Rico's Tacos, El Tio, Inglewood, CA

What a week, what a day.  Somehow I got a flat tire today.  It just added to the immense joy that I have been overwhelmed with.  Here's the thing, guys, hipster guys, if you don't know how to change your tire, it is time to learn.  Watch a Youtube video or something, but you need to know how to do it without calling AAA or some service that you paid for.  Let them deal with the real stuff, not changing your tire, you should be able to do it yourself.  Lucky for me, a flat tire does not stop me from going Tacoteering.  I was at the office for some meetings and was heading to The Counter in El Segundo.  I stopped not too far from LAX in beautiful Inglewood, CA.

Rico's Tacos, El Tio in Inglewood was the recipient of some real live Tacoteering today.  Place was busy, really busy.  I was there watching people just line up and order.  The building is modest, for sure it has been painted recently.  The inside was pretty perfect.  I like the outside patio, ambiance is right on point for a place like this.  It also really fits the neighborhood.  It blends in and stands out all at the same time.

The menu is good.  What they need without too much fluff.  They know how to execute.  I will say that I found them a bit slow, but they were working hard.  This is the part of the menu that I was interested in.

Here is the rest of the menu and their waters.  They make their waters in house, pretty cool, pretty common though.  I didn't have any, but they looked good and people were ordering them, so I'm sure they couldn't be bad.  Everyone working there was speaking perfect English and perfect Spanish.  Great having such great diversity in such a small place.  I have to say that their hiring seems great.
RATINGS:
ASADA: 4, really tasty.  Nice balance, subtle flavors, for sure something that I really liked.
LENGUA: 3, this was so close to a 4.  Flavors were good, buttery.  I think that they need to cook it for just a few minutes longer.
CARNITAS: 3, this was very good.  Nothing with overwhelming flavors, but had nice texture and some good flavor that made it a solid 3 that I would say is worth stopping by for.
PASTOR: 1, I was so sad.  This was dry, not well marinated and I'm just angry about it.  The reason I'm not saying much more is that I'll just get negative on a place that is pretty solid.
BUCHE: 2, too mushy.  This really had not been cooked long enough and was lacking in flavor.  Very fatty buche, wouldn't recommend it.
CABEZA: 3, solid.  Just some pretty textbook cabeza. Good flavor, nice texture, not over or under cooked, but they didn't do anything to set it apart.

Not a bad looking spread.  The jalapenos are a nice touch and were great.  Firm but soft, spicy but not fire.  They carrots were so well  marinated.  I really enjoyed the extras that came with this meal.  I'll sum this place up, I'm glad I went, but I'm not going back.  The people were great, the ambiance was nice, but the food was just OK.  Nothing truly blew me away today.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but I'm not pining to get some more of their tacos, I need to continue the search for better ones and go back to places that have blown this place away.

As always, thank you for reading.  Thanks for telling people and following along on these taco journeys.  Today's gratuitous photo is of the donut wheel on the Impala.  The donut that too, me on this taco journey.

Stay Excellent!

LAX Tacos, Inglewood, CA

Flying home last night all I could hear was Randy Newman, "I love LA."  Boise, I have taken your taco challenge and just missed LA more and more.  I was thinking to myself as I was coming home, why would people not fight to pick me up from the airport?  It just doesn't make sense, you know I'm going to take you Tacoteering if you pick me up.  Your call if it is somewhere tried and true or somewhere new.  Melissa picked me up last night and I had three places in mind.  We braved the streets of Inglewood, CA to get to LAX Tacos.  The serenading of Elvis Presley on XM radio made the ride all that much better.

LAX Tacos.  This place has been around for quite some time.  This is a no frills street taco serving place.  It is on the North side of Arbor Vitae Street in Inglewood, CA.  Inglewood, CA is a great city for Tacoteers to be born, yes yours truly was born in Inglewood.  I think that my taco destiny played a part.  The taco gods knew that there is many great taco places that I could hit up around there.

Here is the beautiful patio layout.  Perfect for the neighborhood and the restaurant in general.  Tables are easily cleaned and kept, they are not easy to pick up and steal, not that there is any chance of that in this neighborhood.  Parking is a bit tough, there is a plethora of night clubs in the area that take a lot of the street parking and there is not exactly a large lot that is readily available.  The decor fits the place and fits the area inside and out.  The menu is good.  I hear their burritos are great, but we just stuck to some tacos.

Not too many frills, but everything that you need for a late night taco.
RATINGS:
BIRRIA: 2, this stuff should be super tender, it was not.  It was not bad, but not great.  I just expect a delicious tender stew and this was tough.  If you cook goat to hot and too fast it tightens up!  I do like the way they serve it in the bowl with the tortillas, cilantro, onions and limes on the side, but the flavor was still lacking.
CARNITAS: 2, too tough!  Really not that great.  It was kind of chewy.  Maybe a trend of cooking on too high of a heat?
ADOBADA: 2, really greasy.  It ruined the good flavors that I think they were heading towards. Again, I found this meat to be a little bit tough.
ASADA: 4, probably the best thing that they made.  It is their top seller according to the guys working.  Not to shabby.  Good flavor, not tough and not too salty.
LENGUA: 3, textbook.  Nothing that blew me away, but nothing I was disappointed by. Flavors were good, texture on point, but nothing special about it.
BUCHE: 3, man this is so close to a 4.  I was impressed Melissa ate some.  That really threw me through a loop!  It was crispy, but not overdone, tasty but not overwhelming, like I said, I could be talked into this being a 4.

Yeah, I ordered a few tacos.  Look, I really have missed the LA taco scene.  I needed it in my life bad.  It was a warm welcome back to the land of delicious tacos that is Southern California.  It was also nice to see the family.  I have really missed them.  Poor Josh, Fo, Jess and the rest had to try to keep me as sane as I can be.  Phil left after only a few days and my sadness just grew from there.  Just a warning about the tacos, they come with some fiery hot sauce on them.  Really damn good, but hot.  It burned Melissa up!  Overall, I like the place, worth a try.

Thank you again for reading.  I really appreciate you all for reading!  Please keep telling folks.  There are many Idaho adventures that have not been read yet!  Don't miss out on all of the Tacoteering that goes on in other states!  More LA trips to come and I hit the road again soon.  Today's gratuitous photo is of my wife Melissa.  Her at LAX Taco last night Tacoteering like a late night champ because of all the flight delays.  11 years of marriage has taken her on a lot of taco trips, glad she still enjoys them.

Stay Excellent Everyone!

Fiesta Martin Tacos, Inglewood, CA

I just love this double picture.  It is above the door when you walk in.  Decor in here is nice.  Really nice.  The people here were really nice.  Not over the top or fake, but cool.  The outside of the building leaves much to be desired for, but the inside had gone through and taken something from every big Mexican restaurant remodel.  For example this star use to be in like every El Torito:

Looks pretty cool the way that they put everything together.  This place is on La Brea just before you get into Baldwin Hills.  Just so you know, it is an easy shot from Culver City if you are there an need to grab a bite.  They have a pretty nice salsa bar.  Different options, different flavors.  Good stuff.  They keep each salsa in 1/6 pans, not 1/3 pans to keep the salsa colder.  Nice thinking!  This thing was long.  It had pickled jalapenos, pickled onions, seasoned cucumbers and three different salsas.

 
Salsa bar has some great options.  The menu is good.  It takes a good amount of space, but it does have too much on it.  It is sticking to what they know.  They don't want too much flare, just the good stuff basics.  They have some great meat options.

So lets get to the food.  Nice.  They have some pretty cool ways to enjoy what they make.  The lady taking the order was great.  You order at the counter and they bring the food and beverages to your table.  It was pretty slow when we went in, but it was an off time.  Ratings are going to take sometime, so lets get right to it.

RATINGS:
SALSA BAR: 3, it was good, but nothing that amazed me flavor wise.  Some good stuff, but nothing that blew me totally away.
SALSA ROJO: 2, not very flavorful.  It was okay, not as smoky as it looked like it should be.
SALSA VERDE: 3, good, not great.  Did not blow me away, just kind of a run of the mill type of a thing, but solid.
JALAPENO SALSA: 3, so this stuff was basic.  Not great, but not bad.  It was not too runny which is usually the problem.
CUCUMBERS: 4, these were the best part of the trip.  They were really good.  They were spicy and delicious.  There was a bit of sweetness that was there.  The texture was really fantastic.
PICKLED ONIONS: 3, they were good.  This was a nice touch and they went great on the tacos.
ASADA: 3, it was good, but nothing special.
BARBACOA: 2, clove like.  It was not very flavorful and the texture was off.  It was not inedible, but not very good.
PASTOR: 2, eww.  Not very good.  Texture sucked.  It was borderline crisis.
LENGUA: 2, fatty, greasy.  Not very tasty.  It is just not good stuff.  I like it so much better in so many other places.
TRIPA: 4, yeah, I really liked it.  I think that they fried it.  It was really crispy and really tasty.  The texture was on point, the flavor was great.  It was not at all greasy.
BUCHE: 4, let me say it, this is not as good as Los Cinco Puntos or Tacos el Gordo in Chula Vista.  It is good stuff.  It was crispy, it was not overcooked.  They had seasoned this stuff.

Looks pretty good right?  Cilantro, onions and lime were at that salsa bar.  It worked well here.  I went a little heavy on the cilantro, it made me happy.  Cilantro is good for your kidneys.  Just think about it.  It is a great garnish and it tastes great.  Add it to your diet.  Back to the decor.  The decor is great.  I had to take a picture of the front door from the inside.  It has bamboo all around.  It was really cool.

The best part of the trip was the company.  We've been crazy busy and buried at work.  We had to go from ES to Culver City.  We were on our way to a taco truck, but it moved!  We kept driving back roads to get to the office.  We pulled up to this place, yes, I made four rights to get to the right spot.  We went in and ordered and you read the rest.  I was so proud of us, we actually got through lunch without talking about work, or anyone or anything to do with work, well accept for how glad I am I get to work with Ramon.  Last thing before I go, a gratuitous picture of Amber:

Thanks for reading, re-posting and retweeting, thanks for being a part of the Order and reading.  Stay Excellent Everyone!