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L.A. TACO

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Neighborhoods

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

Featured

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

Astrid is a Salvadoran-American poet and writer based in Los Angeles.

Astrid

Tacos

Eat This Black-Owned Vegan Taco to Help Build South Central’s First Organic Grocery Store

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

Taco Madness

And the Winner of Taco Madness 2021 Is Villa’s Tacos! Meet Your New Champion

One of L.A. TACO&#8217;s co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a writer and editor on food, travel, and culture whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, UrbanDaddy, High Times, and many other places.

Hadley Tomicki

Weed

The Ultimate L.A. TACO Guide to Living Your Best Cannabis Life Around the City on 4/20

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

Christer Maxine Schmidt is a writer and musician from Thousand Oaks, California. She is currently a writer on The Echo newspaper published at California Lutheran University.

Christer Maxine Schmidt

Community

Few Gay Bars Left in L.A. Face Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Debt As City Prepares to Re-Open

In Long Beach, a Mujer-Owned Tortilla DIY Non-Profit  Raises Money for L.A.’s Homeless and More

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

Street Vending

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

Laura is a desmadrosa, a product of East Los, an educator, and a hood establishment connoisseur.

Laura Tejeda

People

How a DACA Recipient From East L.A. Hustled His Way to Growing and Owning His Own Fruit Stand at the Original Farmers Market

Rich Manning is a freelance writer who lives in Fountain Valley, CA with his wife and two daughters, and is likely eating a burrito as you read this.

Rich Manning

Food

More Than Your Favorite Peruvian Dish: Exploring the Dark History of Lomo Saltado’s Cross-Cultural Roots

Hollywood