El Taurino Tacos Burritos Tortas Quesadillas Tortas (And more) with a killer hot sauce!

El Taurino Tacos Burritos Tortas Quesadillas Tortas (And more) with a killer hot sauce!

I can safely say most people who live in the Los Angeles area (Or surrounding) have probably been to El Taurino.  If you  don’t live in Los Angeles, and plan to visit, you must try this place.  Located at 1104 Hoover St, Los Angeles, CA 90006, this place is open 24 hrs a day.  Of course lunch hours are pretty busy, and weekends are filled with people drinking beer from tap, but you can also find a crowd here after 2 A.M, where people come to sober up.

Once you place your order, they will call your ticket number at one of their windows, where you can watch them put your food together.  One tip for first timers, If you get a burrito, ask for hot sauce on the side.  El Taurino probably has the best hot sauce you will ever taste, but it is super spicy, even for people like me who have a pretty high tolerance for spicy foods.  One trend that will start to notice here, and your local Starbucks is phone orders.  My last time here, I walked in pretty early in the morning, only about a 2 minute wait in line to order.  But my order took about half an hour to come out, with a bunch of people picking up food out of no where.  So yes, apparently people are taking advantage of the phone orders here too (213-738-9197, if needed).

Once you get your food, they have a decent sized dining area.  If not, the food is just as good if taken home.  The staff is pretty generous with giving out hot sauce, or extra onions, cilantros, or whatever it is that you need.  I’m not sure if it’s a 24 hour thing or not, but I think every time I’ve been here, there is a security guard on duty also.

I normally get a carne asada burrito with rice, onions and cilantro, and red hot sauce on the side.  Every once in a while I’ll get a ALL MEAT burrito with avocado, which is really good too, but very greasy.

Depending on how hungry I am, I normally get 2 tacos with my burrito too.  Very simple, traditional tacos, but super tasty.

The finishing touch?  Horchata!  I always get an Horchata with my meal at El Taurino.  What is Horchata? 

Wiki says –

 

Horchata was originally made in north Africa from soaked, ground and sweetened tiger nuts. This form of horchata is now properly called horchata de chufa or, in West African countries such as Nigeria and Mali, kunnu aya.  It spread to Iberia (now Spain) with the Muslim conquest, prior to 1000CE. There are 13th-century records of a horchata-like beverage made near Valencia.

From Valencia, where it remained popular, the concept of Horchata was brought to the New World. Here, drinks called agua de horchata or simply horchata came to be made with white rice and cinnamon or Canella instead of tiger nuts.  Sometimes these drinks had vanilla added, or were served adorned with fruit.

Today, these and other similarly-flavoured plant milk beverages are sold in various parts of the world as varieties of horchata or kunnu.

Ok, the simple version?  To me it tastes like sweet milk and cinnamon?  Sort of tastes like Cinnamon toast crunch cereal?

The last time I went to El Taurino, I think I ordered something like 1 Burrito, 1 Torta, 1 Quesadilla, 7 tacos, and a large Horchata, that came out to $22 or so.  Not bad at all, for 3 adults.  I have had some people ask me “Isn’t King Taco better”?  King Taco and El Taurino are actually very very similar in multiple ways.  Taste, structure, pricing, and even the taste of their super hot sauce, are very very similar, almost identical.  I don’t know the history behind the 2 venues, but I have heard that they are related.  King Taco is actually a pretty large family owned business with multiple locations.  I just tend to go to El Taurino more becuase its what I’ve tried first, and it’s closer to me location wise.  If I am near a King Taco, will I go there?  Of course! =)  D.I

 

JULY 6, 2018 BY DAVIDIN