This is volume one of our new guide to the best vegan and vegetarian tacos in Los Angeles.
“How can you be vegetarian if you’re Mexican,” was the second most common question I received in elementary school, only after, “if you were on a deserted island, would you eat…” (the answer is no).
I was born and raised vegetarian into a family of four generations of vegetarians and I’m a proud child of Mexican immigrants. In my home, these two identities never came into conflict. The food on my table was always completely vegetarian and authentically Mexican—it was made by Mexicans, after all. Outside of my home, the little vegetarian options my family had were far from our high desert home, reserved for L.A. and Orange County, and the dishes rarely if ever resembled the food of our culture.