LA legend Mister Cartoon’s latest venture is Sanctiond, a line of premium car care products that he stands behind 100% and uses on his own fleet of incredible vehicles. In his own words, “Cars are extensions of our personalities. Our customers are committed to making their vehicles more than just their rides. Cars are part of who they are” and Sanctiond is the product of choice for people who really take care of their special ride.

There’s no natural transition here so let’s just get right down to it. Mister Cartoon, what’s your favorite taco?
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The $tatus Faction has been doing work on the streets for years and constantly challenges themselves to do bigger and bigger things for Los Angeles. The latest is a big time solo show that opens on April 1st. We’re also pleased to announced that T$F will be doing live art at the L.A. Taco Madness party next Tuesday…

What’s the history of the $tatus Faction? We’ve been seeing you up for a long time, when did things really start getting serious in terms of doing shows, live events, etc?
Our history stems from well over 15 years of varied vandalism, but it was five years ago when we collectively created The $tatus Faction. The idea is an encompassing group of artists who tackle any medium, a jack of all trades. We wanted to blend the boundaries between street art, graffiti, fine art, live art, music, and multimedia. Nothing is off limits or out of the norm for our behavior. The $tatus Faction is just a reaction to our thoughts and premonition. It’s challenging to differentiate if we’re always being serious or we’re never being serious, that’s a large part of our charm.

What’s your favorite taco(s)?
T$F will never have a unanimous decision on this, but some favorites include the tacos home grilled on the porch, using in a 15 dollar grill bought at Rite-Aid with the asada from the little market on Glendale and Allesandro. Other favorites are the gringo tacos from Malo in Silverlake, and the cameron hardshell tacos from the truck on Olympic Blvd, just east of Soto in Vernon.
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And now, the moment LA’s taco heads have been waiting for since last April… The 4th Annual Taco Madness bracket is here! Also, make sure to add us on Facebook to help spread the word about LA’s original Taco Tournament.

The Winners

In a crazy, unprecedented battle between two of LA’s best and most beloved taco spots, something happened that no one could have predicted– a tie! We checked the votes several times (some sneaked in after the polls closed, only valid votes counted) and after 2 days of back-and-forth battling and almost 1,500 votes, we ended up with an exact tie. Rather than be disappointed that one winner was not crowned, let’s celebrate the fact that LA has so many great tacos, with two favorites!

Congratulations to Mariscos Jalisco and Guisados!!!!!! Viva Taco Madness!!!

Taco Madness 2012 is presented in conjunction with Yelp. Check out the Yelp event page for Taco Madness 2012 which lists all 32 locations in one place.

Eric Garcetti is an LA Native, Echo Park Resident, and one of the front-runners to succeed Antonio Villaraigosa as Mayor of Los Angeles. He also knows his tacos. We reached out to Garcetti through his active Twitter account to find out his favorite taco. Unlike Mayor Villaraigoso, who reached back into his youth and selected the Taco Inn, Garcetti selected his current favorites, categorized by the type of taco he likes there. Impressive in 140 characters!

So, Eric Garcetti, what’s your favorite taco?

#1 Cochinita Pibil – Yuca’s, #2 Shrimp – Baja Ensenada, #3 Carne Asada – Tacos Delta, #4 Potato – Villa Corona, #5 Chorizo – Ariza.

Thank you, Eric. In the interests of equal time, we invite all the other mayoral candidates to email or tweet us their favorite tacos. We’ll also consider all of the candidate’s choices for Taco Madness 2012.

Photo by Waltarrrr.

This delicious and horrifying product is apparently only available in Japan. From the (Google translated) description on the Nissin website:

Tomato soup with the flavor of meat, the smell of tortillas and topped with spices. Also: cabbage, tomato, cheddar cheese, onion, made into ethnic and spicy pungent taste. Can also enjoy in the microwave, “taco-style noodle” My Cup Noodle range time!

A Japanese blogger helpfully has tried the product and taken the following pictures:

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Rachel Roze is an artist who loves her adopted home town of Los Angeles and tries to capture its wild beauty through photography. Enjoy this selection of some of her recent images, combined with a quick interview that leads off with our all-important first question…

What’s your favorite taco?
My favorite Taco is an AL PASTOR taco from Cactus Taqueria or if I am on the westside Titos Tacos. And I will give a shout out to the taco truck on the corner of Beverly and Bernendo near my old apartment.

How did you become a photographer?
When I was growing up me and my girl friends would buy throw away cameras and play dress up and take pictures of each other (which I still do) but it wasn’t until I moved to LA that I realized how much I loved exploring new places and taking pictures of my surroundings. Also photographers would ask if they could photograph me and at times I would say yes in exchange for camera lessons and that definitely got me involved in photography more.

Who were some of the photographers who helped you out in the beginning?
Almost every photographer that I’ve worked with I learned something from but one of the photographers that really gave me hands on lessons was Jeffery Scott 1019, who taught me a lot of the technical side and post production. I learned a lot about meaning, imagination and detail from him. I think I also learned a lot from working with Eriberto Oriol, he sees beauty in what others see as ordinary and that is something people say I do too.

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In a few short weeks, Taco Madness 2012 will be upon us! This year’s poster, seen above, was designed by the immortal Hawk Krall. Now’s the time to start nominating your favorite taquerias, taco trucks, restaurants, tables, wagons, stands– anywhere in LA County.

Here’s how to nominate your favorite spots:

1. Tweet the name of your favorite spots with the hashtag #tacomadness
2. Post to the Taco Madness 2012 Facebook page: facebook.com/tacomadness
3. Post on Reddit.
4. Email your suggestions to info@lataco.com

Last year we got hundreds of nominations, let’s go for thousands this year! Thank you!!

Jarritos ~ Commerce

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Disney has made what scholars believe is their first taco-related toy. Mater’s Tacos is a die-cast toy truck inspired by a scene in Cars 2.

First Photo by Hawk2009.

702 N. Figueroa St. ~ Los Angeles, CA 90012
All photos by Darin of DarinDines.com. For a full review and more pictures of the 2011 Taco Madness Winners’ new brick and mortar restaurant’s soft opening, click here.

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Las Morelianas in LA’s Grand Central Market is yet another favorite of mine. And while they excel in many specialty meats, my first choice is usually the cueritos (look it up, I don’t want to spoil the surprise). Top it with some salsa verde, onions, cilantro, and a little zanahorias escabeche. Excellent. About $2.

Text and image by ~db~