Earlier this year, my pal Justin Lin but together a documentary about Los Angeles as part of documenting a year long trip to China.
Part of the documentary focused on native Los Angeles food, which of course includes tacos. Justin grabbed me for an evening of all things tacos. So of course, I took him to my favorite spot: Echo Park’s Taco Zone.
Hola taco mijos y mijias! It’s been too long! Been crunching at work and finishing finals! But we’re back with some major taco updates and a summer chock full of taco eating!
Pink Taco Party Recap- 6th and Imperial
The Pink Taco party, hosted by yours truly and our taco buddy W.Dot was a major success! Over 500 taco loving Angelenos found their way east of downtown to a wherehouse on 6th and Imperial. Hot mijos y mijas got loaded and tore up the dance floor to sets by our homies NO MSG, Them Jeans, and Royal Rumble. And despite a last minute taco replacement by Poquito Mas (Echo Park’s Taco Zone couldn’t make the party)- the carne asada, pollo and veggie tacos (damn veggie hipsters) sold like mad. Fellow Taco Blogger Hadley from from LATACO showed up too- which was definately an evening high-lite. Get down to the pics page and find yoself!
Official Pink Taco Party Flickr Stream.
Tacos Villa Corona- Atwater Village
Located on Glendale Boulvard between Larga and Atwater Avenue is Tacos Villa Corona- a family owned and operated Atwater staple. It’s literally a hole-in-the-wall joint where you can watch with pleasure as the owners cook your food to order. Famously known for their amazing breakfast burritos (eating a Spinach-Bacon-Egg-Salsa Roja Burrito every friday morning on the way to work is a ritual for me), Tacos Villa Corona, as the name implies, serve tacos. Except, they aren’t your normal taco variety.
Tacos Villa Corona serve up Potato Tacos which is pretty rare in this taco town. Stranger yet is that Tacos Villa Corona have Carne Asada on the menu within their tostadas, nachos and burritos. When I asked the owner’s son about this- he said he had no idea as to why the family decided to change their taco content policy. Strange strange strange.
I ordered up three Potato tacos- because I figured carb on carb action was going to be filling. Inside the corn tortillas, were TVC’s homefriend potates. Delicious in the burritos, the potatoes didn’t do much to save the tacos from being meatless. The queso was tasty enough but overall- a potato taco isn’t much of a taco to an Al Pastor lover like myself. The salsa roja had a good piping edge to it.
Disappointed by the lack of meat in my tacos- I ordered the best next thing: a carne asada tostada.
Now we were talking my language! The carne asada was savory, juicy, and soft as all hell. Coupled with black beans, some shredded lettuce, tomatoes, a hard shell and some cheese- this made my taco-less afternoon worthwhile. I folded up this bad boy- and pretended it was a taco. It invoked a King Taco carne asada sope- which isn’t a bad comparison at all.
No horchata was available which was poops mcgee- but over all- the tostada was a worth venture. The folks at Tacos Villa Corona are friendly as all hell and will be happy to chat up Atwater history with you. Its rare to find such an authentic vegetarian friendly Mexican food joint that even your hippie vegan friends can enjoy.
Taco Rating: B-
Tostada Rating: A
Breakfast Burrito Rating: A+++
Horchata Rating: N/A
Salsa Roja: Hot!
Tacos Villa Corona
3185 Glendale Blvd
Open Early-4pm (Or When Food runs out)
Anthony and I have been itching to cut a taco swath westward and fill out our Flickr Taco Map. And so my pal Kyle, upon hearing of our westward bound taco ambition, tipped us off to a Mid-City Taco stand named El Chato.
El Chato, like all greatly positioned taco stands, sits in a car repair shop parking lot from 7pm til 2 am- nightly. A pastor spit sits on the the main counter- gleaming like a meat beacon under the dim street lights of La Brea. Kyle, swore by scouts honor- that the al pastor tacos here rivaled El Taurino and King Taco standard. Of course, Anthony and I had to put this claim to the test.
I ordered 3 pastor tacos, 2 carne asada tacos and one lingua plus a horchata. They had no carnitas option- which was appalling, but they included roasted sweet onions- which was a plus!
The asada tacos were quite salacious! Their texture was slightly chewy and packed with savoriness. I found them to be a bit saltier than the standard asada taco, which I happened to like. Anthony disagreed with my opinion though, stating they were thinner than the average taco and nothing really worth getting excited about.
The pastor tacos were great! They were drenched in marinade and had just the right amount of hotness. Its texture was tender, the sauce sweet, and left the mouth with a pleasant burning sensation. Its suprising to get tasty pastor out of a taco truck because the meat spit doesn’t benefit from being out in the night air as many a good pastor stand is.
The lingua taco was savory, slightly pasty and overall decent. Nothing really to say about it, so if I were you I’d stick to the pasotor and carne asada. The horchata was delicious despite being a bit milkier than most joints. However, this was welcome to pacify the hotness of the al pastor.
Overall, El Chato was pretty damned good. However, my stomach was churning for the next two days. Anthony and Kyle were fine- so either I had some remnants of the terrible cod fish I had from Mission 261 in San Gabriel left in my belly- or something in the tacos killed me. Tacos don’t usually do me wrong, so I’ll blame it on the cod and maybe the lingua. I usually stick to the trifecta of pastor, asada, and carnitas; lingua is outside of my routine. So, I’ll leave El Chato with the benefit of the doubt- because they sure tasted good going down.
El Chato
Corner of Olympic and La Brea in Los Angeles, Open 7pm till 2am
Grade: B+
Horchata Grade: B+
Positives: Cheap, Good Asada and Pastor, Free Grilled Sweet Onions, Toothpicks
Negatives: No Carnitas, My Stomach Got Pwned
PS Oje Mijo!!!!
Occidental Showdown
Rambo’s Tacos is a staple for the kids over at Occidental. Open late and decently priced, it keeps the good people of Eagle Rock satiated. I lived in Eagle Rock, for a good while, but never gave much thought to the taco Rambo’s offered- they simply offered a late night snack.
I returned to Rambo’s with Anthony- a bit older, wiser, and with a discerning taco tongue. So we put the tacos to the test.
I ordered a batch of carnitas and carne asada tacos. After smothering one of each kind with both salsa verde y roja I took a bite.
The carnitas were a bit on the bland side- crispy, as I tend to prefer, but not very savory. Even with salsa roja- the carnitas were a definite: “m’yeh”.
The carne asada on the other hand, was quite delicious. The pieces were sliced evenly and had a tinge of chardness- which gave them an almost smoky like quality. Biting in yielded
some juicy bites and I was quite impressed.
Unfortunately, Rambo no tiene Horchata- which deeply saddened my poor Panamanian heart. I ran down the street to the veggie taco joint: Leo’s but they offered no refreshment either. Sadly, I ended up dousing my burning tongue with Diet Coke. No bueno.
Still, when your at All Star Lanes getting hammered on cheap whiskey on Saturday Nights- Rambo offers your late night carne fix. Not the best, but not too bad over all.
Rambo’s Tacos
Location: On the Corner of Eagle Rock and York Boulevards in La Ciudad de Eagle Rock
Positives: Price (1.05), Full Variety of Tacos (Lingua to Pollo), Asada is delish
Negatives: “M’yeh” carnitas, NO HORCHATA
Salsa Roja: HOT
Rating: B
Open Daily: 7pm- 2am
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