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Tostadas, with origins dating back thousands of years to the Zapotec city of Monte Alban, have certainly evolved over time and now serve as the crunchy vessels for the most coveted toppings. Today, we’ll contend directly with tostadas de mariscos or seafood tostadas, and I’m here to tell you the possibilities are both vast and glorious.
While Los Angeles is teeming with seafood restaurants hearkening back to Mexico’s expansive beaches, no other enclave offers quite as many coastal tributes as the city of Lynwood.
With almost 90% of Lynwood’s population identifying as Latino, you can be sure you’ll find no shortage of delicacies. In fact, what you’ll find is a myriad of mariscos joints—from seafood trucks parked on the side of Lynwood’s industrial landscapes to quaint casitas catering to Lynwood’s Sunday family crowds.
Sinaloan-style mariscos take center stage but you can also find Nayarit and Sonora-style varieties if you know where to look. It’s a mariscos haven; the panorama promising, heavy with the acidity of lime and the heat of a scorching salsa (or ten) ready to burn your tongue. Pro tip: Pair with your favorite BYO cerveza [responsibly] for best results.
Below you’ll find a list of six of Lynwood’s must try mariscos tostadas.
Mariscos El Moreno
You don’t need to walk into Mariscos El Moreno to know it’s a neighborhood staple, the line out the door says it all. Once through the threshold, the space is crowded and vibrant. This is where you go for a good time. The tables are nostalgically named after cities in Sinaloa and the food comes in platters as opposed to plates. "Nothing is small here,” assures Alejandra Murrieta. Murrieta is the daughter of chef and owner Felipe “El Moreno” Murrieta. She insists the La Morena platter is the dish to get here. You’ll have to build your tostada yourself but that’s half the fun. This DYI tostada consists of raw shrimp and scallops in addition to cooked shrimp and octopus on a bed of fanned cucumber and drizzled with El Moreno’s house-made salsas, which are available for purchase. It leaves nothing to be desired.
11098 Atlantic Ave, Lynwood, CA 90262. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 260 - “Atlantic/Elmwood” or Bus Lines 117 and 120 - "Imperial/Atlantic."
Mariscos El Levanton
Mariscos El Levanton is the kind of spot that’ll attract a new generation, a watering hole for avid fans of corridos tumbados. The walls are bright yellow with defiant caricatures of an armed pair of Pablo Escobar and El Chapo Guzman tauntingly framing the brown leather booths. Each table features a broad assortment of equally animated salsas to pair with your mariscos of choice. The tostada to get here is the aguachile de camaron which comes in the traditional salsa verde and is topped with cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, avocado and tar black salsa marisquera. The question is which salsa will you choose to adorn your tostada.
7651 California Ave, Huntington Park, CA 90255. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 111 - “Florence/California”, Bus Line 611 - "Santa Ana/California" or Bus Line 251 - "State/Olive."
Mariscos y Sushi Los Tomateros
The Tomateros tostada, the house specialty as far as tostadas go, boasts cubes of buttery callos de hacha (penshell clam) and raw shrimp in a spicy chilpitin salsa. The mound is heaping and ready to knock out any contender. Owner Edgar Vaca attests that the key to great mariscos is to make everything fresh to order and that’s a policy Mariscos y Sushi Los Tomateros lives by. He is a SELA legend, having appeared on David Chang's Ugly Delicious and having a full profile published on L.A. TACO in 2019. True to their namesake, Los Tomateros offers Sinaloan-style mariscos and truly inimitable sushi the state of corridos fame has made their own. This is the place to go if you’ve never tried it and are feeling like having a seafood adventure in southeast Los Angeles.
10112 State St, Lynwood, CA 90262. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 60 - “Long Beach/Michigan” or Bus Line 117 - "Tweedy/State."
Jala Mariscos El Veneno
Tucked in between auto body shops on the outskirts of Lynwood, the food truck operation you’ll find here is bustling and all business. Interactions are quick and customers know exactly what they came for: ten of everything. The mariscos here are Nayarit-style and the fish ceviche tostada in particular drives the point home. Instead of small cubes of fish and tomato, onion and cucumber you’ll be served a finely ground fish with minced onions, cilantro and shredded carrots for a change. Lime is served on the side so that you can adjust according to your own taste. Much like the business, the tostada is unpretentious but a cool relief on a hot summer day.
11501 Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90059. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 120 - “Imperial/Alameda.”
Mariscos Tocho
Famous for his otherworldly salsas, Francisco “Tocho” Cuadras has taken his namesake Mariscos Tocho through seven years of evolution. The business started out of Cuadras’ home until he and his wife Sandra could take their business on wheels, the metamorphosis now culminating in his dream of opening a small restaurant. Sandra explains that having been a product of the city of Lynwood herself, she always wanted to give back to the community and create a space for families to enjoy. And that’s exactly what you’ll see when you walk into their crisp white walls, flanked by red marine life murals and hanging nets. Their tostada mixta with penshell clam, shrimp, octopus and abalone (imitation) will satisfy your mariscos craving any day of the week…plus you’ll want to bathe in his signature smokey sauce. De pilon, try their signature surf and turf taco, el taco “Tocho.”
10530 Long Beach Blvd, Lynwood, CA 90262. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 60 - “Long Beach/Martin Luther King Jr.”
Mariscos El Viejon
Lynwood locals swear by El Viejon and will tell you that’s the place to go on any day of the week. Their space is large and almost always packed to the brim with families enjoying their mariscos fix. The mariscos in question are Sinaloa style and in the spirit of authenticity they will attempt to burn your tongue off with copious amounts of chilpitin, with the help of other chiles and spices. The callo the hacha here are a crowd favorite and definitely worth a try but you can never go wrong with the shrimp aguachile tostada. No bells and whistles here, just straight up quality mariscos seeking to satisfy homesick transplants. If you get lucky, you’ll even catch a live banda show; mustachioed señores in their best sombreros dishing out Norteño beats to accompany your tostada with.
11120 Atlantic Ave. Lynwood. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Line 260 - “Atlantic/Elmwood” or Bus Lines 117 and 120 - "Imperial/Atlantic."
