Just north of  the most excellent El Taquito truck on Fair Oaks in Pasadena, there exists the El Gallito taco truck.  This truck draws a decent crowd and and the following is getting larger by the day.   It offers the standard taco fare of asada, al pastor, and pollo along with cabeza, lengua and some nice greasy chorizo for $1.25 per taco.  For the non-purist, this truck also serves up burritos and quesadillas.

The tacos are delivered through the window with just the tortilla and meat, it’s up to you to add onions, cilantro, and your choice of salsa (rojo, verde, avacado).

Along with more food options when compared with the El Taquito truck, there are also more drink options.  You can get your agua frescas, canned sodas, and bottled Jarritos here.  All these options and lack of taco specialization may be part of the reason why this truck isn’t as consistently excellent as the competition just south of it.

All in all, the tacos are good (we’ve  definitely had worse), but not as stellar as the El Taquito truck just a half block away.  Buy your tacos at El Taquito, and send your burrito loving friends up the street to pick you up a Jarritos Tamarindo Soda.

The truck is located on the corner of Fair Oaks and Bellevue Dr.:
400 S Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105

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Rating: B

Horchata Rating: Normal (decent)

Positives: Plenty of parking. Bright yellow truck makes it easy to find. Large variety of DIY sauce, good selection of drinks.  They serve more than just tacos (burritos, quesadillas, and mulitas). Full selection of fillings: cabeza, lengua, tripa, asada, carnitas, buche, al pastor, pollo, suadero, chorizo.
Negatives: They serve more than just tacos.  Meat and tortillas are generally quite dry, and is sometimes lacking in seasoning.  No chicharron.

I plan on eating tacos that day anyway, maybe I’ll do it in the LBC.

When: July 18-19, 2009
Saturday, July 18: 12pm to 11pm
Sunday, July 19: 12pm to 10PM

Where: Rainbow Lagoon Park, downtown Long Beach

Click on the pic below for more details.

Molotov cocktails to the Taco zone truck?

http://laist.com/2009/06/06/taco_zone_truck_set_on_fire_last_ni.php

We haven’t been able to make it up there, but word is they are back up and running.

We have been holding on to this one for too long as it is a personal favorite. We just really want to keep it to ourselves, but alas, sharing is caring. Today we bring you the El Taquito truck located in South Pasadena that has a mighty tasty chicarron taco. $1.20 gets you a taco, $1.00 gets you a soda.

This taco truck is located in the parking lot of Nishikawa Auto Shop:
510 S Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105

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Rating: A

Horchata Rating: Normal (good but nothing special)

Positives: They serve chicharonne tacos. Full variety. Lengua and cabazas are good but a little soggy. Excellent carnitas- full of flavor and not too dry. Asada is inconsistent, though generally solid but not amazing.
Negatives: No salsa handling. Cicharonnes run out early, and the warm weather brings out crowds.

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.

More Atwater Food Loving and Tacos from the South Bay that aren’t from El Burrito Junior

• Vince’s Market’s Carnitas Sandwhich: Atwater Village

Vince’s Market is located in one of the residential nooks in Atwater Village in between Fletcher and Glendale Boulevard. It is one of those rare local family owned markets still in existence here in LA and its existence is a testament to the charming ness that is Atwater Village. It also just so happens to be across the street from my apartment building and I frequent it often for my early morning cereal needs. However, Vince’s is also a deli and offers up a special Atwater treat: Carnitas sandwhiches.

Check out the large pork chunks in the this South of the Border style po’boy. Big, greasy, and savory these carnita chunks will remind you that pork is king of fatty white meats. The flavoring of the carnitas was a bit on the plain side- but still enjoyable. The sandwich is seved with a heavy helping of guacamole which soggs the sandwich up if you don’t eat it right away. The guacamole was tasty enough but I found myself picking out and masticating over the carnita cubes. Fatty, filling, and greasy at $2.50 a pop- the Carnitas sandwhich provides quite a high ratio of pork to the dollar. Eat it while hot and drink it with a Jarritos for an enjoyable sleep coma inducing morning sandwich.

South Bay Street Tacos: El Gallito in Wilmington

As a South Bay native who grew up only eating hard shell tacos in the beach cities, I am rather new to South Bay street taco scene. One does not usually find street tacos lurking in the cities of Torrance, Redondo or Hermosa- mostly cuz the popo would drive them out. But if you drive out anywhere east- you’re bound to find a truck. And in this case, East means Wilmington.

Over by the 110 Freeway Entrance for Sepulveda, is El Gallito. A truck that appears in plain day light in front of a Laundromat and stays out until at least 2 am most days of the week. I’ve noticed it there for a better part of the year whenever passing through Wilmington, and after a friend in Lomita expressed curiosity- we decided to hit it up.

I ordered the taco tri-fecta: dos carne asada, pastor, y carnitas. And as I am warrant to do- I tried each kind with both salsa verde y roja.

The carne asada was tasty but a bit on the salty side and a tad dry. The carnitas were pretty crispy and full of sabor, reminding slightly of Taco Zone which is always a great comparison. The al pastor tacos were decent but overall the sweetness overpowered the slight burning sensation one usually looks forward to in a pastor taco. Their horchata was quite delish with nice slabs of cinnamon floating around the milky-rice goodness.
Overall, Wilmas was representin hard with their street tacos. For a moment, it made this LA city-proper resident not be ashamed from being from the South Bay.

Overall Taco Grade: B+

Salsa Roja: Hot

Horchata Grade: A

Price: $1.25/taco

Vince’s Market- On the Corner of Atwater Avenue and Silverlake Boulevard in Atwater Village

El Gallito Taco Truck- On the Corner of Sepulveda, one half-block past Normandie in Wilmington

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)

Be there or be square! I’m working to get a new taco lady- the one I had wanted to over charge me.

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!!!!

Last month, I was in San Francisco on business and decided to head down to the Mish for some taco goodness. My friends from the Bay are always talking smack on LA tacos saying the Mish gots the goods. Well, I had to put that notion to the test.

So, among my afternoon wandering of the Mission- I stumbled upon El Buen Sabor Taqueria on 18th Street. Now usually, I don’t do resturaunts unless I get a good tip. But, I was a stranger in a strange land and my belly was empty.

The place had a small kitchen like charm. It had the usual goods: carne asada, carnitas, al pastor et al. I decided I’d go with two carnitas, one carne asada and one al pastor taco con todas (everything).
Usually, when I order everything that means onions, cilantro, and the salsa of choice. But in San Francisco that also means black beans- which I was somewhat appalled by. When I get a fried hard shell taco- I expect beans- but not within a soft shelled street taco. Still, I wasn’t about to diss the taco lady in her kitchen so I begrundginly accepted my tacos con frijoles.

The al pastor y carne asada tacos were- decent. The pastor was savory but not seasoned well enough and the carne asada was suffered from not being freshly grilled. The beans were prominently tasted over the meat, which is fine, if your a hippie vegetarian. I was ready to call up some of my SF friends and laugh over the phone, until I tried the carnitas.

Dios mijo, Batman! T carnitas were well shred which allowed for a amazingly crispy texture. They were fresh off the grill allowing them to be piping hot and reeking with savoryness. The meat overpowered the beans and harmonized nicely with the salsa roja. Coupled with some delicious horchata, I closed my eyes and for a second felt like I was eating at Taco Zone back home in Echo Park.

San Francisco, you pass the test. Saved by the skin of a piggy.

El Buen Sabor

Overall Taco Grade: B, Carnita Grade: A+

Horchata Grade: A

Positives: Nice Setting, Good Service, Delicious Horchata and Carnitas

Negatives: Pricey, Beans, So-So Asada and Al Pastor

Price: $1.75 a taco

At the Corner of 18th and Mission Street, San Francisco CA