsa roja wasn't anything special but it didn't have to be. I could have eatin these tacos sans any salsa with just a spread of some fresh frijoles over the meat and they still would have been delicious.

I only wish there was a Vallarta supermarket closer to the westside.

Maybe someday



Vallarta Supermarket locations

LAX Tacos

LAX tacos is a taqueria I've read much about but havn't had a chance to check out. On my way home from LAX airport I decided the time was right and headed down Arbor Vitae in search of this taqueria. I was happy to find a drive thru because I was tired and was going to get my tacos to go anyway.



When I got home I emptied out my bag of tacos on the table, opened a bottle of corona and got started. My tacos came with a bag of pickled carrots and jalapenos which is always a plus. The carrots were finely cut and very nice.

As far as the tacos there were high points and low points. The carnitas was crispy but lacked the juicy flavor I look for with great carnitas. The dryness of the carnitas couldn't be saved by an underwhelming salsa roja. Same goes for the chicken which was boiled and tasteless.

chicken and carnitas tacos

The carne asada was passable but there wasn't alot of flavor to it. The beef was tender but had it's share of gristle and there was nothing that stood out with me that made this anything but average.

carne asada tacos

The fish taco was light and flaky and really good. While the fish wasn't crunchy it still was very pleasurable with a light garlic flavor and at only $1.25 quite a steal.


fish taco

The adobada was also good but really salty. There was alot of flavor and the juices from the pork soaked into the tortilla and made for an enjoyable taco . The pork went well with my corona but I'm not sure if I didn't have the corona to counter the saltyness that I could have handled it.


LAX tacos has recieved alot of hype but I'm not sure why. While some of the tacos were enjoyable I certainly wasn't swept off my feet. I realize that my opinion may be a reaction to the hype and for a taco joint LAX serves it's purpose by cranking out tacos packed with meat at an affordable price. LAX is a respectable taco joint but by no means worth the hype.



LAX tacos is at 543 W Arbor Vitae St, Inglewood. Tacos $1.25