395119 Tue Apr 24 15:16:36 -0700 2007 38 2 Los Angeles Area 0 2511650 Hi- I've been getting a bunch of requests for taco caterers from an old post. I have not used any of these people but they've come highly recommended to me. Fernando will be catering a big party for us soon. Best of luck. 1. La Taquizza/Ron Gonzalez/ Aracely (323) 584-9137 (323) 864-4818 (cell) 3 kinds of meet, 2 salsa, cilantro, grilled onion, lemons and corn tortilla, rice and beans. They grill the meat there. 2. Juans Tacos (562) 714-8205 Sometimes it takes them a little while to call back, but they always come through. 3. Fernando cell (626) 278-6327, He cooks medium done at restaurant, he brings a grill and cooks well done. Very nice! The market is located on the northwest corner of Summit and Hammond (1 block east of Raymond, 1 block north of Mountain). Open til 8pm M-Sat; til 2 on Sunday. 4. Lety's Catering 323-353-8303 or 323-569-0558 Liz 3 of meat, 2 salsa, corn tortillas, limes, cilantro, onions, no guccamole. 4-5 tacos per person. They bring a grill, we provide plates. They come for 3 hours. They come 1 hour before. What happens is they send a taco lady/guy to your house, with one of those portable cooktops. S/he provides red and green salsa, tortillas, onions, radishes and your choice of meat. They will also serve your guests. It is about $5-$6 per person Tue Apr 24 15:16:37 -0700 2007 56312 hopalina 1 2513424 Yay! I am SO glad you are using Fernando. He and his wife, Isaura are two of the nicest, hardest working people you will ever meet! Their food is delicious (especially the Al Pastor - to me, but he says he sells more of the carnitas and carne asada). They have now named their business - Exquicitos Tacos. (909) 873-0703 or cell (626) 278-6327. Wed Apr 25 07:47:24 -0700 2007 2511650 12400 WildSwede 1 2513481 I've been trying to find a taco truck to do a party. I would like to have more than 2 or 3 meats available: i.e., cabeza, lengua, in addition to more traditional choices. Anyone have any suggestions? Wed Apr 25 08:03:12 -0700 2007 2511650 73520 markethej 2 2514314 Fernando does 6 meats: Asada, Al Pastor, Tripe, Carnitas, Chicken and Buche. When I spoke with him I think he did 400 tacos for a party and charged $450 (or something like that). I would give him a call and ask him. You can ask if he can get those other items you are looking for. Wed Apr 25 11:44:26 -0700 2007 2513481 12400 WildSwede 3 2522023 Hi Mark, just wanted to follow-up. I spoke with Fernando today and he said that he does offer lengua and cabeza, he just did not put them on his card. He said that he would be happy to make whatever you want. Fri Apr 27 16:04:49 -0700 2007 2514314 12400 WildSwede 4 3057049 Suddenly, visions of scallop tacos are dancing in my head. Mon Oct 22 13:58:53 -0700 2007 2522023 20399 broncosaurus 3 4698549 Does Fernando use a truck or do it from a cart? Thanks! Tue May 19 16:16:26 -0700 2009 2514314 51098 lesupersteph 1 2514257 Thanks for this list! Re: Fernando, can anyone provide a ballpark for his prices? Wed Apr 25 11:31:16 -0700 2007 2511650 15848 ozzygee 1 2514415 This is great. We are going to have a pool party in May and this would be perfect. Do you know if these places have a minimum? Wed Apr 25 12:10:39 -0700 2007 2511650 16042 Snoopy 2 2518097 Not sure - I would give Fernando a call. I am sure that he would be happy to answer any questions you may have!! Thu Apr 26 12:42:12 -0700 2007 2514415 12400 WildSwede 1 2522257 Try http://www.taqueriavistahermosa.com/ they specialize in "Taquizas" Fri Apr 27 17:28:20 -0700 2007 2511650 13702 Ollie 1 2577859 Using Lety's Catering on Saturday. Will let you know how it goes! Thu May 17 09:50:14 -0700 2007 2511650 16042 Snoopy 2 2582496 I'd like to hear your review. Am looking for a taco service for wedding reception inside a hall. I already have paper goods and guest list is 100. One restaurant delivers the banquet chafing dishes and picks them up later so you don't need to use their servers if you have your own, (they haven't retd call yet). Fri May 18 14:34:55 -0700 2007 2577859 99527 letynjery 3 2582800 I will report back on Monday. Fri May 18 16:06:27 -0700 2007 2582496 16042 Snoopy 2 2592114 Snoopy I found you. How did your party go? Would you recommend them for a wedding reception? Tue May 22 11:16:41 -0700 2007 2577859 99527 letynjery 3 2592140 Oh, yeah. I posted yesterday. They were good. the lady showed up on time and the food was tasty! My only caveat would be to make sure that someone can speak Spanish (if you don't) as the lady didn't speak English (fortunately, several friends translated for us). I was very pleased! Tue May 22 11:23:18 -0700 2007 2592114 16042 Snoopy 4 2592159 Yes I do speak Spanish. Did they have a website, how to contact? I am looking at $300 for my recep budget. I already have table accessories, just need menu/prices/appetizer. Can you help more. Tue May 22 11:27:52 -0700 2007 2592140 99527 letynjery 5 2592187 I don't have a website for them. I just called the number in the original post (Lety's Catering 323-353-8303 or 323-569-0558 Liz) and they answered right away. Told them I wanted 3 kinds of meat. They booked the date and then had a guy call me for directions and to confirm during the week before the party. I believe they are located in Compton. It was $300 without tip for food for 35 people. I would guess that that would be about 3-4 tacos per person. We had a ton of rice and beans left over as well. I provided the plates and utensils. Hope that helps! Tue May 22 11:32:13 -0700 2007 2592159 16042 Snoopy 6 2948865 Hi Snoopy! thanks for posting Lety's catering! I'm looking for taco catering for my birthday at the end of this month...I did call Lety's catering and i'm seriously considering using them.. My only concern is if they are clean.? can you tell me more details about them? are the rice and beans any good? Mon Sep 17 10:50:14 -0700 2007 2592187 127385 krzybabie 2 3779116 I'm using Lety's Catering next Saturday, 6/21 - I'm very excited! Fri Jun 13 17:00:01 -0700 2008 2577859 27319 brattenheimer 1 2617898 BTW- I used Fernando for our wedding appetizers and guests LOVED his tacos. I would totally recommend him. Thu May 31 12:50:10 -0700 2007 2511650 56312 hopalina 2 2628012 SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT!! He is so sweet and does have the best flavors as far as I am concerned! Mon Jun 04 11:08:06 -0700 2007 2617898 12400 WildSwede 1 2867579 Thanks SOOO much for posting these! I used Lety's Catering for my party on Saturday and have NO complaints. My husband grew up right on the border in SD he said he cant remember the last time he has had tacos this good. And being in LA we have GREAT taco stands almost on every corner. My guests couldnt say enough about the food. Everyone loved it. The only warning I'd give (if any) is that the salsa are spicy, even the mild so if you have guests not used to spicy food have them skip the salsa. We also had TONS of left overs. I should have given people doggie bags but its given us the oppertunity to bribe people to come back the next day and help clean up after the party by feeding them more! ha. Anyway cant recommend them enough. Thanks for this post. It was so handy! Tue Aug 21 16:28:02 -0700 2007 2511650 121098 sort77 2 2948872 I've just booked with Lety's Catering for my party! Can you tell me if they were clean? your reply is appreciated! Mon Sep 17 10:51:44 -0700 2007 2867579 127385 krzybabie 1 2950141 Hi~ You're information are sooo useful!! i really appreciate it! However, have you personally tried any of them? its so hard deciding between Fernando's and Lety's! Mon Sep 17 16:20:14 -0700 2007 2511650 127385 krzybabie 2 2951766 I have eaten at Fernando's (they finally named it: Exquicitos Tacos) but never had them cater. Their food is fresh, delicious and service is wonderfully friendly. Tue Sep 18 08:02:07 -0700 2007 2950141 12400 WildSwede 1 3000493 Thank you so much for posting these caterers! I used Lety's Catering for my party last friday and their tacos were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!! It came with full salsa bar with everything you'd need on a taco! yum yum. 3 types of meat. all of our guests loved it! very good food! Very good price too! it was only like $320 for 40 people. what a great deal! Wed Oct 03 11:29:40 -0700 2007 2511650 127385 krzybabie 1 3054364 Last night we had Lety's Catering come over and cater Taco's for 20 guests in our downtown Los Angeles apartment (there was a 30% flake factor so we had a lot of left overs) . First, I will start off with all the positives (most of the experience was extremely positive and will recommend this service to everyone I know, that's how happy my roommate and I were happy with the service). The taco person was a polite and VERY professional gent by the name of Jorge. Not only was he was ten minutes early, but he lugged that large container all by himself, so I helped him carry it down the hallway (despite his protestations). He had a very clean appearance, clothes were neat and clean, and his English was good enough to communicate all the essentials. He was there for 3 hours and remained alert and attentive the entire time. I offered him to watch the UFC on PPV with our guests and while he did peek at the TV every now and then his focus was on making sure the guest experience was at it's zenith. Let's talk about the food. I've been to well over 170 taco stands / hole-in-the-wall / Mexican restaurants / and have traveled to well over 200 cities and pueblos in Mexico, just to give you the proper context of my taste buds. The Al Pastor (Pork), Carne Asada (steak), and Pollo (chicken) were all fresh and mostly cooked and all the trimmings and condiments were fresh and tasted well. Don't misunderstand me, the tacos were EXCELLENT and most people, IMO, would be very happy with them; however they would not rank in my top ten, but remember I've had the best tacos in the world from different parts of the world. For what you're paying and what you are getting the food is definitely very good. Let's get into where they could improve. I've managed more than one customer service department in my career and first impressions go a long way. Lety's Catering needs to learn professional customer service. This should start off by saying "Good morning, good afternoon, etc. this is [person's first name] speaking, how may I help you?". Instead I got a "Hello?". It sounded like a personal home, not a catering business. Secondly, I had to be put on hold while they found someone who spoke English, I realize that this is Los Angeles, but finding someone bi-lingual to answer the phone is not that hard. Second point: when talking to your customer on the phone make sure you give him your full attention. The person on the other end of the phone (woman's name withhold, don't want to get anyone in trouble) was distracted by people in the background and she had to ask me the same questions twice because she could not hear my answer. Very unprofessional, but decided to stay with it because of the good reviews. Bottomline: despite the phone debacle, I had such a great experience and Jorge was so damn good that I'm going to use them again. Out of a 5 star experience I would give the overall experience 4 stars and have already handed out 5 business cards that Jorge gave me to my friends and one to my neighbor (she really enjoyed the tacos). Thank you for your time. Paul Sun Oct 21 13:48:00 -0700 2007 2511650 136396 peabs99 2 3550440 We just want to know if the food is good! Tue Apr 01 14:00:29 -0700 2008 3054364 179884 mela 78 1 3759847 Does anyone know of a taco cart that will use organic or hormone free meat, chicken, and pork? Thanks! Sat Jun 07 22:33:23 -0700 2008 2511650 160102 pinkpaige 1 3780973 Hi I was wondering where is Exquicitos Tacos located? I am looking for a caterer for my wedding for about 150 people at LA River Center & Gardens. Sat Jun 14 16:06:57 -0700 2008 2511650 200838 meowth 1 3786025 Has anyone tried the cabeza or shrimp tacos from Lety's? Mon Jun 16 18:01:36 -0700 2008 2511650 75181 citizenx 1 3786592 I highly recommend Fernando's tacos. His taco place is called El Tacho Macho. He does asada, al pastor, carnitas, pollo, tripitas, buche, lengua, and offers posole. They are very sweet and friendly :-) I have never had such GREAT taco's before in my life!! Call him at (626) 278-6327. If you want to try his tacos out go to his restaurant at 1135 N.Summit Ave., Pasadena, 91103. The cross street is Hammond. Plus his wife makes the best hand made drinks: horchata, tamarindo, and jaimica. Mon Jun 16 22:54:13 -0700 2008 2511650 200838 meowth 1 4008658 Thanks Hopalina for the list. This is a copy of my post that I put under Lety's Catering. I did try to call Fernandos, however he was $200.00 more then Lety's and wasn't willing to discount if I provided my own plates, forks, rice & beans. All in all thanks fellow Chowhounds for the suggestions. I needed a taco caterer for a birthday party at my house. I called the ones listed, got a few referrals from friends and family. I ended up choosing Lety's. Originally asked for food for 60 people, increased the count to 90. Liz mentioned they usually estimate 4 to 5 tacos per person so I thought it would be more then enough. They called to confirm, we also select Al Pastor, Chicken and Carne Asada, I asked for whole beans and I provided my own rice. We live between the 605 and 57 freeways and it was on a Friday evening which happens to be the start of the Labor Day weekend. Traffic was very bad so Jorge called and said he'd be a few minutes late. He pulled up, unloaded, washed his hands, prep the items, fired up the grill and cooked with amazing precision. We probably had about 60 people at that time and they continue to wander in over the next 2 hours. Keep in mind that over 90% of the guest eats this style food on a regular basis. They all ranted about the al pastor and carne asada tacos. The servings were very generous, the meats were very tender, no fat or grizzle, flavorings just right, salsa nice and spicy. I asked Jorge how the meat was going, he confirmed that the asada was the most popular however he noticed that if they had 1 al pastor taco, they’d come back and ask for a few more. Since the alcohol was flowing pretty heavy, I had Jorge pack it up after 2 1/2 hours. Although we did do a last taco call which worked out great. Jorge packed up all my leftovers in trays for me, packed up all his stuff. He worked hard so we sent him off with a $50.00 tip. We had people over for the next 2 days so we had tacos over the weekend. All in all, I have tried at least 5 different taco caterers at different events. I highly recommend Lety's for the quality of the food and the very reasonable prices!! We will definitely call them for future events. When you call, Liz speaks English, try to ask for Jorge he's the best!! Forgot to mention I paid $460 for 90 people, they brought 3 kinds of meat, all the fixings, this included $30 for rice & $30.00 for beans. I had made rice a full tray of rice which my "friends" polished off, so their rice came in handy. Thu Sep 04 11:37:23 -0700 2008 2511650 97593 Cinnabon 2 4009270 Sorry forgot to mention that they are there for 4 hours, cook for 1, serve for 3. A few of the others only served for 2 hours... Thu Sep 04 15:19:01 -0700 2008 4008658 97593 Cinnabon 1 4717326 I just talked to Fernando; for a group of 40 people he quoted me $500!!! Are you kidding me? I think he just didn't want to do it. Why not say that? Tue May 26 20:03:01 -0700 2009 2511650 323223 bluii12 2 4727241 I agree, that is way to much money for 40 people - thats like $12.50 a person. Sat May 30 00:50:06 -0700 2009 4717326 97593 Cinnabon 2 4741216 I got the same quote of $ 500 from Fernando, so went with Lety's. The cook was very nice, very clean, didn't speak English, but super-accommodating. Stayed longer than the time negotiated, which was appreciated. However, the meats were not good quality. There was a ton of carne asada leftover, so no one liked it. The al pastor was good, but the chicken was full of "undesirable" pieces. Not great seasoning on anything, although everything looked good. Average salsas, good tortillas, lots of grilled jalapenos, grilled onions (white, not green), radishes, cilantro. Would I use them again? Unlikely. Wed Jun 03 23:37:54 -0700 2009 4717326 211679 mscookies 3 4776622 Sorry to read that you were disappointed. After reading your review, I called two other places and was quoted $450.00 for 50 people. I called Lety's for the 3rd time, they catered a party for us this weekend. Same meats as before chicken, carne asada & al pastor, their beans and fixing and my rice. We paid $410 for 75 people around 68 were fed, we had very little left over meat this time. The cook and his driver showed up at 5:30, cooked for an hour so he could serve at 6:30, kind got off to a rocky start as 20 people were in line, once he got his moves going he was fine. I had one chicken taco & one alpastor, flavors were good meat was tender. One daughter loved the asada and the other loved the chicken. Guest ranted that the food was very good. As previously mentioned, we go to several parties where different taco caters are used. I am very happy with Lety's although I will admit I have not tried any of the other 3 listed in the opening post. Mon Jun 15 23:33:36 -0700 2009 4741216 97593 Cinnabon