Los Ángeles is a town of tacos with new taquerias popping up on street corners around the county on a weekly basis. To help us get through them all, LA TACO presents our new “Taco of the Week” column, celebrating the latest taco we’ve eaten that blew our minds.
Once in a while you come across a taco in the streets of Los Angeles that reminds you why life is beautiful and why we are the best city in the country for tacos. Like last night when I stumbled upon an all pastor taco in Hollywood that stopped me in my tracks at the first bite. With Taco Life supporters, let’s give you a warm welcome Taqueria Juquilitaas I am willing to say, does LA’s best al-priest I’ve had yet.
The modest taco stand outside the Hollywood Forever Cemetery was first covered on our news trumpet last week by Odilia Romero. Her first report for LA TACO traces how Oaxaca’s Indigenous Mixe culture has gone on to open some of the city’s best al pastor taquerias, including Leo’s Tacos and Tacos Tamix (both LA TACO hall of famers). In her story, she generously unveiled some of her current favorite Mixe-driven al pastor tacos in LA, including Taquería Juquilita.
Their stand on the south side of Santa Monica Street, in front of a mall, is easy to spot but hard to find time for, and disappears into LA County’s taco universe like a salsa ash swallowed by the salsa that never will be seen again. Chances are good that you have driven past it, have driven far over the speed limit to get to 101 south or just to not miss the opening act at Masonic lodge next door.
But next time you pass, stop for a few minutes and order a couple of their tacos for the pastor who rivals – or to hell, for hell, maybe is even better – than the ones I’ve had in Mexico City. You see, what no one tells you when you write about tacos for a living is that you get incredibly lethargic when it comes to eating tacos.
It takes a lot to blow your mind, so when I find a new (for me) taco that stands out for its taste and technique, you’re damn right, I’m going to shout it from the rooftops. What stands out from the al-priest at Taquería Juquilita is the densely stacked trompo. The layers are compressed just as tightly as a chocolate babka, and the crimson adobos glow seems to have seeped deep into the thinly sliced pork. This shows that the pork had enough time to marinate in the adobo before it was stacked and impaled on the trumpet.
The other thing that stands out is the trompero’s (the taquero that has the specific job of cutting the trumpet) out. They are effortless and precise with every finesse of the knife. What many people are not aware of is that a tromperos experience directly affects your all pastoral experience. If he is confident and talented enough to rotate and turn on the flame to cook the trumpet, the thin slices will be overcooked and even a little crispy. If the trump card is still a rookie, he will slaughter the trumpet discs a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre, right on the grill below so the al-priest is done cooking on the flat top instead of by live fire. But all this secondary grilling usually does is wipe the priest out.
They also have one of the more buttery cabezas that I have had in this city full of collagen, fat and melted cheek meat …
All pasta should always be cut directly on the tortilla. If you see anything else, run towards the hills or the nearest trompero. The mix factor comes in with the brightness and spice of their adobo. These are pleasing things, thanks to the abundant use of vinegar, just like in Oaxaca’s chorizo culture, similarly also adobo-based, but by using more vinegar to make the chorizo taste even brighter. The end result is a taste bomb version of all pastor that delivers true taco euphoria and keeps you ordering more and more.
The tortillas are not handmade, but it is okay in this situation as they are still specifically procured. Of course, they come kissed by the drip of the trumpet and are also of the variety yellow corn, which gives greater flavor. The salsas are not diluted either. They also have one of the more buttery cabezas that I have had in this town full of collagen, fat and melted cheek meat, and their asada is also grilled all carbon.
All this to say that when I’m within a 10-mile radius of Juquilita, I’ll run out of my way to eat as many tacos there as I can, and also try to be less of a dull bastard in the future.
5944 Santa Monica Blvd. 90038
Follow Taquería Juquilita on Instagram here.
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