RINCON OAXAQUENO

So I was driving through LA the other night after a long day at work.  Where to go for dinner.  I just let Dolly guide me through the chilly night on the bike.  Late nights all week have prevented Tacoteering and writing about it.  I was not going to let anything get in the way of my Taco Destiny.  I can tell you that Taco Destiny took me to Little Armenia which is a part of Hollywood if you are unfamiliar.  I will be back in the area.  Right off of Western, North of the 101, there is a number of great trucks lined up and some promising looking restaurants.

I loved the smells driving through LA that night.  Smell is the sense that triggers memory the best.  It did for me.  The air was cool, there was a light mist.  Traffic wasn't too bad.  Food was everywhere, at least I could smell it.  I smelled Mediterranean, Mexican, burgers, I mean it was just one great thought after another.  Pulling into this parking lot was no accident.  It was true Taco Destiny.  I was going to stop at one of the trucks I passed, but it was a little cool on the bike and I didn't have a sweater or jacket.  I thought it might be nice to sit down.  The place looked big enough to sit, but small enough not to compromise quality by buying into "main stream" crap.

When you walk in, you won't be disappointed.  Decor is simple, pretty cool.  I dig it.  There is NO English spoken in here.  The lady working the front spoke not one word.  At least she acted like she didn't.  Another table spoke very little Spanish, so another table translated to her.  It was part of the entertainment for me.  The menu was a lot more extensive then I had anticipated.  They have a ton of great things.  It was hard not to get the real goat Barbacoa.  It was tempting, but I stuck to the "street tacos."  Large tortillas.  They were some damn huge tacos.  The options meat wise were good.  Nice stuff.  I went with the norms.  I love cecina, as I'm sure you've seen in past blogs, I was excited to see that they made it.  They serve you chips, which were pretty good.  The salsa they serve is fantastic.  Smoky, spicy, yummy. I liked it a lot.  Dried chiles that were hydrated perfectly then blended with cooked tomatoes and onions, really nicely done.

RATINGS:
TASAJO: 2, I love tasajo, done right.  They were WAY off here.  So much cinnamon and clove, two things I'm normally a fan of.  They were way heavy handed.
CABEZA: 3, good, but a little chewy.  Not bad enough to drop a point, but not good enough to hit a 4.  They marinate it with lime and it really seemed to bring out some good flavors.
POLLO: 4, shocker!  I was really into it.  Boiled, then sauteed.  It had crispy edges and was not at all dry.  I would get this daily if available.
CECINA: 4, tender, cooked to perfection.  I loved it.  I saw asada at the table next to me and was even more excited with myself for my choice to go with the cecina.  It is so good.  Salty and sweet. Check it out if you are driving through Hollywood.
SALSA: 4, I talked about it a bunch just above.  I really think they did a nice job here, and for this I'm thankful.

I drove by so many places, Dodger Stadium, thumbs up to the Dodgers!  Through a good part of LA.  I got through quick.  I almost stopped at a number of places.  I'm glad that this place was the stop.  Not the best I've been to.  It is no Los Cinco Puntos, it's not Rincon Taurino, not even close to El Faro, but good.  If you are in that part of Hollywood, stop by, tell them the Order sent you.

Thanks everyone for reading, hope you have a fantastic weekend, hopefully writing from Houston next week!  Stay Excellent

Carnitas Uruapan, Boyle Heights

Each story is a different tale.  It is communicated in the same way, but maybe a different style.  This will be told with many pictures, but few words that will describe how amazing this part of our excursion was.  The story is about a great man by the name of Eddie.  Eddie owns a bakery in the Boyle Heights part of Los Angeles.  This is no ordinary man in an ordinary bakery.  This culinary genius makes the world better one corn kernel at a time.  Eddie met us as we were raiding his shop one and two at a time to buy pastries that were all to die for.  Eddie being the great guy that he was struck up some conversations with us.  He began asking what we are doing in the area.  James, a founding member told him we were on a crawl through East LA and around and how we have the blog going.  He asked to talk to me to learn a bit more.

After a brief conversation, he asked a really silly question.  "Do you think you and your buddies would like a tour of my bakery and a lesson on Masa 101?"  I mean really?  Yes!  What kind of a person would pass this up?  I gathered the troops and we went in the back of his bakery as he broke down the process for making great Masa, and just to make sure you really understand, this is amazing stuff.  It was so neat as he walked us through each bit of the process.  I will not go into all of his trade secrets, they are his, but I'm sure if you were in the area and he had a minute, he'd give you 10, he's just that great of a man.  FYI, he's also a huge Dodger fan, which is a big plus for all of us!

Corn is started in here about 600 pounds at a time.  Yes, 600 pounds.  This is soaked and cooked to more then double its weight.  Really cool to see.  It is then moved over to another part of the phase where it cooks some more and gets ready to be mashed.

From here it is put into a special masher.  Tamales and tacos tortillas are made from there.  Yes, tamales.  Listening to Eddie talk about his tamale wrapping parties brought tears to this masa loving guy's eyes.  It really made me weep.  He spoke of all the different kinds of tamales and how to make them.  We discussed cooking processes and the whole deal.  It was one of the best parts of the trip that you just won't hear about unless you take the time to read this blog.

Eddie provides the masa at about 20-25 pounds at a time, which is about five times a day to Guisados' two locations.  One is next door in Boyle Heights, the other is right by Dodger Stadium.  You really need to check out Guisados and check out this bakery and say hey to Eddie from the Order of the Taco!  Eddie can be found at:
2102 East Cesar E Chavez Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 265-2474
Thank you so much for reading, please tell your friends, STAY EXCELLENT ALL!

Guisado's, Boyle Heights

 We start this one by explaining what Guisado is, aside from the name of this place.  Lets start personal.  Guisado is something delicious.  Guisado is a style of cooking.  I fell in love with Guisado Style cooking when traveling through Texas.  Specifically when I was in San Antonio.  They had some amazing meats that were made in the style of Guisado.  Technically it means that it is sauteed with garlic, onions and tomatoes.  It is almost like a stew, but much better, and I like stews.  Many dishes made in stews and cassaroles are referred to as Guisados.  Guisados in Boyle Heights takes it to another level.  By another level I mean leaps and bounds beyond anything this guy could have imagined.  As the members of the Order recapped our epic outing, Guisados ranked one for some of us and ranked in the top 3 for all of us.  The hardest part about writing about this place is having to split off the owner's brother's business.  They are tied together, but too much information, so please check out the blog that I do on Carnitas Uruapan Market & Deli.

Guisados is on East Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights.  Place is great.  It sticks out just a bit with a super cool contemporary look for the area.  The place is nice, clean and fun.  They have a short line with tons of boiling pots in the background.  They even go as far to make Tinga.  A chicken dish I often struggle to find, but love to eat.  FYI, their's is by far the best I've ever had.  Armando takes his food really seriously.  We jumped in on his mini taco samplers.  You can pick any six of their tacos and they make them mini tacos which were great and a perfect way for all of us to try everything.  A true treat at this place, the fish taco.  This big piece of fish was amazing.  I mean seriously a great fish taco that I did not expect or see coming.  The flavor was on point.  The fish was flaky and good.  They do make  things affordable here, but do not do things the cheap way.  They have an extensive menu with many different meats and their mole sauce was one of the best that I've ever had.  It was subtle, sweet, spicy and flavorful.  I really appreciate the culinary prow-less that this family has.  As if the food wasn't great enough, they had a beverage that you need to get in on.  The Armando Palmero.  This twist on a classic was stellar.  Armando is the name of the owner, that is where the first pun came in.  It has lemon water mixed with some Jicima.  Yeah, you need to try this when you go.  What a great refreshing beverage to compliment amazing food.

What set this place apart?  Well, I really think a lot of that has to do with the tortillas.  What a great part of the food.  We were reminded more and more through this trip, a tortilla is like a fork.  You just need it to eat sometimes.  Their tortillas will be spoken of more in my next blog, but are unique and delectable.  Armando has two restaurants.  One is in Boyle Heights, the other is by Chavez Ravine near Dodger Stadium.  Armando has such a commitment to excellence that he only takes about 20-25 pounds of masa at a time.  Yes, he will run back and forth from the bakery to make sure that he is only serving the freshest product that he can.  The masa is craftily made by his brother Eddie especially for Guisados.  If this doesn't excite you, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

Guisados will be getting another visit from me.  The great service, excellent food and just down right cool vibe in there is worth checking out.  They know how to match a sauce to a meat and that is often lost in translation on these taco crawls.  I can't say thanks enough to the owners and staff of this place.  They embraced, welcomed us and thanked us for putting them on the excursion.  They taught us so much and really made us guests in their home.  Thanks for reading and please check out the blog later today that will be an extension of this visit which was next door at their bakery and includes a tour of the back and Masa 101!  Stay excellent!!!

The Great East Los Angeles Order of the Taco Excursion

As I wrote my fellow members this morning, I awoke today a different man.  Yesterday was one of the greatest days of all time.  It can be compared to the rise and fall of Rome, the day that Columbus found American Indians and told Europe about them, the birth of the King, Elvis Presley.

I've had many tacos in my day.  I've made them, I've bought them, I've taken them without paying for them.  At the end of the day, I've consumed mass amounts of them.  The excursion or journey if you will was unreal.  The pictures above do no justice to the excitement, passion and love that was had yesterday on a beautiful day in Los Angeles, CA.  This blog will outline the trip for all of you who just wanted to go but were unable to.  I will write some blogs about the specifics of each place at a later time.  I'd tell you to close your eyes as you read this to enjoy and envision the journey, but if your eyes are closed, you can't read and this becomes pointless.

On the morning of August 10, 2013 I rolled out of bed as a founding member of The Order of the Taco, not realizing all that, that meant.  I showered, shaved, put on my Dodger shirt and a pair of jeans just like any other morning.  What I didn't realize, is that this just wasn't an ordinary day.  Days like this don't just happen.  It is not a matter of chance or coincidence.  It was in fact a day of destiny.  A day of true infamy.  Brothers uniting for a common love, passion and purpose and rising to a greatness in taco.  Brandon Begley, Nathan Lee, Michael Phillips, James Anastasios, Paul Zaferis, Christopher Randall and The Buck Monstrosity, Nicholas Thomas made this thing happen.  With myself lucky enough to be a part of this band of guys, we became the founding members of The Order of the Taco and did in fact do some true Tacoteering.

We left the San Fernando Valley about 11am PST.  We piled into my wife's red Toyota Sienna and The Buck Monstrosity's grey Hyundai.  Little did we know these vehicles would help us transcend greatness.  We took the 118 to the 5 and got off the road as they tried to follow my crazy driving.  I was again reminded how different driving a car is then riding a motorcycle.  Lane sharing is a ton easier when you are on a bike.  Changing lanes is a completely different story.  The various places that we passed, like the Korean Taco stand and the Hawaiian restaurant tempted us, but we stayed on course.  We had a path a plan and were following our Taco Destiny.

Our first stop was to be Mi Casita.  I had been there a couple of years ago, we got there and it was closed down, graffiti ridden and clearly no longer serving delicious tacos.  This did not slow us in anyway.  This did not hinder our journey.  Not an eye was blinked as we made our way to Los Cinco Puntos.

I did make four lefts, with took us in our first circle, but that is all a part of what happens as you go on an adventure like this.  I've been to Los Cinco Puntos prior to this trip.  My BFF Nikki Dushinsky turned me onto this place a couple of years ago when she sent me an article written about it.  By no means did this place disappoint.  It was a hospitable, delicious environment.  Entertainment was provided by some random stray dog that had just given birth.  She was walking around begging for food like a homeless guy on a freeway off ramp.  We did not oblige her on this trip as everything was consumed.  Big tacos, big fun here.  We laughed and joked of my sub par driving and the ability that I have to drive in circles for absolutely no reason.  We left there and went for a short drive up the street to Guisados.

Guisados was a hoot.  This place was much more contemporary then my colleagues expected and I have to say much more contemporary then the neighborhood of Boyle Heights can handle.  What a treat.  The food was excellent.  There options are fantastic.  They have a great sampler of mini tacos where you pick six and just eat.  We got a couple of those with a fish taco that was fabulous!  I'd love to tell you that the highlight of this stop was the Armando Palmero, their delicious version of an Arnold Palmer made with lemonade and Jicima, but it was in fact the owner's brother Eddie.  Eddie runs, owns and works in a bakery next door.  Guisados has two locations, one is in Boyle Heights, the other is right by the Great, Dodger Stadium.  Eddie provides masa for the tortillas multiple times throughout the day.  This is not just a one time stop for the week or day for these places.  The masa is so fresh, it is given to the stores at about 25# at a time!  Yeah, fresh and delicious.  Eddie gave us an amazing tour of the facility and we got a lesson of Masa 101.  It helped make this trip so much more amazing.  I will be writing a blog soon about Guisados, Armando and Eddie to go into more detail.  From Guisados, we drove in a huge circle all the way around LA, thanks to my once again, sub par driving skills.

We were headed to Mexicali and sadly there were some street closures.  Instead of taking the easy way, we drove all the way around the 5 to the 10 to the 110 to the 101 to end up basically where we started from.  Needless to say, we safely got to Mexicali which is located in Chinatown.  If you are on a date and need a taco, go there.  If not, don't.  The food was just ok.  They have a sting ray taco.  Yes, it is actual sting ray.  It tastes more "shelly" then fishy.  I would recommend not touching it.  As was said at the table, "there is a reason that sting ray is not main streamed for consumption."  The chef or owner guy that was there was very nice and tried to be very accommodating.  The only really great thing I can say about this place was the seating.  I dig the long picnic tables in a restaurant.  Anyways, the place was trendy, the tacos were not nearly as good as we could make them and this was by far the least entertaining and most disappointing part of our journey.

Our next trip took us a little more North of LA.  We were headed to El Atacor.   There is two of them on Figueroa.  We were headed to the original one.  We saw the other one first and decided to stop.  This proved to be a fantastic decision.  The chick working there saw the eight of us barge into the door and ask for their famous Taco de Papas.  This little hooker lied to us and said that they were out because they had been so busy.  I called the place later in the day and they were not out.  Shocking right?  Anyhow the reason this stop was so great was the outside entertainment.  As we got back into the cars, we see this guy drop to his knee.  Was he proposing?  We had to stare.  We sat in the cars and stared at this couple for a good 9 minutes.  He was brushing the ground in front of her with his hand, she would kiss him on the forehead, it was weird.  She had a big purse that was zipped 90% shut.  This little dog would pop his head in and out.  It really was pretty creepy.  We couldn't leave, we couldn't look away.  He was either searching for something on the ground or wanted to sweep the floor in front of her.  This led to many laughs and jokes throughout the day.  El Atacor #1 was indeed a treat.  The food was great and really cheap.  I mean 8 potato tacos and 2 pastor tacos cost $8.71, both times that we ordered.  The bathroom reminded us of a walk in cooler that had been converted.  We loved the decor, the place was great.

Leaving El Atacor, we were a bit sad that we had probably had our best meals behind us.  We trekked deep into a part of LA we had never heard of.  Seriously, have any of you heard of Garvanza, CA?  The place exists.  Not too far from Pasadena.  So we park on the street after I take us on another famous circle and we notice a bar, Dusty's as we walk into My Taco.  The lady at this place was a totally miserable woman.  She refused to let us eat in the restaurant and told us we had to take our food to go.  We ate in a tree, yes, a tree.  We ate right in front of their large window out of a tree just to show this lady what a large middle finger that we had.  Everyone in the restaurant was staring trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  On a positive note, Paulie won a stuffed elephant from a claw machine that we played for way too long.

So we walk into the dimly lit bar Dusty's and the bartender says to the regulars that she just hopes we are not cops.  As we each order a beer to toast and celebrate the awesomeness of our journey some jackass decides its in his best interest to heckle us.  He makes some comment about us and "why we are there."  I turn to the group of knuckle heads and tell them that we are all celebrating me getting out of prison.  There were no more stupid comments from these guys.  Got a couple of high fives and hellos from some of the dudes as they left.

Post victory beer, we made a great decision.  Drive back to church car wash that we passed and ask if the food we were watching them make is for sale.  Yeah, it was.  They were really big fans of us as we probably quadrupled their sales for the day and pretty much built them a playground with all the money spent.  Pupusas were great.  They were afraid to take our picture, but were some really nice folks that I'm glad we met.

My friends, readers, haters and anyone I left out, this concludes the story of our excursion.  We ended on the famous, beloved Route 66, which in this writer's opinion made the trip all that much better.  In the end, as good as some of the food was, as great as some of stories, antics and jokes were, the best part was the company that I was with.  A group of amazing guys, with keen palates, good looks and a sense of adventure that is unmatched in the taco eating community.  A huge thank you to all readers, please do tell your friends about this blog, and endless thank yous to the amazing guys that I got to spend the day with.