There’s always room for one more regional-style taco in Southern California’s vast taco universe, especially if it’s as succulent and satisfying as El Lechoncito O.C.
Just when you thought you had experienced all the possible toppings that can go on meat and tortillas, Israel Mejía and Alan Sanz, the co-founders of this taquiza-only concept, are here to unlock a new level of taco-porkiness with their chicharrón-topped suckling pig tacos.
As proven by El Lechoncito O.C.’s origin story, tacos bequeath tacos. The idea to bring a regional taco variation not yet seen in Southern California came to Mejía and Sanz while eating tacos at Northgate’s Mercado in Costa Mesa.
“The thought hit us after eating: ‘Why don’t we do tacos like El Lechoncito de Oro here?’ They’re talking about Oaxaca’s legendary street food stands—and one of the only ones in a city of tlayudas—specializing in melt-in-your-mouth roast pork, in a rolled-up taco topped with a crispy piece of crispy pig skin, served on steamed tortillas. Anyone who’s ever had that legendary taco will likely (and vaguely) recollect eating an ungodly amount of them late at night while stumbling back to their lodging; it's scary how easy it is to eat half a dozen of them in five minutes because they are so delicious.
When El Lenchoncito O.C.'s taco was still just an idea, they worked together at Maizano, a modern Mexican restaurant inside Northgate’s Mercado. Mejía was the general manager, and Sanz was the executive chef. Before that, Mejia worked for five years at Enrique Olvera’s Cosme restaurant in New York, while Sanz was at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood. Mejía left Maizano to pursue El Lechoncito full-time while Sanz was still the chef there.
Together, the two are some of the proudest chilangos, both born and raised in Mexico City, and you can taste their lifetime of taco culture expertise with your first bite of El Lechoncito O.C.
Mejía clarifies that the taco is “100 thousand percent” inspired by Oaxaca’s O.G. lechon taco, but it’s still made in their style.
“It’s our homage to them for sure,” he tells L.A. TACO.
Sanz says the pork is marinaded in a secret recipe for ten hours and roasted for four hours until it falls apart. They top it with crumbled chicharrón that they puff up themselves, along with a habanero salsa and taquería-style guacamole. Right now, they are using La Princesita's white corn tortillas.
“We love their ethical approach to making tortillas,” Sanz tells L.A. TACO. He's referring to how La Princesita is very invested in the long-term success of their employees, even being the only pro-worker tortillería known for awarding scholarships to their staff and their children looking to pursue higher education.
Recently, suadero was added to their offerings as an option for people who don’t eat pork. For this, they use brisket, marinated for the same amount of time as the pork, and braised in a holy trinity of taquería fats, a blend of beef tallow, the fat drippings from longaniza (a type of chorizo), and lard, until the meat is lightly crispy on the inside and tender on the inside (like a beef version of carnitas).
In the three months, it has been open, the two taqueros have mostly appeared at taquizas (taco-catered events) and the occasional lively First Friday events hosted by I Love Micheladas.
The instant success of these tacos means even more to Mejía, who was undocumented when he came to the U.S. for work but is now happily naturalized. Not even a freak heat wave, where temperatures reached 101 by the coast, stopped people from coming out to try them last Saturday at the free Viva Long Beach music festival.
Their tacos have been in such high demand in these past few months that Mejía is already shopping for a food truck.
“Born and raised in Mexico City? “We just know the chemistry of the taco life here in L.A., including what kinds of tacos people want to eat at what times of day. I understood well what a taco means to so many people,” Sanz tells L.A. TACO.
El Lechoncito O.C. will be next at I Love Michelada’s First Fridays this Friday, September 17th, at 7 PM.
