Project Taco Gourmet Snack Shop

Guest Blog Post by James Michael Longton

Greetings Fellow Tacophiles!

I hope you are happy and eating tacos. I am living down in Mexico and can't always rush off to the nearest Taco Hotspot. But luckily I have friends who are willing to act as my taco spy.

My good friend James Longton, who lives in Hermosa Beach, alerted me to the opening of a new taco place that specializes in offbeat tacos including 3 varieties of breakfast tacos. The breakfast taco is something they really get into in Tejas (Texas) but not so much here.

Breakfast Taco w/ Goat Cheese and Guacamole

These look worthy of a test drive. Even the Lox taco! Please see his review below.

When word got out that a new place had opened on the Hermosa Promenade called ‘Project Taco Gourmet Snack Shop,’ I was naturally intrigued. 

Upon arrival, I was immediately taken by the eclectic diversity of their menu. With several interesting options available, I decided to start with something somewhat traditional, and ordered the chicken and avocado taco with pineapple habanero salsa.

Chicken Habanero Taco

 

After a couple bites, the first thing to grab my attention was the tortilla. “That’s a blend of white corn and whole wheat,” said owner and renowned local chef Nick Fontova.“It was important to me from the beginning to keep our tortillas healthy as well as tasty, and with these we don’t have to use any oil.”

I’m a big fan of Mexican cuisine, and it’s always fun to see what springs from the mind of a taco chef looking to think outside the box. So next I went with the Thai Peanut Chicken Taco. While it tends to be a favorite of mine, I’d never had Thai peanut in a tortilla. 

 

Garnished with shredded carrot, cucumber, honey, and cilantro…it totally worked, with just enough of a spicy kick to be exciting without being overwhelming. The Blueberry Chicken Taco wasn't too sweet but rather tangy and had a nice crispy topping of a kale and apple coleslaw.

Blueberry BBQ Chicken Taco

“We’re having fun trying new things and seeing what people like,” continued Fontova. “For instance a lot of locals have taken to the Lox Taco,” he said as two young surfers were ordering another round. “We’re trying to create a lifestyle taco place and provide the community with some good healthy options. Something you could grab just before heading out to surf…”

They are also drawing a steady weekend crowd with the growing popularity of the breakfast taco, and still tending to the after hours clientele by keeping their doors open every night until 2am.

With tacos going for $3.50 to $4.00, their prices are reasonable, their ingredients are fresh, and the serving sizes are fair. Located at 34 Pier Ave., I found Project Taco to be well worth the visit. 

It’s always good to see someone passionate about feeding the local folk. 

www.projecttaco.com
http://www.yelp.com/biz/project-taco-hermosa-beach

Tacos Fish, La Paz BCS

Due to the running of a small cafe that rarely makes or sells tacos, my taco tasting days have slowed to a crawl (jaja.)

Sure, I live in Mexico currently and I visit LA every other month, but lack of time and also a new fear of amoebas and parasites from street food have slackened my motivation. Bill Esparza, I don't know how you do it, but I'm glad you do because reading about food on your blog is almost as exciting as eating it!

That being said, I FINALLY made it to a place I've been hearing about for a while. My good friend Isabel, an incredible Mexican-Lebanese chef and Bed and Breakfast owner speaks highly of this place. "What's it called?", I asked her. "Tacos Fish", she replied. What? That's not a name. Is that the name? Wait... What?

"Where is it?" I queried. "Oh you know, somewhere in La Paz, we can never remember where until we are there." Hmmmm.... so uninspired by the name and lack of directions, I pushed it to the back of the 'must try' list. Which I admit is a very short list for me down here.

As a restaurant owner, I go to La Paz alot more now than I did before. La Paz is the capital city of Baja Sur and sports world class fishing and diving reefs. It's very Mexican. It's no Cabo. They don't speak English readily or cater to retired fools though they do have a Walmart and a Home Depot.

Sooooooo.... I accidentally drive by it about 5 times in 2 weeks and my aging, taco-fogged brain goes, "Wait! That place is something! Wait. But the name is dumb but yeah right Isabel's place." Twice I try to go on a Monday, they are closed. Finally I go on a Saturday and guess what? It's effing FANEFFINGTASTIC. Really really REALLY good.

Crisp, clean, friendly, efficient, cheap, high quality, great salsas. DELISH. Solid, flakey, juicy fish and shrimp tacos AND deep fried crab tacos. Oh yeah. It was almost like being at Mariscos Jalisco. Not quite but almost.

"Soooooo goooooood." This is my 'sous chef' Jose Manuel immitating me with a funny American accent (he speaks no English) when I really like something.

That was his final verdict on these tacos. Mine too. Coming soon to Cabo but until then, this page has directional info for La Paz location. www.tacofish.com

El Fogón, San Jose del Cabo

I have been craving and devouring the AMAZING Pastor tacos at Guacamayas (3 locations) in the Cabo area for 5 years now. I am a big fan. I have NO COMPLAINTS. Not only is their Pastor rocking, the rest of the menu is awesome too.

OK. I have one complaint. They are not open for lunch. (except for the new location just opened 1/2014 near the Marina)

Recently someone told me about an "amazing" Pastor place in San Jose. I assumed they meant Guacamayas, but no, they were talking about a place I'd never heard of: El Fogón, which means "the oven" or "the stove."

I trotted right over there. By trotted I mean that I drove an hour from Todos Santos, where I am currently living, to San Jose.

The verdict. Very good Pastor. Very clean. Very nice people. Open ALL DAY AND NIGHT. Nice Palapa seating too.... BUT.... not as good as Guacamayas in my humble opine. Not caramelized enough. No fun pineapple flipping tricks. No addictive sweet yet 'melt in your mouth' texture. Solid for sure but nothing to drive an hour for or even take a plane 2 hours S. of Los Angeles.

You can't see the Pina in this shot but it is there.

Extra melted cheese with your Pastor.

However, when in San Jose, they provide an excellent lunch or snack, especially during the day when Guacamayas is closed. They are located at the top of a one way street that starts in the Old Town square and goes straight up to the highway. It's the same street as the French Riviera Bakery and is called Manual Doblado. If you take it straight up, right before you get back to the Hwy you will see El Fogon on your right.

La Cevicheria on Pico Blvd. Can you say CALDO?

I came back to LA for about 3 days in February, I didn't have time to check out the new places people are buzzing about. Cortez was on my list and also Tacos Punta Cabras.

Luckily, my friend Justin, insisted that we catch up over ceviche. I had tried to go there many times as the Taco Maven and it was freakish how they were always unexpectedly closed (power outage, kitchen flood, somebody's bday) every time I tried.

Well. I finally made it there and I really enjoyed the soup. The taco was fine, but I'm living in Baja now and have become spoiled. A good taco, a fresh taco, a clean taco, but nothing to write home about especially if you live in Mexico.

But the soup. OMG Magee. That was insane. There are several options for broth flavor and I forget which one we actually had but I could have eaten 3 bowls of it. There it is pictured above in all it's rich broth and seafood glory. Lots of garlic too. Hello CRACK.

It's a very kid friendly place too with simple burritos, quesadillas etc. I enjoyed the ceviche, but it was the SOUP, SOPA, CALDO etc. that really floated my boat.

ox

El Borrego Viudo, Drive-In Taqueria in Mexico City

Mexico City is an AMAZING taco city.

The master of all Latin Food bloggers, Bill Esparza, has a BLOG full of info about eating there.

I tend to stick to the trendy areas of La Condesa and La Roma. Sort of like Santa Monica and Silverlake.

I was taken by a couple of awesome taco superfreaks to a DRIVE-IN taco spot at 2am.



It was crazy delicious and crazy fun. If you visit, you must put this place on your list.