Skip to Content
Featured

From the Streets and Swapmeet to DTLA: Here Are the Six New Food Vendors Joining Smorgasburg LA in 2020, Including One Taquero

[dropcap size=big]N[/dropcap]ew year, same hungry you. 

Once you’ve realized that balance and moderation beat any “clean-eating” trendy diet you vowed to take on in January 1st, Smorgasburg LA has announced six exciting vendors that will be making a debut this Sunday, January, 12th. The list spans from handmade noodles to a promising new carnitas vendor. This new wave of 2020 pop-up eateries brings the total count of food vendors at the weekly free-to-enter food event at ROW DTLA to a whopping 67 food vendors.

10 of which specializing in tacos, making taqueros the most popular type of food vendor at Smorgasburg LA. 

“Obviously we are insanely proud of all of the regional and modern Mexican food we have. But I won’t be happy until you can do a taco crawl of every single one of L.A.’s best regional tacos at Smorgasburg,” says Zach Brooks, Smorgasburg LA’s general manager. 

The OG foodblogger and talent scout who approves all vendors informs L.A. Taco that he receives “many hundreds” applications from vendors a year and while “they feel bad that it’s so difficult to get in,” this painstaking integrative process allows Smorgasburg LA to “grow as organically as possible without adversely affecting the vendors that already vend with us.”  

A quick check of their vendor list indeed does show that none of their featured taquerias specialize in the same dish.  

As for their promising new taquero, Los Cochinitos, Brooks informs us that it is owned by “two young brothers with strong family roots in Los Angeles and Michoacán.” He first encountered their tacos and tortas ahogadas at the El Faro Swapmeet (next door to the Alameda Swapmeet) and he is confident that they will carry the torch left behind from Carnitas El Momo, one of the founding vendors of Smorgasburg LA. 

“They make amazing carnitas and we’re excited to be able to help them take the next step with their new business.”

L.A. Taco was able to confirm that you can choose your carnitas by cut at Los Cochinitos, just as you can in Michoacán. From pork butt, pork skin, stomach, ear, tripe, heart, tongue, kidney, and snout—all of which is slowly cooked for four hours.

Here is the rest of the five vendors. 

Burmese Please - Run by Compound Butter co-founder Jessie Nicely, Burmese Please features of a menu of Burmese specialties like tea leaf salad, roti with potato curry, and mohinga, a hearty catfish and noodle stew that is Myanmar’s national dish.  

 

View this post on Instagram

 

While we love seeing the snow peaked mountains, and we look forward to the wild flower bloom this coming spring, all as a result of the recent storms, we are very happy the weather is giving us a break so we can return to the streets this week! Look for Live Noodz tonight and Wednesday through Saturday on York in Highland Park. 5030 1/2 York Blvd, in front of @crushpress We will start between 5 and 6pm until 10pm or until we sell out! #handpullednoodles #flourpowerla #chineselaundryinla #lovenoodles #infatuationla #noodleslife #chinesenoodles #lachinesefood #losangeleseats #lafoodie #eaterla #chineseart #sendnoods #ladining #lafood #lafoodies #lafoodjunkie #lafoodbowl #兰州拉面 #衣食饭碗 #手工拉面 #舌尖文化

A post shared by Chinese Laundry (@chineselaundryinla) on


Chinese Laundry - Before becoming one of the breakout stars of York Boulevard’s street food scene, Chinese Laundry was one of the original Smorgasburg LA launch vendors. Chef Leo Lamprides and his crew are making their triumphant return to the market with their juicy roasted duck and the live hand-pulled noodle Biang Biang Mian. 

Dante’s Fried Chicken - DFC runs as a delivery-only service out of Cassell’s Burgers in Koreatown, but Smorgasburg will be the only place you can get his famous fried chicken tenders, tastes like chicken tofu nuggets, and delicious biscuits live and fresh out of the fryer.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

From the streets of the Philippines to the streets of Los Angeles. Coming soon to @smorgasburgla ! Stay Tuned!

A post shared by Mano Po (@eat.manopo) on

Mano Po - A new concept brought to you by the creators and founders of Lobsterdamus, featuring a taste of food from their home county the Philippines. Chose between chicken inasal or Manila BBQ chicken, both cooked over mesquite and served with rice and pickled green papaya.

Paratta - Paratta is a modern Desi concept bringing South Asian street food to the masses. Their menu features their namesake, a flaky buttery paratta, wrapped around 100 percent halal meats and vegetable dishes, with flavors from both India and Pakistan. Started originally as a food truck, Paratta will be setting up in a booth for the very first time at Smorgasburg, as they continue their journey towards eventually opening up a brick and mortar restaurant. 

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Tamal or Tamale? How to Correctly Pronounce the Singular Form of Tamales

The tamal vs. tamale debate has an almost emotional connection with people simply because it becomes a “how my family speaks the language vs. how it’s ‘supposed to be’ written” type of language conflict. In a culture like Mexico, where family always comes before anything, it makes sense that people will go with what feels familiar rather than what they are expected to say.

December 24, 2024

L.A.’s 13 Best Bars With Games and Activities

The best L.A. bars for axe-throwing, cumbia nights, playing pool, doing graffiti, smoking, playing pinball, and other fun, possibly delinquent activities.

December 23, 2024

Everything Wrong with Tesla’s $500 ‘Mezcal’

"Mezcal has become a commodity for many, without any regard for the earth, [or] for Indigenous people's land rights," says Odilia Romero, an Indigenous migrants rights advocate from Oaxaca and the executive director for CIELO. "Oaxaca is also having a water access issue.

December 20, 2024

This Weekend: Sonoran Caramelos, Brisket Tteokbokki, Mex-Italian Fusion, and Country-Fried Tofu

Plus, Malay-style wings, a collaboration pizza-topped with Philippe The Original's French-dipped beef and hot mustard, and more in this week's roundup.

December 20, 2024

More Than 70 People Reported Feeling Ill After Eating Oysters At L.A. Times ‘101 Restaurants’ Food Event

Ragusano is disappointed that the L.A. Times didn’t publicly disclose that there was an outbreak at their event. “Obviously they’re not going to print it in their paper,” Ragusano said. “But they‘re a newspaper and newspapers are supposed to share the news. This is how people usually find out about something like this,” she added. “It's ironic because it happened to them.”

December 19, 2024
See all posts