Donde Comer, September 18-20: Tacos La Carreta, Compton, CA

L.A.'s first legit northern Mexican taco cart


It just doesn't stop here in L.A.We are gaining new traditional, regional vendors each week, whether they've been around a month like Tacos La Carreta, or 15 years, hidden from mainstream food media.

As a writer for Los Angeles Magazine, restaurant consultant, fixer for food television and editor of this blog, it has been my job to find great shit. Whether it be the streets of L.A., Mexico, Brasil, Guatemala, or anywhere else in Latin America, I find shit, professionally.

These past few years have seen increased activity as many jobs that come up, as well as for my beat at L.A. Magazine, require me to find new places, constantly. And, to the petty food critic out there who has begun to trivialize my contributions to you diners, all I have to say is, what is your job? Apparently, to not find shit.

2 Generations of badness, Jose Morales Jr. and Sr.


My latest find I just published in Los Angeles Magazine's Digest is about Compton's Tacos La Carreta, and it's one of the best, a real carne asada vendor doing special tacos from Mazatlan, Sinaloa. And, this is my pick for you to explore this Sunday, as that's currently the only day they're out.

True carne asada is cooked over mesquite

Finding great Latin American food only helps to lift up Los Angeles as a dining destination and to reinforce its status as the best city for Latin American dining in the U.S., especially for Mexican cuisine. So, that's what we're going to keep on doing. I find shit.

On that note, let me welcome my new contributors, Juan Ismerio and Cerpa Rodion, who took these fantastic photos, and will be helping me update Street Gourmet LA more often and allow Street Gourmet LA to be in more than one place at a time. Scouts are for louts, no, these talented young Latinos aren't scouts, but they'll be contributing in a number of ways including an upgrade to a real website, attending events I can't make, and shooting much better quality pictures.


This past week we were able to attend events in Brasil, Los Angeles: the L.A. Times Taste event, Alex's Lemonade, the Festival Chileno in Camarillo and this top notch taco cart, Tacos La Carreta in Compton, as a team.

Chorreadas, Mazatlan-style vampiros spiked with a splash of hot, unrefined lard

These chorreadas, vampiros, tacos and quesadillas are game changers; do yourself a flavor and pay them a visit this Sunday.


Tacos La Carreta, 413 N. Wilmington Ave., Compton, Sundays only from 3:30pm to 9:30 p.m.

El Tecolote Mocorito, Mexicali, B.C.-Whooooo Doesn't Love Carne Asada in Mexicali?

If carne asada is your thing, Mexicali is the place to be. There are so many great taquerias serving the Mexicali style of carne asada. You will be directed to this stand and that stand by opinionated cachanillas(people from Mexicali), who will not only direct you to their favorite, but will completely dismiss the taqueria you were turned on to by the last Mexicali native you spoke with.

What's the solution? Try 'em all! There's no shortage of top notch carne asada in this border town. Let your instincts and your hunger guide your choices when it come to street food.

Steak is part of the 3 food groups of the cachanilla diet: tacos, Chinese food, and carne asada. It's a religion here.


Gran Ocotlan is one of the local heavyweights. Hell, even a chain like Asadero Las Brasas will blow away anything we have north of the border.But the long and steady line of customers at Asadero Tecolote Mocorito said it all. This place is a local favorite, and the original Tecolote has been drawing a huge crowd for the last 20 years.The branch I visited, El Tecolote Mocorito operated by brothers J. Antonio and Norbeto Lopez located on Rio Mocorito is only 4 years old.


Late at night the line is constant, and the tables are full. No where to sit? That's OK, just grab a foot of counter space somewhere. The only requirement for enjoying excellent tacos is that they be consumed immediately.


El Tecolote has a full team of taqueros, separate guys for al pastor and asada; other taqueros to assemble other style of tacos. It's a traditional and professional taqueria setup.


Molcajetes loaded with colorful salsas are lined up on the counter in front of the kitchen: roasted salsas, dry chili salsas, fresh chili salsas, and even a mango salsa. Baja California's signature creamy guacamole is a must on all your tacos.


Barbeque chicken tacos sound straight out of Spago's, but this is a Mexicali exclusive. I had maintained that chicken tacos didn't exist in Mexico as a grilled meat option until I took a look at the kitchen. There are rotisserie chickens and barbeque chickens that are served with tortillas all over Mexico,but not chicken tacos. I always wondered why the boys at Mexicali Taco Co. served chicken. It's common in LA for flat top grilled chicken to be served at Mexican-American taco trucks, but those are terrible.

The chicken at El Tecolote is moist with a tangy skin. Give these a try; they're tasty and true Mexicali originals. Practically all carne asada haunts have barbequed chicken in Mexicali.


Cachanillas love them some vampiros, too. Vampiros(vampire tacos) are a style of taco coming from the numerous Sinaloan taqueros in Baja California. The largest group of Mexican migrants in Baja are from Sinaloa. That means great tacos and beautiful women.

A tortilla is warmed on the grill until it dries and hardens into a tostada. Melted cheese and carne asada are set atop the tortilla, and the finishing condiments are applied to satisfy your own personal taste.


The carne asada taco gets its flavor and texture from a blend of three cuts of steak: loin, tri-tip, and top sirloin.

The Mexicali taqueros cut their meat in larger cubes than in Tijuana. El Tecolote Mocorito is a perfect place to get to know carne asada the Mexicali way.

I'm not sure why they have an owl as their mascot, but I think perhaps because the eternal question in Mexicali is, "Whooo wants to go get some carne asada tonight?" The answer is always yes. Cachanillas will never tire of one of their favorite pastimes--eating carne asada tacos--and it's so good, neither will you.

Asadero Tecolote Mocorito
Rio Mocorito No. 800 at Rep. de Ecuador
Mexicali, B.C.
686-561-1691
686-188-2886
6PM-2AM

Tacos Guanajuato,Boyle Heights, CA-Count Tacula and Mt. Tacocatepetl

With the blessings of the priest at the Lady of Talpa School in Boyle Heights, and throngs of hungry locals, Tacos Guanajuato has bequeathed unto Los Angeles, Vampiros(vampires). The Talpa shrine in Mexico, where one of the famous virgin Marys resides, is a a place where pilgrims go to receive miracles, well, if you're driving through Boyle Heights and hankering for something affordable and delicious, these guys certainly have the cure. The stand is located just outside the gate of the Lady of Talpa school, technically on the property, but no vampires are allowed inside the gate!

These tacos have been engineered by taqueros in labs to maximize sensorial delight.They are a construct of all that is good.


The menu has tacos and tortas, as well as the vampiros and volcanes(volcanoes). Vampiros and volcanes are the same thing, just depends on your STATE of mind. In Guanajuato, where this stand's taquero Pepe is from, they are called volcanes. In the state of Sinaloa they are referred to as vampiros.


The typical meats for vampiros, or volcanes, are asada and al pastor. Pepe has a well manicured trompo loaded with al pastor and the reassurance of pineapple atop the device. This is a sign! Pepe takes care to prepare on quality grilled, roasted, and steamed proteins. There's also tripa dorada(tripe cooked until dry and crunchy),and steamed cabeza(beef head).


Jose Luis is a true taquero ands takes his work seriously. He has the kind of pleasant, gentlemanly demeanour that is as traditional as his tacos. Yes, he's here to earn a living, but mostly he's here to make great tacos.


Ulises, handles the money and keeps a well-stocked condiment table. Cucumbers, radishes,limes, and three salsas, the pico de gallo is the right call for the vampiros/volcanes.


The tacos here are solid, I loved the rib and the tongue. Pepe peeled the tongue casing off right before my very eyes, "yes I'll have the steamed tongue." The rib has a nice oily sheen that adds to the enjoyment of this taco.


But the vampiro is to die for, and the volcan, explosive. It is called the volcano in Guanajuato because of its construction:a grill top dried corn tortilla, topped with melted cheese, carne asada or al pastor, and a mound of pico de gallo make it a dead ringer for an active volcano. Sinaloans call it the vamiro because, well, no one seems to know. If you ask most Sinaloans the origin of the vampiro, you'll get an "I don't know", but they all know what it is. I asked a friend from Tijuana while we were working in Mazatlan one night,"Where do these vampiros come from?" "Romania", he answered, with a straight face."Thanks for nothing, cabron."

I had to dig a little on this one, there was some stuff on the internet on english language blogs, but nothing in spanish and none of my Sinaloan friends here in LA and in Sinaloa had an answer. The accepted explanation on a few blogs is that it gets its name because the charred, crispy taco resembles a bat wing? Could be true, but a citation is needed. Two other hypotheses I've come up with is that the tortilla is wrinkled like Dracula's cape, and the fact that the vampiros only come out at night. Woo-oo-ah-AH! Or, mabe some costumed vampire showed up one night and asked for a tostada with cheese and asada, and with no deep fryer on hand, the taquero dried out the tortilla on the grill. "What do we call them?" "Vampiros, guey" (Vampires, fool.)

In any case, you can enjoy these in Sinaloa, and the Sinaloan stands in Tijuana, and right here outside the Lady of Talpa school in Boyle Heights. I will continue to ponder the question:"Do vampires really exist?"


Just for fun I ordered a vampiro with asada and a volcan with al pastor, Pepe just smiled. By know he's used to it.Oh, and Pepe doesn't know why its called a vampiro either. Many of his patrons haven't even heard of either of these tacos. But, it's an easy sell.

What sets this volcan, or vampiro apart from all the others I've had though is the way Pepe prepares the cheese. Instead of melting it on the tortilla, he grills the cheese directly, making a burnt cheese crepe out of one side of the cheese. He sticks this, "chicharron of cheese" side up, and melted cheese adheres to the tortilla on the bottom. Crunchy tortilla, with two textures of cheese, savory meats, and a cooling pico de gallo? This IS the taco miracle of Boyle Heights.

Tacos Guanajuato,Vampiros and Volcanes.
Located in front of the Lady of Talpa School
Savannah St., just south of 4th in Boyle Heights.
Every day except Tuesday from 6PM-11PM, later Fridays and Saturdays