Who said there aren't good tacos hiding in West Hollywood?
Whoever they are, they probably haven't looked hard enough.
Sure, this area is mainly known for its vibrant nightlife, grandiose Pride celebrations and parades, and its legends of concerts past, but it's also a great area to find terrific eats.
From late-night taco stands to restaurants serving sweet potato tacos that will have you hooked at the first bite and mushroom tacos that will satisfy even the biggest meat lovers, here are the best tacos in and around West Hollywood at the start of L.A. Pride.
Madre
Speaking of legends, Madre owner Ivan Vasquez boasts one of the most extensive collections of mezcal in Los Angeles. You’ll find part of it at this location, served alongside a riveting Oaxacan dining experience and a bar that highlights Vasquez's personal mission to taste every mezcal in existence. Guests benefit by getting to taste only the best bottles he brings back to his restaurants.
The quality of his collection demands that the food keep up, in dishes like Madre’s barbacoa tacos, which are marinated for a whole day before being cooked in banana leaves and served in handmade tortillas. Open that up and add onion, cilantro, lime, and the green salsa they serve. Roll it back up, dip it in the cup of consomé it is served with, and enjoy corn-wrapped, goat barbacoa in a thick saucy marinade. There are also grilled al pastor octopus tacos topped with pico de gallo, avocado salsa, pineapple, and cucumber.
And a whole lotta heart. Madre is one of many L.A. restaurants that provided meals to first responders during the devastating L.A. fires, a testament to the care and community you'll encounter within.
10426 National Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90034
Tacos 1986
Tacos 1986 offers four types of tacos: chicken, carne asada, puerco adobado (also known as al pastor), and mushroom, for vegetarian taco lovers. The portions are generous, with the tortilla providing more space for fresh fixings than more commonly used taco truck tortillas, and an adobodo salsa made with strawberries.
One item not on the menu and a customer favorite is the perrón, a flour tortilla with creamy, melted Monterey Jack cheese topped with lean carne asada, pinto beans, and guacamole. The tacos pack the right flavor and chewiness, but do not leave your hands covered in enough grease to turn transparent cardboard. Wash the whole meal with some ice-cold horchata or jamaica and bask in the taco life.
7235 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
MXO by Wes Avila
A taco de papa has to be pretty damn great to be considered one of the best in Los Angeles, and these sweet potato flautas from MXO easily reach that level. Five iterations of Wes Avila's iconic taco later, it now comes in a superlatively crunchy flauta filled with fluffy steamed Okinawan sweet potato and fried in rice bran oil, a best-seller at MXO by Wes Avila, the celebrated chef's Mexican steakhouse on La Cienega.
Avila’s formula for the taco is simple: a crunchy element (initially pine nuts, but now in the form of Corn Nuts), plus a velvety version of sweet potato, creamy cheese, spicy, full-flavored, thick salsa roja, and fresh vegetal elements, which come from minced chives.
While this taco reigns supreme, you can’t go wrong with any other options at MXO, like the fish tacos topped with salsa roja, chipotle aioli, and cabbage. Or his ribeye perron tacos, which are topped with frijoles, salsa roja, cheese, and avocado.
Not feeling tacos? Other items on the menu include chile colorado ribs, carnitas, and roasted scallops, and nothing disappoints.
826 N. La Cienega Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90069
Guisados
Guisados is a pioneer in bringing stewed meats and vegetables in the wider world of Los Angeles tacos. If you're craving something besides the city's ubiquitous offerings of grilled or confit meat on a tortilla, the chain's long-cooked proteins, vegetables, cheese, beans, and everything in between satisfy a deeper kind of craving.
The sampler plate is a little slice of Mexico within city limits. This place also deserves credit for always nixtamalizing its own yellow corn masa and making its own tortillas.
However, the unique benefit of this taco style is that there are usually a few options for non-meat eaters, like tender calabacitas or rajas stewed to glory. The chain guarantees a great bite, from breakfast tacos to chicharrones, cochinita pibil, and seafood tacos.
The best way to order at Guisados? Point to the ones that look the most appetizing and try as many as you can. This is the time-honored guisado process.
8935 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
Escuela Taquería
School is in session at Escuela Taquería, where you can bite into carne asada, shrimp, carnitas tacos, and a wagyu skirt steak burrito. Other luxe items include fresh Maine lobster served with cabbage slaw, chipotle crema, pico de gallo, and three ounces of Maine lobster.
This spot is featured in our pet-friendly restaurants in L.A., too, so your dog can join you in their outdoor area while you wash down your food with their signature drinks, like a spiked ponche, green juice with a mezcal base, or a selection of sangrias, tequila, mezcal, and beer.
7450 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90036
Gracias Madre
Gracias Madre serves West Hollywood's best vegan tacos and plant-based Mexican cuisine. This chic spot stretches along iconic Melrose Avenue and packs pretty people in for recipes like a mushroom chicharron taco, which includes a crispy oyster mushroom with salsa verde and house-made tapatio. Equally delicious is their lentil quinoa barbacoa, which has salsa pasilla, chipotle aioli, cilantro, and Aleppo pepper. Other favorites on the menu are the sweet potato flautas on crispy corn tortillas with sweet potato filling, avocado salsa, pico de gallo, and a cashew crema (chef's kiss).
8905 Melrose Ave. West Hollywood, CA 90069
Tacos Guelaguetza
Tacos Guelaguetza, not to be confused with Guelaguetza, the restaurant in Koreatown, is what nightlife tacos are all about. Whether you are in West Hollywood for the clubs, bars, or Pride celebrations, these tacos are how you'll eventually sober up and fill your late-night cravings.
The taco stand, located right in front of Pavilions on Melrose and Vine, features an open salsa bar with offerings that range from mild to spicy. Their giant and vibrant red trompo easily draws in the crowd as it spins and lets out the smell of charred meats in clouds of smoke. From the moment they set up, the line begins to form, and hungry customers choose between their nine meat options, which include asada, chicken, suadero, cabeza, tripas, and chorizo, among others.
Not doing tacos? Okay. Try their famous $10 burritos filled with your choice of protein with a great grilled cheese skirt melted onto the tortilla before it gets filled.
5848 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tu Madre
Whether the margarita pitchers draw you in or it's their red velvet churros, Tu Madre has a great menu filled with Mexican classics, such as street corn and burritos, for both your vegetarian friends and the meat lovers in the group. The same goes for their tacos.
They offer three menus: plant-based tacos, such as their V-KBBQ, a house-made mushroom bulgogi topped with kimchi and cilantro, and spicy jackfruit carnitas.
Their street and specialty tacos include chipotle tomatillo chicken, which is topped with a fermented Fresno chile. Also on the menu is their sweet and sour chicken taco, which features grilled chicken marinated for 36 hours in an Asian-inspired marinade, topped with kale slaw and their famous fermented chile.
1111 Hayworth Ave. West Hollywood, CA 90046
Zarape Cocina & Cantina
At Zarape Cocina, you'll find something for everyone, whether you're going for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The menu stocks an array of Mexican dishes you can't go wrong with. Like their chicken mole poblano, Mahi Mahi mango ceviche, or crispy empanadas.
For taco lovers, we recommend their taco flight, which includes eight bite-sized tacos featuring birria, asada, cochinita pibil, mole poblano, carnitas, al pastor, chicken tinga, and nopalitos. To end on a light note. Sure to crush your taco cravings for now.
8351 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
Walking Spanish
Walking Spanish, operated by chef couple Rene and Stephanie Coreas, serves great-tasting Central American food that's especially perfect when you have the munchies and want to try something unique.
Currently, the married duo has a residency at Las Perlas in West Hollywood, where they serve their popular, twisted pupusas, such as The East Los, which consists of consomé-infused masa, birria, onion, and cilantro. And their The Cuban B., which is made with mustard-infused masa, and stuffed with braised pork, ham ribbons, pickles, and gruyére (cheese).
And while you can’t go wrong with their pupusas, we highly recommend their taco flight, which also packs a variety of flavors to suit everyone. The flight includes a delicious mushroom taco filled with gluten-free soy-marinated portobello mushrooms, served on a confit garlic-infused tortilla and topped with salsa macha and charred scallions. Their skirt steak and chicken aji verde tacos are also included in this flavorful taco flight.
7511 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90046
El Carmen
One of our favorite places to eat and drink in L.A. is at this old bar with a theme dedicated to the golden era of Mexican cinema and wrestling. We come for one of the best tequilas in L.A. At the bar, you’ll see a glass jar filled with tequila marinating in pineapples, while behind it is a selection of the finest tequilas and mezcals from Mexico. Always order a margarita made with their housemade pineapple tequila. The tacos, carnitas, and potato flautas are the way to go.
8138 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048
