EatMx: Real Mexican food, at home and on the road

LINING UP FOR TACOS AT TACOLANDIA

All the world loves a taco, apparently, because most of the world showed up for Tacolandia 2014 yesterday at El Pueblo de Los Angeles.

The lines to get in were so long and moved so slowly that a good chunk of eating time was lost. Once you were admitted, there was inspection--bag opening, ID checking. Oops--somebody forgot the body scanner.

This year, planners laid out a new rule--you could bring in just one sealed bottle of water. All other drinks--water, soda, anything alcoholic--were for sale, except for tiny juice cups handed out by the merciful Goya booth.

One guy spent 45 minutes in line for a cocktail. Do that twice, plus a half hour wait to get in, and you missed out on a lot of tacos.  

Lines were predictably long for such crowd favorites as Tacos Kokopelli from Tijuana (above).

And Mariscos La Guerrerense, which loaded tostadas with bacalao (salt cod), octopus, peanut salsa and other Ensenada goodies (above).  

It was worth waiting to watch Chef Timothy Hollingsworth (above) compose tacos one by one, as artfully as if he were still at The French Laundry. (Hollingsworth will head the restaurant at the future Broad contemporary art museum in downtown Los Angeles.)

He topped dark corn tortillas with cochinita pibil that tasted as if you were eating it in Yucatán, its birthplace, then put on tiny spheres of crisp mole potatoes (above), pineapple, vegetables sliced so thin they were transparent, lacings of black onion sauce and microgreens, which he planted carefully with tweezers. 

Housemade flour tortillas were the base for braised short rib tacos from Amor y Tacos in Cerritos (above). Somehow, the small tortillas could carry a load of meat, caramelized onions, pickled radish, rasperry morita salsa, crema, cilantro and cotija cheese.

Picca also went complex, piling its tacos with octopus, hummus, jalapeños and such Peruvian ingredients as rocoto chile and huacatay (above).  

The recently opened Laventura in Studio City offered goopy mouthfuls of lobster chorizo fundido--lobster tail combined with housemade chorizo (above). 

Bright pickled red onions topped tacos from Flor de Yucatán, an oldtime Los Angeles bakery and catering outfit. Fillings were cochinita pibil and chicken, blackened with dark roasted peppers (above).

And look what showed up--live tacos (above). Imagine, tacos eating tacos. 

When you were sated with meaty stuff, you could get a juicy pineapple taco from George's at the Cove in San Diego (above). The pineapple, on a crunchy base, was topped with a cloud of mezcal foam, like a cocktail without the wait. 

And after that, dessert. AVA Little Tokyo ran out of cups for its snocones, just like some taco booths ran out of food long before closing. But you could still get an icy paleta for $4. Might have been worth it, just to see if you liked avocado combined with chocolate.

 

Two-In-One Tacos at Lupita's Taquería

Want a soft taco? Or would you rather crunch on one with a crispy shell?

At Lupita's Taquería in Grants Pass, Oregon, you don't have to choose. You can have them both--not by ordering two tacos side by side, but by getting both combined in what's called a Lupita's style taco (at the top).

The first layer is a soft corn tortilla topped with melted cheese (above). Over this goes a crisp fried tortilla, like a sandwich. On top of the fried tortilla are the taco fixings--beans, meat, cilantro, onions, tomatillo salsa and guacamole.

There isn't a lot of these--I never did dig out a bean, and the guacamole was scarce. But still, it's a tasty bundle of food, with chips on the side, pickled vegetables and a lime wedge.

You eat at tables on the sidewalk or in a covered patio, where there is zero atmosphere except for recorded ranchera music. A window in front shows off a vintage tortilla press (above), which is there for looks, not to produce your taco framework. 

And here is Lupita, flirting from another window.  

The taquería is on a corner in downtown Grants Pass. It's certainly worth a stop if you're passing through, even if you only want a cheeseburger. Lupita's makes these too, and the one to get is the picante burger, with double patty, double cheese and grilled jalapeños. 

Lupita's Taquería, 147 NE E Street, Grants Pass, Oregon 97526. (541) 476-3082.