Mariscos Jalisco will have a truck at Locarno in Los Angeles, a film festival at the Downtown Independent, on April 7-8. (Granted, that’s pretty close to the Fashion District location heh)
Ave 26 Taco stand moved several meters North of where it used to be. I believe Artesian Pl. it has a more spacious street set up now.
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fun thread. The Guerilla tacos look awesome! I’ve only had them when they’re at Silver Lake Wine on one of their tasting nights, and at the LA food bowl last year, but they were some of the best tacos I’ve ever had.
BS Taqueria is a conundrum for me. I love the idea of the tacos, and I love the drinks there, but every time I’ve been there (and it’s been more than a few…) the tacos were unreasonably hot/spicy. Like unpleasantly so. To the point where I don’t know if I’ll ever go back. If I’m looking to satiate drunken munchies on that block, I’d much rather go to Halal Guys and add the red sauce drop by drop lol.
Anyone try this fish taco place that opened up a month ago on corner of NW corner of Venice and Westwood Blvd?
Baja California Tacos
https://www.bajacaliforniatacos.com/
Update 14:
We were originally just in the mood to get some Ricky’s Fish Tacos, but that visit spawned a full Taco Journey…
Ricky’s Fish Tacos (Revisit)
Ricky’s Fish Tacos seems to be driven to more remote locations these days. He’s currently found underneath an overpass on the border of Los Feliz.
Owner Ricky Pina was there cooking up all the orders. We couldn’t wait.
Fish Taco:
The first thing that struck us was how tiny this Taco was: It was easily about ~60% of the size of his Fish Tacos when he first started serving them. 
One of our friends who came along with us hired Ricky years ago to cater their Birthday, so he was very familiar with how big each Fish Taco used to be.
Taking a bite: It was a lot of breading, still crunchy, but definitely felt like we were eating mainly Tortilla, Breading and Pico de Gallo. 
The Fish meat also tasted not as bright as before.
Lobster Taco:
We were super excited to see that Ricky brought back his famous Lobster Tacos! I had written about his amazing Baja Lobster Tacos (where he’d get fresh Baja Lobster) and make some fantastic Tacos out of them when they were in season (earlier in this thread).
Imagine our surprise when the “Lobster” in this Taco were mashed up tiny bits of “shredded” Lobster? It was super salty and tasted like Krab (Imitation Crab)! It tasted nothing like any Lobster we’ve ever eaten in our lives. 
Ricky’s Fish Tacos is in total downhill alert mode right now: He kept the same higher price tag for his Fish Taco ($3.50 + tax & tip), for maybe ~60% of the size of what they used to be, and it tasted worse. And on top of that, he was charging $6 (+ tax & tip) for faux-Lobster (we’ve had Costco frozen Lobster that tastes much better than this). I have no idea what this fake meat was, but it was super salty, tasted like Krab and was awful. 
We will not be going back, and that’s heartbreaking because Ricky’s Fish Tacos used to be our favorite Fish Tacos in the city, but this was ridiculous.
Ricky’s Fish Tacos
3061 Riverside Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
Check his Twitter feed for latest updates on time & location:
https://twitter.com/RickysFishTacos
We were so upset by how badly Ricky’s had fallen off that we started another Taco Journey in search of better Tacos…
Tacos Baja
The first time we went to Tacos Baja was due to reading a recommendation on our old board for their great Fish Tacos. It had been a few years, but we wanted to see how they compared to the Downhill version of Ricky’s.
Taco de Pescado (Fish Taco):
Like Ricky’s (originally), Tacos Baja uses Basa Fish. Portion-wise, Tacos Baja had slightly more meat than Ricky’s and it was cheaper ($2.25 + tax).
Taste-wise? We preferred Tacos Baja to the disaster of this latest visit with Ricky’s, but it was not better than Ricky’s when he was on top of his game. Tacos Baja was crunchy, medium thick batter, some nice refreshing Cabbage and Salsa with some Crema.
Taco de Camaron (Shrimp Taco):
The surprise was their Taco de Camaron (Shrimp Taco): Generous amounts of Fried Shrimp in this Taco for only $2.75 (+ tax), they were properly cooked, plump, moist, meaty. 
(Cash Only)
Tacos Baja
5385 Whittier Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
Tel: (323) 887-1980
Tacos 1986
The newest darling on Eater and more mainstream websites, Tacos 1986 burst onto the scene a few months ago, delivering Tijuana-style Tacos to the masses. While their location has been sporadic at best (they were evicted / forced out of 2-3 different locations), they can be found regularly, once a week at Smorgasburg on Sundays.
It had been a while since we last went back to Smorgasburg, and it was a madhouse on this visit. Super long lines and tons of people everywhere!
The line for Tacos 1986 were the longest today, easily over 40+ people:
Founded by Victor Delgado and his ebullient Taquero Jorge Alvarez, it is easy to see why they have a following: They are friendly, talkative and Taquero Alvarez hams it up for the crowds. 
The staff were making freshly made Tortillas by hand non-stop throughout the day.
Chicken Taco:
Their Chicken Taco is adequate. Slightly dryish, but still somewhat moist, there’s decent flavor, but it feels like an alternative thrown on the menu for those that don’t want their more popular Beef and Pork options.
Mushroom Taco:
Absolutely incredible! 
The Mushrooms are slow cooked down with this super complex umami flavor. There are notes of Soy Sauce, but so much more, and it’s just bursting with Mushroom flavor. They were a surprise.
Carne Asada Taco:
Holy cow! @TheCookie was right: These were a total salt bomb! They were barely smoky, extremely salty, and each one of our Carne Asada Tacos had a ton of chewy gristle. (Everyone in our group admitted they had to spit out part of the Carne Asada Taco because of chewy gristle.)
It was pretty mediocre Carne Asada.
(Off Menu) Perron:
Owner Victor Delgado was chatting it up with us and recommended we order his personal favorite, the “Perron,” an off-menu item, a tribute to a dish he grew up eating in Mexico.
It turned out to be a like an open faced Quesadilla in a way, griddled Tortilla with Cheese, Frijoles (Beans), Carne Asada, Guacamole and a special Salsa.
The flavors combined were tasty, but the Carne Asada meat ruined the dish here as well: Just overly salty, chewy gristle, mediocre quality meat.
Mushroom Vampiros:
Their Vampiros features 2 Tortillas crisped up with melted Cheese, sandwiching whatever filling you choose. The Vampiros with Mushroom was excellent! 
The base of marinated, slow cooked Mushrooms were as incredible as in the Taco, but now featuring a crunchy, cheesy textural contrast. Ultimately up to individual preference, but we’d probably stick with the Mushroom Taco as it was more pure in flavor.
Carne Asada Mulita:
I wish we had chosen after sampling all the fillings, but alas we had to order everything first. Just like the Carne Asada Taco and the Perron, here with the Mulita, the Carne Asada Beef was just too salty, tough and chewy and full of gristle. Terrible.
Adobada Taco:
But the real reason we were here was for the flaming spit and slow cooking Marinated Pork known as Adobada. Owner Delgado tells us that “Adobada” and “Al Pastor” are pretty much the same thing, it’s just a different terminology depending on the region of Mexico. And his Adobada on the spit features a marinade of his Chile Adobo Sauce.
There is no Pineapple slowly roasting on top of the spit like those found at popular Al Pastor spots like Leo’s Tacos, however it more than makes up for it in terms of flavor:
Spicy, savory, a touch of sweet, nuanced, Tacos 1986’s Adobada Tacos were legit!
They are different from Leo’s Al Pastor (still great), a bit more wet and slathered in their Adobo Sauce, but quite tasty and distinct.
We wanted to see if our experience was a fluke or not, so we headed back to Tacos 1986 at their Koreatown location at night (it turned out to be one of the last nights they were there before being kicked out of that location).
2nd Visit:
Greeting all customers at night with unique poses.
We noticed the equipment setup was slightly different on the street side at night: Their Adobada vertical spit setup didn’t have a grill at the bottom to allow them to slice off the meat and sear it before serving (like it was at Smorgasburg during the day).
Carne Asada Tacos:
Barely smoky, total salt bomb again, and still with plenty of fat & gristle for your chewing pleasure. 
Adobada Taco:
Still excellent and delicious. Slightly savory, spiced, sweet.
At this point Tacos 1986 is an excellent visit for trying the fantastic Adobada (Marinated Pork) Tacos, slow roasted on the vertical spit. Their Mushroom Tacos are not to be missed either, being extremely flavorful, full of umami and nuanced, without being overly salty either. We didn’t miss the meat and it could be argued they were even better than the Adobada!
However, their Carne Asada Beef was awful, a salt bomb on both visits (to both locations), tough, chewy, full of gristle and not even close to being the best in the city. But with the friendly Owners and Taqueros and 2 standout fillings (Adobada and Mushroom), we’ll gladly return.
Tacos 1986
Currently at Smorgasburg every Sunday.
(at ROW DTLA)
777 S. Alameda Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Check their Instagram for latest location updates:
Tacos Los Poblanos
Since at @JeetKuneBao was asking, and we wanted to double check just how far off Tacos 1986 was compared to the best Carne Asada in the city, off we went to try our favorite 3 in the city, starting with Tacos Los Poblanos.
Forget the lines during the day at Smorgasburg, which felt like a mix of hamsters, Yelpers and regular folks. Here at Tacos Los Poblanos, it’s pure OG. It was shocking how long the line was around 10 p.m. at night.
The staff were busy churning out Handmade Tortillas non-stop as well.
The smell is incredible: Mesquite grilled Carne Asada Beef is cooking non-stop throughout the night. If you thought you smelled like Galbi or Bulgolgi after a night at Korean BBQ, just standing in line for Tacos here at Tacos Los Poblanos will result in you smelling even more smoky, like you were wearing legit Carne Asada Perfume. 
Carne Asada Taco:
Incredibly smoky, beautiful char-crisped edges, meaty, savory, and not overly salty at all. No chewy gristle either. The proprietary Salsa and Guacamole with the Carne Asada here… creamy, meaty, awesome!
SO GOOD!
This blows away Tacos 1986. It’s not even close. And it’s almost half the price! ($1.75 per Taco.)
This was the 3rd time we’ve been to Tacos Los Poblanos, but the first time back at this newer location. It is as good as ever, and represents our 3rd favorite Carne Asada in the city.
(Cash Only)
Tacos Los Poblanos #1 Estilo Tijuana
5821 S. Avalon Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90011
Tire Shop Taqueria
Continuing our bang x bang, down the street is arguably the most famous of the new wave of Carne Asada specialists, Tire Shop Taqueria. The line is shockingly short compared to Los Poblanos. It’s a more out of the way location (Los Poblanos now has a prime main intersection corner lot), but still on a major street.
Handmade Tortillas being prepped for orders.
Their Carne Asada and Chorizo are being grilled over Mesquite, it smells incredible here as well.
Chorizo Taco + Carne Asada Tacos:
Unlike the other specialists, Tire Shop Taqueria actually has a fantastic Chorizo (Spicy Pork Sausage) Taco offering as well. On this 4th visit, the Chorizo is as zesty, lightly spicy and wonderfully savory as before!
Carne Asada Tacos:
Their Carne Asada Taco is even more smoky than Tacos Los Poblanos. Having tried them back-to-back, everyone in our group agreed: Tire Shop Taqueria’s Carne Asada is just more smoky and slightly more seasoned. Los Poblanos is great, but Tire Shop has more seasoning and more Mesquite. It’s meaty, juicy, nicely seasoned, smoky and not overly salty either (@TheCookie). Outstanding!
Tire Shop Taqueria continues to deliver outstanding Carne Asada Tacos, freshly grilled over mesquite charcoal. Don’t sleep on their Chorizo Tacos as well. With the deeper seasoning and more smoky flavor, we prefer them (barely) over Tacos Los Poblanos, but they are both outstanding.
(Cash Only)
Tire Shop Taqueria
4077 S Avalon Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90011
Tacos La Carreta
Tacos La Carreta was our favorite Carne Asada in the city, but it’d been too long since we last stopped by. Calling ahead, we found out they moved locations! They are now in the city of Bellflower, only open on Sundays (the family that runs La Carreta have day jobs and found that working the entire weekend (like before) was too taxing for them).
In addition, it seems they are utilizing a restaurant space that normally closes on Sundays(?) for this pop-up.
The positive of this move is that now there are proper fast-casual tables and chairs and bathrooms (compared to just being on the street for the other vendors).
Agua de Cebada (Toasted Barley Drink):
This tastes just like Horchata (made with Rice), except it’s made with Toasted Barley. Delicious and not overly sweet.
Carne Asada Tacos:
We arrived just as they were about to close, so they still had some Carne Asada finishing off on a flattop. We asked the server if they still cooked their Carne Asada over Mesquite and she said “Yes” (although we didn’t see a grill setup anywhere cooking it (but again, we arrived just as they were closing, so maybe they finished up already)).
Still, taking a bite, the Carne Asada was lightly smoky (not as heavily smoked as before), and not as smoky as Tacos Los Poblanos or Tire Shop Taqueria, but what it lacked in heavy smoke, it made up for in stunning flavor!
The Carne Asada Beef was by far the most well-marinated flavor out of all of the Carne Asada we tried recently. It’s got a nice round, delicious, almost umami quality. Their Housemade Jalapeno & Roasted Tomato Salsa is incredible, and together (with a dash of their Guacamole (on the table)) they combine to make the best tasting Carne Asada Taco we had on this journey.
The Tortilla seems to be their weak point, as they fell apart rather easily. Again, we weren’t sure if it’s because we arrived as they were closing and these were the last few already made a while earlier, or if they don’t use Handmade Tortillas anymore.
Carne Asada Chorreadas:
As tasty as before: Chorreadas are the crispy, crunchy hard shell Tortillas topped with melted Cheese, Carne Asada and Pork Lard. 
The crunchiness gives way to a slight cheesiness, but then the wave of deliciousness hits you from the Pork Lard melted into the Tortilla and the slightly smoky, but well-marinaded Carne Asada Beef.
Tacos La Carreta seems to have taken a slight step back with this move to the indoor location: The Carne Asada was by far the most flavorful out of all of the Carne Asada Tacos we tried on this journey, but its smokiness was a lot more subtle than before (where it dominated Tire Shop Taqueria and Tacos Los Poblanos).
Ultimately though, all 3 specialists represent our favorite Carne Asada in L.A., and they completely blew away Tacos 1986 (not even in the same league). For pure smokiness, we’d go with Tire Shop Taqueria. Tacos Los Poblanos is the cheapest of the 3 spots (by $0.25), and still very good. For pure deep marinade and total flavor (outside of smokiness), we liked Tacos La Carreta the most.
(Cash Only)
(Sundays Only - 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
Tacos La Carreta
9741 Alondra Blvd.
Bellflower, CA 90706
Tel: (562) 500-5581
Guerrilla Tacos (Revisit)
Aguas Frescas: Pineapple Orange:
Ridiculous how fresh, vibrant and lightly sweet, but so fruity Chef Wes Avila’s Aguas Frescas are! This Pineapple Orange was fantastic, tasting of real Pineapple and bright citrus.
Baja Fried Cod Taco (Tempura-Battered Wild Cod, Chipotle Crema, Pico de Gallo, Chile Japonese, Cilantro):
We had to see how Guerrilla Tacos’ version of the Fish Taco compared, now that Ricky’s is going downhill. First, it is not even close:
The quality of Chef Wes’ Fried Cod Taco is leagues ahead of Ricky’s Fish Tacos. Besides using Wild Cod (compared to Swai / Basa / Tilapia at Ricky’s), the flakiness, moist, delicate, perfectly cooked Wild Cod blows it away. It’s lightly sweet, bright and delicious!
In addition with Ricky being so cheap these days (and secretly cutting down the size of his Fish Taco), Chef Wes’ Fried Cod Taco is easily 200 - 250% of the size of Ricky’s and Guerrilla charges $5 compared to Ricky’s $3.50.
The flavor is very good, however, Chef Wes’ assistant line cook (who was prepping all our food today) used too much of the Pickled Cabbage, which made it way too tart. But eating less of it and the Cod itself and the sauces (the Chile Japonese with Chipotle Crema) made this Fish Taco standout.
Chile Colorado + Foie Gras Taco (Braised Beef, Chile de Arbol, Chives, Pepitas):
We had this from the very last batch of Foie Gras that Chef Wes had before the ban. The Chile Colorado Braised Beef was luscious, nicely seasoned and tender. The Foie Gras added a nice lusciousness, but it was fine without it actually. Still at only $3 additional for the Foie, it wasn’t a bad add-on.
Another Visit:
(Special) Lamb Shoulder Taco:
This was incredible! A Daily Special that Chef Wes added, the marinated Lamb had nice zesty notes of Cumin, Pepper and other spices. It was meaty, but not chewy, sufficiently tender but with some heft, and the Tahini Dressing, Cucumbers, Onions, and the Housemade Puffed Flour Tortilla made for a fantastic mouthfeel for this Lamb Taco!
Albondigas Taco (Chicken Meatballs, Stewed Tomato Salsa, Castelvetrano Olives, Parsley):
Nice, deep stew flavor, slow-cooked, tender Chicken Meatballs, lovely Olive flavor and the Stewed Tomato Salsa to finish it off.
Baja Fried Cod Taco (Tempura-Battered Wild Cod, Chipotle Crema, Pico de Gallo, Chile Japonese, Cilantro):
To make sure it was consistent, and to tackle the flavors better, this follow-up visit, we scraped off some of the Pickled Cabbage, and the Fried Cod Taco was perfect!
Still amazing quality Wild Cod Fish, perfectly fried, flaky, moist, tender, lightly sweet, bright, and still easily 250% of the size of Ricky’s Fish Tacos nowadays, for a superior Fish Taco and better QPR (@Ns1 and others), Guerrilla is now the place to for Fish Tacos.
(Seasonal) Lobster Quesadilla:
Woo hoo! It’s back! Chef Wes Avila brought back his best Quesadilla from his Guerrilla Taco Truck days: The Lobster Quesadilla! (@ipsedixit @J_L @PorkyBelly @A5KOBE)
It’s slightly different compared to the truck days: In the truck, the Quesadillas were always a bit uneven - sometimes way too much Cheese, unevenly fried at times (on that tiny flattop), maybe a touch too oily depending on how busy it got.
Now with a full kitchen and more space and equipment, the Lobster Quesadilla is served open-faced (you can fold it over if you want), it’s much more evenly heated and seared, and there’s still a TON of Lobster meat here.
The other difference is Chef Wes changed up the flavors slightly, using Clarified Butter (to give it a more classic American taste to it), and he threw on a Sunny Side Up Egg (because why not?).
It’s delicious overall and I’ll be sad when he rotates it off the menu for Spring.
Guerrilla Tacos (Restaurant)
2000 E. 7th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Tel: (213) 358-7070
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The most comprehensive taco review I have ever read .
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Sad to hear about Ricky’s.
Gotta get out to try Tacos La Carreta’s carne asada beef.
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+1. I remember the first bite of that fish taco being transcendent and so memorable…
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I am heart broken about Ricky’s!!!
At its peak it was one of the best and the undisputed Fish Taco King!!
That was painful to read/see.
Thank you for the comparison with Tire Shop/Los Poblanos vs 1986.
I am very wary now of foodie media darlings like 1986 and Teddy Reds. Especially since Eater LA has covered those 2 places so much and given so much attention when there is better Asada and Birria in LA Taco scene. I’ll have to try the mushroom and adobada at 1986.
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Yah definitely sad about Ricky’s. If you go to Tacos La Carreta, give their Chorreadas a try as well and see which one you like more. 
The only thing I get at RFT these days are shrimp tacos, plain or light cabbage.
Also, I did point out that GT had a superior fish taco to which someone called me blasphemous.
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I need to hit these open flame grilled carne asada joints! Looks amazing.
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Another great report, @Chowseeker1999! The next time you come to Tacos La Carreta, you can also bangx3 at the Mariscos El Paradero and my favorite area fish/shrimp taco stand, Taco Nazo. All located within 5 minutes of each other along Alondra Blvd. I actually prefer the shrimp at Taco Nazo, but the fish is also good. My family lives for their shrimp burritos.
I live closer to Tacos Baja now and we head there for $0.99 fish tacos on Wednesday.
I had always been curious about Ricky’s, but I guess I can skip that one now. Sad to hear about their decline…even with Sergio in the house.
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It’s like fine shredded lobster claw meat that’s been seasoned and lacks freshness.
When they were more of a special item, the lobster was fresher and he used special flour tortillas.
It’s truly a terrible item.
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Several years ago Ricky was charging $8 for lobster tacos - clearly this is an inferior product. Really sad to hear, I’ll have to investigate soon myself.
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Thanks @attran99.
We totally spaced out that Mariscos El Paradero was so close by (we were in a rush to make it to Tacos La Carreta before it closed). Thanks for the reminder on Taco Nazo! I remember going to it once a few years ago and it was solid. I’ll have to try it again.
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FWIW, I place more value on the endorsements from people whose sensibilities are similar to mine. i’ve made fun of yelp, but it turns out that there are certain people i’ve noticed on yelp whose opinions i value over reviews written on EATER or posted here, enough so that i make a point of noting the places they’ve reviewed. that’s not to say any given review has no value, but rather that the value depends on the biases of both the author and the audience and that should be taken into consideration pretty much all the time. without wanting to go too off-topic, have people begun following the new food section at the LA times? i was kinda surprised they led off with dolan’s uighur cuisine - mainly because it hasn’t been open all that long.
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