Wednesday, May 23rd @ The Echo ~ 1822 Sunset Blvd. Echo Park, CA 90026 ~ 18+ ~ 9PM ~ $7/$5 with flyer Husband and wife rock duo The Monolators, fresh from a West Coast tour,&nbsp; are putting together some of LA&#8217;s finest indie-rock bands for their 3rd annual music video premiere extravaganza. The robots of…

Monolators’ 3rd Annual Video Extravaganza ~ Wednesday May 23 ~ Echo Park

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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.

a woman sits outside wearing a black long sleeve outfit

Lauren Bethke

a sign in the style of a parking sign: "NO I.C.E. PLEASE GET A REAL JOB"

Signage

Who Is L.A.’s Hero Posting Up These Anti-ICE Parking Signs?

Julianne Le graduated from UCLA in 2025 with a major in English and minor 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

Culture

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

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.

Hadley Tomicki

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.

Héctor Zaldívar

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

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.

Lexis-Olivier Ray

Ozempic billboard photographed from a car on the 101 Freeway.

Featured

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

Gerado Flores shows an L.A. TACO reporter the bloody, golf ball-sized abrasion he sustained after being hit with an LAPD projectile.

News

Street Vendors Injured By LAPD Projectiles While Caught In Crossfire During Dodger Celebrations

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Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

Marina Watanabe is director of video and a reporter at L.A. TACO based in Koreatown. Previously, she worked as a video reporter for 404 by Los Angeles Times and a video producer at Condé Nast publications Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Them.

Marina Watanabe

a drawing of Karen Bass and Nithya Raman looking at one another

Politics

One of L.A.’s Deadliest Roads is Next to Two Famous Cemeteries. Now It’s a Flashpoint for the Mayoral Race

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.

Erwin Recinos

a brown classic car in the middle of a palm tree-lined road

Photo Essay

This Is How Lowriders In L.A. Do Mexican Independence Day

Aisha Wallace-Palomares

outside of ICE's California City Detention Center

Detainees Are Allegedly Attempting Suicide in California City Detention Center

Peads & Barnetts pork chop with king beans and salsa molcajete at Rustic Canyon. Photo by Hadley Tomicki for L.A. TACO.

Taco Members Only

The Westside’s Most Thrilling New Modern Mexican Restaurant Is . . . Rustic Canyon!?

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).

Javier Cabral

L.A. TACO STAFF

L.A. Taco Guides

The 19 Best Carne Asada Tacos in L.A.

An award-winning journalist covering ICE and immigration raids. Host of the Daily Memo. ‘Where Memo Torres Eats’ on Apple Maps. Seen on Netflix, occasionally on KCRW. 3rd-gen landscaper. Proud son of an immigrant. Golden Bear.

Memo Torres

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.

Izzy Ramirez

ICE WATCH Newsletter: Over 170,000 Salvadorans With T.P.S. Protections Are Safe, For Now

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.