Tacos in Pacoima with Victoria

I have been reading about Pacoima for a while. On the Mexi Food Map it is the home of Lenchita's, a restaurant and tortillaria that nabbed the attention of Jonathan Gold. Check out his review HERE.

We decided to head out for an Adventura on a Friday night, but alas, Lenchita's closes at 8pm (we saved it for last) so we were shite outta luck. The few people I interviewed said it was OK but that the lines weren't worth it...

We had about 5 places on the list, and as ALWAYS happens, we were led off the path to something wonderful. The gal at the first place (Mexi-Tamal - cheap, fast and fun) told us there were some good tacos or was it a tortillaria... just down the street... to the right? Left? Straight? It made my friend's joke, that everything in Mexico City is 'al fondo a la derecha' go straight and to the right, all the more poignant.

We followed the directions and found a little grill full of smoke in front of the D + K Market/Gas Station Combo at the corner of Glen Oaks and Pierce. Her name was Victoria and she was a hoot. She was cooking something she called a 'quesadilla', but it looked like a folded burrito and it was covered with a foil-covered brick. Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet LA dubbed them 'Mexicaninis'. She also had bacon wrapped hotdogs. Yum. Drool. Plus, four kinds of tacos (pastor, asada, pollo, chorizo).

carne asada on the grill

this is the tortilla factory we were looking for

Everything is hooked up to the car battery and she already has a following (which includes her brother and his wife). She speaks perfect English and really cares about the quality and freshness of the meat. She's there every Friday and Sat from about 6-11pm She is VERY interested in doing catering and pop ups so give her a call at 818.355.2141.

pastor taco - sweet and savory w/ lots of cumin

'quesadillas' that look like flat burritos

She's pretty picky about what she recommends in the area too. The only food tip she was excited to share with us was some great tamales that two girls sell out of their car at the Superior Market on Laurel Canyon just N. of Osborne. They huddle by a minivan and they serve Mexican Hot Chocolate (a little too much sweet milky goo and not enough actual chocolate for my taste) and about 12 kinds of Tamales for $1 each. They are some of the finest I have ever had. The Rajas were particularly good as were the Chicken Mole and the Jalapeno Cheese.

These girls are an incredible find for the Xmas Season and at $1 each you cannot go wrong. They say they are out there every single evening... but only until about 9pm.

Thank you Victoria! We look forward to seeing you again soon.