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Photo Essay

Announcing the TACO MADNESS 2024 ā€˜Best in Showā€™ Champion, Plus All the Tacos and Good Times You Missed Out On!

Thank you to every single of you who came out to support us in our quinceaƱera edition of TACO MADNESS 2024! This year's winner was a shocker and first-in-its class! See if you spot yourself and your TACO MADNESS crew in our photo recap!

Award-winning taco de suadero de Ditroit. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.

At approximately 7:45 PM, a new TACO MADNESS best-in-show champion was crowned, and it was a first in its class! For the first time, it was from a fine-dining Mexican restaurant. It was a unanimous decision by our three esteemed judges: Ditroit. Chef Chuy Cervantes and his team of modern taqueros made a juicy, delicious, lime-juice forward suadero (beef brisket) slowly confit in its own fat. The taco was topped with crushed house-made chicharrĆ³n on a house-nixtamalized tortilla made with native corn imported from Mexico and topped with a dollop of guacachile.

Award-winning taco de suadero de Ditroit. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Chuy Cervantes celebrating his Judge's Choice TACO MADNESS win.
Chuy Cervantes celebrating his Judge's Choice TACO MADNESS win. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Chef Chuy Cervantes and his Ditroit team on stage accepting their win.
Chef Chuy Cervantes and his Ditroit team on stage accepting their win. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Ditroit at their booth
Ditroit at their booth. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.

Of course, it wouldn't be proper TACO MADNESS without our three-time people's choice taco, Villa's Tacos formally accepting his trophy and and also starting the party on the dance floor.

Victor Villa of Villa's Tacos celebrating his 2024 win.
Victor Villa of Villa's Tacos celebrating his 2024 win. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Villa's Tacos giving their speech.
Villa's Tacos giving their speech. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Villa's Tacos team.
Villa's Tacos team. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.

Thank you to everyone who came out to eat, drink, dance, and have a good time supporting L.A. TACO and our independent journalism. Thank you to our judges: Anais Martinez, Ruben Leal, and Bricia Lopez. Thank you to our beer sponsor, Boomtown Brewery for supplying all the beer. Thank you to our tequila sponsor, Trujillo Tequila. Thank you to our soft beverage sponsor, Jarritos! Thank you to all our DJs for helping us Last but not least, thank you to our event partners, I Love Micheladas, for helping us throw the best taco festival in Los Angeles! See you all next year.

Here are some of our favorite moments of the night. All photos by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.

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