TortaQuest '09 Continues!

Still on this torta fix, I decide to drop by the infamous twin taco trucks of East Hollywood, which are on the lot of an auto repair shop on Western and Lexington avenues, right by the 101 Freeway. The trucks, which are here every night, have gained a reputation as one of the best taco trucks in town, most notably the northernmost one, El Matador, which LA Taco.com claims as its #1 taco truck in town.

Well, they sell tortas as well - "Delicioso" as the menu claims. Alrighty then! I order una torta de pastor.
Note the nearly-transparent grease spots on top. They ain't foolin' here. The bread is nice and a little toasty, and the al pastor pork is characteristically spicy as anyone who's had an El Matador taco would attest. However, due to its greasiness, the whole thing kind of flops over when held. Don't get me wrong, this is good stuff, but the grease content was a bit high even for a torta! I'll stick to their tacos.

In Search Of The Perfect Torta, El Taurino

Hankerin' for a torta on a Sunday evening, I head over to El Taurino on Hoover and 11th in the Pico-Union district. A favorite taco joint of a certain noodle-headed friend of mine, I decided to check it out after long last.

Expecting an outdoor stand a la E-Ho's El Gran Burrito, this was a completely indoor place, with two counters and two lines - both rather long.

I figured it must be good, so to bide my time I decide to pull out the ol' Blackberry and do a Facebook update:

Elson is @El Taurino, in search of the best torta. (7:21 p.m.)

Which was followed up by:

Ken L. at 7:24pm March 8

Where is the best torta, you think? I'm fond of the Taco Reyes taco truck on Sherman Way, but I'm happy to continue the search for delicious tortas.

Elson at 7:26pm March 8
I've been on a torta trip lately.
You're quite a bit Valley-biased, aren't you? :)
But thanks, I will leave no stone unturned, and will check it out next time I'm over the hill!

Joe B. at 7:34pm March 8

gerlie says there's a good one in monterey park where they bake their own bread. don't know the name of it though.

Ken L. at 7:35pm March 8
I'm on the LA side a bit as well, so I would love to hear about any good torta trucks/restaurants.

I'm Valley-biased, sure, but only because I live out here, not because I think all the good tortas are out this way!!!


Elson at 7:35pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
Joe: hot damn! I gotta check that one out!


Ken L. at 7:36pm March 8
Joe, please find out!!

Although most of the time when I'm out that way, I'm at Ocean Star Seafood or Dumpling Master, etc. on Atlantic. No tortas there.


Peter H. at 7:37pm March 8
It's called Cook's Torta's...on Atlantic Blvd....at the intersection of Floral Dr. Its pretty good. I do tend to prefer the proper roach coach though, lol. I'll have to pick you up and take you there Elson, they even hand make their own tortillas for their tacos.
*Drooling already*


Elson at 7:37pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
Ken: Just jokin witcha man! :) There's some good Valley spots so I'll check out any suggestions there as well!


Ken L. at 7:40pm March 8
The taco truck one I mentioned is my favorite so far. It's a good torta, a little bit hit and miss, but almost always good, but I'm looking for an absolute killer torta. I ate at El Taurino a while back, and King Taco (had tacos at both, not tortas), and enjoyed both.

Thanks, Peter!


Elson at 7:40pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
The line @ El Taurino is long..been here over 10 mins. This better be good! Big Korean clientele too! I'm getting the bistec con queso torta...cheeseteak!


Peter H. at 7:44pm March 8
Geeze, I really dislike King Taco. The salsa's are icky, I guess i'm just used to what my Mom makes here at home. ONE taco stand on Fletcher Drive (next to Foster's Freeze) had VERYYYY good tacos. Great variety of meat....the Al Pastor kicks butt there.


Elson at 7:47pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
Peter, you're so Atwater Village-biased, lol! :)


Ken L. at 7:48pm March 8
The one time I've eaten at King Taco was in Pasadena. It was good. It wasn't killer. Still on the lookout for killer. You can't ever beat homemade, I don't think, but it doesn't mean you don't keep looking!! :)


Peter H. at 7:53pm March 8
The little corner place on Fletcher is AWESOME. I mean, I could eat there nightly and not grow tired. Salsas are g0o0o0od, lol. I'm from the hood Elson, what do you expect :p

The hospital I run is a few blocks away from Cook's Tortas in Monterey Park. I'd rather hit the roach coach scene than eat there. Just my opinion....I say we meet up and go on a sample night, haha!!


Elson at 7:54pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
I've ordered, am waiting. I'm. #662 and they're only calling #636!


Elson at 7:57pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
Haha, the lady sitting across from me is on the cellphone w her man, she said, "They don't sell tortas @ King Taco!" Guess I'm not alone in TortaQuest '09!!


Joe B. at 7:58pm March 8
cook's tortas
1944 S Atlantic Blvd


Peter H. at 7:59pm March 8
Hey EL....that's when I throw in the towel and go to YOSHINOYA :p


Elson at 8:00pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
BTW thanks guys, you're making my long wait a little less tedious, haha


Elson at 8:03pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
This place is quite trilingual! Español, English and Korean...


Peter H. at 8:04pm March 8
El, where is the place you're at located?


Elson at 8:06pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
El Taurino on Hoover, half block S of Olympic


Peter H. at 8:06pm March 8
Could you imagine some kimchi on your torta instead of onion and cilantro? Hahaha. ACK!


Elson at 8:08pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
Peter; That's not too farfetched: www.kogibbq.com


Peter H. at 8:09pm March 8
Damn boy, you're too far out for me. I live in a box, lol. UNLESS I'm going to MANNA all you can eat Korean BBQ....then it's acceptable to travel south on Western. Otherwise I ain't doing a drive for food that's far away. Yet you ask yourself "The how does this dude stay to damn fat, haha." I ONLY went to Rosemead today because I was already in Monterey Park checking in on my nurses.


Elson at 8:15pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
I'm just lol'ing at the size of this comment thread! I was in the area, was driving on the 110 near downtown after church and felt an urge to stop by El Taurino (1st time here).


Peter H. at 8:17pm March 8
Hey, i'm just trying to entertain you. It seems you'll be there all night long, lol. Holla if you need company. I think it's time for a HUGE bowl of cornpops, haha.


Elson at 8:21pm March 8 via Facebook Mobile
No prob man. HEY TORTA IS READY!

Ready, yeah. Take a look at the timestamp. It's been one hour since I got in line. ONE HOUR?!?!
So here it is in all of its torta glory:
Peter H. at 8:23pm March 8
ENJOY!


Elson at 9:43pm March 8
30 replies, all about a freaking sandwich! :) I love Facebook!


Ken L. at 7:26pm March 9
Hey, so how was it?


How was it? After posting a photo of the said torta, I captioned it so:

Great torta, but not worth waiting an hour for!!!

Happy Birthday, Scoops!

Today, Scoops celebrates three years of business!

Well, not really. Owner and proprietor Tai Kim isn't much into celebrations or milestones. He professes that he doesn't even celebrate his own birthday. But East Hollywood's own eclectic ice cream sensation opened on Saturday, April 9, 2005.

After honing his ice cream Jedi-Master skills at Portland's Western Culinary Institute, Kim apparently searched for an ideal location for which to sell his tasty, cold wares. He settled on the row of shops on Heliotrope Drive mainly because of its proximity to Mondo Video, of which he was a huge fan of when it was located in Los Feliz. Right timing, since the Bicycle Kitchen also set up shop around that time as well. And the genesis of the corner came about after the now-defunct Night in Tunisia Cafe opened in late 2001 and got people used to hanging out on the diamond-motif sidewalk.

In the three years that Scoops has been serving unique gelato-like ice cream (or is that ice cream-like gelato?), sorbets and soy-based vegan flavors, he's spent virtually zero dollars on marketing -- an entrepreneur's dream. The fanaticism has been propagated via word of ice-cream-filled mouth, hastened by today's technological media: Internet forums such as Chowhound.com, blogs, sites like Yelp.com and text messaging. Ironically, Scoops does not have its own website, and Mr. Kim seems to prefer it stay that way.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Happy Anniversary, Tai and Scoops!

The Pure Luck Vegan Pub

A number of local bloggers have been raving about The (New) Pure Luck vegan pub on Heliotrope & Melrose, on our hip new "Hel-Mel" corner. Run by former Bicycle Kitchen volunteer Ben Ling, he bought out the former establishment this past May, which went under the same name, and had a soft opening leading up to the Bicycle Film Festival's block party at Hel-Mel in early July. The place serves up vegan versions of select Mexican and Asian dishes using plantains and jackfruit as a meat substitute, and aren't subjected to the overinflated prices you'd find at other vegan joints - everything is pretty affordable here. Their rosemary french fries are also a popular item, especially with the amazing selection of mostly microbrewed beer (Craftsman IPA, Fat Tire Ale, among others) on tap for just $4 a pint!

I'm not vegan - not by a mile - but I do like to eat healthy most of the time, so this adds to the choices out there. Plus, it's a great place to hang. Even Tai Kim of SCOOPS likes to drop by and hang out for breaks or after he closes down (TPL closes at midnight).

The Pure Luck was formerly a Korean-Chinese restaurant (which served HUGE portions -- I ate there in 2005 with five other friends and only ordered three dishes -- one of us still had to go home with a ton of leftovers), which had changed owners various times but still retained the name. Even before that (Circa '90s) it was an establishment known as the Mambo Cafe.


The Pure Luck
707 N. Heliotrope Drive

Anna's Cuisine on Fountain

Blogging.la recently spotlighted Anna's Fast Food Cuisine, an Armenian-Russian eatery on Fountain and Berendo. Anna's, which has been around for nearly 10 years, is situated literally next door to The Food Network-celebrated Square One Dining. The small hole-in-the-wall eatery has kebobs, salads, soups and sandwiches and the Blogging.la article gave it a wonderful review.

Anna's Fast Food Cuisine
4859 Fountain Ave.

Guatemalteca Restaurant

That "mystery building" on Santa Monica and Berendo is finally unveiled, even after curiously asking my contact at Councilman Eric Garcetti's CD13 office since the building sprang up last year. It's going to be a Guatemalan restaurant called Guatemalteca, which will also sport a bakery, adding to an already ethnically-diverse array of eateries in the neighborhood which include Armenian, Thai, El Salvadoran and Filipino (and countless other) cuisines.