Friends, family, fellow food pop-up owners, restaurateurs, and members of the El Sereno community packed it into the soft opening of Evil Cook's first brick-and-mortar restaurant location on Tuesday evening.
Two minutes after the ribbon-cutting ceremony with the local business chamber, chefs Alex and Elvia Garcia went straight to the counter and started dishing out their devilish tacos for a loyal legion of customers who showed up.
It's a cozy location in the heart of El Sereno that will offer various experiences. As you walk in, you'll see a long taco bar reserved for the underground Kamikaze experience the chefs used to host at their home once a month. Now, guests can come to sit at the bar, and for sixty dollars (tentatively), the chefs will serve you five unique dishes of their choice, omakase-style, anytime they are open.
The regular menu of infamous taco creations will also be available all day. You can order at the register past the counter and enjoy a seat on the dark patio in the back. For dinner, they've curated a special menu where they'll be bringing back some of the most unique items from their Kamikaze dinners for you to choose from. We got a sneak peek and are excited about dishes like the tom yum agua chile, carne en su jugo noodles, and a baklava Wellington.
The restaurant's first weeks will be a slow rollout, expanding the menu and hours. It will initially be open from five to ten p.m., but plans are to open as early as 11 a.m. soon while implementing the dinner menu just mentioned.
One curious note is that the taqueros, who are the masters of trompos, won't have a trompo in the kitchen just yet. They have to expand their hood and make room for the troops, but they will be back eventually, and you will still find them at Smorgasburg every Sunday when they close the restaurant. A trompo will also appear for Evil Cooks' planned "dollar taco Tuesdays."
It's great to see such a talented couple working their way up from a pop-up and having the patience to wait for the right location to open in their community.
"We've been just waiting for the right spot close to home," owner Alex Garcia said. "We didn't rush it. Others opened nearby, but they didn't feel right. When this place became available, it felt perfect."
3333 N. Eastern Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90032
