As mentioned, this year the locations required more carbon emissions (sorry earth). Last year we mainly stayed in the Highland Park-Eagle Rock area. Also, last year we, for the most part, just consumed your average sized smallish tacos that you get from trucks. The 2011 version of the group consisted of Matt, Rob, Allison, Ben, Lela, Mike (for half of it), Andrew, Anthony and myself.
The first stop was Flor del Rio, Birrieria. We arrived at about 11am. Delicious stewed goat tacos. I over ordered 3 plates of meat accompanied by cups of aromatic heavenly broth.
Seriously, that broth alone was ace. I could taste the layers of flavor. I think there was a hint of star anise or cinnamon. The meat was great too. Tender and infused with the spices built in the broth. The lovey ladies working the joint brought out fresh chopped onion, cilantro and lime wedges to add as we pleased. There was also tortillas and a red salsa for heat. We finished the three plates because the motto for this day was "No taco left behind." A great start to the crawl. Very good.
Our second destination was picked for their shrimp tacos, Mariscos Jalisco. This was my favorite taco of the crawl. When you get your taco it just looks like a deep fried pocket, topped with generous portions of avocado and covered in a beautiful red salsa. When you bite into it you discover that the shrimp inside are succulent and fresh tasting. The exterior is crunchy, the salsa provides nice flavor without overpowering the shrimp and the avocado adds a nice creaminess. This taco is a genius creation, expertly constructed . Ben also ordered a half dozen oysters. They were huge and very fresh, I could smell and taste the ocean. This truck kicks major ass. I wish they were closer to my place of residence. Must return as soon as possible. Muy bueno.
The third stop was located in a car wash parking lot, don't judge the tacos based on their location. Tacos Los Güichos does carnitas. Today they had rib, buche and another cut that I can't remember. All of the cuts of meat are fried in a giant metal pot of goodness. The bubbling pot of meat had me in a trance. I had the rib tacos. These tacos were big and tasty. What stood out for me were the many accompaniments. I topped our order with pickled onions and habañero peppers, which were very very hot. They also had a large and nice selection of salsas. Those who had the buche were raving on it's fine texture and flavor. The rib carnitas were good but I should of had the buche, dang. Good.
Next we visited the great Ricky of Ricky's fish tacos. We returned to this epic establishment because it was the favorite from last year and most of this year's crawl crew had never experienced the greatness. We all had the fish tacos, except Mike he also had a shrimp. Of course the tacos were great. It's still the best fish taco I've had in LA. You can read some more here when we visited last year. One thing was different with Ricky's, the crowds are bigger. Get here early. Very good.
Stop numero cinco was across town. Tinga the newish fancy taco joint. This spot is hip and offers a nice selection of tacos. Tinga is a small establishment with a nice ambiance. The group ordered two types of tacos, potato and cochinita pibil. The potato tacos were nice, they included green and red peppers and a sprinkle of cheese. The potato was mashed and appeared as if it was finished on a griddle. The cochinita pibil tacos were SPICY, topped with pickled onions and a chipotle sauce (fire in sauce form). These tacos packed a punch, a knockout punch. The table was hurting, they burned so good. Much sweat and tears were shed for this taco. The flavor was great, just don't let them touch your lips while placing them in your mouth or you'll be feeling the heat for a while. Very good.
Our next stop was an old favorite and another from last year, Cacao Mexicatessen. You can read about it on last year's post here. Some people on the taco crew were newbies to this Eagle Rock jewel. Plus they have so many types of tacos. I've barely scratched their taco menu surface. On this occasion I went with the squash blossom taco. I must admit, it was my least favorite taco on the crawl. It consisted mostly of poblano chile strips and was pretty spicy (which was not a bad thing). I was expecting an abundance of squash blossom goodness, but was sadly disappointed. Everyone else in the group very much enjoyed their orders. Next time I'll stick with the exotic meats and bacon tacos. I still love you Cacao.
The original list for this year consisted of 11 stops. Like last year, it changed. This is an organic process. You can never predict the factors that go into a crawl. Sometimes as you are driving you see something that looks interesting. Or as you are about to go to a second or third seafood place you realize that you need immediate variety. Sometimes you hit the wall sooner than anticipated. On this epic day we had experienced big tacos, very spicy tacos and long distances of travel. When arriving at our seventh spot we were sure that it wouldn't be the last of the day, we were wrong (Although Andrew was physically and mentally prepared for more).
This truck is located in East LA, Tacos Cuernavaca, their specialty, tacos de cecina (jerked beef). When I was placing our order I mentioned to the gentleman behind the window that we were on a crawl, eating our way through the east side of LA. We ended up getting a bunch of food on the house. This truck rules. The gentleman just kept pushing food out of his window and it was greatly accepted and appreciated. No tacos left behind. All of the food was tasty but the star was the cecina. The meat, a thin cut had a nice spiced profile with some char marks for added flavor. The taco also had a red salsa that was not too spicy. Good stuff. The amount of grub that we received at this truck put an end to Taco Crawl 2011. High fives all around. This year was a monster success, I had a great time, until next year.
The stops:
-Flor del Rio, Birrieria (restaurant) - 3201 E. 4th St., Boyle Heights
-Mariscos Jalisco (truck) - 3040 E. Olympic Blvd.
-Tacos Los Güichos (trailer) - Southwest corner of Slauson and Avalon
-Ricky's (stand) - 1400 N. Virgil
-Tinga (restaurant) - 142 S. La Brea
-Cacao Mexicatessen (restaurant) - 1576 Colorado Blvd.
-Tacos Cuernavaca (truck) - Whittier Blvd. & Eastmond, East LA
