Top Mexican in Los Angeles

This started as a street cart at 4th and Clarence, in a stretch of Boyle Heights arguing with itself about which force empties a neighborhood first, deportation or gentrification. The cart has since become a stand on South Indiana Street, which is its own kind of answer. Al pastor comes off the trompo and the lengua is braised with garlic and onion.

No frills, excellent tacos, prices that feel from another era. El Taco Grande delivers exactly what the neighborhood needs - a reliable, fast, cheap taco counter that doesn't compromise on the basics.

The "Estilo Tijuana" in the name is a promise: these are Baja-style tacos, built with the flour tortillas and specific regional flavors of the Tijuana taquiza tradition rather than the corn-tortilla street-taco norm. A beloved East LA institution that draws a long line of regulars for its carne asada and adobada.

Hidalgo-style barbacoa is a distinct tradition from the al-pastor and carne asada more common in LA - whole cuts of beef or lamb, slow-cooked overnight in maguey leaves or in an underground pit, then shredded for tacos served only on weekend mornings when the batch is fresh. This is that, done properly.