Taco Tuesdays
One of the most popular ways to eat tacos for less money is to hit up various taco tuesday events in town. Often these are held at bars where the taco quality may be slightly questionable, but you can't say no to a good deal, especially when beer is included. That said, several legit taco spots in LA currently offer some pretty good taco tuesday deals. Our current favorite is El Siete Mares, a classic mariscos spot in Boyle Heights (with other locations around L.A.) that has $1 fish tacos every tuesday, which is half off the regular price. Did you know that King Taco also offers a slight discount every tuesday? All tacos are marked down to $1.29 every tuesday. Pink Taco is a chain, not the most authentic, and originated at the Hard Rock in Vegas, but $2 tacos and $2 margaritas every Tuesday is not a bad deal at all. Do you have a favorite taco tuesday? Drop us a note in the comments and share the taco.
$1 Taco
One of our favorite taco authors, Bill Esparza, has often spoken about the "tyranny of the $1 taco", which dominates L.A. Food Trucks. When average incomes and other factors are taken into account, tacos in Los Angeles are cheaper than those in Mexico, even though some basic ingredients can cost more here. This forces taqueros to use lower-quality meats and use Coscto tortillas instead of making their own. So let's keep in mind that while $1 tacos may be part of a larger problem, they are also the solution for when you're hungry and broke. Many if not most stands and Loncheras will have $1 tacos, but which ones should you order? If the stand specializes in carnitas, this is a good option as the cooking methods will usually be more forgiving of tougher cuts of pork. When it comes to $1 carne asada, if you see an actual charcoal grill, you should be OK because even with tougher meat, the marinade combined with the charcoal flavor will win the day. Of course just for the sake of consistency, don't forget about the original Taco Dollar of Inglewood.
Taco Groupon
Groupon was the presenting sponsor of Taco Madness this year, which was a huge success. While working with them, we realized that Groupon has already been in the taco game for quite some time. If you search "taco" in their Los Angeles section, you'll find discounts of up to 50% on (at this writing) places like Best Fish Taco in Ensenada. There are a surprising amount of taco discounts already on offer, and we've been told more are to come.
Cook Your Own
Seriously, go cook your own tacos! It's fun and can be easy. But where are the best recipes? One of our favorite resources is Serious Eats. While we haven't tried all of their recipes, they have some pretty good ones we have tried, such as their barbacoa recipe. Barbacoa in general is a great one because you can feed a lot of people for a relatively low cost per person if you shop smartly for the meat. Sunset Magazine has been doing the Cal-Mex thing since it was invented, and while some of their recipes may not be the most authentic, they've been tested by a lot of people. Make sure to read the comments on every recipe you find online, as they can sometimes be as useful as the original recipe itself!
Reader Suggestions
From CW Barry:
Little Mexico - 2300 W. Whittier Blvd. - $1 Fish Tacos - usually 3 pieces of fish, white sauce with smokey chipote favor, In the Montebello Car Wash - so get your car washed with the Tuesday discount! A win-win.
Tacos Al Vapor el Cebelo - 6168 Whittier Blvd - $0.50 Tacos on Tuesday! Tasty bits of meat (including sesos). Folks drive from OC to get their tacos on. Everything cooked by steam.
Of course there is Tacos Baja Ensenada - 5385 Whittier Blvd but you need to be there on Wednesday for their famous Fish Tacos for $1
From Professor X:
Best deal on tacos in town is not in LA but Anaheim. Go to Taco Boy on Tuesdays, it's 85 cents per taco!
