Wanted: Good Burritos in LA

Lately I’ve been eating burritos and I thought I would share some of my opinions of them. With the top 10 bean and cheese burrito list I ate a lot of bean and cheese burritos but only wrote about my favorite ones. This time around I’m going to do a monthly report on all the burritos I’ve eaten. For some reason this month I’ve consumed more burritos than usual. Some months I don’t eat any.

I guess you can say my burrito tastes are LA-centric. I haven’t had enough mission style burritos to say definitively that I don’t like them but the ones I have had I didn’t enjoy that much. My favorite burritos have refried beans or frijoles de olla, some stewed or braised meat, chopped onions, cilantro and a chile salsa. Once you start adding more ingredients like guacamole, rice, cheese, lettuce etc, I feel the burrito becomes less interesting . I don’t mind rice in a burrito if I’m eating a carne asada burrito, but lets be honest, rice is filler and only meant to soap up the juice from the meat and salsa.





Titos Tacos - beef and bean burrito ($3.95) One of the burritos I grew up eating is the Titos regular burrito double wrapped . You may be tempted to add cheese, but don’t. You want to get the full flavor of the meat, sauce, and beans. And with the double wrapped tortilla you can chomp away without worrying about the entire filling ending up on your lap. It may not be the most calorie conscious burrito but live a little. The burrito has three ingredients: chunks of steer beef, a chile con carne gravy, and refried beans.

Titos Tacos
11222 Washington Place
Culver City, CA 90230
4/5



King Taco - all meat carne asada burrito ($5.99+tax). This burrito is smaller than it should be but it’s packed with meat and is quite filling. The simplicity works here, with the meat, onions, cilantro and King Taco fiery salsa roja. They put salsa inside the burrito, which is a must, and they provide extra cups of salsa. King Taco have their detractors but sometimes the all meat with hot sauce really hits the spot.

King Taco Locations
3.5/5






Casita Taco Al Carbon – Steak burrito ($5.99 + tax).I was looking forward to this burrito but it was a disappointment. Everything was too bland from the beans which lacked flavor to the steak that was under seasoned and tough. There was a little guacamole, cheese, some chopped tomato but no chile salsa inside. The burrito was also poorly wrapped and fell apart after I got half way through it. I wouldn’t order this again.

Casita Taco al Carbon
11300 Magnolia Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
1.5/5

Benitos Taco Shop - Carne asada burrito ($6.47). This burrito came highly recommended but I don’t understand why.There was just too much guacamole and the asada was bland and fatty. There was chopped tomato but no salsa inside. The burrito was cold because there was so much guacamole. I’m not a fan of guacamole in a burrito anyway, so this one didn’t have much of a chance to win me over. With some good steak and I could have overlooked the guac-factor, but it was not to be.



Benitos Taco Shop
7912 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
1.5/5





Norm’s #3. Combo burrito ($5.50) . I wasn’t sure what to expect with the combo burrito at Norms. I hear the breakfast burritos are good here but it was lunch time and I don't eat eggs anyway. I probably should have asked what was inside the combo burrito before I ordered it because what I got was a burrito that was full of filler and the worst kind of filler, lettuce! The meat was tough and chewy and the beans tasted like they came from a can. This was the worst burrito of the month.

1201 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91506
1/5

How do you like your burritos? Have any favorites in LA?

King Taco #15

Before I started this blog I would eat at King Taco three or four times a week. I ate there so often the gentlemen that prepared the orders knew me. They knew me and acknowledged me. It's one thing if they know your face, it's another if they acknowledge you as a regular . That can go a long way to getting an extra salsa roja or cup of jalapeños or often times just the correct order. It always helps ordering the same thing every time. As they knew my face they also knew me by the name "2 carne asada , 2 al pastor guy".

One time one of the workers at the King Taco on San Pedro St said to me" Hey, you normally eat at the Pico and Alvarado king taco"

He was right, the Pico and Alvarado location was my King Taco.

After starting this blog I stopped going to King Taco. Not because I didn't love King Taco but because as a taco journalist I had to cover the overall taco beat and not the same beat everyday. There were other tacos to report on, the city was waiting.

So when I decided it was time to go back to King Taco I wanted to go to the King Taco I had never been to before. The King Taco stand in East LA on Olympic blvd, a region I refer to as the taco mecca.

To my knowledge this King Taco is the only King Taco that is a traditional taco stand(it has no indoor ordering) It is also one of the biggest taco stands in Los Angeles.


asada y al pastor

King Taco's carne asada is the popular choice . These are classic LA tacos. The perfect amount of oil is applied to each tortilla, and the way the onions and cilantro and meat combine with the hot salsa roja is just magical. Al pastor, suadero, carnitas are all excellent as well but it is the asada tacos that I fell for first.



But it is the salsa roja that sets firmly the crown atop the King's head. It is what you think of when you hear King Taco, and for heat lovers it is what you crave.

It is what makes King Taco the King.



King Taco #15
4300 E. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca 90023
http://www.kingtaco.com

PS : I'm looking for classic taco stands or taco huts. The kind that have an outdoor window ordering only and no indoor seating. The taco stand(as well as burger stand) is kind of a dieing art. The westside has only 1 taco stand, La Playita on Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica. So my friends, email Me the taco stands in your area. Even if they are not the greatest tacos I still want to check them out.