Bill Esparza just made some taco caterers extremely happy. We literally get emails and texts every day asking if we can recommend a good taco truck or caterer for a party, which means Bill must get those requests hourly. Now he's compiled his recommendations into a handy list available at L.A. Magazine. The list is excellent and from now on everyone should refer to this first, even though a lot of them are going to be booked up for awhile after this gets around...
We haven't actually met them but we consider the people at HomeState to be buds because they like our posts on social media. They also happen to serve truly delicious breakfast tacos that even die-hard Texans agree are the real deal. So we applaud the latest news, reported this morning by Eater LA: HomeState Brings Breakfast Tacos to Highland Park Later This Year. From the article by Farley Elliot:
HomeState will move into a portion of the Swap Mall building on Figueroa, between Avenue 56 and Avenue 57. That puts them just steps from newcomers like the absolutely stunning Highland Park Bowl, and adjacent from the recently installed ETA cocktail bar. The exterior of the building is actually historically preserved, so HomeState owner Briana Valdez will be looking to keep the comfortable facade while embedding her restaurant inside the building.
The homies at Foodbeast report on (or help create?) a new trend: Grilled Cheese Tacos. They include step-by-step instructions for making these beasts at home, although it's unclear if you'd want to actually do this.
We missed this item from last week: one of the vendors in the new Smorgasburg thingie will be "Califas Tacos," which is described as a new concept from Mexicali founder Esdras Ochoa, who is also very busy with the soon-to-open Salazar in Frogtown. The idea behind Smorgasburg is a large outdoor market of vastly different types of food and drink. It goes live on June 19th at the Alameda Produce Market. Here's the complete list of vendors, which also includes Guerrilla Tacos, Carnitas El Momo, Burritos Las Palmas, and TJ's Tacos LA which is a new name for us:
On the list of confirmed vendors is Califas Tacos (Mexicali owner Esdras Ochoa’s new taco concept), McConnell’s Ice Cream, the Jolly Oyster, Wax Paper, Raindrop Cakes, Banh Oui, Calo Provisions, Good Gravy Bakes, Maury’s Bagels, RiceBox L.A., Stand Coffee, Semolina Artisanal Pasta, the Sprouted Nut Company, T.J’s Tacos L.A., Paloma Paletas, Poke Alaea, White Guy Pad Thai, Wax Paper, Bub and Grandma’s Bread, Burritos La Palma, Guerrilla Tacos, Carnitas el Momo, Donut Friend, Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese, Belly & Snout, Art of Tea, BigMozz, Elvio’s Chimichurri, Goa Taco, Little Branch Foods, Little Spoon Frozen Pudding, Lobsterdamus, Mama Musubi, Monsieur Egg, NanaPops, Pizzanista, PopdUp, Primera Taza, Ramen Burger, Rucker’s Pie (from noted L.A. pastry chef Nicole Rucker), Smoke Loaf & Saucer, Sticky Rice, Three Jerks Jerky, Todo Verde, Ugly Drum, Venice Cold Brew and We Have Noodles.
Meanwhile, we don't think this has been reported anywhere yet but the other co-founder of Mexicali, Javier Fregoso, is working on the Baja Grill Company, a taco concept that he announced on Facebook last month with the following statement:
Ladies and gent, THE NEXT GENERATION OF TACOS ARE HERE! After founding Mexicali taco & Co, is time to move to bigger and better things. Thanks to my fellow dearest true associates, workmates and kindred spirit individuals that didn't and won't let me down, this project came alive and ready to be the next best chain of tacos!
Also included was the logo which you see above, but no further details in terms of location or dates. We'll keep tracking this and all future taco news in this space, every Tuesday. If you have taco news please let us know!!!
L.A. will also have to reimburse the street vendors for their past fines relating to this controversial sign. However, this does not include any other fines related to equipment restrictions or lack of permits. This also means that while a vendor can’t be cited for vending in areas like the Hollywood Walk of Fame anymore, they can still get cited for other city regulations.
One of the taqueros who organizes the weekly pop-ups used to be homeless himself and broke out of poverty by selling breakfast burritos in front of a courthouse in Van Nuys. Now, he is sober and pays it forward every week. The group uses TikTok to raise funds and donate up to 1,500 tacos and more a week.
Was your life changed by a Circle Jerks show at Blackie's? Chaka Khan dropping in on Snoop and Too Short at the Palladium? Dudamel with a special guest at Disney Hall? Chime in!
