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Drink

L.A.’s Most Eccentric Bartender Just Swam 21 Miles From Catalina to L.A. This Is What Was Going Through His Mind

L.A. TACO caught up with Matthew Biancaniello to share what the hell was going through his mind, being in salty water for nearly a day, nearly naked because he is team-no-wetsuit, and both the mental and physical challenges he overcame to do it all.

October 24, 2025

This DIY Barista Is Shaking Up Highland Park’s Coffee Scene By Pulling Espresso Shots Out of His Car

"We're serving, quote-unquote, specialty coffee, fermented coffee, specialty high-grade coffee to the people at six bucks," says Daniel Arteaga, the barista behind 'Caffeineicide,' a mobile coffee bar who sets up across the street from what used to be known as "the most depressing Starbucks in America" in Highland Park.

October 2, 2025

You All Drank 45 Gallons of Our L.A. TACO Beer In Five Hours

Our first-ever beer collaboration with ISM Brewing was a huge success, as was our three-way food collaboration with Sonoratown and ISM.

September 29, 2025

A West Coast Pilsner with ‘Kush-Like Dankness’ for L.A. TACO

Its flavor notes are bright with saturated aromatics of grapefruit peel, melon Fanta, and pine resin colliding with the senses atop a super-tight and pale malt base with medium bitterness. Grab a Deadliner West Coast Pilsner before it's all gone.

September 23, 2025

OaxaCalifornia Resists Through Mezcal: L.A.’s Zapoteco Leaders Turn Rare Agaves Into Acts of Defiant Joy

No mass-market mezcales here; instead, small-batch agave masterpieces from maestros who've guarded ancestral recipes across generations, sipped alongside tlayudas and live danzón to remind everyone that resistance sometimes tastes like nuanced earth and wild honey.

September 19, 2025

L.A.’s Hidden Matcha Master: Masanori Den Shirakata, the Low-Key Legend Only Insiders Know

Masanori Den Shirakata represents the third generation of tea merchants, carrying forward a tradition that began when his grandfather first recognized the potential of Shizuoka, Japan, as a top-tier tea-producing region.

June 5, 2025

The 11 Best Places to Drink Ultra-Refreshing Tejuino In L.A.

A fermented, fizzy, corn masa beverage traditionally from Western Mexico and recognized for indigenous origins, tejuino packs a punch and delivers refreshing complexity with every sip. Here are L.A.'s best.

Bar Nuda Takes Over Venice With Zero-Proof Carajillos, Sushi-Grade Tostadas, and ‘Sade Night’

“We launched Bar Nuda to create a sober, social, safe space where people can go out, make connections, get those deep belly laughs, and without the pressure of drinking booze, while also celebrating our beautiful Mexican culture,” says one of the founders.

May 22, 2025

Hildegardo ‘Japo’ Joya, Guardian of Raicilla’s Coastal Soul, Dies at 92

Japo had a presence that loomed large everywhere his raicilla landed, whether that was in one of Mexico’s most beloved cumbia mezcal bars, like Guadalajara’s Pare de Sufrir, where people order raicilla by name of the master distiller instead of brands they are associated with. Or in Torrance on Madre’s mezcal menu, where they still have 20 bottles left of a label Japo made for the restaurant. Like the greats in any craft, he created his own style of distilling that no other raicilla has come close to replicating.

May 14, 2025

Casamigos and Don Julio Cited In Massive Lawsuit Over Adulterated Tequila

The lawsuit filed by three plaintiffs in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York allege that Diageo is "falsely marketing its highly popular tequila brands and selling adulterated tequila to consumers.”

May 6, 2025