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L.A. TACO

One of L.A. TACO&#8217;s co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a writer and editor on food, travel, and culture whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, UrbanDaddy, High Times, and many other places.

Hadley Tomicki

Culture

An L.A. Sneaker Company Is Making Shoes From Zacatecan ‘Nopal Leather’

Annelies Zijderveld writes about food, the arts, and culture in addition to poetry. Her cookbook, Steeped: Recipes Infused with Tea was a Los Angeles Times favorite of 2015—read more at anneliesz.com or follow her at @anneliesz.

Annelies Zijderveld

Featured

A Taco Poem That Answers the Meaning of Life

Janette Villafana is an award-winning bilingual multimedia journalist. Her heart lies in community-based reporting, and her work is highly centered on showcasing and uplifting community voices, with a significant focus on the Latino community. She developed her beat at L.A. TACO, covering street vending communities in Los Angeles. Past work has been featured on NBC, LAist, Latino Rebels, and more. She is currently featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington in an exhibit titled “¡De última hora! Latinas Report Breaking News.”

Janette Villafana

News

Salvadoran Woman Is Killed by Police in Tulum After Being Pinned With Knee on Her Neck

Lexis-Olivier Ray is an award-winning staff investigative reporter for L.A. TACO known for holding powerful people in Los Angeles accountable and his reporting on Los Angeles culture. As well as an artist and filmmaker. In 2022, the Society of Professional Journalists&#8217; Los Angeles chapter named Ray one of their &#8220;distinguished journalists.&#8221; In 2023, Ray won a second place Anthem Award in their Health Innovation category for a texting service geared towards the unhoused community and service providers that he launched in 2021 with L.A. TACO and Subtext. Ray was a 2020 USC Center For Health Journalism (CHJ) Data Fellow. As well as a 2022 CHJ Impact Fellow. As a freelancer, Ray has contributed to the L.A. Times, Men&#8217;s Health Magazine, KCET and SFGATE.

Lexis-Olivier Ray

Los Angeles

Former Members of Jackass and Sublime Throw A ‘Demolition Party’ In A Vacant Home In Filipinotown

Christer Maxine Schmidt is a writer and musician from Thousand Oaks, California. She is currently a writer on The Echo newspaper published at California Lutheran University.

Christer Maxine Schmidt

Community

Few Gay Bars Left in L.A. Face Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Debt As City Prepares to Re-Open

Crime

Hate Crime Not Ruled Out in Thai Restaurant That Was Attacked Two Days in a Row in Huntington Park

I document Los Angeles. I walk the streets religiously trying to expose every alley, avenue, and crack the sidewalks have to offer.

Kemal Cilengir

Protests

Homeless Advocates Face-Off Against LAPD in Effort to Stop Forced Removal of Encampments in Echo Park Lake

Melissa was born in Moreno Valley, raised in Arizona, and recently returned from living in México, the motherland. She lives by the words: “siempre en la calle.” USC and Fulbright alum, but don’t tell her to &#8220;Fight On.&#8221;

Melissa Montalvo

Personal Essay

On Death, Love, and Lobsters: Eating in Puerto Nuevo to Remember My Abuelo

The LAPD Is Averaging Almost One Shooting Per Day

Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.

Memo Torres

Food

The Cuban-Mexican Story of the Best Chilaquiles In the Westside of Los Angeles

All Articles