Tacos El Toro ~ 5950 Laurel Canyon Blvd. ~ N. Hollywood

Come one, come all- step right in and don’t be shy!  Tacos El Toro wants you – to be the next item on their menu. No! If they fed you to anyone, that would be the stone lions out front. They guard the doors to this taco temple on the corner of Oxnard St. and Laurel Canyon Blvd., just off the Hollywood Freeway. The location is promising- next door to a car wash and across the street from a palm reader. Tacos El Toro does a lot of business, but the word is that breakfast is their finest hour. Browse the full color menu adorning the wall which seperates you from the kitchen and the cooks who make it happen.

The tacos al pastor are wet with minced onion, cilantro and red sauce. The pork is cut up like a cubed beef hash. The al pastor is pleasureably al dente,  and includes morsels of tasty fat.

Outside fall is pushing on spring, greening the valley. Inside Tacos El Toro, sunlight streams warmly throught the painted brick windows. Slide into any window booth and watch the traffic move thru the crossroads outside. Waiting for the order to be called, I feel like a potted plant inside a green house. It feels like Christmas in here.

Tacos El Toro may not make “the best” taco al pastor in Los Angeles, but the place is different. Different goes a long way when you’ve traveled from outer-space to find a good taco. Read the writing on the wall;  Korendian sounds like a mix of Korean and Sanskrit. I want to believe.

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• Tacos El Ostion ~ Pico-Union
• Make Tacos Al Pastor at Home ~ Recipes
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(6 tacos)