Weekend Events: L.A. TACO’s Taco Madness, The Science of Cannabis, and AAPI Market In DTLA

We can’t bear the thought of you being bored this weekend. So we’ve cobbled together an events guide highlighting some of the fun things to do over the next few days in and around Los Angeles.

Have fun!

Before we tell you about the other thrilling events going on this week, we simply must inform you first that L.A. TACO’s own TACO MADNESS Festival is next Saturday, May 21, at Santa Anita Park. L.A. TACO members get in free, in case you want to join our membership program. Otherwise, $15 tickets can be found right here, $20 at the door, ages 17 and under enter for free.

THURSDAY, MAY 19

• Dine Latino Restaurant Week kicked off this week in L.A. and goes through Sunday, showcasing a wide range of restaurants that focus on cooking from across Latin America and beyond. See the full list of participants here. May 17-22, county-wide.

• Rick Martinez, the Texas-raised author behind the new cookbook Mi Cocina: Recipes and Raptures From My Kitchen in Mexico, will appear for a meet-and-greet and conversation at Second Home Hollywood with moderator Bricia Lopez. 7-9p.m., $45 tickets include signed copy of the book, 1370 N. St Andrews Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90028

• There's something new going on at Downtown's legendary Clifton's Republic tonight. It's called Cabaret Ronin and is described as "an evening of esoteric performances including trapeze, comedy, dance, live music, and art," while celebrating the lives of "the loved ones we’ve lost." 8pm-2am, $24.93 tickets here, 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014

FRIDAY, MAY 20

• The family behind SamosOaxaca, one of our favorite Westside Oaxacan restaurants, now has a newly soft-open location called Somos Oaxaca in Arlington Heights. A grand-opening will follow once a beer-and-wine license is in place. Owner Filemon Daniel Vasquez's tlayuda pop-up was profiled in L.A. TACO in 2019. And now our mouths are watering for his mole negro. 3224 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019

• If you're reading this, we hope it doesn't mean you're missing the Cannabis Science Conference going on in Long Beach right now. Hopefully you just have your phone in one hand and a blunt and bunson burner in the other. $79, May 18-20, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802

• Stuck in the 90's? You're not alone. It's a nice, warm, economically-viable place to be. Also, you'll want to know that Mudhoney are playing with the Meat Puppets Friday night at Downtown's Regent Theater. $35 tickets here, 7pm, 448 S Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

• We're not saying foreigners are funny. Just the particular and self-described ones hitting the stage at Hollywood Improv on Friday for "Funny Foreigners," a night of stand-up from foreign-born comedians like Kira Soltanovich, Nicky Paris, Sergio Novoa, and more. $15 tickets here, 9:45pm, 8162 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, CA 90046

SATURDAY, MAY 21

• An art-filled fundraiser for Ukraine is planned for Saturday afternoon at CommunityMade in Downtown's Arts Districts, featuring art exhibitions, crafts, music, food, and drink, with proceeds going to Stand With Ukraine for the Ukrainian Culture Center Foundation. No cover, 12-6pm, 584 Mateo St. Los Angeles, CA 90013
• Daily Harvest, a chef-crafted food delivery company, is holding a pop-up shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard this weekend that it describes as an "old school butcher in the heart of Venice," only with organic fruit and veggies, instead of meats. It will be serving breakfast tacos, vegan Italian “sausage” pesto paninis, and chopped salads, among other things. May 21-22, 11am-6pm, 1306 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

• Long Beach's Mezcala Nursery is having a major "Cactus and Succulent Sale" on Saturday, featuring a smattering of succulent and cactus sellers. They're also promising tacos, raspados, a DJ, and chocolate! 10am-2pm, 6901 Orange Ave. Long Beach CA 90805

SUNDAY, MAY 22

• Downtown's Smorgasburg will host the AAPI L.A. Market this Sunday, highlighting local Asian American Pacific Islander chefs, artisans, artists, bakers and confectioners, with specials and one-off dishes. Participants will include RiceBox, Dai Pie Dong and its British-Canto savory pies, Brothers Sushi, and Brio Brio, along with performers Hollis, DANakaDAN, and Travis Atreo. No cover, 10am-4pm, 777 S. Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90021

• Highland Park's Nativo is collaborating with AGL's Craft Meats on a barbecue brunch this Sunday. The pop-up will feature smoked meat tacos and chilaquiles, along with a special mezcal cocktail. 11:30-5pm, reservations via Yelp, 5137 York Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90042

•  Dress Codes, an examination of the enduring iconic styles of the U.S. West (blue jeans, boots, plaid shirts, fringed leather jackets, aloha shirts, and China Poblana dresses), will be on view through January 2023 at the Autry Museum of the American West, featuring more than 150 objects to explore ideas of Western identity, tradition, individual freedom, hybridity, and reinvention.  $14/adults, $10/students and seniors 60+, $6 ages 3–12, 4700 Western Heritage Way Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462