After a mysterious two year absence, the taco hunter known as Bandini is back with a brand new taco and street food website called Daily Taco. If you love the taco lifestyle, you’ll love Daily Taco and will make it a daily stop on the taco information superhighway. We sat down with the man himself to discuss life, tacos, kogi, and what’s on the horizon…

TACO: So good to see you back– first question, where have you been?

BANDINI: I lost my taco mojo. There were other more personal reasons why I’ve
been out of taco criticism for a couple years but I could have been
back sooner.

TACO: What is the plan with DailyTaco.org? It looks like anyone can sign
up and post articles?

BANDINI: Dailytaco.org is open to anyone to contribute whether it is reviews,
articles or commentary. The format is similar to some of the political
blogs that use the diary system. Back when I was doing the great taco
hunt I would get people asking to guest blog so when I started the new
blog I wanted to open it up to anyone.

TACO: What do you think of the phenomenon of mobile food that aren’t
traditional loncheros? Call it the Kogi Phenomenon.

BANDINI: It’s a good thing. It brings more attention to street food and I think
they are helping to remove some of the unfair stereotypes often
associated with taco trucks (terms like roach coaches etc). I guess
it remains to be seen if this phenomenon will have staying power or if
it’s just a trend. Kogi would not have been as successful if they
started as a brick and mortar. People would not wait in line for hours
. But they’ll wait in line for over an hour at the Kogi trucks because
it’s a scene. I tried kogi and I really enjoyed it but no taco is
worth waiting in line for over an hour. The whole idea of waiting in
line for hours for a taco actually goes against , to borrow your term,
the taco lifestyle. I think the taco lifestyle is about getting that
plate of tacos quick and cheap, eating them on the side of the road
and then if the tacos meet your taste buds approval going back for
more.

TACO: What’s your method for scoping out new taco spots?

BANDINI: Well in the beginning I just drove around LA. People recommended their
favorite spots. I had taqueros emailing me to come try their tacos. In
the beginning it was easy to get friends to go along with me but after
awhile it became the equivalent of “hey come see my band play” . Noone
wanted to go. People love their local taco truck but the idea of
driving 40 minutes in traffic to try another cities taco truck just
seems mad. So the vast majority of my taco adventures were a lonely
quest into the unknown, a voyage to parts of the city I had never been
to or knew anything about. In the end I preferred it that way anyway.

TACO: Worst taco ever?

The worst taco ever is hands down the carnitas taco I got from tacos
Kimberly . It was just a blob of pork fat that looked like half eaten
chicken leg. It was the worst taco in the world. [Ed: See picture below]

TACO: How do we know you won’t just disappear on us again, leaving us sad
and bewildered? Fool me once… shame on me. Fool me twice… I won’t
get fooled again!
(Continued)

Tacos Arizas is a favorite among Echo Park residents and visitors attending shows at The Echo, which is located around the corner from Arizas’ Logan St. spot. The Eastsider LA reports that:

Negotiations were set up involving Council District 13, LAPD, the truck owners and the Asociacion de Loncheros, a catering truck business group. The council office wanted the truck to move to a location away from apartments and homes. The truck owners, of course, wanted a spot nearby so they wouldn’t lose their existing customers. “As long as people know where they are, it will be okay,” said Alfredo Magallanes, an advisor to the catering truck association.

After the discussions, the owners of Arizas agreed to move the truck about a block north to the other side of Sunset Boulevard next to the Sav-A-Lot market and away from apartments and homes. “This was the first time we worked with a taco truck to have them voluntarily move to a location to address concerns of local residents,” said Garcetti’s spokeswoman, Julie Wong.

Not quite as convenient for concert-goers, but even more visible for the general public and a lot less loud for neighbors on relatively quiet Logan Street. It seems that the Lonchero association is using its newfound heft and popularity to help mobile Taqueros negotiate the sometimes hazardous road weaving through neighbors, businesses, and the City.

El Parian ~ 1528 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90015

If you are what you eat, then soy cabron . I try to get my hands on a bowl of birria every weekend and El Parian is Grand Central Station on the golden goat soup route. It has a down-home vibe, comfortable, and family-heavy and has been here for decades. Sporadic polka and a tempo of surgically precise bone-cleaving form the soundtrack during mornings here, while firecracker waitresses wink and smile, dropping lemonade off at your table.

El Parian’s menu is sparse but expert, with few offerings besides goat, a revered asada plate, and weekend menudo. Killer tacos await those who choose to vary, but birria is what they do best here (the store-bought chips are not). In half or full orders, a large bowl of dark orange peppery brew comes mostly displaced by large, glimmering chunks of kid. A traditional birria side plate of cilantro, cebolla, lime, and radish accompanies your bowl, along with a few tortillas.

I love playing with my food. Dumping all accoutrement into the bowl and attempting to make my own tacos with the wet mixture, the filled tortilla then gets a dip in the drink. Every bite sprays goat broth all over my hands and mouth, and lots of the contents plop back in the bowl.

(Continued)

It seems that Tito’s Tacos has some fans in rural New York state who have started their own version of Tito’s Tacos. Fans and, well, non-fans of Tito’s have duked it out on TACO before with the Tito’s detractors saying the restaurant isn’t authentic Mexican food. So what to think of an “inspired by” Tito’s (complete with a cardboard “Mexican”) in Western New York State?

Original Tito’s in Culver City

The Taco Zone taco wagon, conveniently parked next to Vons on Alvarado north of Sunset in Echo Park, was attacked by molotov-cocktail throwing thugs last week for reasons unknown. The damage has been partially repaired, but supporters of the truck have organized a benefit concert tonight at Spaceland to help the ‘Zone recoup some of its losses. It’s a great thing to see two cherished aspects of the taco lifestyle, live music and all-night taco wagons, come together for a good cause.

Tickets are $10 at the door or online.

The Los Angeles Times reports that a previous, lesser-known anti-Taquero law that required trucks to move every 30 minutes has been struck down by a commissioner.

A court commissioner has nixed a Los Angeles law that cracked down on how long taco trucks and other food coaches could stay open up for business.

The ordinance, approved by the City Council in 2006, forced operators to stay on the go: Trucks were prohibited from parking in the same spot in a residential neighborhood for more than half an hour or in a commercial area for more than an hour. A similar law adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was tossed out by a judge last year.

L.A. County Superior Court Commissioner Barry D. Kohn ruled Friday that the city had overstepped its legal authority. Catering trucks are regulated by the state. Although local governments have the authority to impose additional regulations to protect public safety, Kohn found that the city ordinance was not based on safety.

Some restaurant and property owners have legitimate complaints with taco trucks, but in our opinion, these are best taken on a case-by-case basis and not targeted by blanket legislation.

Tacos Al Pastor are one of Mexico City’s (and Los Angeles’) greatest taste treats. A Mexican-ized version of the classic Turkish/Lebanese shwarama, the melt-in-your-mouth pork flavors are complex and amazing. While it’s possible to make tacos al pastor at home without a proper vertical rotisserie, it really isn’t the same thing. Buying an industrial grade rotisserie isn’t an option for most people, so it seems that al pastor is destined to be a restaurant or taco table/truck item only.

Enter Andrew Galarneau of Buffalo, NY, who clues us into the Sunbeam Carousel Rotisserie, which is no longer being sold but is available on Ebay and other sites, usually for around $40. It’s a mini version of an al pastor spit, and Andrew used on to make his own homemade version of tacos al pastor. Check out the results on his site. If anyone out there in the TACO-sphere give this a try, please document it and send your story our way!

Yuca’s is a Los Feliz institution, a James Beard award winner, and perhaps the archetypal Los Angeles taco shack. It opened almost exactly 33 years ago by Jaime and Socorro Herrera and has been a beloved part of Los Angeles ever since.

Today is just another day for Yuca’s. They’ll serve hundreds of hungry people some of the best tacos, burritos, and burgers in the city. But it’s also a special day, because Yuca’s is the first ever winner of LATACO.COM’s Taco Madness!

Yuca’s path to the finals:

1. Beat Loteria Grill
2. Beat Cactus Taqueria
3. Beat Kogi BBQ
4. Beat Tacos Por Favor

Congratulations to Yuca’s! Your trophy will be presented soon!

So it’s come down to this, a battle between two neighborhood favorites– Los Feliz’s Yuca’s and Santa Monica’s Tacos Por Favor. Both family-owned, both with a loyal local clientele who voted for them from the very beginning and powered them through to the end.

Solid choices who probably don’t rank on taco hounds “best of all time” list, but that feed the need, have the right vibe, and have established themselves as neighborhood go-to taco joints with charm and quality eats. There’s been some confusion about this competition from the start– is it a “best taco” tournament? Did some of the best places in town go down too early? Did some not make the list at all? We don’t have all the answers, but it’s best to think of this as a “favorite taco” tournament and not “greatest mind-blowing authentic tacos of all time” tournament.

Have fun and let the favorite taco shop win! Polls close at Midnight on Sunday

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