The L.A. TACO Guide to the Best Goat and Beef Birria (Mixed) – Birria Week

Welcome to L.A. TACO’s Birria Week! Birria in Los Angeles is limitless, with some birrierías open for close to 50 years. Even though there’s a heated debate between birria de res and chivo. AT L.A. TACO,  we celebrate both, and the folks doing new things altogether. We’ll be exploring the many ways to find and eat birria in L.A. all week long, so make sure to check back every day this week.

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In recent years, the birria turf war between beef and goat birria has only intensified. The two factions are in a heated perpetual battle, but like the trench war of WWI, there are middle grounds, where the two come together.

There are a few birrierías who wave a white flag and embrace both proteins. This list is dedicated to those peacemakers. A united banner of birria where proteins aren’t discriminated against.

These birrierías operate on a truce of understanding, while all birrias aren’t created equally, they are both good. So let’s put aside our differences, hold hands, and sing kumbaya.

La Autentica Birriería

This North Hollywood and Long Beach birriería offers birria de chivo and res. Each taco is made with handmade tortillas, an advantage that most birrierías don’t have. The quality of those tortillas can be best seen in a taco dorado. The tortillas are lightly crispy and extra bubbly with air pockets. The beef and chivo birria both taste of tomatoes and chiles but the chivo is slightly richer from the goat fat. The vampiros are made with faintly oily tostadas suggesting they were freshly fried, try it with birria or labío.

Multiple locations

Tacos y Birria La Unica

La Unica is one of the most famous birrierías in the birria game and frequent caterer to celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Diddy. One of their trademarks is that they sell both birria de chivo and res on handmade corn tortillas. The quesatacos are the main attraction, crisp tortillas filled with melted cheese and beef or goat biria. Their adobo leans heavily on tomatoes and tastes of cloves. Make sure to add salsa macha which compliments the birria exceptionally, adding a sharp kick of heat.

2840 E Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90023

Birria Los Socios

Birria Los Socios is located at the edge of Boyle Heights with a logo featuring a friendly cartoon goat and cow. Besides the cute design, it’s also a message of unity, offering both beef and chivo. On weekends this taquería is busy with folks carrying take-out bags full of birria or families sharing plates of tacos. They also sell tejuino, a drink made with fermented corn, which comes with the option of adding a  scoop of limón ice cream. You can get birria keto tacos, burritos, and even nachos, with beef or goat.

3544 E 3rd Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90063

Birriería Techilan

Birrieria Techilan is a red lonchera parked in front of an O'Reily's on Hubbard Street and Glenoaks Boulevard in Sylmar. This Jalisco-style lonchera does not discriminate in the beef vs. chivo debate as they offer both. The soft and juicy birria de chivo is slightly better than the beef, silky with rendered goat fat. Their crisp seared taco dorados are ideal for dipping into consomé, crunchy, beefy, and satisfying. The consomé shows respectable use of cloves, present without calling too much attention to the spice.

12629 Glenoaks Blvd, Sylmar, CA 91342