La Estrella - Boyle Heights

There are tacos and then there are tacos for which you will violate all social etiquette by scooping up salsa drenched meat and onion droppings with your fingers to get every last morsel of flavor off of your plate.



That's what kind of tacos you'll find at La Estrella off the 60 freeway on Soto st. The La Estrella name goes a long way when it comes to the LA taco scene. La Estrella has built a reputation from Pasadena to Highland Park for delicious small tacos that pack a punch. That's why when my plate of tacos were ready and I saw the mini-burrito style tacos I realized that this La Estrella may not be part of the La Estrella chain . These tacos are larger , the salsa is a little more subtle(not the shot of spice you'll find at the other La Estrellas) and the price is a wallet pleasing $1.25 per taco.


al pastor


carne asada

On this day the toasted corn tortillas were not enough to hold all the chunks of tender al pastor and charred bits of carne asada that fell on to my plate but I happily used my fingers to scoop up anything I missed. And with a cold bottle of mexican coke to chase every last bite it was the perfect way to start the weekend.

4/5

Rate La Estrella- Boyle Heights

Eat this! 1,001 things to eat before you diet

Okay Taco Nation I should have another review either today or tomorrow but until then here is an excerpt from Eat this! 1001 things to eat before you diet by Ian Jackman.

Jackman hit up the Roast to Go stand at Grand Central Market in his whirlwind tour of the best eats in the US of A. If you eat all 1001 of these things I reckon you're gonna need more than a diet.

Anyways, I have 5 copies of Eat this! to give away. First 5 people to email me with the answer to this taco trivia get a copy.

What is my favorite beverage to go with tacos?

update: the answer is lime jarritos. congrats to the first 5 that answered correctly

From EAT THIS!: 1,001 Things to Eat Before You Diet by Ian Jackman (Harper, July 2007)

The Grand Central Market is housed in the ground floor of the Homer Laughlin Building, an L.A. antique that’s ancient by local standards. (It was built in 1897.) Across from one entrance is the site of the Angels Flight funicular railway which is currently idle. Angels Flight is the scene of a memorably undignified murder in Michael Connelly’s novel of the same name. If you take a stroll, like Rick and I did, you can also check out the curves on the stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, and swing back down to the market.



The Grand Central Market is noisy, busy, and full of life. It’s packed tight with food stands like El Gaucho, home to Argentine food and ninety-nine-cent empanadas and Sarita’s Pupuseria, specializing in the stuffed tortilla dish, the pupusa, from El Salvador. There are Chinese and Japanese places, a Hawaiian and a Mongolian barbecue stand, Mexican food at Tacos Tumbras a Tomas, Thai food, pizza, kebabs and so on.



Roast to Go has been operating in the market since 1952. The front of the stand is packed with steaming trays of meats for your taco or burrito, many of them tubular and smooth, indicating an intestinal origin. Other specialties are listed as gorditas, tortas, sopes, flautas and tostadas. I had to have a taco—it was on my list—but it hadn’t been even an hour since my massive breakfast at the Original Pantry. There was so much to choose from: roasted pork or beef, chicken, brains, beef cheek, lamb and buche, described as “hog maw,” which is pig’s belly. Meekly, I went for some fried fish.



My Roast to Go fish taco plate was heavily laden, with a substantial slab of battered fried fish and piles of lettuce, onions, tomatoes, hot sauce, cilantro, and queso cotija (salty cheese) resting on top of two corn tacos. I couldn’t eat the whole thing, but it was fresh and good with sharp flavors, and it cost only two dollars. The market seemed full of good deals, like the cheap bananas and other fruit, and more than one stand for dried goods, all manner of chiles, dried shrimp and dried whitebait, and the like. The shopping and the window shopping are good here and the eating is great. At the end of your visit, if you feel like you’ve overdone it with another stop at the taco stand, someone at Jones Grain Mill will check your blood pressure for $1.50.

tacos al pastor in Beijing, China

Tacos El Vaquero

Summertime in LA.

Tacos are good year round but they seem to have an extra bite in them when it's hot out and you have an ice cold beverage in hand.

I was on my way home from Fry's Electronics in Manhattan beach when my stomach started to growl. I had two choices : eat at Chipotle or find a taco stand.

I have no beef with Chipotle. When you are in the mood for a burrito with a gummy tortilla and basmati rice accept no substitute.

But when I need a real taco, I need a real taco and no corporate substitute will do.

It wasn't long until I found Tacos El Vaquero, a taco stand on Inglewood Ave in the city of Inglewood. When I saw the tortillas hecha a mano sign I couldn't resist.

Once inside the taco stand I noticed a steam tray a which looked like tacos al vapor.

"que cocinar?" I asked the taquero

"lengua" he smiled.

"oh, my favorite"

I lied though. Lengua is not my favorite. I'm still trying to acquire a taste for it and a part of me orders lengua just so the taquero will think I'm cool.

"dame un taco de lengua , un asada, y un pastor"



Each taco came on a single corn tortilla hecha a mano. Lengua was soft and a little fatty and was a little slimey going down. Both pastor and asada had that char taste and were excellent.Points off for the empty bowl of onions and cilantro at the salsa bar but other than that these were great tacos.

Tacos are $1.25 each. Mexican coke and jarritos available as well as horchata and aguas frescas. Outdoor patio seating is relaxing and on weekend nights they sell tacos from a taco cart in the parking lot and grill carne asada on their outdoor grill.



Tacos El Vaquero
10020 S Inglewood Ave
Inglewood, CA 90304
(310) 672-0226

Tacos Don Jorge coming to the westside

Tacos Don Jorge, a new westside taqueria at Venice Blvd and Cattaraugus in Culver City

Rudy's taco truck aka Tacos Don Jorge is moving on up in the taco world to a brick and mortar taqueria.

As Peter Griffen would say - Freakin' Sweet.

My favorite westside taco truck is leaving behind the mobile taco world for greener pastures.

Good luck to Tacos Don Jorge!

Stay tuned for news on the grand opening.