core/image

core/paragraph

core/more

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.

Hadshot2022

Hadley Tomicki

seven African dishes of various sides with a plate of fried whole fish in the center

Screenshot 2025-12-04 at 12-36-23 Instagram

Food

Weekend Eats: Free Bison Barbacoa ‘Tacos For Toys’ At Evil Cooks

Julianne Le is a recent grad from UCLA where she majored in English and minored 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

Untitled design (1)

Culture

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

halloween

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.

DR DM Hector Zaldivar Headshot

Héctor Zaldívar

Photos by Suitcase Joe for L.A. TACO.

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

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.”

Untitled design (3) copy

Janette Villafana

LA_TACO_LOGO_SC_WHITE_Black_240

L.A. TACO STAFF

Screen Shot 2025-05-19 at 12.09.55 PM

Tacos

The 11 Best Birria Tacos in Los Angeles

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.

GmU3Yd9R_400x400

Lexis-Olivier Ray

Ozempic billboard photographed from a car on the 101 Freeway.

ozempic-olympics-billboard

Featured

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

logo_fixed_outline

image (9)

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_post_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_post_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_1:1

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_16x9_full_width

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_3x2_full_width

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_1x1_full_width

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_featured_flexible_full_width

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)

Kate Stuzin is a senior at USC majoring in journalism with a minor in law and social justice, currently serving as an assignment desk intern at ABC7 Los Angeles. She creates reels on Instagram @bykatestuzin and reports for Annenberg TV News, covering stories across campus and the greater LA community.

IMG_3318

Kate Stuzin

a man and woman, a couple, pose together from behind their tea stand

image4

Drink

No Sign, No Menu, and Alcohol-Free: Inside Downtown L.A.’s Hidden Tea Speakeasy

A.k.a. Afroxander; Weekend Editor at L.A. Taco and a lecturer at San Diego State University. He has covered arts, culture, history, politics, and sports with an emphasis on Latin America and its U.S. diaspora for over two decades.

IVAN

Ivan Fernandez

Baldwin Park

CBP Briefly Detains U.S. Citizen While at His Construction Job in Baldwin Park

Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.

3ED26A28-28D3-4417-9E0B-AD5FD951AE65_1_105_c

Memo Torres

Izzy was born and raised in Anaheim, Orange County. He is an aspiring investigative journalist.

Izzy_Ramirez

Izzy Ramirez

Screenshot 2025-12-04 at 9.57.57 pm

Daily Memo: Over 20 Kidnapped by ICE and CBP, Including Another U.S. Citizen, Amid Escalating Southern California Raids

IMG_2015

Aisha Wallace-Palomares

IMG_5312

News

Border Patrol Detains Three at La Puente Chilaquiles Stand Before Seizing Its Cash Box

an armed border patrol agent lurks near a food stand on the sidewalk

Screenshot 2025-12-03 at 6.21.14 pm

Daily Memo: Feds Detain U.S. Citizens and Take Street Vendor’s Cash Box

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

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

2 tacos on flour tortillas spilling oput beans, steak, and onions next to cups of red and green salsa at el ruso

Cuban Music Festival ~ Echo Park

Read More:

Stay in touch

More from L.A. TACO