Cuban Music Festival ~ Echo Park, May 18 Sunday&#8217;s festival brought a balanced mix of proud anti-Castro Cuban Americans, salseros who just wanted to dance, conga players and energy inciters, local bands, and families from the neighborhood who stood in long lines for home style Cuban cooking (empanadas, platanos, papas rellenas, fried yucca and more).…

Cuban Music Festival ~ Echo Park

core/image

core/paragraph

core/more

Blending her time in the kitchen as a line cook with her passion for storytelling, Lauren Bethke writes about community, inclusivity and the city she loves the most—Los Angeles.

a woman sits outside wearing a black long sleeve outfit

Lauren Bethke

a sign in the style of a parking sign: "NO I.C.E. PLEASE GET A REAL JOB"

Signage

Who Is L.A.’s Hero Posting Up These Anti-ICE Parking Signs?

Julianne Le graduated from UCLA in 2025 with a major in English and minor in Asian American Studies. Maybe it&#8217;s because she isn&#8217;t jaded yet, but she is super eager to peek into the overlooked corners of L.A. and write about them. Le is the former editor-in-chief of UCLA&#8217;s Pacific Ties Newsmagazine and was a finalist for the Associated Collegiate Press&#8217; &#8220;Podcast of the Year&#8221; award in 2024.

Julianne Le

a collage featuring women, drag queens, and Indigenous art. a woman speaking into a microphone is the central focus. it is a colorful collage with bright purples, blues, red, yellow, and green

Culture

‘If We Don’t Laugh, We’ll Cry’: Meet the Indigenous Activists Behind L.A.’s Chapter House

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

Film

L.A.’s Most Iconic Horror Movie Houses and Where To Find Them

Héctor Zaldívar is the head of a print magazine and art/music publication titled Dead Relatives. Completely written and designed by Zaldívar, every month subscribers are mailed in-depth stories on different subcultures from graffiti in Latin America to hardcore punk to lowrider culture and back.

Héctor Zaldívar

How An OG Chicano-Run Tattoo Parlor Doubles as a Secret Art Gallery in a Shifting Neighborhood

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

Ozempic billboard photographed from a car on the 101 Freeway.

Featured

Ozempic Sponsoring the L.A. Olympics? Who’s Behind This Billboard In Echo Park?

Gerado Flores shows an L.A. TACO reporter the bloody, golf ball-sized abrasion he sustained after being hit with an LAPD projectile.

News

Street Vendors Injured By LAPD Projectiles While Caught In Crossfire During Dodger Celebrations

Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Neighborhoods

Top Guides

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

L.A. TACO is paid for by readers, not billionaires. 7,800 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

This one's for members.

No advertiser paid for this. No hedge fund owns us. Investigations take records requests, lawyers, and reporters on the ground for months at a time, and 7,800 members are the only reason we can do them. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

This investigation took months.

We're paid for by readers, not billionaires. 7,800 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent, and members read everything. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

Keep reading L.A. TACO.

Free registration

Please register for L.A. TACO to Vote 

Register to continue

We don't take endorsements and nobody pays us to cover local politics. Create a free account to keep reading, and we'll send you the next voter guide before you need it.

Free to Read, just share your email 

Every place on this list was visited by someone on our staff. Create a free account to read all of it. No payment, no catch.

The rest of this guide is free. We just need an email.

Create a free account and keep reading. No payment, no catch. We're reader-funded, and this is how we get to know who we're writing for.

Read this one on us.

Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

Karina Soriano is a Los Angeles-based journalist who covers the crossroads of music, food, art, and social issues. She spotlights the everyday people who really keep L.A. moving. Usually, while stuck in traffic, looking for a good place to eat.

Karina Soriano

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

Andrew Bangs, or simply Bangs to his compatriots, is a long-time LA Taco supporter and occasional contributor. He spends a lot of time thinking about his dog.

Andrew Bangs

Chicken wing skewers grilled over charcoals

L.A. Taco Guides

The 21 Best Street Kebabs in L.A.

Taco Members Only

The Whole ‘Hood Knows He’s Innocent. Will He Finally Be Freed After 20 Years In Prison?

a woman dressed as a clown pulls a ribbon from her vagina as a bit

Party Pics

This Clown Sex Party Creampied 12 Brave Souls in DTLA (for Charity)

<div>Ivan Ehlers is an Ecuadorian-American cartoonist and writer. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, MAD Magazine and the Los Angeles Times.</div>
<div></div>
<div>IG: <a id="m_-8957504711371111195plusReplyChip-0" class="gmail_plusreply"></a>@ivan_ehlers</div>

Ivan Ehlers

Comix

Sunday Taquitos #32: Total Recall

Aisha Wallace-Palomares

a drawing of a federal immigration agent behind caution tape

What to Do If a Federal Immigration Agency Kills Your Loved One

L.A.’s Best Arepas Find a Permanent Home In Mar Vista

Former editor of L.A. Taco. I still live in Los Angeles but mainly just hang out at parks and stare off into the distance.

Erich Redson

post

Echo Park

Erwin Recinos is a seasoned visual artist with an eye for capturing life as a working commuter aboard public transportation in and around Los Angeles. For 20 years now, Recinos has been documenting the urban landscape, street culture, and Hispanic communities of Los Angeles utilizing his daily routine and the city of Los Angeles as an inspiration. Recinos also works with popular food and event websites such as LATACO.com and Eater LA to capture the cuisine and culture that is so important to the city of Los Angeles and across Southern California.

Erwin Recinos

An award-winning journalist covering ICE and immigration raids. 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.