[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]f L.A. is a taco city, then Wes Avila is the mayor, a fine-dining chef turned taquero who has liberated this street food tradition beyond the city limits with Mexican-American guisados (stews) inspired by our local farmers’ markets and food purveyors. At his ambulant Alta California (modern Mexican-American) institution, Guerrilla Tacos, Santa Barbara spot…

Highlights from the Rogue 99 ~ Guerrilla Tacos

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<p>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).</p>


Javier Cabral

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<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, NBC, Telemundo, 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>
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Valeria Macias

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<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>


Hadley Tomicki

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<p>Emna Hillou is a Los Angeles–based writer, director, and producer interested in how food carries history and memory. Her work explores identity, food, surfing, and overlooked stories across the Middle East, North Africa, and Latin America.</p>


Emna Hillou

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L.A. TACO STAFF

<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>


Janette Villafana

Taco Gobernador with a sliced acovado on top.

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<p><span class="il">Lizbeth</span> Solorzano is a graduate student pursuing a Master&#8217;s in Specialized Journalism. As a native to Los Angeles, she loves writing stories about arts, culture, and local news. Growing up bilingual, she loved learning about different cultures and stories around L.A.</p>


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Lizbeth Solorzano

<p>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.</p>


Lexis-Olivier Ray

News

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<p>Izzy Ramirez is a Los Angeles-based staff reporter with L.A. TACO, documenting immigration enforcement and state power as it unfolds on the ground. Their work centers real-time alerts and long-term public archiving throughout the Southern California region.</p>


Izzy Ramirez

<p>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.</p>


Erwin Recinos

Daily Memo: ICE Returns to Downtown LA ISAP Office, Increases Raids in the Inland Empire

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">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.</span></p>


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Lauren Bethke

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<p>Bill Esparza  is a professional musician, writer, and blogger whose travels throughout Latin America have made him a leading expert on Latin American cuisines.</p>


Bill Esparza

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A sampling of tacos from Mideast Tacos in Silver Lake.