Are you up for a swim in a pool of plump shrimp, springy callo de hacha, bouncy octopus, and enough tender young coconut meat to be up to your nose in ceviche? Then dive right into Mr.Cocos75’s stand on Atlantic Avenue, specializing in Tecuala-style mariscocos that taste just as insanely delicious and refreshing as they do when eating on the beach in Mexico…but in the middle of Compton (or the Inland Empire, which is home to their second location).
The stand, which consists of an EZ-up tent and two plastic tables propped on the curb next to a park that opened, is easy to miss since there are at least a dozen other street food vendors and trucks located at this congested intersection. It’s been open since 2020 but went viral last year thanks to a post by beloved paisa influencer Chuy Patabionica. Since then, it has grown a cult following of working-class locals and seafood-obsessed families who sell the stand out nearly every day it opens. Recently, Mr. Biggs Menu posted him as well.
The street food stand is the first in L.A. to specialize in mariscocos, which is paradise in food form: a fresh macheted tender young coconut that is hollowed out and stuffed with an ungodly amount of fresh seafood and its own tender young coconut meat, mixed in a secret sauce made of a bit of clamato, Maggi, Worcestershire, and a handful of Mexican hot sauces. The resulting coconut is stuffed with so much seafood that it’s inevitable to have some fallen crustacean soldiers as you carry it to the lone folding table beside the stand. The mariscoco is as big as a basketball and weighs five pounds—at least.