Thu 11 Jan 2007
One of my favorite late night carts in all of Los Angeles- I’ve seldom been led astray by the tacos at Taco Zone.
At any time of night you’ll see a good mix of Echo Parquians standing in line- from blue collar laborers to hipsters and families. That’s when you know a Taco Truck is a neighborhood staple. The owners are quite friendly and don’t mind orders coming in English (which can be kind of a big deal at some smaller joints and temporary stands).
Taco Zone offers the entire gamut of tacos: carnitas, asada, al pastor, pollo, buche, lingua, cabeza, tripas, and even vegetarian. The carnitas are some of my favorite in the city- as they are flavorful, and slightly crunchy (usually a sign of overcooking-but in this miraculous case it works to an advantage). The asada is always fresh and lean. I’ve yet to try lingua, cabeza and buche here but the tripas was excellent. Like the carnitas, the tripas were cooked deeply and offered a crunchy experience. Coupled with onions, cilantro and some excellent guacamole salsa- you have yourself taco perfection.
The price is right with each taco costing about $1.10 a pop. Soda runs a dollar, but the horchata runs $1.50. That’s a bit expensive for Horchata, especially considering it comes in a medium sized Styrofoam cup. However, it’s certainly not bad- and is worth a sip especially if dousing your tacos in salsa roja. Plus, pico de gallo is available as taco filler- not shabby at all.
Summary
Taco Zone
Rating: A-
Horchata Grade: B
Salsa Roja- Hot.
Positives: Serve full variety of tacos (Carnitas to Buche) and have mulitas, burritos, and quesadillas too. Excellent pastor and carnitas. Solid asada. Vegetarian tacos (beans) for your hippie vegetarian friends. Full salsa control offering red, verde and guacamole flavored salsas.
Negatives: Can be a little slow. Sometimes might not be there.
Price Per Taco: $1.15
Location: Montana and Alvarado in Echo Park (next to Vons).
Hours: 8PM -2 AM Sun-Fri, 8PM-3 AM Sat
2 Responses to “ Taco Zone- Echo Park Taco Truck ”
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Pingback from Canadian Coffee Break: F#ck The Coffee It’s Taco Time
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:34 am[...] Marc JG Ballard once said that border between the first and third world ran through LA along Wilshire boulevard. Of course LA’s urban geography being what it is, there’s no real rhyme or reason to the distribution of wealth, so Culver City bumps up against Inglewood, and Mount Washington against Cypress Park, but as far as the taco truck phenomenon goes, I’d suggest Ballard’s border to be somewhere around the LA river. Personally I’m a fan of taco zone, which parks in Echo Park by Alvarado and Sunset. I actually have a buddy who’s doing his MFA thesis at USC making a mobile phone accessible system of his own personal reviews tacos trucks, you can read his reviews here for now. In Montreal where I loved for 10 years, tacos were not to be found, it was all shwarma and shish taouk. So i’m down with the the taco. I’ll do buche and stuff like that no problem. Tripe I’ve never been that hot on. In Mexico they actually have the friggin cow’s head in the little rickshaw thing they cook out of, and they’ll carve out the eyeball for you, if you ask nice. That kind of thing is more on a case by case basis. [...]
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Pingback from The Weekly Check In - with Brad Breeck at Rubin Recommends
August 19th, 2008 at 4:00 pm[...] Breeck: I’ve been obsessed with Taco Zone for a while. It’s a taco truck that lives on Alvarado in Echo Park by the Vons. I get the Suadero tacos…. Life changing. [...]
