Liliana's Tamales

Liliana's Tamales
3448 E 1st St
Los Angeles
323-780-0839

Further east on the Gold Line, at Indiana Station, is Liliana's Tamales. Liliana's Tamales was my second stop along the torta portion of the Sushi-Torta express. La Placita Del D.F.

Since it is the holidays, I wanted some tamales. I heard Liliana's Tamales, made some great tamales and I wanted to try it.




Tamale chili rojo con carne: $1.50. I like tamales, but it's not the first thing I order when I go to Mexican restaurants. This chili rojo con carne, was different than most tamales I've had. The masa was a bit different-the texture was off, and blended into the corn husks. The was a decent amount of beef but the masa really overwhelmed the beef.

Service is nice and friendly.

I wouldn't go back to Liliana's Tamales. I was expecting to be blown away but I was disappointed.

Despite going to two less than stellar restaurants along the Sushi-torta express, I will continue my search for good restaurants along this train line. But there is always La Serenata, which is across from Mariachi Plaza station and King Taco in East LA, which is across the street from the Maravilla Station.

La Placita Del D.F.-Closed

La Placita Del D.F. 1859 E 1st St Los Angeles 323-780-8232 There are many great restaurants near the Metrorail subway system in LA. The Gold Line extension, that goes east to Atlantic Blvd, has been nicknamed Sushi-Torta Express, because it goes to Little Tokyo and East LA. I decided to see for myself what the, torta portion of the Sushi-Torta Express has to offer. So I took the Gold Line to the Mariachi Plaza station and went to La Placita Del D.F., which is about a two block walk from the station. I noticed a torta on the menu and go the torta Milanesa-breaded steak, $4.25, with mayo, cheese, and breaded steak. I loved the bread, lightly toasted, with a nice crust and nice chewy texture and held up well to all the steak. But I didn't like how fatty the steak was, just too much fat and gristle. The pieces of actual steak was a bit tough and chewy. This was really a greasy mess. Service was pretty good, but if you don't speak Spanish, it's all point at pictures. I wouldn't go back to La Placita Del D.F., at least not for the torta. My next stop along the sushi-torta express Gold Line is Liliana's Tamales.

AJ's BBQ Pit-Closed

AJ's BBQ Pit
3691 E. 3rd. St
Los Angeles
323-263-7427

A BBQ restaurant in East LA? Yes, in the land of great Mexican food, you have a BBQ restaurant!!! AJ's is about a block east of the Indiana Station of the new Gold Line Eastside extension. AJ's is easy to recognize because of the flames painted on the outside of the restaurant.

I went to AJ's earlier this week but they were out of ribs!!! Then last night I called and asked if they had ribs, they again were out of ribs. I asked are you going to have ribs tomorrow during lunch. She said yes. Then asked me my name, so they can give me a discount when I came. Well I called and asked if they had ribs. They said Yes. I asked if I got there in about an hour, will they still have ribs, they said yes. So I went.

I ordered the third rack of St. Louis pork spare ribs, $7.80 and 5 piece order of chicken wings, $3.90. Those prices are the regular menu price. I got the 15% discount because the nice lady offered it to me for my trouble. I did not at one time mention I was doing a review.

AJ's is Santa Maria style bbq, where the meats are cooked over oak wood. This isn't "true" BBQ but it is damn good if done right. Take a look at this picture, this is how they do Santa Maria BBQ.



The ribs were pretty good. Nice smoke flavor, tender, little to no fat. But the ribs were so small!!!! The pit master came out and even said sorry for the ribs being so small.

The wings were bigger than the pork ribs!! The chicken wings were about a medium spice level. There wasn't much of a crispy skin but the meat was tender and moist. Overall I did like the wings but I would prefer them to be a bit more crispy.

Service was very good. The lady's who gave me the discount on the phone was super nice. She didn't have to offer any discount but she went over and above. Her daughter was nice, friendly and helpful taking the order. The pitmaster was nice to come out and say sorry for the size of the ribs. He also mentioned they bought some more ribs and put them on the grill, as you can see from the above picture.

AJ's has been open for about six months. They need to work some kinks in their operation. I understand not wanting food to go to waste but ribs are a staple of any BBQ restaurant. They need to have ribs all the time. I wouldn't have any issues going back to AJ's but I would call first to make sure they have ribs.

El Atacor #8

El Atacor #8
6506 Whittier Blvd
East L.A.
323-832-9263

After going to El Atacor #11, I did further research and found that I've driven by #2, #7 and #8 all the time along Whittier Blvd. We decide to go to #8 and give those potato tacos a try.

I ordered the three potato tacos with rice and beans for $5.29 and the super burrito (AKA porno burrito) for $5.95.

The potato tacos are deep fried tacos filled with potatoes. The corn taco shells are very cruchy and the potatoes are mashed but you don't really taste them. While I was eating this taco I was thinking this kinda of reminds me of a Tito's taco. It wasn't my thing but I wanted to try it.

The Porno burrito was a little better than the #11 location, not as much fat, not as chewy. They used better meats but it's still not the top quality meat you find at other taco stands.

Service was good. The guy behind the counter was nice and friendly and spoke very good English. This El Acator is basically a take out place but they do have some tables outside.

I'm not going to try #2 or #7 but I get the general idea of El Atacor. It's cheap eats. The quality isn't top notch but it's OK. I would much prefer though to go to El Gallo Giro or King Taco and get a better quality burrito.

Tacos Baja

Tacos Baja
5385 Whitter Blvd
LA, CA
90022

When LA magazines rates your fish tacos as the best fish tacos in LA, you have a lot to live up to. So I decided to see if Tacos Baja lived up to the hype. Well let me tell you it does.

This is one of the best fish tacos I've ever had. The only better fish taco I've had, was at Wahoos. Ok, I was only kidding. The only better fish taco was in Ensenada.

The fish tacos are a steal at $1.45. What a great deal. The fish are deep fried to just a golden crispness. So crunchy and the fish is flakely and out of this world. There is so much fish, cabbage, tomato, and white sauce, you should be arrested for stealing.

Service was very good. The lady who took our order spoke perfect English. She as friendly and answered all our questions.

I would go back to Tacos Baja anytime.

King Taco

King Taco
4504 3rd St
LA
323-264-4067

I first became aware of King Taco at Dodger Stadium. They used to make the tacos and I thought they were ok but nothing special. Of coure being sold at the stadium, it was also double the price. So I decided to give King Taco a try. They have tons of locations throughout LA. The Long Beach location was torn down and replaced by El Gallo Giro.

I went to the King Taco on 3rd St and ordered a carnitas and carne asada taco, $1.25 each. The carne asada tasted as though they had been in the warmer too long. Very tough and chewy. It wasn't well marinated either. The salsa added nothing to the taco.

The carnitas wasn't as tough as the carne asada but still not as tender as other places. Again seemed as though they had been in the warmer too long. I'm surprised because there is always a good crowd and it would seem as though they would have a good turnover on food.

Service is decent. It would help if they spoke English or I spoke Spanish. You place your order and a LOUD speaker will call you when your order is ready. But it can take some time for your order to be ready. I much prefer going to El Gallo Giro.

El Gallo Giro- East LA

El Gallo Giro
5686 Whittier Blvd
East LA
323-726-1246

As you know from my review of the El Gallo Giro in Santa Ana, you know I love this place. So while driving in East LA, I notice another El Gallo Giro. I just couldn't resist and I stopped in for another torta, this time the Torta Cubana for $6.30.

The Torta Cubana comes with four meats, pork leg, bread beef, head cheese and ham and topped with acocado, tomato, lettuce, beans and mayo. WOW what a treat. The torta was great. I loved the spicy pork leg and the breaded beef. Both were very tender and had lots of flavor. The toasted torta bread was so soft. A great sandwich and well worth the money.

I didn't notice any difference between the East LA location and the Santa Ana location, except the East LA location has signs for where to order tortas and where to order tacos and burritos.

I would go back to any El Gallo Giro. I love this place!!!