Tacos 1986 BEVERLY

prob both

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Both is my diplomatic answer.

Is there Joy at this location?

He was there Saturday afternoon

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I am on the mushrooms are a mess team. It is completely baffling to me how anyone could prefer this mushroom taco to the one at Loqui.

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I actually would have loved the shroom taco except the shrooms were little salt sponges.

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I tried going today but there was a huge line. I’ll try tomorrow. Tacos are $3.25 each.

BTW, what’s the difference between a mulita and a quesadilla? Both options offer meat with it.

Per my understanding, mulitas are made with corn tortillas that are used for tacos while quesadillas use the larger flour tortillas used for burritos.

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Tacos 1986 was literally 2 doors down from where I had the meeting. I couldn’t not do a bang.

A decent line even at 8:30. When I asked the woman manning the register (is that the “Joy” to whom people keep referring???) what filling she recommended for the vampiro, she seemed confused, shrugged, and then said, “Chicken?” Of course since absolutely no one has mentioned chicken, I chose chicken.

@SpockSpork enjoyed his carne asada and adobada tacos so much that he left nothing for me to try! Lots of “Yum”-ing while eating.

My chicken vampiro was… fine? I think I enjoyed the tostada and non-chicken filling more than the chicken itself. It was a bit dry and didn’t have much flavor.

WTF are the salsas??? Quite interesting when sampled independently. The black stuff was as dry as the Sahara and had an interesting, smoky flavor. The thicker orange one (which reminded me a bit of sesame miso dressing, in terms of appearance) had an incredibly spicy kick that builds up slowly. Trying the salas w/ the vampiro toned down the flavor and heat considerably.

Is this place supposed to be transcendent? I enjoyed my vampiro, would be fine going back, but don’t crave this place they way I do, say, Pizza Wagon. Will be trying the other fillings next time. Parking in Westwood is a PITA, which will limit my visits, but this is great for people in the Village and within walking distance.

My vampiro


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Go Adobada only at 86…chicken very last.

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Was there an element of smokiness to your meats? I think that was the lure because they were using mesquite charcoal at their stands. I think their grills at the B&M locations may be missing that element.
And Joy is one of the partners…his real name is Jorge, but he refers himself as El Joy because he’s the heart of the operation? I think that’s why…someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

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The chicken is the weakest filling at Tacos 1986. I like the hongos the best, though if 'shrooms aren’t your thing, the adobada is decent.

You will know if co-owner Joy is there. He looks like Freddie Mercury and will be playfully mugging for the cameras/phones if he sees anyone is pointing one in his direction.

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Barely. I asked @SpockSpork about his tacos, and he said he wouldn’t have thought about any smokiness, had I not asked.

ARGH!!! I was thinking of getting mushrooms b/c I love them in general, but when the cashier recommended chicken… Bleh.

Will try again. Thankfully, at $4-$5 a pop, it’s easy to experiment. :slight_smile:

Then nope. No one matching that description.

Hi @paranoidgarliclover,

Jorge “El Joy” Alvarez looks like this (scroll down in my previous post to see him manning the trompo).

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if charcoal wasnt being used and joy wasn’t handling then no.

bruh this is tacos

Yeah, it’s also tacos in an area w/ sh*t access and parking, so accessing the tacos is not so easy.

I went for lunch today, Joy and Victor (and Victor’s kids?) were there. Joy wasn’t cooking though… It just felt like a party, which was good since the line took half an hour.

I’ve never eaten at Tacos 1986 before. I had a hongos taco (weirdly chewy), adobada taco (wonderful!), and carne asada quesadilla (also wonderful, and not too salty for me). I love crispy cheese, so next time, I’d probably go for carne asada & adobada quesadillas. Salsas were delicious.

Hongos Taco in front, Taco Adobada in back

The man himself in red…

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Had the best visit yet today and really paid attention to the Carne Asada and Adobada. Both were good today because the Adobada was sufficiently rendered, i actually asked them to crisp it up on the plancha but that wasn’t done. Great horchata chaser. A few challenging pieces of asada but overall both me and Nemroz the sequel tore it up (he actually requested 1986 today)

Naturally it’ll never get to the standard they set with the charcoal on their original setups but was good today

That dry, spicy salsita is dope

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They got the salt memo. We’ve had their tacos twice in the last month. Big improvement! :partying_face: Usually I go Guisados or Loqui for chicken because street/truck Chicken Tacos are a dry afterthought. The Chicken Tacos were yum!

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What’s the salt memo? Too much or little? I haven’t noticed that issue on my visits.