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L.A. TACO

Erwin Recinos is a seasoned visual artist with an eye for capturing life as a working commuter aboard public transportation in and around Los Angeles. For 20 years now, Recinos has been documenting the urban landscape, street culture, and Hispanic communities of Los Angeles utilizing his daily routine and the city of Los Angeles as an inspiration. Recinos also works with popular food and event websites such as LATACO.com and Eater LA to capture the cuisine and culture that is so important to the city of Los Angeles and across Southern California.

Erwin Recinos

Featured

Savoring The Smash Burgers, ‘4 Leches’ Donuts and Beef Birria At The El Sereno Eats Food Tour (Photo Essay)

Gabriel Chabrán is a food writer and journalist from Highland Park. He currently lives in Long Beach with his wife Katie, their new baby, and their Russian Blue cat, Mars.

Gab Chabran

Music

Reyna Tropical Aims To Revolutionize Latinx Music By Creating Their Own Space

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

Street Vendor Shot In Watts Highlights The Deadly Risks That Vendors Take To Earn A Living

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

Daniel Torres takes the lid off his giant Morelos style oven.

Meet The Taquero Who Built a Morelos Style Barbacoa Oven in His Compton Backyard

Heri grew up in the High Desert but spent most of the last decade as a SoCal nomad before ending up in Whittier. A multi-disciplined writer, Heri strives to use his words to encourage thought and change.

Heriberto Rodriguez

L.A. Taco Guides

The L.A. TACO Guide To Eating Veg: Taco Crawling On The Eastside

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

Westcoast rapper Warren G sits for a portrait.

West Coast Rapper Warren G Joined LA CAN & Polo’s Pantry To Give Away Hundreds Of Meals In Skid Row

Two organizers hold up a UTACH banner in front of Los Angeles City Hall on May 19, 2021.

Unhoused Residents Speak Out Against ‘Prison-Like’ Conditions At Project Roomkey Hotels

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

Taisei Yamada at Munchies Buddies.   Photos by Vitaly Belousov

Cheap Eats

This Karaage-Making Taco Fiend Is Bringing Japanese Street Food to a Mar Vista Sidewalk

juicy carnitas breakfast burrito dripping with salsa.

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