Los Angeles was at the center of the great birria taco boom that took the country by storm just a few years ago. At some point, it felt like everyone under the Southern California sun was dunking their beef-filled tacos into a steaming cup of consomé before taking their first bite.
But before this craze, birria was commonly known as a dish served on a plate, usually only on weekends and at family parties or big celebrations like bautizos (baptisms) or quinceañeras.
Birria was usually served with the meat still clinging to the bone, bathing in a bowl of rich broth that the beef had been slowly cooked in. In the U.S., the land of "combination plates," birria came to be served with a side of Mexican rice, beans, and packaged tortillas.
Birria originally comes from Jalisco, which is known to be traditionally cooked with goat, but in places like Tijuana, birria is made with beef. Naturally, beef is more approachable and cheaper, but birria de chivo is said to be one of the best. Let one thing be clear: Both have their purpose in the Taco Life.
Now, you can find its taco and dish forms every day of the week at any given taquería as an additional filling option next to asada, al pastor, and carnitas.
From goat to beef, tongue, and even jackfruit birria, these are the best birria tacos from L.A. TACO’s "TACO 69" guide. A curated list that ranks the best tacos in Los Angeles.
Taquería Frontera ~ Cypress Park
Taco de Birria
We ranked Taquería Frontera the number one taco in Los Angeles for its al pastor tacos, arguably the best in the city. We also awarded the family-run taquería's birria in L.A. TACO’s 3rd Annual Birriamania competition, where taqueros go toe-to-toe to see who serves the best slow-cooked birria in the city.
Their tacos start by heating paper thin yellow corn tortillas, imported from El Grano de Oro tortillería in Tijuana, to a slight oily crisp on the plancha. This makes for a tremendous textural introduction as you take your first bite. It also makes the tortilla sturdy enough to hold all the fall-off-the-bone shredded meat and consomé.
The taco is finished with a fiery salsa roja, cilantro, and onion. As if this perfect taco, representing the Tijuana-to-L.A. conduit, isn't already enough, Frontera's unbeatable message of “more tacos, less borders” exemplifies the best of L.A.’s cross-cultural, transnational relationship with tacos.
700 Cypress Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90065. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 12 A.M. to 10 P.M. with an extended hour on Saturdays 11 P.M.
Birria El Jaliciense ~ Boyle Heights
Taco Dorado de Birria Tatemada
All they have at this stand, which is only open for one morning each week, is birria tatemada—the meat of a recently slaughtered goat that is steamed for four hours before it gets finished in the oven, achieving a type of birria-flavored bark not unlike the kind you’ll find on a good piece of barbecued meat.
You can get it on a plate with a ladle of a tomato-rich consomé and a pile of corn tortillas or tucked inside tortillas in taco dorado form; we prefer the latter, but it's all juicy, goaty greatness either way.
The consomé broth is more tomato-heavy because owner Hector Ramirez prepares it in the style of his hometown, Belén del Refugio, Jalisco. This region is closer to Aguascalientes, where they are known to use more tomatoes in the broth than in Jalisco does. These tacos dorados are the easiest way to eat the birria, but pro-level birria eaters ask for it by the cut so they can gnaw their way through the bones.
Our favorite? Costilla (ribs). Just get there early before he runs out.
3440 E. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023. Only open on Saturday mornings from 8 A.M. to sell out.
Tacos Don Cuco ~ East Los Angeles
Birria de Lengua
Tacos Don Cuco and their small Tijuana-style empire have won the hearts of many in Los Angeles and beyond with their tacos and accompanying salsa voladora (flying salsa). But few know that the legends behind these tacos estilo-Tijuana also serve a great tasting taco de birria de lengua (beef tongue birria).
“Birria de lengua is more common in Tijuana,” Jonathan Rios of Don Cuco tells us. “This particular birria de lengua we learned from our friends, Birria Doña Maggy, in Tijuana.”
Don Cuco also brings a specialized cart from Tijuana that holds the large birria-filled broth at table height, making it easy to reach down and pick the next tongue to be served.
Someone once called lengua the ‘filet mignon of taco meats’ and that may not be a far-off comparison. It’s a mostly lean cut of meat with a buttery tenderness in texture, but unlike filet mignon, lengua is unjustly underrated.
At Birria Don Cuco, this coveted meat comes in sugar cube-sized chunks piled onto a tortilla, covered in onions, cilantro, and sweat-inducing hot red salsa. We personally recommend the vampiro de lengua; the added crunch completes the tender beef tongue and the grilled cheese layer helps tame the power of the birria's rich seasoning.
759 S. Ferris Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90022. Opened Saturday and Sunday from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
El Cocinero Restaurant ~ Van Nuys
Vegan Birria
It all started with a vegan pop-up-turned-taco truck, formally named Vegatinos, which reached its apex when winning our "Vegan Taco Madness" tournament before the outfit was disbanded to make way for El Cocinero.
This is the spot for you if you want a vegan birria with consomé. Made from a jackfruit base that chiles and spices have conquered, this taco could please even the goat birria-aligned purists out there.
Birria isn’t the only protein that chef Vargas has successfully substituted. You can find crunchy soy chicharrón and a juicy al pastor, amongst other choices. Van Nuys would be home to nothing less than L.A.’s elite vegan tacos.
6265 Sepulveda Blvd. Unit 12, Van Nuys, CA 91411. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 A.M. to 8 P.M.
Teddy’s Red Tacos ~ Echo Park
Birria de Res Vampiro
The vampiro at Teddy’s Red Tacos is made with two of Teddy’s signature chile de árbol-stained tortillas. They are seared on a plancha and topped with a thin layer of Monterey Jack cheese that spills onto the grill, making for a satisfying crispy border.
For his birria de res, Teddy Vasquez uses shoulder clod as the cut, which yields a strong beefy flavor. The meat is shredded into a texture of thin strings and incredibly tender, making it one of the best versions of birria de res in the city. Instead of radishes, vampiros come garnished with cucumbers, which help to balance out the intense flavor and spice from the birria and salsa.
Multiple locations, check IG for addresses and business hours.
Birriería Gonzalez ~ Compton
Birria de Res
You gotta give it up to one of the O.G. beef birrieros of L.A., who bring consistently well-balanced birria de res to the city's streets. They have grown to ten locations in L.A. and are among the first L.A. locals to open in Las Vegas. A good tortilla, robust broth, and sharp salsa roja make these ones of L.A.’s most sought-after birrias. Many have come and gone, but L.A. will always have Birriería Gonzalez in its heart.
Multiple Locations.
Tacos y Birria La Única ~ Boyle Heights/Mid-City
Quesabirria de Chivo
La Única is one of the first and most famous birria trucks in the birria game and a frequent caterer to celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. One of their competitive advantages is that they sell both birria de chivo and birra de res on handmade corn tortillas, which are equally as tasty.
The quesatacos are the main attraction, with crisp tortillas filled with melted jack cheese and beef or goat birria. The adobo here leans heavily on tomatoes and the taste of cloves, recreating the flavor that many devotees feel that birria should taste like.
2840 E. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90023. Open every day except Tuesdays from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.
5871 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019. Open every day except Tuesdays from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Burritos La Palma ~ Multiple Locations
Burrito with Birria
We can’t talk about beef birria or flour tortillas infiltrating Los Angeles these days without mentioning the O.G.s: Burritos La Palma. You can find them in El Monte, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, and Santa Ana, serving an array of snack-sized but filling burritos made in the style of Jerez, Zacatecas.
Each burrito is served with a spicy salsa de tomato and raw chile serrano, just like it would be served at your grandmother's or mom's house. It’s one of those burritos where one bite evokes a deep feeling of nostalgia. Also, no matter what time of day you stop by, their birria will never, ever be dry.
Multiple locations.
Birriería San Marcos ~ Sherman Oaks
This Valley-based birrieria started with a small lonchera and now has multiple locations across Los Angeles. They specialize in birria de res and offer all sorts of birria concoctions: tacos, vampiros, burritos, tacos dorados, plates, and birria ramen. At the restaurant, you could even get a birria breakfast burrito with a cheese crust and jalapeños..
5937 Hazeltine,Van Nuys. Open Monday through Sunday from 9 A.M. to 10:30 P.M.
For the rest of the locations, follow them on Instagram.
Birrieria Moyahua ~ Inglewood
This isn’t your average, made-for-Instagram birria.
Or rather, it’s not the birria you’ve seen take over Los Angeles.
The birria you’re probably eating is boiled in a pot for three to four hours with spices and chiles and is often based on beef. This birria, estilo Moyahua, Zacatecas, takes 24 hours, is roasted overnight in a brick oven pit, and involves a whole family effort to produce a dish that is just as fulfilling here as it is in its birthplace. Unlike many other birrias, the consomé is tomato-based, so no rendered meat broth is added.
It's from rancho land, where cattle and corn dominate, alongside ancient gold and silver mines. Where its people migrated and settled large parts of Mexicali and Los Baños, as farm workers, as well as the west side of Los Angeles, including Inglewood and Culver City, as gardeners and landscapers.
It’s a rare style of birria in both Los Angeles and Mexico because of its unique preparation and flavors. The simple fact that it needs a pit, built like a brick-lined well inside of the ground, proves that it's a complex craft to master. Building the pit is the first challenge. Lighting it and bringing it to temperature is another. The birria is served traditionally, in a bowl or plate, and drowned in that steamy tomato consome. You top it off with cilantro and cebolla, pour some lime and hot sauce on top, and enjoy it with tortillas. The tortillas here are from Guerrero, but Sandoval Jr. is looking for a better source.
EL Ruso ~ Echo Park
El Ruso’s is one of the few taquerias that uses flour tortillas for their birria de res tacos. The tortillas are stained with red beefy fat and the taco is filled with stringy stewed beef, with the must-add option of a cheese costra (grilled cheese) and frijoles. Top it with avocado salsa to cut through the rich beefiness but if you want to take things to an even beefier level, add asada to the taco to introduce smokiness.
2000 Reservoir St, Los Angeles, CA 90026. Open Thursday through Monday from 12 P.M. to 8 P.M., closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
