taco wire: 40 Knockout L.A. Tacos, Indian Tacos,LA Otra Taqueria Escuela

Tacos Leo's al pastor

Tortilla Truimphs: 40 Knockout L.A. Tacos [Grub Street Los Angeles]

Taco Thursday: Tongue Tacos [LA Times]

23rd Street Cafe: Indian-Mexican Tacos! [LA Weekly]

La Otra Taquería Escuela, West Hollywood [the backyard bite]

Tacos Baja Ensenada, East Los Angeles [NJinLA.com]

Tulia's Tacos - Covina

I pulled off the 210 freeway to look for a gas station and there she was; a taco wagon hitched to a truck, and she was calling my name. Not literally calling me over, but beckoning me, like a lighthouse, as if I was adrift out at sea and lost, and looking for some kind of sign. The sign I was looking for read “tortillas hecha a mano” and it was game on.



I ordered al pastor and carne asada. The al pastor was close to ground pork but the flavor was good. The carne asada was the better of the two. There were no fatty bits and the meat was seasoned well. These would have been just okay tacos if not for the fresh homemade tortilla and the excellent salsa. I love a salsa with good heat to it and this one didn’t disappoint.


tacos $1.25 each

The plate was loaded up with a bunch of good stuff: radishes, grilled seasoned onions, and a grilled jalapeno. I love when taco trucks load your plate up with good stuff. I never used to be a radish or cucumber guy. My plate would come with radishes and cucumbers and I would just fire them off into the closest bin. But now I love all that stuff. Give me a fat blistering jalapeno and then a cool cucumber to finish it off. Give me an ice-cold jarritos, a plate of tacos, and the sun in my face. Or the rain in my face for all I care. Just as long as my plate of tacos comes piled up with the good stuff.

3/5

Tacos Tulia
100 E Arrow Highway
Covina
Tacos $1.25 each

Tacos El Chavito - Huntington Beach

It’s hard to beat four tacos for two bucks. But sometimes you get what you pay for. And on this day, the tacos were of poor quality.

Tacos El Chavito has a certain kind of legendary stature in Huntington Beach. This is partly due to the fact you get two tacos for $1. But get this; they also give away free pineapple juice. Two bucks gets you a plate of tacos and something to wash it down with. That’s pretty incredible. I feel kind of cheeky for complaining about my tacos.




cheap tacos but the meat was too fatty on this day

I ordered al pastor and carne asada. Both meats were fatty, the asada particularly so. The salsa was of medium heat with good flavor. The tortillas could have used a little more grill time. I washed the tacos down with a coke instead of pineapple juice. Sometimes I like a coke with my tacos.

The guy in line before me ordered ten tacos “para aqui” and the woman inside the truck gave him a curious look and said “ para aqui or llevar?” He repeated “para aqui” and I thought – oh no, i’m never going to get my tacos now because of this gordo. But it turns out they weren’t all for him. His family was waiting for him, and one by one he brought over plates of tacos and cups of pineapple juice.

2.5/5

Tacos El Chavito
Morgan St
Between Slater Ave and Speer Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tacos Puebla - East LA

Tacos Puebla may serve the best tacos arabes in Los Angeles. I say they may, because I haven’t had many tacos arabe, and these are the best tacos arabe I’ve had.



The tacos arabes come with beef instead of pork. The beef is tender and mixed with onions and a spicy chile salsa. When you order they will ask if you want it spicy. The tacos are $3 each but well worth it. The tortillas are freshly made and the tacos have excellent flavor.


Tacos Puebla's tacos arabe are like mini burros



Tacos Puebla parks not far from where Mariscos Jaliscos parks during the day. This stretch of E. Olympic Blvd is sometimes referred to as the taco mecca. During the day you’re more likely to find mariscos and cemita trucks. At night the taco tables come out with rotating al pastor spits. If you’re looking for a night of taco exploring you can’t go wrong with this stretch of Olympic.

3.5/5

Tacos Puebla
2900 East Olympic Blvd
East Los Angeles

Taco Bell's Cantina Bell Menu is Terrible

What a surprise. Actual burrito looks nothing like this.

I thought I’d never have to blog about Taco Bell ever again. Not after I declared them dead to me for what they did to the 1980’s Taco Bell.

But now Taco Bell has launched their new Cantina Bell menu, which was created by Chef Lorena Garcia. That’s okay, I’ve never heard of her either. But lots of people on the internet have and they have been giving the new Cantina Bell menu rave reviews. And not just people on Yelp who will like everything. These are people who actually get paid to eat food and tell you what they think of it. The new menu has been compared to Chipotle. It’s Taco Bell’s entry into the fast-casual they say. Westword.com says "Taco Bell's Cantina Bell Menu May Make Chipotle a Little Nervous." The OC Register says that the “Taco Bell Cantina Bell Menu Beats Chipotle.”


this is just weird


actual burrito

So I ordered the chicken burrito, which came to $4.79. A bit expensive for Taco Bell I thought and I yearned for the days when three bucks would get me 4 hard shell tacos and a cinnamon crispas.

I’m not sure what to say about this burrito other than it’s terrible. Ok, I will say a few things. There’s hardly any chicken, which at first is a disappointment until you taste the chicken and then realize that it’s pre-cooked, fake pressed meat, and flavorless. There’s some kind of green sauce that is gross, there’s fucking lettuce, there are dry flavorless black beans, and there is white rice. The only thing this burrito has in common with Chipotle is the white rice. What’s so special about white rice? Apparently serving a burrito with white rice makes you fast casual now.

It’s probably the worst burrito I’ve ever had.

Give it up Taco Bell. Do us all a favor and dig up those 1980’s recipes and start giving us what we really want.