Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

This is member's only content.

Members get unlimited access to all of our stories, along with incredible perks like free tacos, invites to our events, access to our mobile app, and much more!

Become a Member of L.A. TACO

Register to continue

L.A. TACO

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

Featured

Morena Mía: The Queer Latina Brand Preserving Vaquero Culture and ‘Making the Barrio Their Runway’

L.A. TACO STAFF

Los Angeles

Headlines: Arts District Taquero Injured Trying to Stop Generator Thief

Valerie J. Bower is a photographer based in Los Angeles. She uses childhood nostalgia, and the visuals and experiences of growing up in the working-class L.A. Harbor Area as influences in her work. Her subtle, dream-like, monochrome street photography show a softer, feminine point of view on typically masculine themes and subjects, such as lowrider, street, punk, and skate culture. Her work focuses primarily on brown and black cultures of Los Angeles, and in other parts of the U.S. (including Northern California, Las Vegas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah). She also documented lowrider/ West Coast culture in Tokyo, Japan. Valerie&#8217;s work also includes her collection of self-published books and zines, documenting various street cultures, events, and everyday life in Los Angeles.

Valerie J. Bower

Inglewood

The Sunday Photo Essay: Inglewood In 2022

Pachuco Supply Co.: Preserving Corrido and Lowrider Culture Through Handmade Hats in Boyle Heights

Headlines: Long Beach to Get More Than $7 Million in Lawsuit Against Monsanto; Snow In L.A. Mountains

Professional punk and Editor-In-Chief for James Beard Award-winning L.A. TACO. Associate Producer for JBA-winning Las Crónicas Del Taco. Former restaurant scout for Jonathan Gold. Co-author of &#8220;Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico (2019, Abrams) and &#8220;Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling&#8221; (2023, Abrams).

Javier Cabral

History

Is Chicken Birria Authentic?

Eric Spiegelman

Food

A Running List of L.A. Restaurants That I Still Love Despite Mediocre Food

Inglewood: 8 Things You Didn’t Know About The Neighborhood’s History

Headlines: Guerrilla Tacos Gets a New Chef; Shrooms Are Safer Than Weed

News

Headlines: Father of Dead One-Year-Old Child Found at L.A. River in Long Beach Arrested, Believed to Have Thrown Her Off a Bridge

All Articles