When they hear the words "King" and "Taco" together, most people in L.A. will likely think of the large, crowned marquee advertising this local Mexican food chain's success story, as it lights up an East L.A. blacktop into the witching hours.
Or, if you go back long enough, to the ice cream truck-turned-lonchera parked next to an East L.A. bar that Gustavo Arrellano cited as the city's first taco truck in an obituary of King Taco co-founder Raúl Martinez in 2013.
What most imaginations probably fail to conjure is King Taco's mean salsa roja over its meh asada being conveyed inside the belly of a four-wheeled Coco robot that came from the innards of a ghost kitchen that also houses a location of Gywneth Paltrow's Goop Kitchen.
But lo, a new era has dawned, as we learn that King Taco is coming to Venice and Santa Monica this week. Last Friday, King Taco formally let the cat out of the bag, announcing on Instagram that it's arriving in Santa Monica and Venice this Friday, May 2, and promising the "Same Flavor. New Neighborhoods," after teasing a surprise announcement for days.
King Taco, which originated in the northeast L.A. neighborhood of Cypress Park, before expanding to a current 19 locations stretching from Pasadena and Ontario down to Long Beach, is yet to bring its menu of tacos, burritos, tamales, rotisserie chicken, and sopes west of Hoover prior to this.
Sadly, the Westside will not be getting its own brick-and-mortar locations, however. Nor will the Westside finally be endowed with one of its big-ass, beautiful signs.
Instead, King Taco is going the ghost kitchen route, with plans to serve its menu in pickup and delivery orders from two Westside locations of the Colony, the ghost kitchen concept that houses numerous restaurant concepts in one space, including breakfast burrito sellers Sobuneh (Santa Monica) and The Rooster (Venice), hot chicken-slinger Main Chick, and yes, Goop Kitchen.
The Colony, which draws a steady crowd to its dine-in patio at its Sawtelle-based address, offers delivery through the usual apps, as well as pink robots named Coco that can be seen rolling around the neighborhood, bringing people their lunch and dinner.
Whether a stripped-down King Taco without the benefits of diner nostalgia, human interaction, or a giant sign will be able to compete with some of the neighborhood's better Mexican restaurants, tamaleros, and taquerías will have to be seen.
A bigger question, perhaps, with two new Westside addresses, and imaginably lower operating costs than its fully staffed, stand-alone locations, will it still be possible to get an order from King Taco priced under ten bucks after drinking your face off at some unholy hour?
Either way, with established L.A. eateries like Canter's, Sweet Rose Creamery, and Sasabune having already expanded their footprints with Westside ghost kitchen versions, King Tacos' move feels like a continued step in familiar L.A. restaurants growing their reach with less risk through these multi-concept complexes.
Enter your brave new, lengua-covered nacho and all-meat burrito world starting Friday.
401 Lincoln Blvd. Venice, CA 90291; 11419 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025
