Los Angeles was at the center of the great birria taco boom that took the country by storm just a few years ago. At some point, it felt like everyone under the Southern California sun was dunking their beef-filled tacos into a steaming cup of consomé before taking their first bite.
But before this craze, birria was commonly known as a dish served on a plate, usually only on weekends and at family parties or big celebrations like bautizos (baptisms) or quinceañeras.
Birria was usually served with the meat still clinging to the bone, bathing in a bowl of rich broth that the beef had been slowly cooked in. In the U.S., the land of "combination plates," birria came to be served with a side of Mexican rice, beans, and packaged tortillas.