Check out this bird&#8217;s eye map of Santa Monica as it appeared in 1877. Because it was so sparsely populated, it&#8217;s easy to see the configuration of the streets (most of which is still there), and imagine how the city has grown in the last 130+ years. The biggest obvious change is that Wilshire, Santa…

Bird’s Eye Map of Santa Monica Circa 1877

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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).

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Daniel Hernandez

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History

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Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT is a 3rd-generation Los Angeles native. Poet, professor, journalist, historian and tour-guide, his latest book &#8220;Letters to My City&#8221; was just published by Writ Large Press. He teaches at Woodbury University.

Mike Sonksen

The Mural Mile ~ A History of Pacoima Told Through the Tapestry of Street Art

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Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

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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

kids and adults spray paint a mural together

Photo Essay

Photo Essay: Tacos and Live Graffiti at L.A. TACO Community Day at The Broad

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

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Newsletter: Prosecutors Fought To Keep Him In Prison For 20+ Years, Now They Want To Make a Deal

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A Letter From Our Staff: Setting the Record Straight

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

The Incredible Mercado Gonzalez Opens On the Edge of L.A.

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.

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ICE Watch: Masked Agents Brutalized a Long Beach Man. Then News Outlets Invaded His Privacy

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I moved to L.A. 15 years ago after recovering from a crippling case of East Coast Bias. Viva California.

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