Boca Del Rio

Boca Del Rio, not Del Boca Vista. Del Boca vista was a retirement community in Florida where Jerry’s parents lived in the sitcom Seinfield.



I don’t know why I kept refering to this place as Del Boca Vista but I had been. I made my friend Gloria tag along with me on this long journey out of Los Angeles into the San Gabriel Valley and the whole time I told her I was taking her to a restaurant called Del Boca Vista.

But as we got to the address it was Boca Del Rio. “this is the restaurant pendejo!? we came all the way for this?” she said.

Point taken. I promised dinner at a restaurant and here we were at a run down taco shack in La Puente that looked like it hadn’t been remodeled since the 80’s.

The City’s name "La Puente" means the bridge in old Spanish and refers to an early bridge built across the San Jose Creek by members of the Portola-Serra expedition in 1769, as they surveyed the region for Spain. (I used the google to cut and paste that from the internets)

The tacos at boca del rio are loaded.Too loaded actually. Two corn tortillas packed with meat, guacamole, sour cream, jack cheese, and a squirt of salsa roja.I ordered the trifecta, carne asada, carnitas and al pastor. Gloria had a carne asada burrito.



I’m partial to the simple authentic street taco(meat, onions, cilantro, salsa) so it takes alot for a non-traditional taco to win me over. But I like when a taco shack adds it’s unique take on the taco and Boca del rio succeeds in doing that.

But I couldn’t eat this kind of taco all the time. They are just too heavy. The sour cream, guacamole and cheese dominates the taco. There were bites where all i got was cheese, cream and guacamole and I had to make use of the fork because structurally the taco didn’t hold up.

Overall these were good but Gloria’s burrito made me jealous. I could smell the fresh refried beans and the jack cheese melted together, the meat bursting out and the sour cream and salsa dripping down the side of the flour tortilla.

She enjoyed it as well and I was off the hook.

“I’m not mad anymore taco boy, this is gooood”



Boca Del Rio
1163 N Hacienda Blvd
La Puente, CA 91744
tacos $1.60

Tacos El Unico

The first thing you notice at Tacos El Unico is the bulletproof glass seperating you from the cashier and the kitchen.The second thing is the armed security guard next to the salsa bar.

The University of Southern California is down the street but you’re more likely to find a travelling band of winos than you are to run into any college students at this taqueria.

I ordered carne asada and al pastor and a tamarindo. The agua fresca machine was on the outside of the glass which meant you could refill your tamarindo as often as you like. I did an experiment to see if because of the barricade I would become greedy. I did. I drank down my tamarindo right away and refilled it even though I would normally not do so and i took 5 salsa rojas! hah!

The taquero saw me become greedy with the salsa. I wanted to say to him ”from the looks of this barricade I see that me taking five salsas is the least of your worries” But I saw his grin when I took the extra salsas “do you think this barricade is up here to protect me ? no! it’s to protect you from me...I am a prized taquero...that is why we have a security guard and this glass.It is to protect me from an adoring public.Take all the extra salsas and tamarindos you want taco bandini..it is a small price to pay for my safety.”

I had the choice of eating my tacos inside with winos or outside with the birds. I chose the birds.



As for the tacos, the carne asada was surprisngly good, very lime fused and soft. The al pastor a little dry but passable. Both tacos pushed over the top by the excellent spicy salsa roja.

The birds were pesky though. I threw some corn tortilla to each bird and then another bird showed up. Pretty soon I had about 10 birds around me. I didn’t want to lose them so I kept feeding them bits of tortilla.Pretty soon I had 20 birds, then 30 birds, then so many birds I lost count.

But I fell in love with the birds, I needed them and they needed me too. They quickly annointed me "bird grand chancellor of tacos el unico". It was a unanimous vote except for one dissenting vote to which I quickly designated him an enemy combatent to the bandini throne and he was denied all tortilla rations.

I was such a popular leader that other birds from other provinces came to honor me. I was a man of the birds and it was a triumphant time. My popularity was at an all time high and my birds chirped with nationalistic pride. But it was all a fraud ,my government was built on shaky ground and I had run low on chip rations.

My electorate became unruly, they demanded too much of the Grand Chancellor..they fought over the corn chips, there were whispers of a revolt, that the Grand Chancelor was running out of tortilla rations.

It soon became a reality that I could not feed all my birds,that they would overthrow me. I became tyranical, feeding my favorite and most loyal birds while shunning the rest of my population. But I was only buying time. I had to use extreme measures and extreme measures I did.

With my extra cups of salsa roja and the remaining chips I began feeding my birds corn chips dipped in the spicy salsa . It was a frantic scene as one by one the bird populaton lined up for their corn chip ration and one by one they flew away in horror and anguish.

Before I knew it all my birds were gone and my kingdom had fallen. The grand experiment had ended.

my birds had flown away,betrayed and unforgiving.

(and with a slight case of heartburn)



2524 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90007
tacos $1.25

El Ranchito

It was just after 6pm when I headed east out of the maddening streets of downtown LA into the belly of East Los Angeles. With the remaining sunlight smeared across the western sky, and the traffic jam in my rear view mirror, my stomach rumbled in anticipation of the upcoming taco feast.

I barrelled through the LA basin back to the taco town that has yet to let me down- El Sereno. El Sereno, the land of a thousand tacos, where only the finest taqueros set up their taco enterprise. The taco dictators would never dream of building a Baja Fresh or Chipotle in El Sereno.It would crumble under it’s own hubris. Not accepted it would be laughed out of the city, forever scorned.

I knew I was going to have good tacos when I pulled up to El Ranchito.A lousy taco truck can’t last in this town. But I wasn’t sure what to order. That’s until a nice gordita in front of me ordered 4 carnitas tacos to go.One rule when taco hunting- trust the locals.

“Well,you like the carnitas eh” I say.

“Oh yes hehehe!” “with the hot sauce!”

“I better listen to you then, you are the expert”

“hahaha yes!”

I make eye contact with the taquero ,“ un taco carnitas y un al pastor, con todo por favor.”

”don’t forget the hot sauce! give him the hot sauce!” my gordita friend squeals.

“si taquero...the hottest you have, I want to cry while I eat your tacos”



My tacos came with onions ,cilantro and a firey red salsa roja. The roja was king taco-ish except not as thick. The roja was spicy but It didn’t overwhelm me. But maybe after all my taco eating my tongue has become immune to the hot stuff. But the carnitas was outstanding - the soft delicate pork was not your standard shredded carnitas. It was so juicy, had so much flavor. The best carnitas I’ve had so far? perhaps. The al pastor,strikelingly similiar to the shredded saucy pork found at La Estrella was just as pleasing. But the carnitas wins the heart.


carnitas!!

In ode to the taquero I made a gesture to my lips pronouncing my love for his tacos and ordered two more de carnitas. This time I asked for a jalapeno,a subtle way of telling the taquero that his salsa did not intimidate this gabacho.

He smiled in acknowledgement and placed a juicy plump jalapeno on top of my carnitas tacos.

for carnitas

El Ranchito Huntingon Dr, El Sereno. tacos $1

Valentino's

In theory any vehicle can be transformed into a taco wagon. Take this van for example. Somone was really desperate to get into the taco game to convert this hoopty into a mobile taco enterprise.

Now for a truck to be legit it must have a workable sink with cold and hot water as well as potable water tanks.I doubt this has either, quite the bandito. But still, we should salute all those who attempt to turn their vehicles into taco wagons no matter how bootleg they may end up looking.

This van parks in front of a small market by the same name which is in the same parking lot as Smart & Final on Lincoln Blvd.The good thing is the market sells lots of mexican produce, has a carniceria and sells bottles of mexican coke. The bad news is every poser thinks it’s cool to cruise through the parking lot bumping his horrendous music at maximum decibels.



I ordered al pastor and carne asada. Each taco came on a single corn tortilla. Neither taco was particularly good but I just didn’t expect them to be. The asada was dry and flavorless, the al pastor consisted of overcooked bits of flavorless pork -no caramelized onions or any resemblance of real al pastor. The salsa roja was too mild and the avocado sauce too subtle to make up for the lack of flavor in the meat.

But taco journalism isn’t always about finding the best tacos. It’s about reporting on the taco scene, the good, the bad ,and the ugly.



Valentino's is at 604 Lincoln Blvd, Venice . tacos $1

Qué Ricos

If it’s friday night and you find yourself at Qué Ricos on Vermont and Melrose there is a chance you will run into the cholo, the caballero, the punk, the transient, the transvestite, the tweaker, the drunk. It’s a melting pot of debauchery at this 24 hr taqueria. Like syrup on an anthill it thrives, attracting all who want a cheap taco and a brief glimpse into LA’s underbelly.

But it wasn’t friday night. It was thursday afternoon and I had the place all to myself, aside from some crazy mister sitting at a corner table talking to his burrito. Or was the burrito talking to him?

I ordered three tacos -asada, al pastor, and birria but I got cabeza, birria and carnitas.No big deal, I’m a taco hunter. You want me to eat cabeza? You got it taquero. I take this challenge in stride. In fact I wanted cabeza and carnitas anyway! I knew you would change my order so I purposely ordered carne asada and al pastor when I really wanted cabeza and carnitas! hah! taquero you are one step behind the taco hunter.



Oh I wish these tacos would have been grand. Then I could have told my taquero "amigo you surpised me today, how did you know I wanted the cabeza?" Or maybe years later we would reminisce "taquero remember the time I ordered asada and al pastor but you gave me cabeza and carnitas?"

"Oh yes," he would say, "I did not even look at your ticket, I looked into your eyes and I knew what you wanted."


cabeza taco

But taquero in your haste to give me my tacos you left them in a pool of hot oil on the plate. So hot and greasy I had to use a fork to eat the meat off the tacos. Taquero, the carnitas was drenched in oil, the cabeza waxy, and the birria too oily and fatty to enjoy.

I am sad that it came to this really but from now on I must insist that my order be made as requested .No more mind reading taquero.



712 N. Vermont Avenue Open 24/7 Tacos $1 each

Tacos El Paisa

Whenever I’m feeling tense I go out for tacos,sometimes to my local taco truck, sometimes I just drive, turn on the car stereo and go. It’s a stress reliever for me for some reason. Maybe because I forget about the love, the bills, the job and I enter some mythic taco wonderland.

But for whatever reason when I’m at the taco truck with a plate of tacos and a cold mexican coke the world just stops. This ritual of taco eating becomes at that moment more powerful than anything else. I’ve never practiced yoga but I’m sure it feels alot like eating a taco on the side of the road with the sun in your face.

I love east LA. The way the cities roll into each other seperated by the way the land slopes down or upward or the change in architecture. South Pasadena rolls into the suburbs of alhambra, alhambra tumbles into el sereno, el sereno into lincoln heights. Each neighborhood having it’s own identity.

On the east side the taco trucks become an extension of this identity.The generators roar like lions, meats grill next to chiles and onions and the air fills with smoke .It’s a cookout where everyone is invited, where a few bucks gets you a plate of tacos and a ice cold horchata and most importantly a slice of the taco lifestyle.

Driving east on Hungtington Dr I noticed a truck parked along the southern curb. The truck was halfway up the curb with the generator going strong and a row of chairs parallel to the truck. A couple of thugs hovered around like something big was about to happen. I’m still young enough that I like to see a good fight now and then but nothing happened aside from pushing and shoving.

What happened seemed pathetic at first. This one dude...we’ll call him flaco...he was upset at one of the thugs but they outnumbered the flaco 2 to 1 so the flaco left.Flaco had a really crazed look in his eye and for a moment I got nervous that the flaco would come back with friends or something worse , that some taco truck ultra violence was about to go down.

carne asada and al pastor

But everything calmed down and everyone got back to eating their tacos.

“Just like tijuana” said one of the thugs.

I nodded back in agreement.The greasy charred bits of asada and guacamole reminded me of tacos I’ve had in Tijuana and Rosarito. The kind you get from many of the corner taco stands when you need something greasy to soak up the alchoholic haze.

After eating my tacos I pulled onto Huntingon Dr heading west and what did I see? hah pinche flaco going back to the taco truck with two friends.

They were too late though. The thugs left before I did.

tacos El Paisa is at huntington dr and Poplar blvd, Alhambra. tacos $1

Tacos Jeesy's

There’s a great article in the October issue of Los Angeles Magazine about the trials and tribulations of the taco truck business. The article focuses on one man and his entrepreneurial spirit to start his taco truck operation. The man’s name is Jesús and his truck is a family affair. The truck’s name is tacos Jeesy’s.
Jesús originally planned to name the truck Tacos Jessy’s but the artist he hired to paint the mural made a boo boo. No biggie said Jesús, tacos jeesy’s will do.

It was a cool thursday evening when I went looking for tacos jeesy’s and about 6pm when I hit the slow grind of rush hour traffic through the festive streets of Cesar E Chavez blvd. I passed the famed La Parilla,cincos puntos, al pastor carts and an armada of taco trucks and wagons. But my goal was tacos jessy's and as traffic opened up I roared past the Evergreen Cemetary with anticipation and an empty belly.

The taco truck landscape continued to reveal itself. Taco trucks at almost every corner, down side streets, one even parked in the driveway of someones home. The taco culture thrives here where taco loyalties run deep. If you’re caught eating at a rival taco truck you’re local taquero will know about it.

Coming down the hill another taco truck came into view and I got the feeling this could be it. That feeling was confirmed when I saw the Legand of Volcanoes mural described in the LA magazine article and the name tacos jessy's.

As I walked up to the taco window several empty chairs were set along a sleek aluminum counter.An ice compartment of mexican sodas as well as a large glass jug of horchata was visible. I ordered suadero, asada and al pastor and an horchata.


The al pastor cut from the vertical spit sizzled on the grill next to corn tortillas and stacks of carnes braising in a hupcap like cylinder grill. I watched as my tacos were topped with onions, cilantro and a ruby red salsa roja.



I dug in to the al pastor, the succulent strips of charred pork were deliciously spiced and the flavorful salsa kicked in to provide that extra punch. It was everything you'd expect from great al pastor,it quenched the taco craving, pacified an empty belly.


pastor, suadero , asada

Next up was the carne asada. The braised asada came lean and mean with a beefy aftertaste. The quintessential LA taco, a perfect balance of greasy beef and spicy salsa. The bold flavors of the salsa roja were prominent ,the spicyness slowly building with every bite until it started to hum on my lips.


al pastor

But it was the suadero that made me close my eyes and thank the taco Gods. The soft and silky texture of the rib meat melted on my tongue, the taste explosion filled up my cheeks and I stopped to ponder...have I ever had a taco as tender as this?


carne asada

These tacos were excellent and I encourage everyone to pick up the October issue of Los Angeles magazine. The article is very insightful and I must give props to it’s author Jesse Katz for being on top of everything from the new anti-taco truck ordinance to the importance of the taco truck culture in Los Angeles.

As Katz so poignantly opined “ Tacos are not just fast and cheap. They are urgent and primal, the perfect trinity of flesh, starch, and spice. In one form or another people have been eating like this forever. The taco truck is LA’s campfire”



tacos jessy's is at Cesar E Chavez blvd and S Carmelita Ave in East LA. Tacos $1 each

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