The Los Angeles Times weighs in on the simmering debate over mobile taco wagons, commonly known as taco trucks, in East Los Angeles. The story frames the debate as one of vendors (taco trucks) versus merchants (restaurants). Featuring quotes from both vendors and merchants stating their cases, the story is light on the opinions of…

Restaurants Vs. Taco Trucks ~ East LA

core/image

core/paragraph

Erick Galindo is an award-winning writer, director, and journalist from Southeast L.A. His work spans TV, film, podcasts, and essays that explore the intersection of identity, culture, and chaos in Los Angeles.

Erick Galindo

Calvary Cemetery. Photo by Erick Galindo for L.A. TACO.

Featured

City of the Dead: The Forgotten History of the People of Los Angeles, Told By Six East L.A. Cemeteries

Abraham Marquez is a freelance writer from Inglewood and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ). He is a 2021 USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Fellow. He writes about social movements, sports, politics, and immigration. Instagram: @abemarquez02

Abraham Marquez

A band, Levitation Room, are pictured together. Four bandmates pose playfully in front of a white background.

Music

The Chicano Psychedelic Scene Has a New Emerging Star

Andrew Lopez is a Los Angeles native with roots all over the Eastside. He comes to Boyle Heights from Oakland, where he earned a master’s degree at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. He enjoys covering the intersections between art, culture and history within communities. Andrew is part of the inaugural cohort of the California Local News Fellowship and will be supporting Boyle Heights Beat into 2025.

Andrew Lopez

A customer picks up an order from the heavily stickered window at Jason’s Tacos in East L.A.

Food

Locked Doors, Warning Signs, and a Pivot to Delivery: How Eastside Businesses Are Adapting Amid ICE Raids

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

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

The exterior of Maravilla Housing Development from Google Street View.

News

Maravilla Housing Project Residents Fearful After Receiving Notice That Their Citizen Status Could Be Shared With DHS

Janette Villafana is an award-winning bilingual multimedia journalist. Her heart lies in community-based reporting, and her work is highly centered on showcasing and uplifting community voices, with a significant focus on the Latino community. She developed her beat at L.A. TACO, covering street vending communities in Los Angeles. Past work has been featured on NBC, LAist, Latino Rebels, and more. She is currently featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington in an exhibit titled “¡De última hora! Latinas Report Breaking News.”

Janette Villafana

Culture

Kids of Taqueros Take Over East L.A. Taco Stand to Keep Families Safe

Fried chicken with plantains, toppings and a special sauce.

Downtown

A Running List of Mom N’ Pop Businesses In Danger Of Closing That Need Community Support Right Now

Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Neighborhoods

Top Guides

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

L.A. TACO is paid for by readers, not billionaires. 8,000 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

This one's for members.

No advertiser paid for this. We depend on members to write these investigations, please join.

This investigation took months.

We're paid for by readers, not billionaires. 8,000 Angelenos keep this newsroom independent, and members read everything. Memberships start at $5.95/month.

Keep reading L.A. TACO.

Free registration

Please register for L.A. TACO to Vote 

Register to continue

We are truly independent local media.

Free to Read, just share your email 

Every place on this list was visited by someone on our staff. Create a free account to read all of it. No payment, no catch.

The rest of this guide is free. We just need an email.

We take our food reporting very seriously, and answer to readers, not advertisers.

The rest of this article is free. We just need an email.

The rest of this report is free. We just need an email.

We're indepdenent local news, help us write these stories by sharing your email (it's free)

All we ask is your email

Create a free account and keep reading. No payment, no catch. We're reader-funded, and this is how we get to know who we're writing for.

Read this one on us.

Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

L.A. TACO

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

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

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!?

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

a tattoo artist holds his flash sheets with imagery related to Palestine

Seven L.A. Tattoo Artists Supporting Palestine Through Ink and Flash Sheets

post

East Los Angeles

Original Pantry veterans Alex Ortiz and a cook named Pablo prepare breakfast at East Los Tacos., with Alex stretching across the kitchen to read an order as Pablo cooks pancakes on a griddle.