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

Free registration

Please register for L.A. TACO to Vote 

Register to continue

Please Register (For Free) To Read this Story

L.A. TACO

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

Screenshot courtesy of Sean Beckner-Carmitchel

Featured

Pro-Kevin de León Group Confronts BLM At Recent City Council Meeting Shouting ‘All Lives Matter’

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

The 19 Most-Read Articles of 2022

L.A. TACO STAFF

News

Headlines: L.A.’s ‘Patron Saint of the 110 Freeway’ Is Retiring After 37 Years In the L.A. Chamber Orchestra

Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.

Memo Torres

The Seven Best Tacos in Historic South-Central

Los Angeles

Headlines: Attorney for LAPD Officer Killed By Colleague During Training In Elysian Park Says ‘It Smacks of a Cover Up’

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

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

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