Escuela Taqueria! Los Angeles CA

'sin verguenzas' means without shame or shameless

What a great name. What a great place. What a great taco! I went for the first time on Saturday and I felt like a "Dancing with the Stars" judge waving my "10" paddle all over the place.

I also felt like maybe I was in New York or San Francisco. Uber hip with KILLER thriftshop art on the walls (I wanted to steal it all), amazing logo, friendly owner, excellent service, adorable dog waiting for his owners to eat tacos... ambience fabulous.

But what about the tacos? A 10! A 10! Seriously. Perfect modern fusion. Authentic yet innovative. This is what I am looking for in a taco, something that blows my mind and opens it up to all the taco possibilities.

comfy crispy fried beef tacos

I like how they give you your agua fresca in a carafe to be shared by the table. I like how every taco has a perfectly browned and chewy tortilla underneath. I like how they have simple fare for the kiddies.

The innovation award goes to the fish taco. On Saturday it was Branzino (a very fancy Italian Whitefish) with the skin ON. Huh? Yep. Crispy skin, flakey fish. Addictive really. (See the above video for a great shot.)

shrimp and chorizo taco

But the real 'crack' of the day was the, again, perfect, crispy taco. Shredded tender beef inside, lovely orange cheese, savory salsa, crispy shell. That's right. I totally blew my "Ease up on the fried food Biatch" diet and had 2 of them.

I also loved the shrimp taco with crispy shards of chorizo and giant butterflied shrimp. YUM.

Of course I couldn't try everything but that's just an excuse to go back. AGAIN AND AGAIN.

The genius behind it all is Steve Arroyo. He has given us a "river" (true to his last name) of restaurants starting with the original Malo (when it was smaller and less malo) and onto Cobras & Matadors and a cool sandwich place around the corner called "Potato Chip." I wanted to steal that sign too but it's too big! He's also a part owner in Umami burger (where a Cobras & Matadors used to be on Hollywood Blvd.) and he started Church & State. Dios Mio!!!!!

Thank you Steve. You obviously understand food and how to make a taco fiending customer very very happy.

Escuela Taqueria
CASH ONLY
308 N. Stanley Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(just off Beverly Blvd. near CBS and Erewhon)