Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Neighborhoods

Top Guides

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

L.A. TACO is paid for by readers, not billionaires. 7,800 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

This one's for members.

No advertiser paid for this. No hedge fund owns us. Investigations take records requests, lawyers, and reporters on the ground for months at a time, and 7,800 members are the only reason we can do them. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

This investigation took months.

We're paid for by readers, not billionaires. 7,800 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent, and members read everything. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

Keep reading L.A. TACO.

Free registration

Please register for L.A. TACO to Vote 

Register to continue

We don't take endorsements and nobody pays us to cover local politics. Create a free account to keep reading, and we'll send you the next voter guide before you need it.

Free to Read, just share your email 

Every place on this list was visited by someone on our staff. Create a free account to read all of it. No payment, no catch.

The rest of this guide is free. We just need an email.

Create a free account and keep reading. No payment, no catch. We're reader-funded, and this is how we get to know who we're writing for.

Read this one on us.

Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

Kiko Martinez is a film and TV journalist from San Antonio, Texas. He&#8217;s a member of several film critic groups, including the Critics Choice Association and Hollywood Film Critics Association.

Kiko Martinez

Featured

Cry Macho’s Fernanda Urrejola on Leaving Latin America for Hollywood and ‘Breaking the Cycle of Machismo’

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

Tacos

This Taquero From Puebla Always Dreamed of Serving His TJ-Style Tacos Near The Happiest Place on Earth, and It Just Came True

Jireh (she/they) is a queer Taiwanese/Hong Konger American writer based in Southern California with a passion for journalism and poetry. Summer 2021 they were an opinion pages intern at the Los Angeles Times and in fall 2021 will be an intern at NPR’s Diverse Sources desk.

Jireh Deng

Community

Not WeHo, But East L.A: A New ‘Queer Mercado’ Creates an Inclusive, Safe Space for LGBTQ-Owned Small Businesses in the Barrio

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

At Least Two Dozen L.A.P.D. Officers ‘Live’ Out of State, Yet L.A. Taxpayers Pay Their Salaries

Street Vending

After an Elderly Street Vendor Is Attacked and Robbed in Long Beach, ‘Mexicahana’ Hibachi Restaurant Offers Him a Safe Space to Work In

Noe Antonio Adame is a digital media obsessive that spends too much time watching shitty movies, wrangling his kids, and listening to 90s Pop Punk.

Noe Adame

Film

Luchadores vs. La Llorona and ‘Sexycomedias:’ The Art of Mexican Cult Cinema Is Now On Display In Boyle Heights

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

To Truly Understand Long Beach, Eat Tacos Past Midnight at El Sauz

Against his better judgment, Nathan Solis continues to write for a living and sleeps along the Gold Line with his wife and daughter.

Nathan Solis

Politics

Homeless Residents Show Up to Vote In California’s Recall Election At Skid Row’s First-Ever ‘Voting Center’

Melissa Mora Hidalgo was born in Montebello and grew up in the L.A./O.C. borderlands of East Whittier and La Habra. She holds a Ph. D. in Literature from UC San Diego and is the author of Mozlandia: Morrissey Fans in the Borderlands (Headpress UK, 2016).

Melissa Mora Hidalgo

Uptown Provisions, the Mom and Pop Food Shop of Whittier’s Dreams, Is Opening September 14

Cesar Hernandez is Lynwood&#8217;s second best export behind Weird Al, and a writer and podcaster. Illustration by Tommy Gallegos.

Cesar Hernandez

Head to Vermont and 27th to Try These Super Crispy Guisado-Filled Fried Quesadillas That Went Viral on Tiktok