linkDestination

originalHeight

originalWidth

srcset

height

width

core/image

core/paragraph

<p>Jared Cowan writes and podcasts about L.A. filming locations. He also works as a photographer and camera operator.</p>


jared_cowan_portrait

Jared Cowan

Screenshot via New Line Cinema

Revisiting ‘Mi Familia’ and the Main Filming Location In Boyle Heights 30 Years Later

<p>Sara Alvarez is a bilingual multimedia journalist and undergraduate studying Public Relations and Advertising at USC Annenberg. She is currently a Social Media Intern for L.A. TACO, and the Social Media Manager for Annenberg Media’s Latine news desk, Dímelo. Born and raised in the Bay Area, her coverage focuses on community reporting, news, and popular culture.</p>


Screenshot_2024-12-09_at_3.55.25_PM

Sara Alvarez

<div class="contents_d3ae0d">
<div id="message-content-1250858460501901333" class="markup_a7e664 messageContent_abea64">Valeria Macias is a student reporter at USC, where she double majors in Journalism and NGOs and social change. Through her work in publications like the LA Times, USC Annenberg Media, Boyle Heights Beat, ABC7, and many others, Macias has amplified the voices within her local communities. Most of her reporting focuses on the local Angelino community and shines a light on issues of gentrification, street vending, city government, and more.</div>
</div>
<div id="message-accessories-1250858460501901333" class="container__62863">
<div class="visualMediaItemContainer__582ad">
<div class="oneByOneGrid__36e03 oneByOneGridSingle__8c6ef">
<div class="mosaicItem__2e894 mosaicItemNoJustify_ef758c mosaicItemMediaMosaic_ac9e71 hideOverflow__5f669">
<div class="imageContent__0fe2a embedWrapper__47b23 itemContentContainer__77d7f mosaicItemContent__289da">
<div class="imageContainer__1b5e9">
<div class="imageWrapper__178ee imageZoom__9528e clickable__2869d lazyImgContainer_b0a5df"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Screenshot 2024-06-13 at 12.32.17 PM

Valeria Macias

homeboys the musical

Culture

Barrio to Broadway: How ‘Homeboys, the Musical’ Turns Trauma Into Acapelas

Screenshot of Friday via New Line Cinema.

Screenshot

Film

Revisiting the Iconic Film Locations from ‘Friday,’ 30 Years Later

<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<p>Jesse Katz is the author of <i>The Rent Collectors: Exploitation, Murder, and Redemption in Immigrant LA</i>, which is a finalist for an <i>L.A. Times</i> book prize and a PEN America literary award. He spent 24 years on staff at the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> and <i>Los Angeles</i> magazine.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="yj6qo ajU"></div>


Jesse Katz – color author portrait

Jesse Katz

Miguel Angel Garcia next to the candle vigil in the alley. Screenshot via Die Like a Man.

Die Like a Man – Miguel Angel Garcia next to the candle vigil in the alley

What ‘Die Like a Man’ Gets Right that Other L.A. Hood Movies Don’t

In a scene from Police Academy 2, Bobcat Goldthwait, left of center, as the Scullians’ leader, Zed, standing around other actors portraying his gang. Screenshot via Warner Bros.

How the Old L.A. Zoo Was Turned Into Police Academy 2’s Punk Hideout, 40 Years Ago

<p>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.</p>


Hadshot2022

Hadley Tomicki

A blue Dodgers hat with pink flowers with smiley faces by Takashi Murakami.

01_MLBxMurakami-Pt3-7_59Fifty_Dodgers_Fitted_Blue

Sports

Tokyo Art Legend Takashi Murakami Is Making Dodgers Gear Now

logo_fixed_outline

image (9)

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

la-taco-horizontal-1

L.A. TACO

Support L.A. TACO

support_snipe002 (1)

<p><span class="OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">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.”</span></p>


Untitled design (3) copy

Janette Villafana

IMG_1669_VSCO

Featured

A Breakdown on How Tensions Rose Between Protestors and Law Enforcement at Santa Ana’s Monday Demonstration

Screenshot 2025-06-10 at 12-01-43 about-crla-header.jpg (JPEG Image 1344 × 534 pixels)

Protests

17 Non-Profit Organizations Supporting Immigrants Right Now

<p>I document Los Angeles. I walk the streets religiously trying to expose every alley, avenue, and crack the sidewalks have to offer.</p>


Kemal Cilengir

A person in a pink Labubu costume holding a sign that says "ICE Out of LA"

000205560009

Photo Essay

Photo Essay: L.A. In Resistance On June 8, 2025

Protests signs being held up showing the face of union leader David Huerta

IMG_1595_VSCO

Union Leader Released From Custody After Thousands Rally at Downtown’s Grand Park This Morning

LA_TACO_LOGO_SC_WHITE_Black_240

L.A. TACO STAFF

LAPD patrol cars lined up on the freeway, with smoke rising above an overpass above them

lapdcarsfreeway

5 Surprising Things We Saw at This Weekend’s Protests In Downtown L.A.

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Gabriel Buelna holds a PhD in Political Science from Claremont Graduate University and serves as a faculty member in the Chicana/o Studies Department at California State University, Northridge. He is also a practicing Family and Criminal Law attorney in California. Dr. Buelna is also a Trustee for the Los Angeles Community College District and can be reached at </span><a href="mailto:gabriel@buelnalaw.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">gabriel@buelnalaw.com</span></a>.<span style="font-weight: 400"> </span></p>


Gabriel Buelna

<p style="text-align: left"><span style="font-weight: 400">Enrique M. Buelna is a faculty member in the History Department at Cabrillo College. He specializes in Chicano history with an emphasis on class, race, labor, radical activism, civil rights, immigration, culture, and identity. He is the author of Chicano Communists and the Struggle for Social Justice (2019). Dr. Buelna earned his doctorate in history from the University of California, Irvine, and holds an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Washington, Seattle.  </span></p>


Enrique M. Buelna photo

Enrique M. Buelna

Los Angeles police with shields, one in camo, standing in Downtown L.A.

lapdcamo

Opinion

Trump Can’t Win The Battle for Los Angeles

Members get unlimited access to all of our stories, along with incredible perks like free tacos, invites to our awesome events, access to our mobile app, and much more!

Become a Member of L.A. TACO

post

<p>Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT is a 3rd-generation Los Angeles native. Poet, professor, journalist, historian and tour-guide, his latest book &#8220;Letters to My City&#8221; was just published by Writ Large Press. He teaches at Woodbury University.</p>


Cesar Chavez ~ Venice Beach

Stay in touch

More from L.A. TACO