Skip to Content
Tacos

Here Are The 11 Tacos That Made The L.A. Times 101 List

Among the new school and classics featured in our hometown paper's prestigious annual list, there's a fine-dining chef who makes tacos in secret.

Taco at Komal Molino. Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO.

Taco at Komal Molino. Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO.

L.A.'s newspaper of record dropped its annual 101 Best Restaurants guide yesterday, highlighting The Food Section staff's picks "of the restaurants that are not just making good food but also adding something vital to the evolving conversation about how we eat in Southern California."

So which 11 L.A. taqueros made the list? Here they are (you can also find these guys on L.A. TACO's own Taco 69 guide that came out in October).

Barbacoa Ramirez

Sonoratown. Photo by Janette Villafana for L.A. TACO.

Sonoratown

Tacos La Carreta. Photo by Memo Torres for L.A.TACO.

Tacos La Carreta

Photo via @Bar_Ama/Instagram.
Photo via @Bar_Ama/Instagram.

Bar Ama

Their puffy taco is available off-menu.

Taco at Komal Molino. Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO.
Taco at Komal Molino. Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO.

Komal Molino

Guisados at Asadero Chikali.
Guisados at Asadero Chikali.

Asadero Chikali

Blood sausage with a red salsa-topped tlayuda mixta at Poncho's Tlayudas
Blood sausage with a tlayuda mixta at Poncho's Tlayudas. Photo by Daniel Hernandez for L.A. TACO.

Poncho's Tlayudas

On the conviction that a tlayuda is, in some manner, a giant taco.

Pork belly breakfast burrito from Macheen. Photo by Cesar Hernandez for L.A. TACO.

Macheen

A taco covered in salsas, guacamole, and pickled onions from Villa's Tacos
A taco covered in salsas, guacamole, and pickled onions from Villa's Tacos. Photo by Memo Torres for L.A. TACO.

Villa's Tacos

Oxtail taco from My Two Cents. Photo by Memo Torres for L.A. TACO.

My Two Cents

Holbox taco de pulpo en su tinta. Photo by Memo Torres for L.A. TACO.
Holbox taco de pulpo en su tinta. Photo by Memo Torres for L.A. TACO.

Holbox

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Weekend Eats: Invasion of The Five-Pound, One-Foot Burrito

Plus a modern Jamaican pop-up in West Adams, a Persian shawarma spot on wheels, and Thai crab omelettes at a family-run restaurant.

January 23, 2026

L.A.’s 7 Best Tacos Fusing Middle Eastern and Arabic Influences

Fueled by a deep love for Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisines or by their own family recipes, chefs in L.A. are remixing recipes to create tacos that are L.A. through and through.

January 22, 2026

Escondido Quietly Accepts $67,000 Contract with DHS to Use a Firing Range to Train 200 Special Agents

“This contract was approved administratively by the Escondido Police Department and has been in place since at least 2014,” Mayor White said in a statement to L.A. TACO.

January 22, 2026

L.A.’s 12 Best Old-School Italian Delis

From Chinatown to the Valley, L.A.'s home to sandwiches that will make you forget all your problems for however long it takes you to put it down.

January 21, 2026

SoCal Day Laborers Increasingly Targeted By Scams, Wage Theft, and Deportation Threats

"It's not just about always being on alert, but sometimes, if [employers] hire us, they threaten us with ICE so they don't have to pay us," a laborer named José says in Spanish.

January 20, 2026
See all posts