‘Burritos’
After my first time at Grand Central Market in Downtown LA, I knew I had to go back. Fortune smiled on me over the weekend and brought me back to that special place that makes you feel like you just entered a market in Mexico. Honestly, I’ve never been to a market in Mexico, but in my mind, this is what it’s like. Although I enjoyed my food from Ana Maria’s, this time I once again went for a stall that looked crowded. I found Tacos…Tumbras a Tomas.
When I found out we were heading out to Sharky’s in Burbank for lunch, I was first a little confused. You see, for me, “Sharkeez” is the name of a college-style bar down in the South Bay, and they aren’t known for their food so much as they are for their happy hours. Little did I realize the difference in spelling, but as soon as we arrived, I knew we weren’t in for some drinking. Instead, I found myself at a counter with a bunch of different Mexican food to order. Sharky’s calls itself a Woodfired Mexican Grill, which is kind of strange to me because I really only think of pizza as being woodfired. But hey, if it can work for pizza, I’m sure it can work for Mexican. In addition to the wood fires, they also attempt to distance themselves from other Mexican food chains by claiming completely natural meats, non-GMO veggies and everything else you can think of that is associated with good old-fashioned food.
Out in Hollywood, there is a little taco stand on a corner called Cactus Taqueria. Having heard a lot about this place, I felt that I needed to stop there to have a Mexican dinner before the Belle and Sebastian concert. I showed up and found the little stand in the corner of a parking lot on Vine. There were a few people waiting for their orders and another few groups eating out in the outdoor, yet covered seating area. It looked like a great place to find a good taco.
Surprisingly close to Poquito Mas in North Hollywood, there is a restaurant called Mucho Mas. I’m not sure which came first or if there is some sort of rivalry between these two similarly, yet oppositely named restaurants. Whatever the case, a work lunch took me off to Mucho Mas and I was eager to see if mucho was better than poquito.
By the time I arrived, a good amount of my coworkers were seated at the outdoor patio are and an appetizer platter had already been ordered. Fortunately it was unvegan-friendly. It came with cheese quesadillas, beef flautas, beef taquitos, chips, beans, guacamole and sour cream. It was a delicious way to start out the meal and I could only hope that my main course would be as good.
On my way to see In the Heights (I’m cultured!) at LA’s Pantages Theater, I had no time to eat any food. I also had no idea what kind of food even existed on that part of town. The Hollywood Strip is quite the foreign territory for me. After parking at a failed meter (score), I whipped out my Urban Spoon to see what it would show me. After sifting through a couple of dead ends, I found Dos Burritos and walked in to see what it could offer me.
Every once in a blue moon, a restaurant comes along that you just can’t pass up. Sometimes it’s Taco Bell, and sometimes it’s a place called Bacon in Scottsdale. Although clearly capitalizing on the current bacon trend, the name sounded great to me when the girlfriend’s family suggested it. Since it was Father’s Day, we expected a long line, so we called in advance and a table was ready for us by the time we got there.
I couldn’t really figure out whether Mexicali Cocina Cantina in Studio City was named after the city of Mexicali or because it is a blend of Mexican and Californian food. Whichever it was, I was pretty impressed with the creative creations on their menu. It seemed that nearly everything on their menu had undergone some sort of upgrade from 87 octane to at least 89. Rather than just beef burritos, they had Kobe Beef Burritos. Rather than just fish tacos, they had Ahi Tuna Tacos. Everywhere I looked on the menu, there was something that seemed inspiring, at least in name.
On a pretty little Sunday afternoon in Culver City, my friends and I decided to try out a little place in Culver’s sketchville called J and J’s. After hearing tons of great meaty stories about this place, I knew it had to become an unvegan conquest. Alas, when we pulled up to the nondescript corner of West Adams and Spaulding, we found that the place didn’t do business on Sundays. A damn shame, but fortune wasn’t frowning upon us too much on that day. As we made our exit, we spotted an even more nondescript hole in the wall called Daddy’s Burritos. After a few moments of contemplation, we decided to try it out.
Near my office in North Hollywood is a Mexican taco stand called Un Poquito Mas, which means “a little more” in Spanish. To call it a taco stand is a little misleading, since it’s a bit bigger than a stand, yet hasn’t outgrown itself. I went in without knowing much about the place, other than the fact that they had Mexican food. A glance at the menu above the counter showed me some pretty basic, but decent-sounding items. I didn’t think tacos could feed my appetite, so I decided to get one of their steak burritos.
Living in Southern California, I haven’t really had any need for places like Baja Fresh. There are just too many good local Mexican places. Yes, I know I have an unhealthy infatuation with Taco Bell, but that is fast food, something that Baja Fresh does its best to avoid being. Nonetheless the Culver City location is right down the street from me so I couldn’t avoid it forever.
I walked in and had a hard time deciding what to order. They had a good amount of choices, but most of them had a fair number vegetables. I did find one burrito, though, that was free of veggie invaders. It was called the Nacho Burrito, and despite the oxymoronic nature of the name, I ordered it.