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.
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.
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.