Letty's, Newbury Park, CA

So, Letty's.  I was introduced to this place by an former employee and then colleague.  We went here for lunch a couple of years ago, I like the place.  I liked it a ton.  The individual tried to not tell me where it was, that is his style, but I found it.  I have been back a number of times.  I haven't been there in quite sometime.  I've been eyeing it, keeping it in my TacoGraphic Memory for more then a few minutes.  They do a nice job on their meat.  Service is good.  You walk up, order at the register and then grab a table.  They bring everything to you and are really nice.  No pagers or BS like that, they may call out your order, but they get it to you.  I enjoy it.  I love that style of service.  It empowers the guest to really create their own destiny and gives the establishment the opportunity to blow people away with service.  They have a pretty great menu.  I've only eaten tacos every time I've gone, but the rest of the food looks pretty righteous.

Chips and salsa are brought to your table just after you order.  Nice touch and something that I know is coming but still don't really expect.  They bring a small bowl of chips and a bowl of salsa that is almost the same size.  It really is pretty great.  One of the coolest parts, is the place mats on the tables.  They have a great bunch of facts and history about Mexico.  Cool stuff, not junk.  It describes the flag, history of what Mexico has contributed to the world, has brief descriptions of the cultural influences and tribes that originated or conquered Mexico over time.

RATINGS:
CARNITAS: 3, decent.  Nothing that will blow you away, but it will not disappoint.  I did think that it needed a little bit of salt.
CHILE VERDE: 3, cumin and clove delight.  A little heavy handed on those spices, but worth eating.  I still think that chile verde belongs more in a burrito, but I wasn't doing burritos today.  I would suggest that if you are doing chile verde here, you get a burrito and let the rice and tortilla soak up that delicious juice.
LENGUA: 3, soft, not as buttery as I like it.  It was good, nothing out of the ordinary or above and beyond great.  I would eat it again, but wouldn't go out of my way to eat lengua there again.
PASTOR: 3, this is a pineapple bomb.  Aciote is there, hint of habenero, but a huge, sweet pineapple bomb.  I still enjoyed it, but want you to know what you are getting into.
ASADA: 4, something pretty special.  This was good stuff.  It was tender, chopped pretty fine, but really tasty.  It had a certain something that I really did enjoy.  I would strongly recommend that you get an asada taco if you are around the area.
SALSA ROJO: 3, pretty run of the mill.  Not too spicy, not too great.  It was good, but not great.
SALSA VERDE: 4, yeah, I really liked it.  They served it warm, borderline hot.  It was really tasty.  Lite cumin flavor and delicious with chips or poured on tacos.
SALSA: 5, haven't seen one of these in a little while.  This was some really good stuff.  I'm referring to the salsa that is served with the chips.  It is spicy, smoky, downright tasty.

Looks pretty tasty right?  Overall it really was.  I do like this place and will be going back.  I feel as though I've had visits with better flavors, but this one did not disappoint by any means.  A bit more cilantro and onions would probably help the flavor a bit, but like I said, I do like this place.

Thank you to everyone for reading.  This blog blows up more and more everyday.  Please keep telling people, I love to see more followers, views and likes.

Today's picture is one of the person who took me to Letty's for the first time, Brandon Hill, better known as Tiny B.  Tiny B is a huge baseball fan.  He loves the Yankees and coaches little league with amazing fire and passion.  I don't get to talk to Tiny B anymore and I miss our conversations of family, life and work.  He's in the pizza business now, no more burgers and fries!

Stay Excellent!

Burrito Box (Vending Machine), West Hollywood, CA

Oh no he didn't!  Umm...yeah, yeah he did.  I went to the future, which apparently according to this billboard is in West Hollywood.  I'll admit it, I've been wanting to try this place for a very long time.  I first heard about it from fellow Order of the Taco Tacoteer, Nate.  Don't act like you are not a little bit intrigued by this.  I've had the two addresses, yes there are two of them in my email since January.  I was finally in town, had a few minutes and was in the area to get to one of them.  The other is in Century City.  Would I be satisfied or happy if this truly was the future of burritos?  No, but I wouldn't be sad either.  Before you make a stupid comment, yes, this was a burrito adventure, not a "Taco Adventure," but the Order of the Taco cannot pass up journeys like this one.  Had to try the vending machine burrito.

Phil, one of the two chefs that I get to work with at The Counter, he's the other Ramon, was with me visiting some restaurants.  We knew that we had to shoot over to this place.  Well, we knew because I text Phil on Sunday night that we were doing some Tacoteering and that it was going to be in a burrito kiosk, vending machine, whatever you want to call this thing.  We went the Mobil station in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd.  We laughed about this as we pulled up.  I'll save you some of the suspense.  There is a Hugo's Tacos across the street and I was much happier at first bite with the burrito kiosk.  Phil is a cool, collective, quiet dude.  We noticed that the empty space next to the convenient store that the kiosk is located has a burrito and a pizza kiosk that are not operational.  Seems to be their "sales office."  Anyways, we went in and approached this bad boy.

Yeah, pretty impressive.  You are reading that correctly.  It has free WiFi.  I mean come on, that is impressive.  Five options to choose from.  Vegan Veggie with Brown Rice, Steak, Chipotle Chicken, Eggs/Sausage/Cheese/Hash Brown and Egg/Bacon/Cheese/Hash Brown.  We had to do one breakfast and one other burrito.  We chose Steak and the Bacon.  They were out of the steak which was sad, we went for the Chipotle Chicken.  $3.98 a burrito.  That is after tax, not bad.  Burritos take about a minute.  Here's the only thing that I really didn't like.  While you are waiting for your burrito they subject you to a "free song."  It was different with each burrito, but both sucked.  I mean I wouldn't expect great taste like Elvis Presley, but I would hope they know that burrito and taco enthusiast have not just a refined pallet, but a keen ear as well.

Yeah, they come out piping hot!  These puppies were on fire.  Credit cards only by the way.  Anyhow, they are in wax paper and seemed to be steamed.  Like I said, takes one minute.  They are then thrown into the orange sleeve and drop out the bottom.  You can add guacamole, sour cream or tabasco for minimal monetary commitment.  We opted to try these burritos in their natural state with no enhancements.  We grabbed some water from the convenience store that this thing is in and headed outside.  They list all ingredients on the outside of the burrito, they also list the calories and ingredients on the screen prior to your purchase.  I thought that was a nice touch, I guess.

Yeah, Phil was so excited that he had to call to tell people what we were about to do.  Yes, that is Dolly.  She was out with us.  I mean, come on, it was hot but beautiful, Dolly was out and about.  It was wonderful feeling my beard flap in the warm air of Los Angeles.  That is one of the hard parts about traveling, I really miss Dolly.  When Phil got off the phone, we attacked.  We split both.  I can't rate them.  It is too much of a curve to be fair.  Here's what I'll say, I would not go to WeHo just to get one of these, but if I'm in the area, you wouldn't have to twist my arm.  I am going back, I really want to try the Steak and I want to try their guacamole.  I mean dude, it's a vending machine.  How can you not be excited to try a burrito from a vending machine, then to find out its pretty good and pretty big?  Yeah, it was good.  Size was good, very fair.  I did paste the website below if you need more info about these things.

So this was a really cool adventure.  Phil in his first of hopefully more to come blogs, Dolly made a return to the blog since she doesn't fit in my carry on to the East Coast and a vending machine burrito.  Phil and I had some fun in between the hard work and good times in the restaurants that we help run.  Thanks to Dolly and Phil for really helping make this adventure a ton of fun.

Thank you to everyone for reading, re-posting, re-tweeting, telling your friends or foes, pending about how you feel about the blog.  I remind you if you are not already, check us out on Instagram, you'll never guess the name.  Of course, I know you already guessed it, the gratuitous photo for today is of Phil in all of his burrito eating glory.  He's not just a good guy, but a damn good looking guy.  Look at that hair, am I right?

Stay Excellent!

http://tastetheburritobox.com/

Double Dipping in Glendale, Gina's Tacos/Los Tres Hermanas

I just love tacos and Tacoteering.  My good friend Brandon and I have been trying to hook up for tacos for a while now.  I keep getting on planes flying around for work, Brandon has been working like crazy selling homes in Southern California.  Finally, we were able to get together and do what we do, eat some tacos.  We plotted out the plan of heading to one place in Glendale called El Toro.  Supposedly it is open from 9-3 on Sundays.  It was not open at all when we went.  The mixed reviews and feedback had us wanting to try the place out for ourselves.  It was either a scathing review or glowing review.  The best part of the reviews is the one's that are clearly put on their by the owner of the business.  He talks in them about what a nice guy he is.  I wanted to meet this guy and quietly snicker and laugh.

Taco destiny took us about 250 feet down the street to Gina's.  Gina's is an interesting little spot.  The guys working there were pretty nice.  Menu is simple but cool.  I was really intrigued that they have cerviche on the menu at all times.  I was craving a taco experience so bad that I did not try the cerviche, but a guy that was there got some and it looked pretty decent.  Maybe next time...

Looks pretty cool.  Pricing is not too bad.  Seriously, if your tacos start to eclipse that magical $1.50 mark, you are probably getting a taco with filler and of inferior quality.  This place was pretty quick.  They have a few tables sort of  in front of the joint and then a covered tent in the back which has a few tables.  There was a liquor store behind it which looked newly remodeled and nice.

RATINGS:
LENGUA: 3, this place is solid, but it is nothing special.  Tender, but not overly flavorful.
POLLO: 3, again it is pretty run of the mill, nothing exciting about it, but not bad.
PASTOR: 2, my heart is yearning for great pastor.  I'm dreaming about pastor every night lately, this fell far short.  It really seemed like older meat that they threw a bunch of spices on.
BUCHE: 3, usually it has to be really crispy for me to like it, but not the case here.  It was good, but not amazing.  I'd eat it again.
ASADA: 4, kind of surprised by this one.  Nice use of chili powder, well melded flavors, yeah, I liked this asada more then a lot.
CHICHARRON: 4, yeah, boom.  This stuff was different and good.  It was almost stewed in spicy red sauce like a guisado, it was really a nice surprise.  I would recommend you making a trip to try this, it is just unique, but unique in a great way.

Radish is always a nice touch right?  We ate our food and were pondering the drive back to the SFV, but then thought we were already in Glendale, lets hit up another place.  We asked around, we looked around, the use of smart phones were of course a part of the next decision.  Taco Destiny took us not far from where we were to Los Tres Hermanas.

I love the flag in the window.  Great reflection of me taking the picture too.  The sign may not be lit "open," but it was open!  The inside is a bit strange.  Open style kitchen, there is a "bar" area, no liquor but you can sit up on the counter to eat.  There was some dude chowing on some delicious looking taquitos while we were there.  They have Tapatio which is a plus.  Ultimately they just don't season their food very well.  They cook the food correctly, very nicely as a matter of fact, but they don't season it.  The texture is on point, the tenderness is there, the seasoning is just not happening.

The chick working there was kind of nice.  Not super personable, but fairly nice.  The restaurant is clean and well maintained, if you are into that kind of thing.  Brandon and I ordered and began having the discussion that is burning on all of our minds.  Dodger games on TV.  Seriously, can they come to a damn agreement so that we can all see all of the games.  I'm on the road a ton and it really pisses me off that most providers do not have access to the games.  We want to see the Dodgers and we can't make it to every game, heck, I'll be lucky to hit two games this year, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see all of them!
RATINGS:
LENGUA: 2, nothing to write home about.  Just not very good, it lacked the flavor that is so great with lengua.  The meat really soaks up the seasoning or marinade that you put on it and that is part of what makes this meat one of my favorites.
ASADA: 2, yeah, a 2.  It was just cooked meat.  No salt, no pepper, no flavor to it.  I also think that they slightly over cooked it.  Yucky.
PASTOR: 2, I hope everyone is keeping count.  We hit one more bad pastor, that is three in a row, that calls for a burn, a crisis alert, a bad review.  This stuff lacked, flavor, depth, anything.
CARNITAS: 3, I added a little salt and this turned into a surprise.  It was pretty good.  They really know how to cook it to give it the right texture, but it lacked in the flavor department.

The unexpected chips and salsa were cool.  Sadly the salsa kind of sucked.  The lemons were old and lacked a good amount of juice.  They were not rancid, but did not have that nice citrus pop that lemons should.  Everywhere I go I really do try to find the "best" part of the place aside from the wonderful company I usually have when I go Tacoteering.  For this place, it is the mural on the wall.  This thing is great.  It must be the three badass sisters.  Rifle in one hand, bullets across the chest.  I loved it.

How rad is that photo?  I seriously think it is fantastic.  If their food was a third as cool as that photo, I think this place could have been a favorite.  It was great catching up with Brandon.  We are both excited for hockey playoffs to start, baseball season is underway and we are rooting hard for the boys in blue!  I'm so lucky to have such a great friend like Brandon.

Moral of the story for today is I Love LA!  I travel quite often.  I go to some places that suck and some places that are pretty fantastic.  I've lived and spent time in a bunch of cities throughout this amazing country, and no where, no where else can you go up the street and hit one awesome taco place after another.  The bad tacos in LA are the best tacos in so many of these other cities.  We are so fortunate to have so many places with so many great tacos.  The Order of the Taco was born in LA and that is because we have it.  We have the tacos.  San Diego is the only other place I suggest you go if you really want to do some serious Taco Crawling.

Thanks for reading, thanks for being a part of this blog.  A huge thank you to my good friend Brandon for taking a couple of hours out of his day to catch up, vent about craziness of work and life, enjoy great stories of his upcoming wedding and all the amazing things going on in his life.  Really cool day.  Please do keep reading, re-tweeting, re-posting, telling your friends and getting the word out about The Order of the Taco.

Before I go, as always, you get a gratuitous good-bye photo.  Today's is just perfect.  It is Brandon on the pay phone.  A $0.25 pay phone none the less.  So rare to find these in working order these days.  I remember diving to use a pay phone when my beeper would go off, now with our cell phones, we don't have much use, but we sure were intrigued by seeing this bad boy, we had to get a picture with Brandon on it!  Enjoy!

It looks so natural, right?

Stay Excellent Everyone!!!