El Abajeno ~ Culver City

I hate being a noob.  Especially when it comes to experiencing new restaurants I'm not familiar with.  There's awkwardness, ignorance and plain out tomfoolery when it comes to simple things such as standing in the right line to ordering your meal correctly.  I'm sure some of you, or at least the two of you who are reading this, can attest.  You just gotta swallow your pride and jump into the unknown, and hope you come out the other side a better person, or in my most recent case, walk out with a full stomach and a wallet that's not empty.  

EL ABAJENO

This family owned and operated mexican joint has been pushing out authenticity since 1969.  I'd like to say they are one of three really close, really great mexican joints, literally a stones throw apart.  Two doors down from Abajeno is Taqueria Sanchez, across the street is Tacomiendo.  With El Abajeno, my latest conquest, I finally put all pieces together to form the "Triforce of Culver City Mexican joints".  Yeah, I said it.  And you heard it here first.  

What I ordered is not what I received, but I'll leave that for the end of this review.  I ended up with three huge pollo taquitos, a carne asada taco and a stack of chips.  

I was amazed to find that they only had 3 choices of meat for tacos:  asada, lengua and chicharron.  Amazed because this place is a mexican counter/deli with a HUGE menu. 

Anyways, my taco had its ups and downs.  The carne itself had a really good grilled/charred flavor with the meat being chewy yet very tender and juicy.  The downside was the tortillas were starchy, like store bought... I ended up taking off the second and used only the one.  The tipping point was my expectation of the tortillas to lose heat quick, from experience, but they kept heat long enough for my last bite to be nice and hot, lending this taco a thumbs up.  

Through many Yelp recommendations, I opted for some taquitos.  To my chagrin, what I get is this.   

I'm fuckin gringo apparently, because I was expecting rolled, crunchy taquitos, not this soft lookin open tamale thing.  

When I took my first bite, I was blown away.  The tortilla was the quite the opposite of my taco.  It was two very soft, almost melt in your mouth, homemade soft corn tortillas.  The pollo was properly stewed with long hours of heat that came apart with the softest of pull, the avacado added another layer of flavor and texture and topped with mexican cheese, oh man!  These flavors married so well, it was like taking a bite outta butter.  Melty, chewy, fall apart deliciousness that it's no wonder so many people on Yelp put up reviews soley on this one item.  

I'm definitely a fan of this place, despite my first time performance.  Here's the story, I walk in and notice a huge menu.  I couldn't even tell if they had tacos, the menu was so big.  I ask chica if I can get a carnitas taco, she says no, but they have taquitos and it comes in pollo and carnitas.  So I order three carnitas taquitos, expecting the crunchy rolled, but what I get is three HUGE pollo taquitos.  And my total cost of my meal, 3 taquitos 1 carne taco and 1 medium drink?  $14.60.  Right when the cashier said that number, I literally almost doubled over.  hahah, yeah, I'm broke and I haven't had a meal cost that much since I ate dinner with my parents,  and they paid.

For the carne asada taco.

For the taquitos.

Tacos ~ 1.99  Taquitos ~ 2.95 for carnitas; 3.15 for pollo/asada/lengua.

El Abajeno ~ 4515 Inglewood Blvd. Culver City, CA  90230

Taco Plus ~ Santa Monica

I found out about this westside favorite from a taco informant over at Yelp.com.  I read the reviews, checked the menu and was a bit wary about the quality of taco.  First off, the front sign says, "Taco Plus.... Fresh All The Time."  Uh oh, is this another westside, "fresh-mex" taco joint?  I've encountered a couple and more often than not, left less than happy.  Second, tacos cost $2.35.  That just makes me shake my head.  Will this trip be worth it?

I took my chances anyways...

Taco Plus

First off, parking here can be a BITCH.  But of course it is, you're in the Westside during lunch time.  Note for you taco hunters, if at first you can't find parking in the centre, park across the street at the Smart and Final lot, behind Santa Monica Blvd.  

But if you're blessed by God like me...you get hooked up like this during gnar lunch time periods...

*Jeep always in the crucial.

The inside is very small, only 3 or 4 tables that seat 4 and a back bar area with 4 stools.  I could tell this place was for the locals who have time on their hands, or people who work in the area who get their meals to go.  

Remember the "Fresh All The Time," logo out front?  Well, let me tell you, right when I walked in I noticed a glass container with food sitting in heat pans.  I didn't really mind seeing rice and beans, etc... in there, but what did bug me was seeing cut up asada, pastor and carnitas sitting in this heat box.  Fresh all the time, huh??

While ordering, I noticed a big grill right behind chica with pollo, asada, fish and various other goodness being grilled fresh.  Now that's the business!!  I was just hoping they weren't gonna give me the bumbaclat sitting in the heat box.  

My fears were realized once I saw poncho getting my tacos ready.  Whats worse, before homeboy even got there, I saw a coworker of his pouring water all over the meats!  What is this shit?  Are you really pouring water all over the meat in hopes of slowing down the drying process.  

"Fuck," is all I can say.  I have a feeling my meat is gonna be really dry.  Fuck it.  I'm gonna it eat.

Before I begin, I want to address something that did impress me about this place.  Their salsa bar was definitely a "plus."  They have everything you could need, two rojas, a mild verde, cilantro, pico de gallo, radishes, limes and even green onions.  Check out my set up...good looking aint it?

Anyways, the tacos are very big.  Much bigger than your normal taqueria...hence, the $2.35 charge.  The really load it with plenty of the meat.  But one downside, is the tortillas were not very good.  They tasted like store bought Guerrero brand that I'm not a fan of.  Their super starchy and do not keep heat very well.  My first bite, I expected some warmth, but no, none at all.  It was like eating straight up room temperture tortillas...terrible.

*Pastor

First thing I notice is the flavor.  It was undeniably pastor, but I'm not a fan of their marinade.  Very unremarkable, with the "heat pan" pastor being dry.  I did appreciate the crispy edges, but not at the cost of dry meat.  Also, the salsa they put on top tasted like nothing.  It was like having water that didn't help the already crappy tortilla.  By the end, the inner tortilla was soggy and on the point of breaking.  

*Asada

Hmmm, I'm kinda on the fence with this one.  While the meat was dry and lacked any sort of mexican flavor, it was very lean and grilled properly with a nice stand alone beefy flavor.  Like the pastor, it had charred crispy edges that tasted great, just the meat was soo dry, and once again, the crap salsa they put on top didn't help.  A good thing was I was able to take it off and put on their "very hot" salsa, which wasn't really that hot, and I'm no fire eater.  

It would be a stretch calling this place "authentic."  Shoot, it's probably authentic to the masses here on the Westside who are transplants from the Midwest, where their idea of a "Mexican Restaurant" would be Cabo Cantina.  It would be better to describe this place as a "watered down" version of Mexican food.  The sad part is, it's a literal description as well.  Really Taco Plus?  Did you really just pour water all over the meats in that case?  And "fresh all the time," my ass.  

Tacos ~ $2.39

Taco Plus ~ 1525 S. Bundy Dr.  Santa Monica, CA  90025  (310) 207.0793

Taqueria Chihuahua ~ Santa Monica

So far I've gained back all 10 lbs. that I lost while at the Mayan Riviera.  WTF?!  What have I been doing??  Drinking, eating and eating and drinking some more.  I swear, my job is EATING and DRINKING.  I'm good at it.  Someone hire me.  Attached you will find my resume.  Thank you for your interest.

Seriously though, I went a week and a half between posts and what's the reason?  I've been on a little pizza hunt, as of late.  As if tacos weren't enough, now pizza has piqued my interest, and my second chin is responding.  For any of you that are actually following this blog, watch out for my new pizza blog,  "Piece of That Pie."  It's a work in progress...

Anyways...onto the tacos!

TAQUERIA CHIHUAHUA

So today is the second time I experienced this taqueria.  The first time I was so impressed that I had to try it out one more time.  Big difference between this time and the first?  

This...

*Taco Dorado - Pollo

This my friends, is what brought me back to this place.  The taco dorado (crunchy taco) here was excellent.  The tortilla was fried proper with the pollo inside.  The texture of the tortilla was perfectly crunchy, not hard, and not heavy, yet was strong enough to withhold my grip and the several bites I took without cracking and breaking, which can be very annoying.  The chicken was very tender and juicy, not at all dry, with a sweetness from tomatos and a pepperyness that added a nice little bite at the end.  This right here is a crunchy taco I can stand behind. Can't say the same with Tito's...ahhh Tito's I still have to do a review on your weak ass.  One day you will get yours...one day.

Anyways, that was last week.  Today I opted to go with the usual suspects.

*Carnitas y Carne Asada.

First off, the size of these tacos are a bit bigger than your standard taco truck tacos.  Also, when you order they ask you if you want them with everything, meaning they themselves control how much onion, cilantro and salso goes onto your tacos.  Which isn't so bad because they have a decent salsa bar with two salsa roja's (hot and very hot), a pico de gallo, radishs and pickled carrots.  They actually did a good job on topping my tacos how I like.  That's a plus in my book.  

The carnitas taco was of the roasted type, which isn't my style.  The pork was so dry that the flavors weren't shining through.  Hence, I extra doused it with their smokey spicy salsa roja, which was great.  

The carne asada here is the real deal.  A very tender and juicy meat that's remiscent of grilling.  There were even a couple charred and crispy edges in the mix, which I love because of that extra flavor.  The pepperyness of the meat, added with their great salsa roja, married so well.  I love this taco.

What an underrated player Taqueria Chihuahua is in the westside taco game.  If you're in Santa Monica, I highly recommend this place over Tacos Por Favor, if carne asada is your thing.  Their menu, besides the tacos, consist of many of your usual favorites, but something I did notice was they had mulitas.  Maybe next time I can compare Chihuahua's with the USC favorite, La Taquiza.

Tacos ~ 1.59

Taco Dorado ~ 2.49, I think. :)

Taqueria Chihuahua ~ 12034 Venice Blvd.  Santa Monica, CA  90066

El Super Taco ~ Culver City

I've been waiting two long months for this place to open its doors.  I was impressed with the one off Pico in Santa Monica and once I saw the big sign with "coming soon" in front of the new El Super by my apartment, I vowed I'd be the first one in line with a big smile and an empty stomach.  

EL SUPER TACO

FINALLY! 

I walk in like I said I would, with a hungry stomach and a big smile, but all this soon turned south.  For reference, I ordered the three taco combo plate.  

*Al Pastor, Suadero, Pollo Tacos

First off, the beans were really salty.  Like, so salty I didn't even eat them.  Maybe first day jitters on their part?  The rice was mediocre, at best.  Something was missing in its flavor...I'll remark upon it later on.  Now the tacos...

By far the best taco was the al Pastor.  It was super tender and was marinated proper.  It had a good glaze on it and wasn't over powering with the marinade.  I really couldn't have asked for much more from a non spit pastor taco.  Nice job.  

Praise ends there.  Check this pollo taco.

I know I should never judge a book by its cover, but damn, this pollo looked gnarly to me.  As a result, I wasn't really enjoying this taco.  It was tender but lacked much flavor.  I really doused the salsas and onion and cilantro on this puppy.  

Now for the suadero.  What is suadero you might be asking?  I really didn't know what this meat was until I saw it as an option at one of my favorite westside taco trucks, Tacos de Valle, which I still have to review on this site, but my cousin PATRICK keeps duckin' my emails about the pictures on his camera....fucker ass.

Anyways, suadero is basically beef brisket which is grilled.  The suadero at Tacos de Valle looked mighty fine so I decided to try them out here first.  

Well, I wasn't expecting this color, but it tasted alright.  Very meaty with a chewy texture.  Almost like carnitas, but beef.  There wasn't much flavor besides the meatyness, so of course expect me to douse the shit outta this taco with their salsa verde.  

Throughout my meal I kept noticing that something was missing.  Flavor!  Dare I say this El Super Taco lacks that bold mexican flavor?

I will!  The flavors were empty and left me with a feeling that the food was NOT prepared with that mexican amore.  It felt like I was eating food that was "prepared" just not "cared" for.  I have this feeling I'm being a bit harsh because it was the first day, so I'm sure the cooks still have to get used to all the in's and out's in making the standard.  I'll keep that in mind.  

To end it on a positive note, they kept with their heritage and served their tacos bare with a side of grilled onions, and of course their salsa bar is still bangin'.  

Tacos ~ $1.25

El Super Taco ~ 11499 Jefferson Blvd  Culver City, CA  90230  310.391.8148

Gladi's & Carlita's Hot Lunch Truck ~ West LA

I believe this truck is parked here during lunch hours (11am-2pm) in front of a major commercial building.  It caters to the suits in the area, and the menu reflects that.  I of course, ordered two tacos (carnitas and asada).  But as I was checking the menu, I noticed a HUGE VARIETY, from pastrami sandwiches to teriyaki bowls, tacos to hot dogs.  This place was ready to go.

GLADI'S & CARLITA'S

The carnitas was of the roasted type...which means they stew it for a long time, but then roast it in attempts to give it a crunchy outer surface.  They did an ok job on not OVER roasting, yet it was a bit on the dry side.  Nothing a little salsa roja and lemon couldn't help.  The flavor was actually pretty good, despite they dryness.  You could definitely taste the long hours in the crock pot.  A very filling taco, also.  They packed that bitch.

The carne asada was pretty standard.  Not much flavor to it but they prepared it really good.  Tenderly cooked with a little bit of juice from the griddle.  Again, the salsa roja and lemon really helped out.  

Now, here are my qualms.  The tortillas they used were TERRIBLE.  The carnitas and asada weren't exactly my definition of juicy, dry store bought tortillas did not help this taco one bit.  They reminded me of Guerrero taco tortillas, good size, but once you heat them up, they get a bit hard and don't keep the heat.  By the time I got to my second taco it was cold, dry and a bit on the hard side.   They were really heavy, and not to mention they used two tortillas; they probably would have been better off using one tortilla.

Second, if you're looking for authentic mexican, this is not your place.  Like I said, they cater to the SUITS in the area and their menu and flavors reflect that.  Not the bold and flavorful stuff that leaves your breath smelling of a mexican kitchen.  Too bad...because that's the shit I love!

PS-The couple working the truck (maybe Gladi and Carlita?) were VERY nice to me.  This truck does have potential, I will be back to try out one of their breakfast burritos because of them.  

Tacos ~ $1.50

Gladi's & Carlita's ~ La Grange Ave. &  S. Bundy Dr.  West LA  90025

Broadway ~ Santa Monica

Herbal-Eye

10 W ~ Santa Monica

DAT FIYA!!!

It's crazy that cop didn't stop us behind this burning inferno because as I was driving by the volvo was putting out mini explosions.  Pretty scary.  What's even worse, if you can notice her, is the bitch who's car is exploding is standing down wind in the midst of all that smoke.  Serious lady?  You know that shits not healthy.