This Thursday, November 13th, La Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de Ca. (the newly formed association of Taqueros) is holding a community forum. There promises to be interesting conversation and great (and free) food. Educate yourselves on the issues and get some tasty gribbles at the same time!

Fuddruckers ~ 15301 Ventura Blvd. Sherman Oaks, CA

Step 1:  Get Your Burger

Step 2: Build Your Burger

Step 3: Complete Burger!

As you know Fuddrucker’s is a chain, but it’s damn good.  I got this 1/2 pound Buffalo Swiss Melt Burger at the Sherman Oaks location inside the “new” Galleria (15301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks).  You order whatever you want (veggie patty is an option) and when you get your burger, you go to the bar and build it as high or as low as you want.  Some like it with leaf lettuce, one piece only.  Some, like me, go all out and pile em high.

We got two burgers, fries, 2 newcastles and 1 drink for 25 bux. Those $18 fancy Hollywood burgers can kiss my ass.

I thought I had my mind made up before embarking on a self-guided pizza tour from Main St. to Abbot Kinney, convinced I already knew the exact standing I’d put Bravo Pizzeria, Dagwood’s, Wildflour, and Abbot Kinney Pizza Co. in, having dipped my ‘buds into their pie so often. What I found under the TACO-scope shocked and awed me to be sure!

The SoCal pizza I grew up on was excellent as far as I can muster any memories past last night. But I can’t play deaf to the volumes of criticism that we don’t have a good slice in this region. I spent many years in New York’s Lower East Side as a broke vegetarian, gobbling up pizza the way Rush Limbaugh downed Oxys. While a slice at your typical random spot went from shitty to divine, it is undeniable that those East Coasters know what they’re doing with pizza (”It’s the wata, the wata!”). At Gotham’s truest and best pizzerias, –Lombardi’s, Grimaldi’s, Totonno’s, Isabella’s, DiFara’s, Franny’s, and Patsy’s– there is a craft and dedication to pizza that knows no equal out West, as far as I’ve tasted. And weighing in at 413 lbs., I have tried them all. Except Hollywood’s Mozza. If anyone wants to take me, I promise I have excellent tableside manners (I’m talking to you, Ms. Kunis).

#1. Bravo Pizzeria ~ 2400 Main St. Santa Monica, CA 90405

First stop was Bravo Pizzeria, the only local to be knighted with a “pizzeria” title. Bravo busts a real New York pedigree, with amiable owner Peter being a co-owner of Ferrara’s, a famous centurion bakery with its start in Little Italy. He and his bro have a couple of places on the wesssside. Bravo gets a gold star for having actual Italian-American fare, like top-notch cannolis, regularly flown in from NYC, as well as the kinds of subs and pastas you would find at a red-checker tablecloth spot in the old neighborhood. It’s a true Cali spot, you can tell the tatted-up servers here know how to duck-dive.

Bravo’s pizza racks up points for a tasty, unique sauce with deep herbal notes,and a thin cheese layer of perfect consistency. It is an ideal hybrid between the comfort of our contemporary slice and an old world thin-crust pie, with the basics loosely toppled together, creating a delicious, soft mixture in the slice. The crust is rustic, fragile, and crisp, with any doughy pieces airy and easily chewable, making it entirely crushable to the end. This damn good slice pays homage to the heritage of pizza while standing along and above modern competition. But Bravo really excels over its neighbors with great ingredients and a dedication to freshness. A slice with onions and peppers burst with the pent-up juices of ripe fruit, making my chin a little wet.

My favorite house-specialty is the “Cheese Explosion,” a medley of creamy ricotta, house-smoked mozzarella, fontina, aged pecorino, farm-fresh spinach, and little nubs of raw garlic that by design or accident get stuffed with cheese. This results in an ofay slice inundated with flavor and warmth, hurtling past your typical slap-dash, white cheese triangle. Bravo, Bravo Pizzeria!!

#2. Dagwood’s ~ 202 Main St. Venice, CA 90291

Dagwood’s is the local pizza joint that seems most like a chain, just a few steps up from Chuck E. Cheese in decor, with its loud yellow walls and groovy sign. Indeed it has a few outlets in L.A. Perhaps it might surprise people that, for my money, Dagwood’s has the best plain slice in town. It is perfectly reminiscent of the best shop slices I had while drunk and stumbling home at 4AM in New York. Also, the environment makes me feel like a kid in a pizza parlor, without a stand-up version of Double Dragon to munch my quarters, but you can read the Onion and watch TV. The staff, some of whom are heirs to Dagwood’s throne, are generally cool, young, and perky, good-looking kids who’d look comfortable in the sand themselves.

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Paneer Tikka Kebab Vs. Argentine Flap Steak

Thanks to Lord of the Grill Ali Khan and his pal Nissar Modi for stuffing TACO’s gullet this labor day weekend in Los Feliz at their epic India Vs. Argentina BBQ. Khan is fresh off his first appearance on Bobby Flay’s show where he rocked the set with tasty lamb hoagies, and the man knows meat and heat better than Bo knows baseball.

“King” Khan set off an extensive explosion of dishes from both South America and the Sub-Continent. Over 6 lbs. of lamb were marinated in homemade preparations and 100% hardwood was used in the fire. Repping those randy Argentines was chorizo and flap steak, while the incredible Indians stepped up to the coals with chicken tikka, lamb tikka, and paneer kebabs, which were handmade by Mr. Modi.

When the dust and tequila cleared, both countries came out charting high on the BBQ taste meter, but possibly due to the few thousand years India has on Argentina to find out what the people like, the Indians dominated in flavor, tenderness, and more Big-O’s per bite. The steak was perfect, juicy, and hot just like at an asado, but it was still no match for the intricate zest of that deep red tikka. The soft chicken burst in our mouths, the lamb juicily melted away, and Nissar’s paneer kebab had more flavor and pleasant texture than those at our beloved Khan Chacha in New Delhi.

In the end, bellies past full, Ali decided against a coup de grace of pulled lamb shoulder, leaving us all with the Labor Day wisdom to keep it under $50 if we ever find ourselves at Costco. Here’s to good eating, being with friends, and most importantly to three-day weekends!!!!!

Grill General Ali Khan

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405 N Victory Blvd ~ Burbank, CA 91502 ~ (818) 848-3242

Casitas Taco Al Carbon is a steak and potatoes kind of place. The staff are friendly and on a first name basis with neighborhood regulars who keep on coming back for good reason. We tasted the beefed up steak tacos and, of course, the grilled cebollitas. The carne was choice and the taco was stacked to generous proportion. If you are searching for an alchoholic beverage to wash it down, visit the liquor store next door which stocks tasty Asian beers like tall Tiger Beer. Despite being a chain, Casitas Taco Al Carbon in Burbank has a good local vibe. The salsa bar is a bonus. Provecho!

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Daglas Drive-In ~ 20036 Vanowen St. Canoga Park, CA 91306

I’ll make this short and sweet…I was driving around Canoga Park, and found this random place on Vanowen close to Winnetka.  I generally don’t trust these small burger places to be good so I looked around and saw everyone eating these large portions of fries…so I had to check it out.  Fries were FUCKING awesome.  They tasted fresh cut, fried just right with seasoned salt.  The chicken breast burger was OK…I read other reviews touting the Pastrami so I’ll have to try that next.  But if you are in the valley craving fries, pass up the McD and check this place out.  Daglas; “Where Every Day Is Fry Day!”

Come join 33THIRD Los Angeles and MIDCITY ARTS on Sunday June 22 as they bring you the BOMB IT DVD release party and live show.

Featuring Live Painting and signing from artist

Chaz Bojorquez

Mear One

Pose II

Chor Boogie

All ages live music free food 12am - 5pm

33Third will also be having a paint sale!
$4.99 Montana hardcore, alien and black line
$5.99 Montana gold line, Belton and Beat Paint!!

33THIRD is Located at 5111 W. Pico Blvd in Los Angeles 310-694-3460

Lucky Boy Drive-In ~ 640 S. Arroyo Pkwy ~ Pasadena

I’d heard a lot of good things about this place, but never had the chance to try it out. I’m always skeptical of hyped-up “burger stands” since they usually don’t make the best burgers in town… and I was right. The burgers at this joint are average, mediocre, so-so, just OK. However, while I was munching on my bland burger, everyone around me was smiling, laughing, and eating these huge burritos and I was like…damn I got the wrong thing again!

So, being the persistent type, I came back and got the “famous breakfast burritos,” which are served all day/night. In a word, they are amazing. These are the best breakfast burritos I’ve had in LA hands down (so far). Lots of nice touches that show they truly care about their craft, for example full on sausage links in the sausage burrito. Another standout is the veggie with avocado, and you can’t go wrong with either the bacon or chorizo burritos. These things are monsters, get ready to share these with your family. Each burrito is enough food for two people but if you are hungover, hungry, a starving artist, bored, a competitive eater, or just love breakfast burritos…take one out yourself. But don’t get the burgers, they’re a complete a waste of money.

El Huarache Azteca ~ 5225 York Blvd. Highland Park, CA 90042  (323) 478-9572

The most valuable piece of Los Angeles real estate should be whichever abodes currently bookend HP’s famed El Huarache Azteca. Some days I imagine living next to this spectacular restaurant and swelling to King Kong Bundy-sized proportions before dying at age 41 of a massive coronary. Instead, El Huarache’s neighbor is one pissed off family man in a ‘beater. Park in front of his shit, and you might get your tires popped. Just warning you, I saw him lose his temper.

But the restaurant itself is no less than saturated with home-cooked love. This is soul food and everything makes you “ooh” and “aah” when you get it on your tongue, with flavors rich, pleasing, and often unique. A small dining room of red tile rocks a corner shrine to the Virgin. Then where a counter to order should be is just a tiny kitchen crammed with 3 abuelas and one large dude, hustling to and fro, standing over an Everest of sizzling meat with adjacent peaks. The cozy energy in the air is charged with a feeling of family, no matter if you recognize the faces or not. Everyone simply seems at home here.

Since El Huarache can do no wrong, one visit is surely not enough to dally in their few specials and nice selection of meats, which achieve a splendid golden tan under the cook’s skilled hands. Their barbacoa is phenomenal but only served on weekends. So why not start with a huarache, that beautiful mess! A flat oblong of fried masa smothered in asada or pastor, drizzled in rich cream and sprinkled with crumbled cheese, its doughy base resembles something you’d Whack-A-Mole with, as much as anything you’d put it in your mouth. This naan-like flatbread looks like something attacked by a munchies-bent Mexican Jackson Pollock, who I picture in a retardedly happy mood, layering whatever ingredients he happened to have spazzily from this jar and that on the last slice of toast and inadvertently creating a miracle.

Something about it looks dry before you taste it, but a well-made huarache can be among the creamiest combinations of flavor in the Southland(s). The smooth consistency and subtly sweet taste even conquer the normally dominant strains of chopped onions and fresh cilantro, which co-star on the huarache. Azteca’s meats are super sublime, spiced and marinated with elaboration and served steaming right off the grill. For the hardcore, and as a reminder to the rest of us to go nuts with the red sauce, each table holds its own small bowl of tiny, dried, lethal-looking chiles.

Similar in a sense are Huarache’s quesadillas, especially the quesadilla con calabaza, which is a house favorite. This one doesn’t look like a standard quesadilla but hey surprise, more like a huarache! It is a folded flat bread of noticeable thickness, again with the crumbled cotija cheese and stuffed down the seam with lots of squash and melted goodies, looking like a tiny edible version of that futon you once tried to stuff into your car. The first bite tasted exactly like movie popcorn,  with salty, buttery cheese and a corn base. Despite a solid appearance, the whole dish is inexplicably gooey and soft, disintegrating in savory, stringy nibbles between the teeth. I’m typically not trying to eat squash as an free-willed adult, but here it contributes an earthy, herbal flavor to the crazy party going on around it, striking a nice cord with the cheese specifically. It’s a good way to get a lot of veggies while eating awesome food.

This joint is also famed for its juices. Oh shit! After a recent hot Saturday on a 7-hour field trip with over 100 kids to see MASK the Musical, you better believe life had me knackered. So if you’re hung over or dehydrated or just plain pooped, these’ll cure what ails ya. Piña brims sweetly with pulp. Housemade Horchata is a step above many, floating tiny scraps of cinnamon bark in its sugary water. It still has a lightly powdery consistency which didn’t completely blow me away, but it felt like drinking something natural nonetheless, and nothing like a soft drink.

How about some tacos?! Isn’t that what we’re all kinda here for?

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