Welcome to L.A. TACO's Birria Week! Birria in Los Angeles is limitless, with some birrierías open for close to 50 years. Even though there’s a heated debate between birria de res and chivo. AT L.A. TACO, we celebrate both, and the folks doing new things altogether. We’ll be exploring the many ways to find and eat birria in L.A. all week long, so make sure to check back every day this week.
--
When I wrote this list three years ago, birria de res exploded like a nuclear bomb leaving a mushroom cloud of adobo in the Los Angeles sky. In 2021, birria in Los Angeles continues to be ubiquitous with most taquerías adapting or pivoting to offering beef birria in some form. Now there’s a birria outpost in every corner of the city.
Birria comes from Jalisco and was originally cooked with goat, with techniques that date back centuries. But in Tijuana and Zacatecas, birria is made with beef. Naturally, beef is more approachable and cheaper, but birria de chivo is alive and well, which is one of the major points I want to highlight with birria week. Another major difference is that birria is no longer a weekend event, now there are taquerías and birrierías that serve birria on weekdays and into the night.