linkDestination

caption

credit

creditUrl

originalHeight

originalWidth

srcset

height

width

core/image

core/paragraph

core/quote

Marina Watanabe is a multimedia journalist, social media editor, and video creator based in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Previously, she was a social media reporter for 404 by Los Angeles Times and Bitch Media, and her work has been featured by Teen Vogue, Elle, and GLAAD.

Screenshot 2024-03-11 at 12.47.52 PM

Marina Watanabe

Rows of burned cars in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire that destroyed much of Altadena in January, 2025. Photo by Maks Ksenjak for L.A. TACO.

altadena ash

Books

We Don’t Need to Imagine Octavia Butler’s Post-Apocalyptic L.A. It’s Already Here.

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).

Javi headshot

Javier Cabral

Den of Den's Tea posing next to their mascot.

Den of Den’s Tea posing next to their mascot.

People

L.A.’s Hidden Matcha Master: Masanori Den Shirakata, the Low-Key Legend Only Insiders Know

Shawn Stern playing at the Terragram Ballroom on Sunday, May 18th, 2025.

Interview

Punk Icon Shawn Stern On the World’s Best Underground Scene (and Surviving Slam Dancing in the Desert)

Chuy_tovar_holding_torta-1

Obituary

The L.A. Food and Drink World Mourns Jose “Chuy” Tovar, a Community Legend, Dead at 55

Alexis Zhou (she/her) is a freelance writer. Always down for hot pot, H Mart, and housing policy reforms.

unnamed

Alexis Zhou

Prof. Fatman Ding

Food

Homeless Chinese Man In DTLA Goes Viral With ‘American-Style Begging’  Videos, Branding Him Both a Hero and Villain Across the Pacific

Yaileen Ramos is a young Latina born and raised in East L.A. In her free time, she enjoys watching the Dodgers and Lakers. Yaileen aspires to be synonymous with her city.

IMG_4585 (2)

Yaileen Ramos

New Dancing With the Stars champions Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy

DWTS

Echo Park’s Own Xochitl Gomez Wins The Finale of Dancing With the Stars

logo_fixed_outline

image (9)

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_post_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_post_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_16x9_full_width

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_3x2_full_width

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_1x1_full_width

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_featured_flexible_full_width

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

lede_leaderboard

Explore

Footer - NEW

Legal Footer

Main - NEW

Mobile

Celebrating the Taco Lifestyle in Los Angeles, CA

la-taco-horizontal-1

L.A. TACO

Support L.A. TACO

support_snipe002 (1)

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.

Hadshot2022

Hadley Tomicki

A woman in a kerchief holds a massive flour tortilla she's made.

Screenshot 2026-01-23 at 07-07-05 SendGrid

Weekend Eats: Invasion of The Five-Pound, One-Foot Burrito

A sampling of tacos from Mideast Tacos in Silver Lake.

MidEast Tacos

L.A. Taco Guides

L.A.’s 7 Best Tacos Fusing Middle Eastern and Arabic Influences

IMG_2015

Aisha Wallace-Palomares

a person waves a flag (which is a mashup of the Mexica and American flag) in front of a sign that says "Grape Day Park City of Escondido"

No Kings Day Escondido(1)

Escondido Quietly Accepts $67,000 Contract with DHS to Use a Firing Range to Train 200 Special Agents

Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.

Memo Torres

Izzy was born and raised in Anaheim, Orange County. He is an aspiring investigative journalist.

Izzy_Ramirez

Izzy Ramirez

IMG_1209

Featured

DAILY MEMO: ICE and Border Patrol Continue Shooting and Assaulting Southern Californian Immigrants, Citizens, Women and Minors

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

IMG_5952

Lauren Bethke

A glass display containing loaves of bread in a deli

roma bread

L.A.’s 12 Best Old-School Italian Delis

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.”

Untitled design (3) copy

Janette Villafana

IMG_9872_VSCO

SoCal Day Laborers Increasingly Targeted By Scams, Wage Theft, and Deportation Threats

Members get unlimited access to all of our stories, along with incredible perks like free tacos, invites to our awesome events, access to our mobile app, and much more!

Become a Member of L.A. TACO

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

Cz Bartok

post

twitter_shaq

IMG_3601

Politics

‘These Animals Saved My Life:’ L.A.’s Equestrian Communities Fight Ordinance Seeking to Ban Local Rodeos