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Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

Acton

Adams-Normandie

Agoura Hills

Agua Dulce

Alhambra

Alondra Park

Altadena

Angeles Crest

Arcadia

Arleta

Arlington Heights

Artesia

Athens

Atwater Village

Avalon

Avocado Heights

Azusa

Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw

Baldwin Park

Bel-Air

Bell

Bell Gardens

Bellflower

Beverly Crest

Beverly Grove

Beverly Hills

Beverlywood

Boyle Heights

Bradbury

Brentwood

Broadway-Manchester

Burbank

Calabasas

Canoga Park

Carson

Carthay

Castaic

Castaic Canyons

Central-Alameda

Century City

Neighborhoods

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

Culture

‘It’s All Love and Unity:’ Meet the Dancing Trio Unifying Black and Brown Communities One Quebradita At a Time

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

Featured

Ten Big L.A. TACO Stories That Have Impacted Los Ángeles Made Possible By Member Support. Help Us Reach Our Goal to Keep Them Going

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

Cesar Hernandez

History

In the 90s, Compton’s ‘Candy Houses’ Gave Young SELA Kids a Corner Store Experience

Tacos

Your Compton Taco Crawl: Nayarit-Style Al Vapor Tacos, Jalisco-Style Tostadas Raspadas, and OG TJ-Style Asada

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

There Weren’t Enough Porta-Potties for the Homeless To Begin With, in October They’re Being Pulled

An award-winning journalist. Host of the Daily Memo. ‘Where Memo Torres Eats’ on Apple Maps. Seen on Netflix, occasionally on KCRW. 3rd-gen landscaper. Proud son of an immigrant. Golden Bear.

Memo Torres

Daniel Torres takes the lid off his giant Morelos style oven.

Meet The Taquero Who Built a Morelos Style Barbacoa Oven in His Compton Backyard

Jared Cowan is a photographer who also writes and podcasts extensively about L.A. filming locations. He is the co-founder of My Valley Pass, through which he leads film tours of the San Fernando Valley and Pasadena. Jared is also the co-editor of the recent book &#8220;World Film Locations: Los Angeles Volume 2&#8221; and the editor of the upcoming &#8220;World Film Locations: Philadelphia.&#8221;

Jared Cowan

Film

How Boyle Heights Became a Dance Battleground for Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo

Andrea Aliseda is a Tijuana born and San Diego grown writer, cook, and dog-mom living in Brooklyn, NY. Her work is anchored in Mexican food, its history, and plant-based present. You can follow her on Twitter at @alisedaandrea or Instagram at @food_hound for updates, travels and foodie things.

Andrea Aliseda

Step Aside Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog, Here’s Highland Park’s Vegan ‘Carrot Dog’

Street Vending

Fines and Confiscation: Explaining L.A.’s Arbitrary Street Food Cart Law the County Uses to Criminalize Street Vendors

Ben Mesirow is an Echo Park native who writes TV, fiction, food, and sports. At one time or another, his writing has appeared in The LA Times, Litro, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Los Angeles Magazine, and scratched into dozens of desks at Walter Reed Middle School.

Ben Mesirow

L.A. Taco Guides

Wake and Roast: The L.A. TACO Guide to Finding the Best Low-Key Local Coffee Beans

Compton