"True love is your soul's recognition of its counterpoint in another." How about a shout out to the movie Wedding Crashers for predicting the Tacoteering adventure that I got to be a part of in East LA the other night? Damn, they nailed it on this one. That cone alone proves that true love does exist. That cone was, well part of the tastiness. I can't help it, I can't fight this feeling, I have to show you another beauty already...
OMG! I'm freaking out just trying to write this thing. This place was that good. No, is that good. I have not been able to stop talking about this place, I mean, yeah, it was that righteous. Enough is enough, lets start the story, so you know how we got here, why we got here, aside from taco love, and let you know how all of this went down, you will then see the ratings, wrap up and goodbye/gratuitous photo.
This is a well fed cast. Everyone knows Josh, Nicole is the girl next to him, I'm obviously the large, bald, bearded Tacoteer in the middle. That hot guy next to me is Yellow Chocolate, who everyone should know by now, then Amelia is sporting that big smile that she takes everywhere and I'm telling you, I don't think it ever leaves her face.
Meet the two first timers. Amelia and Nicole. See the excitement for just the horchata. That isn't even the tacos yet. I'm a lucky dude to work with these two crazy gals. They are two great people who can always bring a smile to your face and they are strong willed enough to endure watching Big Hungry eat all day when she is in the office. They really are talented great people and I'm so full of joyfulness to have them as friends. Anyways, they have been on me about us all going Tacoteering. I mean, you know I always want to. We made these plans a couple of weeks ago, confirmed last week. A few days before, they wanted to go and they wanted a place with margaritas. I was down. I have been wanting to do a write up on El Cholo for sometime, so that was going to work out just fine. I was on the phone with them early in the day as I was training for a new restaurant opening at LAX and they said they were ready to ditch the margaritas and wanted a real, true Tacoteering experience. I was so happy that I did the dance of joy from Perfect Strangers. Sadly, no one did it with me, so I looked even more ridiculous. I was excited to see what kind of Tacoteers my friends would be, and they sure did not disappoint.
How did we get to our destination? The van. We carjacked Melissa's van right from the front yard and drove the Silver Sled to taco bliss.
This place powers it up in a very cool way. These guys kicked it old school on this night keeping the place lit from the car. They are all over it and made sure that the place was very inviting.
When we got there, they were still setting up. They did a pretty amazing job getting set-up so fast. While we wait for them to set-up, let me tell you a bit more about them. So, I have heard of these guys. They are like semi-underground in the taco community. They have a Facebook page, but it doesn't always seem to be up, which is honestly really cool. I have attached the link to the blog. Worth checking out. I wanted to go here. I've been waiting for the right time. When the girls said they wanted somewhere different and cool, this was the only place on my mind. I was a bit nervous that they wouldn't be there, it was rainy and they don't really have "hours of operation." Anyhow, we decided to go and I told the girls I'd get them from the office. I was obviously even extra psyched that Phil and Josh were going but was bummed some other folks, like Big Hungry didn't make it. She was working out with her new trainer to bulk up.
Oh good, they are set-up now. So, they are on the corner of North Soto and Alcazar. Often they are across the street from where they were on this evening. It amazed me how much meat is coming off that tiny grill. These guys work their tails off. We also noticed that they enjoy a quick burrito if the line sort of dies off. Aside from the gill, there is the cone that is pictured in the beginning and the large pot with the meats staying nice and hot stewing in their juices. They don't just do a great job of flavoring and seasoning, but also of keeping the food hot, fresh and continuing the marinating, flavor process.
The creation of their mulitas. These little mules were pretty amazing. I did not partake as I had for sure had my fill, but I can assure you that my next trip will include one of these. They looked amazing. Nicole scarfed one, but who could blame her? They kept that grill hot and made sure those tortillas were a bit crispy. Just another great option to showcase the diversity of these guys.
Ahh, the final product in all of it's glory. Looks righteous, doesn't it? Please don't try to call this a quesadilla, you are embarrassing yourself, frustrating me and offending the food itself.
RECORD, most pictures I've ever put in a row on this blog without my whimsical dialogue! Look how sad she is that she is down to only one more taco at the end. You can see the happiness exuding from her from the beginning through the first few, then you see the sadness when she only has one taco left.
BUCHE: 5, where do I begin? What do I say. This was delicious. Some of the best that I've had ever. It was so good, texture on point, a bit of a bite to it. Not slimy or under cooked.
SUADERO: 5, I mean, this thing reads pretty similar to the buche. Really nice stuff here. This was served so hot and man was it good.
ASADA: 4, slightly above average here. It was good. Really subtle flavors, great texture. Cooked, but not overcooked, hard or chewy. Really enjoyable.
LENGUA: 5, holy guacamole this was some good stuff. It is all that lengua should be with texture and flavor. They will cut it right in front of you, so if you can't handle that, look away right after you order it. It is in small pieces, then just shred and melts right into your hot, delicious tortilla.
TRIPA: 5, write this down, people, best tripas I've ever had. Yes, you read this correctly, best tripa I've ever had. It was so good. It has a slight kick to it, it is seasoned perfectly, it is soft on the inside with a nice sear from the grill. You will be forced to enjoy this if you put it in your mouth. If you've wanted to try tripa but you weren't sure if you would love it, this is the place to try it. Both Josh and I commented immediately from tasting this candy-like treat. This was my favorite of the protein choices that I sampled on this adventure.
PASTOR: 5, this ranks with the best. Put it in the hall of fame. This is RT good. This is Tacos el Gordo yummy. Yeah, aciote, pineapple, clove, chili powder in a symphony of flavors that really made my day. I want people to go and try this. I want people to get excited and enjoy this. You will be happy, you will thank me. I know I said the tripa was my favorite, this one is tied with it. I did go back and have a second of one taco, it was this one. I had to see if it was as good as I thought, it might have been better. Please try for your tasting pleasure.
CABEZA: 5, I just love cabeza. I go nuts for great cabeza, and this was it. It has become one of my favorite choices when I'm tacoteering. Problem is so many places it is slimy and lacks the enjoyable texture. This place was right on point, yes, right on point.
POLLO: 4, I stole a piece right out of Amelia's taco. It was good. Nice flavor, nice texture. Why is it above a 3? The flavor was consistent with the rest of the meats, out of this world. Really nice flavoring on this chicken, you will be pleased.
HORCHATA: 5, never would have thought I'd rate horchata, but this was creamy goodness. I think it is a bit more milk than most, and man is it yummy! It was a great wash down from the delicious tacos. I shared one with Josh and Phil, not just because we wanted to, but because it felt more romantic for us.
SALSA BAR: 5, this bad boy was packed with flavor and excitement. There was a traditional red, green and an avocado. Nothing disappointed. They had heat, they had flavor, they were not overwhelming and they were an unreal compliment to their delicious meats. The cilantro, onions, radish, cucumber and limes were all fresh and everything was cut by hand. Really impressive set-up and the guys were right there talking you through your decisions in perfect Spanish and English.
I feel as though I've worn you out with the thoughts about this food. Plain and simple, it was good, damn good. They do a nice job of giving us some great options, a good variety and the service was great. The guys working here were joking with everyone and seemed to be having a pretty awesome time. The burrito looked pretty amazing, I want to get Jason the Juggernaut here to see if it meets his high standards. One of the impressive things to me, was looking into the pot where much of the meat was being kept hot. I unfairly assumed that it was going to force much if not all of the meats to taste really similar or the same, well it didn't. Food was really good and it all kept it's own distinct flavor and texture. Again, these guys really do know what they are doing. Very rarely have we had a place that ranks this high. NOTHING below a 4? Pretty impressive. I loved the fact that as we were eating Josh looked at me and said "I can't find anything wrong with their food." Phil and I totally agreed that this was a pretty epic meal.
I'm a huge fan of the self service prep area. You can choose your own adventure with the lime, cilantro and onion ratio. These guys have a fantastic set-up. They give you four amazing salsas that are all full of flavor and pack a little heat, but not too much. They want you to enjoy the flavors but not get eaten alive if you are a wimp. If you want some spice in your life, they have peppers and onions there for your enjoyment. The fresh cucumber and radish is an appreciated touch that fits in nicely with what they are doing.
I was thinking, we took and showed a bunch of pictures of Amelia eating, but what about Nicole? Did she eat? Did we get food action shots there?
You bet your buttons we did.
One more shot of this awesome crew of people, it is actually a separate picture from the one above, taken by a very great person who was there eating tacos with her husband. Good man Charlie Brown, take her for tacos, she will always appreciate.
Well I can't say thank you enough to the Tacoteers of this adventure! This was such an epic trip. The tacos and the company was amazing on this one. It is great to have new folks, especially cool ones like Nicole and Amelia but it is also so awesome to have shared so many great adventures around the world with Josh and Phil. These guys are pretty fantastic and they are chefs. They know food and we always break down how things are made, why and what we would do differently, which in this case is bring more cash to take food home for the family's to try. I cannot wait to go back to this place and try it again. I just want to bring more and more people with me. This place is totally worth checking out. As always, thank you for reading, re-posting, re-tweeting and telling your friends if you like the blog or telling your enemies if you don't. The publicity is appreciated either way!
Today's goodbye/gratuitous photo is a thing of beauty. The look of true excitement as someone is biting into their taco. That raw childhood innocence as you are about to indulge in deliciousness inside of a tortilla. The anticipation of all of that goodness is so exciting for anyone and everyone. If you really want to break down the excitement, look at the left of the photo. Josh is excited for Nicole. It is fantastic to see not only the eater, but the audience anticipating the excellence of a bite. If you were wondering from the old commercials "where's the squirt?" We found it, it is right behind Nicole being drank by some guy enjoying these most excellent tacos.
STAY EXCELLENT!!!
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