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What To Eat This Weekend: Villa’s Tacos Opens in DTLA, Kimchi Burritos in Lomita, and A Fruit Beer for Farm Workers in Pico Rivera

Plus, a new Guadalajara-style truck offering flautas en vaso in Hollywood, a Ukrainian barbecue benefit in El Segundo, and a carbonated canned paloma cocktail in Los Feliz that comes with a free agave shooter video game.

11:03 AM PDT on March 22, 2024

    Did you know you live in one of the best food cities in the world? Our weekly curated column highlights some of the newest, tastiest, and most exciting things to eat and drink. Enjoy.

    Downtown

    A taco covered in salsas, guacamole, and pickled onions from Villa's Tacos
    Villa's Tacos, by Memo Torres

    Villa's Tacos is opening in Downtown's Grand Central Market this Sunday, marking the repeat TACO MADNESS champion's second brick-and-mortar location in Los Angeles. Expect chef-owner Victor Villa's nixtamalized, handmade blue corn tortillas, hulking quesatacos, eight styles of salsas from family recipes, a limited-edition merch drop, and plenty of surprises.

    317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Closest Metro lines and stop: Metro B and D Lines - "Pershing Square Station", Metro A and E Lines - "Historic Broadway Station", Bus Lines 30, 40, and 45 - "Broadway/3rd", Bus Lines 4, 10, 28, 48, 81, 90, and 94 - "Hill/3rd."

    Hollywood

    Three saucy flautas sticking upright in a paper cup
    Flautas en vaso. Photo via El Comal Rosa.

    El Comal Rosa, a new food truck serving Guadalajara-style eats and handmade tortillas, is now open in Hollywood. Items include café de olla, tacos, and sopes with different guisos include chicharrones rojos y verdes, champiñones al chipotle, rajas con crema y elote, and bistec con papas, along with molletes, birria, and the restaurant's signature you see above, flautas "en vaso."

    6301 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90038. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 4 and 210 - "Santa Monica/Vine."

    El Segundo

    A blue-and-yellow flyer for Vesna Ukrainian Lounge

    Brighter Ukraine Foundation has a non-profit party to support the besieged nation on Sunday, March 30, at Unita in El Segundo, which will be branded Vesna Ukrainian Lounge for the night. Organizers promise Ukrainian dishes, barbecue, beats from one DJ Moxa, and drinks, along with a Ukrainian cultural experience.

    Mar. 30, 4-9 PM, 215 Arena St. El Segundo, CA 90245. Closest transit line and stop: Beach Cities Transit Line 109 - "Grand/Sheldon."

    A flyer depicting three cans of Los Farmworkers beer
    Phoro via Brewjeria Company.

    Pico Rivera

    Also, on March 30, Brewjeria Company will celebrate the release of Los Farmworkers, a wheat beer with pineapple and mango. It is part of its worker series in collaboration with Norwalk Brewhouse and South Central Brewing Company. Lalo Alcaraz did the label art, and the proceeds go to the United Farm Workers. Los Dorados and The Shrimp N' Taco Stop will serve food, and there will be two DJs and a live performance by Rockola.

    4937 Durfee Ave. Pico Rivera, CA 90660. Closest Metro lines and stop: Bus Lines 265 and 266 - "Rosemead/Whittier."

    A bisected burrito revealing avocado, beef bulgogi, eggs, cheddar cheese, and smashed tater tots
    The KBBQ Breakfast Burrito at Bites & Bashes Cafe features avocado, beef bulgogi, eggs, cheddar cheese, and smashed tater tots. Photo via Bites & Bashes.

    Lomita

    Lomita's Bites & Bashes Cafe just introduced ten breakfast burritos to its morning menu and, damn it all to hell, they look gooooood! Burrito options include spicy chorizo chilaquiles, another with spicy andouille, a "taco truck" variety stuffed with Korean al pastor and chopped kimchi, and the "CFO" with pork chile verde. 

    25600 Narbonne Ave. Lomita, CA 90717. Closest Metro line and stop: Bus Line 232 - "Pacific Coast Highway/Narbonne."

    A golden spread of Venezuelan pastries and dishes, including empanadas and arepas
    Photo via Nova Bakery

    Long Beach

    Nova Bakery is open in LBC for Venezuelan pastries and classics, including cachapas, arepas, empanadas, and pastelitos, with beef, chicken, and cheese, as well as sides of variously-stuffed potato and yucca balls, tequeños, and drizzled churros.

    865 E. Seventh St., Long Beach, CA 90813. Closest transit lines and stop: Long Beach Transit Lines 71, 91, 92, 93, and 94 - "7th/Alamitos."

    A screenshot of a video game made by Mirate restaurant in which tequila bottles shoot bad tequila over fields of aagve, Space Invaders-style
    A screenshot of Mirate's Tu Compa video game, via Mirate

    Los Feliz

    Miraté barman Max Reis launched a new cocktail menu this week, led by a selection of pre-Hispanic "bebidas ancestráles" including nitro pulque, tepache, and tejuino. In addition to an aguachile-inspired margarita known as El Guero and a Jungle Bird riff made with tepache and house-exclusive Oaxacan rum, there's Tu Compa, a Paloma variation in a can that links to its own secret video game on the back, in which you play an agave defending the world from shitty industrial celebrity owned tequila.

    West L.A.

    A spread of Hawaiian dishes, including fried chicken on fries, sliced fish, breaded fish, SPAM, and sides like macaroni and cold slaw
    Hawaiian fried chicken and other Hawaiian flavors, via Laidback Kids

    The Laidback Kids, a new Hawaiian kitchen offering pickup orders, is open in West L.A. Dishes include loco moco plates, Hawaiian fried chicken, garlic noodles and garlic shrimp, and SPAM musubi burgers. 

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