Arts & Life, Long Beach

Tacography of Long Beach

We meet again taco-freaks. Worry not, mijos and mijas, for the gastro-quest continues. As I make my way through the vast landscape of Long Beach taquerias—encountering the good, the bad and the ugly—I continue to contemplate the history behind this iconic Mexican finger food.

When we last left off, we’d travelled to pre-Colombian Mesoamerica in search of the origins of the taco. Somehow we ended up in the depths of 18th century Mexican silver mines, unearthing the taco’s etymology.

Today we’ll chart this most portable food’s migration across the border and find out how it conquered the palates of the norteamericano.

Now many may lay claim to being the taco’s welcome mat in the states—I’m looking at you Texas—but according Gustavo Arellano book “Taco USA,” Americans were first introduced to the taco in downtown Los Angeles.

Olvera Street restaurant Cielito Lindo, started by Mexican immigrant Aurora Guerrero in the 1920’s, began selling taquitos—basically a rolled up taco that’s deep-fried.

Copycats took this recipe and ran with it, and thus the hard-shell taco was born. Soon the first Taco Bell was founded in San Bernardino and Americans went crazy for their appropriated fast food. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Mexican immigrants began pushing back against this abomination that had been dubbed “authentic.”
One of the first loncheras—or taco trucks—is credited to of Raul O. Martinez, according to Arellano. He modified an old ice cream truck, shoehorned a stove and a grill inside of it and began selling uncommon meat cuts such as al pastor and cabeza outside an East Los Angeles bar. So successful was this venture that he opened a restaurant, the first Taco King, and the rest is history.

Las Delicias De Michoacan

755 Magnolia Ave,

Long Beach, CA 90813

Tacos: $1.25

This is a combo liquor store-taqueria you’d probably drive right past unless you were looking for it. More accurately, it looks like this place was once a liquor store when a tidal wave struck, washing up a taqueria and pulling most of the liquor store out to sea. The walls are mustard colored and the shelves above the register displays bottles of shampoo I must assume are for sale.

I order two asada tacos and a carnitas taco from the lady working the plancha. Some minutes later I receive a Styrofoam plate with four “asada” tacos. Whatever, I’m hungry.

The tacos are dressed with both salsa roja and salsa verde. From the first bite, I feel like my mouth has been flame-thrown. These tacos are spicy as hell and are not for the faint of tongue.

The asada lacks sear and char and its texture and color resembles stewed steak. The tortillas are dry-griddled but unfortunately of the machine-pressed, store-bought variety.

The tacos are overall pretty ho-hum and left me feeling like I’d been pepper sprayed in the face.

Taqueria El Pacifico

1473 Atlantic Ave,
Long Beach, CA 90813

Tacos: $1.00+

Inside of a bodega-slash-carniceria, the first thing I notice here are the heat lamps, under which sit pans labeled with meat varieties—bad news.

The system works like this: You give the taquero your order then walk over to the register where you pay and get a ticket to claim your tacos back at the grill. I order two asada tacos and a carnitas taco.

The tacos are served naked, a hearty portion of meat on a double stack of tortillas. I like the DIY approach. The salsa bar has onions, cilantro, salsa verde and roja, limes, carrots—the works. There’s also a taqueria-style guacamole—emulsified and watery just how it should be.

The moment of truth: carnitas are dry and on the gristly side, a direct result of the heat lamp. Any sign of the confit-style preparation that renders carnitas succulent is gone. The asada is sad, lacks seasoning and character.

The tortillas are mass-produced and decidedly not handmade. On top of this, they were heated in oil on the grill, imparting a greasy texture and giving the whole taco a funny canola taste.

The standout among the salsas is the salsa roja, which registers a slight kick.

I must unfortunately report that this is a classic case of quantity-over-quality. Let this be a lesson to taqueros across the land. You will never ascend to the heights of the taco ranks using heat lamps.

One Comment

  1. Avatar
    Dylan Andersen

    I appreciate the idea of a “tacography”, but it’s disappointing to see that you have not covered Holé Molé or El Torazo (either location) yet. I know you likely have plans to cover those, but they – quite honestly – should have been covered first.

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