ISO the Real King Taco

Been meaning to try this place for some time, and I know I've driven by at least on of the branches (near Ford, I think). Anyway, check Yahoo yellow pages, and it turns out there's like 20 entries within 10 miles of down town (listed variously as King Taco, King Taco Restaurants, King Taco Restaurant, Inc., etc.). Are these all incarnations of the real King Taco that folks praise on this board? If so, is the quality uniform? Which one should I try, and what should I order?

[andytseng]

They're all pretty much the same. Just go to kingtaco.com to find their locations.

[nrique]

Hey, just keep going down the hill towards Arizona Ave. On the right hand side at the bottom of the hill is a little joint called Lupe's. Killer food but you better watch it with the salsa. IT goes from HOT to WAY TOO FREAKEN HOT to Blisters on your tongue HOT!
But if your looking for the best Burritos in town, keep heading down 3rd till it turns into Beverly Blvd. Around a mile right before the Astros burgers joint is a place called Taco Village.
Bandini LOVES the burritos and SO do I!
And if it's TACOS your looking for you VERY close to the taco mecca, Olympic Blvd. Between the 710 frwy and the 5 frwy is an area with some of the best TACOS you can find in the L.A. area.
Check out the great taco hunt blog @:
http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/

[iknowfood64]

Taco Village and Lupes are both good. Have you ever been to El Locos in the little mall at the corner of Atlantic and Beverly? They have a good combination burrito, good beans and good salsa. Their chilic cheese fries are not bad either. If you have not been there, I highly suggest you go, good food is waiting for you.

[jenndoe]

Taco Village has been a fav of ours for years!

[Sarsa]

Is Taco Village on Beverly Bl.?

[nrique]

Taco Village is on Beverly Blvd. right on the border of Montebello and East L.A.
Just keep driving on Beverly when you see the Astro Burger Taco Village is on the other corner.

[Sarsa]

Ok thanks.
My parents used to take me to a Taco Village right around there on Beverly in the mid 70's. I was very young but I kinda remember it being in the middle of the block on the right side as your heaqding East. Is it the same place?
They also went to Bill's Paradise, is that still around?

[jenndoe]

Yes, i was first introduced in the latter part of the 70's :) I was amazed that after so long they are just as good.

[Servorg]

A year and a half later, Sarsa gets an answer. 'The mills (microplanes?) of Chowhound grind slowly, but they grind small.'

http://theguide.latimes.com/montebell...

[Sarsa]

Yes Servorg, that is a true fact but I always love a reply! :-)

Thanks for the Pardise link..my parents will get a romp through memory lane when I show them the article. Besides being customers my Dad was Bill's Insurace Broker in the 70"s.

Does Nick's serve the Bill's quesadilla?

[Servorg]

I wish I knew. I have not been (it's just too far outside my normal orbit) but I found the link and thought the story was charming and, if you came back to look at the thread, might get a smile out of reading and sharing it with your folks.

I hope you have a good, long Labor Day weekend.

[Sarsa]

yeah me too. I now live in IE (aka: the culinary desert) and work almost daily in San Diego so I don't get to LA as often as I like.

Keep those mills a grinding!!!

[LuluTheMagnificent]

what about the pico/alvarado branch? any good?

[jimmyodonnell]

Yeah, that's a good one.

[PaliBruin]

Pico/Alvarado is my haunt. Always the al pastor combo burrito with the salsa roja and a few al pastor tacos. That keeps me sated for a few weeks.

[jimmyodonnell]

I too like the al pastor, but usually I'm about the carne asada, and you can go PURA carne with just meat, onions, cilantro and hot sauce. I don't think you can go wrong between either meat here.
I've never messed with the chicken.

[LuluTheMagnificent]

that is what I always get the all meat carne asada burrito and one sopes (carnitas)

[robgue]

their tacos are so-so. sopes are good though and the salsas are great. sometimes we just go, get some sopes and grab as much salsa as we can. the red and the brown/green one are tasty and spicy.

[mpron]

I believe El Taurino on Hoover is also owned by the King Taco people.

[Starsong]

Do yourself a favor and SKIP the KT on Ford & 3rd in east LA!, By far the
smallest burritos of any of the 5 chains I've tried. The branch on Atlantic
and Slauson in Maywood is about the best one I've tried. The al pastor is the best I've tried anywhere! If your adventerous try the cabeza tacos, very
tasty! PS. The red salsa is as close to nirvana as you can get!

[Sarsa]

I always thought El Taurino was older than King Taco...does anybody know??

[JAB]

I agree with the Al Pastor rec.

When I worked Downtown, I went to the King Taco on Washington, near Maple I believe, and enjoyed many a burrito there (but brush up on your espanol numbers for when they call your numero).

Forgot to add that their tacos or sopes with al pastor are very good. The carne asada is so-so

My favorite is the one on 3rd St near the 710 Freeway and Gallo's Grill. The old town Pasadena location is not as good as the others

King Taco Restaurant Inc
4504 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90022
[phone]

Link: http://www.kingtaco.com/

The Third Street location is the flagship. The Washington Blvd. and Cesar Chavez locations are good.

[jms_5150]

im with you on that one. the old town one isnt great at all.

[iknowfood64]

3rd and Ford, right off the 710 fwy.