[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]s there anything more peak summer-in-L.A. vibes than enjoying hyper-regional tacos over blazing hot asphalt radiating with triple-digit heat? Smorgasburg retuning on July 4th weekend is the guacamole on top of L.A.’s food scene returning back to its pre-pandemic big bad self. The free-to-enter weekly food event quickly became a bastion of L.A.’s food culture and while tacos were never intended to be the main event, that is about to change with their brand new taquería lineup—announced yesterday.
Burritos La Palma
Cena Vegan
Evil Cooks
Goat Mafia
Los Cochinitos
Los Dorados LA
Macheen
Tacos 1986
Todo Verde
Little Llama Peruvian Tacos
Just like that, Smorgasburg has given even Olympic’s Taco Row in Boyle Heights a run for its money. Whether you’re a tourist who traveled to L.A. to see what our Taco Life is about or whether you were born and raised here and need to be reminded of how fortunate we all are to have it at our fingertips, the convenience of having all these spots in one place will be appreciated by all. The usual heavy hitters like Evil Cooks, Macheen, Burritos La Palma, and Todo Verde will now have some equally heavy-hitting company with the addition of Los Dorados and Goat Mafia.
“It’s exciting to finally be at Smorgasburg and have so many new people try our Dorados,” Steven Orozco tells L.A. TACO. The flauta specialist has held a regular slot in our recent best-of lists for their crispy, salsa-slathered flautas.
Fans of OG L.A. birria are also ecstatic to be able to support The Goat Mafia at their first regular pop-up location. Juan Garcia has been perfecting his craft of Tamazula, Jalisco-style goat birria for the last decade, and he is particularly pumped to be able to spread his “si no es chivo, no es birria” taco gospel. “We feel like small fish in a big pond, but we’re pumped to be able to offer our true birria de chivo to the masses,” he says.
On the plant-based side, Jocelyn Ramirez of Todo Verde will be making sure that vegetarians and vegans will have plenty of wholesome options to choose from. Fresh from her recently released cookbook, La Vida Verde, Ramirez will be offering her meaty jackfruit tacos and more.
Zach Brooks, the event’s General Manager, said it best. “My dream has always been to come to Smorg and do a taco crawl and taste the best that L.A. has to offer in terms of styles of tacos. [This lineup] is a dream come true.”
Smorgasburg LA is re-Opening Every Sunday starting July 4th. 10 AM to 4 PM at @rowdtla. Free Entry, Family Friendly Beer Garden, No Pets.
