This one, the upscale mexican restaurant across the street from this location, the takeout only stand on Inglewood, the carniceria next to the stand all belong to the same family.
The carniceria has some very good carne asada and varrious types of chicharron. I like hitting Northgate across the street for their fresh tortilla and other shopping, then stopping at carniceria for meats and chicharron.
I used to like the stand a lot but the past few years it seems a bit inconsistent. The shrimp tacos has dropped in quality some. Their salsa rojo also isn’t as complex as it used to be.
Still this is my neighborhood, it’s all within walking distance. Tacomiendo is very good. Agree the free beans from the pot next to salsa bar is good. The salsa rojo is also very good. Its a nicely stocked salsa bar. The tortillas are handmade and good although I find them underseasoned. If they just have a pinch more salt I think they’d be much better.
El Abajeno has really gone downhill. We only hit them for their monster carnitas taquitos now, which really are overstuffed soft tacos topped with a generous portion of cheese and avocado. It can be on the greasy side though if you can them wrong. Since they prep the tortillas in the back and sometimes the grill is heavy with oil from all the other orders. Still it’s pretty good deal for $2.35 and their salsa rojo is pretty good.
They’ve changed owners and management multiple times since the original Gio’s. Seems like the food is inconsistent from reports on other sites. I’ve only had coffee there. It’s solid and it is comfortable to settle in with a book, they also offer free wifi. Good neighborhood coffee shop.
Roast Chicken only. The daily half chicken meal with two sides and tortillas is a great deal. The rest of the meats for tacos or burritos are nothing special.
Actually the bakery is the old business that went out. The new biz has a sign that says tacos, but the cloth sign keeps blowing up above the roof and that’s why you only see the old Guadalajara bakery sign.
The bakery used to be solid. If you’re craving mexican pastries like what they used to have, go to Pan Dulce bakery on Washington Place and Grandview. They are part of the Oaxacan restaurant next door, The bakery and restaurant used to be one. But then they took over the space next door and separated the two and the variety and quantity is now much larger. I like this place better than the old Guadalajara.
It’s also a good stop as part of the Sunday’s farmer’s market trip, since it’s right down the street.
Oh and I almost forgot. Around my part of the neighborhood, there’s Don Felix on the corner of Sawtelle and Washington Place.
Pretty good mexican. I like their birria a lot. They make their guac fresh. Their short rib combo plate is pretty darn good. It is a sparse no frills hole in the wall joint. Service is relaxed to say the least. But they are nice, the food is tasty, prices are reasonable. Park on Washington west of Sawtelle.
Their butcher shop also does homemade sausages. On Sunday’s they grill meats up front, I’ve yet to try it but it looks good.
DANG. @Jase came into the thread and threw the hammer down. Some really great suggestions and tips! Much appreciated.
I was thinking about going to the Mar Vista FM this weekend, so I’ll have to swing by the Pan Dulce Bakery and give it a whirl. And copy that RE: Benny’s.
You would have disliked Guadalajra then LOL. I do find some of their stuff can be hit or miss. The fruit filled ones tend to be better. But everything is so inexpensive, easy enough to try different ones.
Thanks to @Jase’s tip, headed over to Benny’s Tacos & Rotisserie Chicken Friday night.
We were lucky to get a parking spot in their crowded lil lot and walked up to see that the place was BUMPING. Heavinggg. It was quite the scene, but all of the employees were nice and helpful amidst the chaos.
Half chicken with two sides (rice & beans) - $10.95
The patio didn’t lend itself to getting a good picture, but it was really nice sitting out there. Not pictured is the big flour tortilla that their sign says is homemade. Overall, it was fine. The Chicken was juicy enough, and when you made a roast chicken taco with the tortilla, salsa, radish, lime, cilantro, pickled onion, etc., it made for a pretty good bite. I didn’t care much for that garlic butter-adjacent stuff, though. And the lady who took our order said the pinto beans were spicy, but I didn’t really get much of that. It’s a lot of food, so you could split with someone else or order two just for yourself if you’re @PorkyBelly. A pretty solid deal.
I don’t imagine we’ll rush back, but this would be a fine stop if you’re already in the area or live close by and want a quick bite. Or maybe @Bigmouth can stop by en route to LAX for his/her next on-plane dining adventure?
7101 W Manchester Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Didn’t get a chance to try the bakery, but will do soon!
Yeah, I wouldn’t call it a destination place, but I think it’s a darn good neighborhood joint. Did you hit up their salsa bar to go with the chicken?
Also, I haven’t been in a few months but have you tried Coppelia’s on Venice? The old crew from Pepy’s was hired over there, but they also kept the Peruvian roast chicken. For a while I was picking up a whole chicken from them fairly regularly. They also kept the Pepy’s version of chilaquiles. It’s not quite as good especially since they don’t carry the smoky salsa Pepy’s used to have. But it’s still a darn good version and inexpensive.
I need to pop back in there again. I heard they had something change with the restaurant partner owners. Hopefully the quality hasn’t gone downhill.
I did indeed. Chicken with salsa >>> chicken without salsa fur sure. Also liked the pickled onions, which I can’t get enough of these days.
Coppelia’s! That’s the name. I think you actually tipped me off to their chilaquiles earlier this year, but I couldn’t recall/find the name. I will be trying this sooooon.
I had to feed ten tonight, so I stopped by Northgate, thinking that I may just get some rice & beans since @Bookwich mentioned em. I was planning on also putting in an order of tacos at Tacomiendo, but then I saw there was a platter combo available at Northgate, and I thought, “Nah forget it - yo holmes to Bel Air.”
3 lbs Carnitas
3 roasted chickens
4 lbs rice
4 lbs beans
1 green salsa
1 red salsa
72 ish tortillas $87 (after tax) Plus I got some cilantro for 33c (had an onion at home)
First thing I’ll say - that chicken killed. Miles ahead of Benny’s, I think. So juicy and flavorful. I was really surprised. Awesome.
The beans and rice were also way better than the ones you get as part of the Tacomiendo combos.
The green salsa was especially good, I thought. On par with what I’d had earlier in the day at Cofax.
