A taco tour of South Central LA
The best part about the Mexican food in LA is that you can choose between so many different regions of Mexico. You can eat a Oaxacan breakfast in the morning, Yucatánean fish taco for lunch, and Tijuana style carne asada taco for dinner, and maybe squeeze in a Michoacán style carnitas taco for second dinner? There is no judgement when it comes to Mexican food portions. Below are some suggestions for a guaranteed successful taco tour of South Central - by an actual Mexican.
Some helpful phrases en Español
They may ask, “para aqui o para llevar? ”or for here or to-go.
I’ll take a small horchata, please. tomaré una pequeña horchata, por favor.
Excuse me, napkins please. disculpe, servilletas por favor.
It was delicious! Estaba delicioso!
Chichen Itza is located inside the Mercado De Paloma, which is full of independent Mexican shops & eateries. Specializing in dishes from the state of Yucatan and well recognized as one of the best Yucatan style Mexican restaurants in the country by publications like GQ, Travel and Leisure, and Condé Nast Traveler.
Tacos y Biria La Unica
Founded by siblings that used to work on different food trucks until starting their own back in 2017. Together they specialize in their family’s recipe for birria de res and birria de chivo, or beef and shredded goat. You can enjoy the meats many different ways such as a: taco dorado (fried taco), quesadilla (melted cheese stuffed tortilla), quesataco (taco stuffed with melted cheese), mulita (two corn tortillas sandwiched together with cheese and meat, pictured), or a vampiro (corn tortillas grilled until crispy and edges are fold up - a cross between a tostada and a taco.
Mariscos Jalisco
This Mexican seafood truck is well known for their tacos de camarón (shrimp) topped with fresh avocado and homemade salsa. If you like octopus, the spicy posiedon tostada is an absolute must. It’s a tall stack of ceviche, octopus, and shrimp aguachile. Aguachile translates to “chili water” or shrimp marinated in a spicy salsa made up of lime, cilantro, jalapeños and red onions. They also serve just the aguachile alone on a tostada, which is also very popular. Just come hungry & get one of each !
Teddy’s Red Tacos
Teddy specializes in Tijuana style birria de res (beef) that is so rich the tortillas are saturated in the red marinade. The best option for every first timer is their $10 deluxe sampler plate which includes: one taco, one tostada, one mulita, one quesadilla, and one spicy consommé or beef stew. Don’t forget to dip your taco in the consommé too!
Tire Shop Taqueria
Tire Shop Taqueria isn’t a truck, nor is it a cart - but a grill and a couple of fold out tables in the parking lot of a used tire shop. This setup is so special, because you get to hear the fine chopping of the grilled carne asada and pressing of the corn tortillas all at once. Specializing in carne asada (thin fillets of charred beef), Tire Shop also makes chorizo (sausage), pollo (chicken), and cabeza (tender beef cheek) all really well. Grab a large horchata (cinnamon rice milk) and make yourself at home at the communal table.
