I grew up in a very white family. Yet oddly enough, my grandparents, on my mother’s side, always made Mexican food. Just as interesting, my grandmother on my father’s side had maybe fifteen tacos in her entire life and every time she had one she would look at my father and say, “I’ve never had these before, but they’re quite good.” Back to my mother’s parents. When they were first married, they lived in Palm Springs, California, a small desert oasis 100 miles from Mexicali. Actually, they lived in Desert Hot Springs, a shitty suburb a few miles outside of Palm Springs. Because of this, my grandmother learned to make Mexican food from the locals. These recipes were passed down to my mother and instilled in me an adoration for Mexican food. Compound that with the fact that my family regularly vacations to Mazatlan, Rosarito, and Yucatan State, and you have a "gringo" with an appetite for Mexican food.
I now live in Los Angeles with a roommate who grew up in Boyle Heights, the Mecca for Mexican food in LA. It has become our mission as an apartment to visit and catalogue the best trucks, taquerias, and hole-in-the-wall joints in Los Angeles.
Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve come up with in my experiences that may help the aspiring hunter.
1. Bring Cash
Most trucks (the primary venue for taco hunting) don’t take cards. And if they do, they still prefer cash. Always make sure to have a crisp $20 bill on you before heading out. If you don’t, you end up either paying in coins, a guaranteed way to piss off the cashier and staff, or you will borrow from your friends.
2. Speak the Language
Don’t speak Español? Bring your friend who does. Every now and then you come across a joint or an employee who doesn’t speak English or calls out orders in Spanish. Recently I went to an al pastor truck in Mid-City, where one of the employees had missed the tags for my roommates and I. I tried to say something, but the language barrier stopped the conversation dead. My roommate from Boyle Heights stepped in and explained the situation, the employee apologized and rushed the tacos out to us.
3. Be Ready to Adapt
Taco trucks are notoriously unpredictable. They are closed when they should be open. Open when they should be closed. Advertise foods they don’t make. And they move. These are all things to keep in mind. Last week I tried to visit a truck in Huntington Park, but it closed half an hour early. We pulled out of the parking lot and I started searching the internet for other trucks in the area. My eyes found what my phone could not. No more than 60 or 70 yards away, another truck glowed in the darkness. A beacon of hope. The week before that, I went to Tacos Tu Madre in Westwood after visiting a vacant parking lot. At Tacos Tu Madre, we discovered, to our collective dismay, that they no longer had the Duck Mole, Ahi Tuna, Carnitas, or Lamb Birria. That was okay, the fried chicken was great, as was the Queso con Chorizo. It’s nice to expect certain dishes, and most the time you won’t be disappointed, but try not to let your experience be ruined if they run out of that specific cuisine you’d been hoping for.
4. Experiment
Try as many types of tacos as you can. I won’t lie sometimes you will be disappointed, like the Chicharron (pork skin) I had the other night. But sometimes you order something odd like Cabeza o Ojo and it becomes your new religion. If you are ordering three tacos, make one of them be a vampiro. TRY DIFFERENT SHIT! It’s how you find what you love.
5. Keep Your Cool
Last weekend I drove to Compton to get Mazatlan style carne asada vampiros y chorreados. The truck that serves them, Tacos La Carreta, is only open Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t really think twice about driving to Compton on a Sunday afternoon. But everyone seems to act like I entered a warzone for an early dinner. Sure Compton is a lower income area, but it’s actually a safe area belonging to middle and working class people. Most of my excursions take me to areas where I am the only guero in sight. I certainly get looks from some people, but most don’t seem to care. They’re too concentrated on the thing that matter, THE FOOD.
6. Use Social Media
The best way to find your favorite joint and discover new ones is to follow them and find a food critic to follow. Bill Esparza’s Instagram, @streetgourmetla, is the one I follow, and he has introduced me to several places in areas throughout Los Angeles. This way you can see photos of what you will be ordering, find out if they are open, and find out if the truck is still in the same spot.
7. Research
This one kind of goes hand in hand with social media, but look up the places you want to go to ahead of time and figure out what their signature dish it, because that will likely be their best and most unique offering. You may also need to do some research to find out what Tripas (intestines) is, before you order it.
Happy Hunting!
