Skip to Content
Photo Essay

Announcing the TACO MADNESS 2024 ‘Best in Show’ 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 quinceañera 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!

5:32 PM PDT on June 17, 2024

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 chicharrón 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. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Chef Chuy Cervantes and his Ditroit team on stage accepting their win. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
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. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
Villa's Tacos giving their speech. Photo by Andrew Lugo for L.A. TACO.
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.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More Stories

Are The Lakers Still L.A.’s Team?

We asked some hardcore fans and the answer is somewhere between a theory that their latest purchase will get them ready to move the team to Vegas or using the Lakers as a pawn for political influence.

August 20, 2026

Who Won Last Night’s Debate Between Nithya Raman and Karen Bass?

The homeowners of the San Fernando Valley may have been the real winners in the end. Here are our thoughts.

August 20, 2026

The East L.A. Artist Behind ‘Homeboy Beautiful’ Magazine Has Championed Queer Chicano Liberation Since the 70s

You can catch artist Joey Terrill's pioneering work at a handful of active and upcoming exhibitions around L.A.

August 19, 2026

You See His Murals Across L.A. and at Your Favorite Restaurants. Now Meet the Painter

From Warsaw to the Inland Empire and now to Los Angeles, the artist’s fingerprints are figuratively and literally all over some of Downtown's most storied buildings. But the craziest part is that even "taggers don't hate on it," Mikołaj Wyszynski says.

August 18, 2026

The Ten Most Shocking Movie Scenes Ever Shot in L.A., Ranked

Spoilers ahead! From Malibu to Boyle Heights, from the Valley to San Pedro, here's our guide to the locations from ten shocking movie scenes filmed in L.A.

August 18, 2026

Sunday Taquitos #31: “For Sale: Basketball Team, Never Won” (Plus Bonus Taquitos!)

Sunday Taquitos! Art by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ivan Ehlers.

August 16, 2026