607612 Sat Mar 28 16:10:19 -0700 2009 2 2 Los Angeles Area 0 4547082 Last week someone asked about our E.L.A. food Crawl and I figured it would be just as easy to post the locations along with some comments so fellow ‘hounds can do it on their own. These are the stops we made and some notes on how to do a food-crawl. First Stop: 9:30am Homegirl Café 130 Bruno St Los Angeles, CA 90012 (323) 526-1254 -Be prepared to wait for your food. Because I had 12 people, I called ahead and managed to get some items at breakfast that are usually served for lunch only. We loved the chilaquiles, guacamole with roasted pineapple, aguas frescas and their tacos with apple and tomatillo are sublime. Try the mango upsidedown cake made with cornbread. OMG, there is a truly creative chef in the kitchen. The service could be better, but they are performing a vital community function giving job training to those who really need it to get on their feet. So be patient. We left cars parked in their lot and jumped into a carpool/caravan to the next stop. Next Stop: Birreria Jalisco – 1845 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033 (323) 262-4552 They serve a righteous birria de chivo, goat. Be prepared for a crowd. The service was ultra friendly and they recommended the size of our order and the cut of goat. We ordered enough for a small taco or two per person and dipped it in the consommé (kind of like “au jus”) served on the side with the usual side of finely minced onions, cilantro and limes to squeeze all over. What can I say, it was worth the trip. Tip: While headed to the next stop don’t forget to drive by 1st and Bolye, Mariachi Square. On a Saturday afternoon you can see musicians, dressed in spiffy outfits tuning up for a night of music Third Stop: Elvirita Cemitas Poblanas – 3010 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, Across from the cemetary at near corner of Evergreen and 1st St. They were serving from a taco truck that Saturday due to remodeling in the tiny café. We ordered cemitas de pollo milanesa, they had run out of beef. The rolls were ultra fresh, and the pollo was pretty good. I worried that they would be too dry, that was not the case. Order it with jalapenos. Go for the burn! I returned a month later to find the new place finished. Now there’s plenty of seating inside. This time I had to have the cemita of beef milaneza. It’s moderately tender, but the flavor was worth the return trip. Must try more menu items. Fourth Stop: El Mercado 3455 E 1st St, Los Angeles - (323) 268-3451 There is construction for the metro-rail on 1st St., so enter into the parking lot from Lorena on the westside. You’ll find lots of parking with guys directing traffic. Try the roasted corn served in cups. The stall is located at the west end of the property. Try the limones cocadas (limes stuffed with coconut) or the pistachios spiced with chile and lime, at the candy-stall on the second floor. Buy chapulines to sprinkle on your guacamole or taste different moles from huge vats. Side-trip: -Go outside and walk across 1st St. Look for the bright yellow sign that says “Liliana’s. It’s smaller than their tamale house on Cesar Chavez, but it’s so convenient. Buy fresh, fat tamales! Fifth Stop: Marisqueria El Tejado, 1426 Soto St. and Olympic. At the recommendation of Bill, L.A.streetgourmet, we went for cocteles and oysters. It felt like we were sitting in an open air stand in Mazatlan. I know, it’s supposed to be a family-style restaurant, but this particular Saturday there was hilarious, racy entertainment coming from a DJ and drag queen look-alikes lip-syncing as popular latin singers. Honestly, it was surprisingly fun and the mariscos were great. Side Note: Managing 12 people was not the easiest thing to do. One or two folks were falling by the wayside, with tired-taste-bud syndrome. So I passed up some favorites. Here’s one: --Driving east on Olympic from Soto, about 3 blocks, visit the taco truck on the south side of the street. There are 3 in a row. I have been to all three and the best is the first one in the line as you approach. There is a “mariscos” sign on the back of the truck. They serve delicious CRISPY shrimp tacos for just 1.50. Beware, they are addictive!! There is no lettuce filling or cheese to fool around with. It’s just serious shrimp filling in a fried, crispy taco shell with a slice of avocado on the top. It’s got to be the best and cheapest lunch in town! Sixth Stop: Cemitas Tepayaca 3822 Olympic Blvd. L.A. 90022 corner Olympic & Indiana. We stopped here because we wanted to compare cemitas between Cemitas Poblana on 1st. St,. and this place. The difference was in the bread. Here it is softer and not as crunchy when you bite down on them. BUT we also tried the huaraches and this place does a really good job. Huarches, strickly translated, mean sandals. But when it comes to street food, it’s a slab of grilled corn masa, with lots of toppings, lettuce, sour cream avocados, etc. The one we shared had delicious beefy chile verde on it. Side trip: Located caddy corner from Tepayaca is La Indiana Tortilleria. I planned to send folks there to buy tamales and pupusas. But no one wanted to leave Cemitas Tepayaca. – This is- until I asked if anyone had room for coffee and dessert. Last stop: Moles La Tia. 4619 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue 2 blocks east of Eastern. We split 4 kinds of flan. One was calabasas laced with a sweet tomatillo sauce. Go figure. It was fabulous. And so was the coconut flan and the coffee flan. Rocio is a fine cook. She started out at La Casita Mexicana taking pointers from Chefs Jaime and Ramiro. Today she has developed her own style and is doing almost as well. Be sure to ask for their coffee made in the clay pot. Tips for doing a crawl. -Chose your dining buddies carefully or you will have someone refusing to eat cilantro and it will ruin your plan to sample things the way they were meant to be eaten! -Divide your dishes carefully or you will get too full and have to quit sooner than later. We divided tacos in halves, larger items in fourths -Bring along plastic knives in case you don’t want to wait around for a busy place to bring you cutlery for foods commonly eaten by hand. -Bring plastic cups and you can share house special drinks without running the waitress ragged bouncing back and forth for glassware, thus making them go to a lot of trouble where you are spending so little cash!!! Tip extra well. They spend more time serving us just a few dishes and earn practically nothing, while we eat up their time (‘excuse the pun) The tab for the whole day was about $26 incl. T & T. A memorable foodie trip for all of us. Abby has photos, I'll see if I can get the link. Cecilia Sat Mar 28 16:10:19 -0700 2009 10493 sassille 1 4547089 I'm drooling reading this post, and I just ate a Cemitas Poblana few hrs ago. Sat Mar 28 16:16:05 -0700 2009 4547082 67980 mdpilam 1 5165814 A friend took me to El Tejado today. Felt like I was in Mexico. Not cheap but really good stuff. Great raw oysters with all the fixins and a pretty good sea food platter that made for some leftovers. Washed down with Coronas. Those oysters: yum! http://www.marisqueriaeltejado.com/ Sun Nov 08 17:00:06 -0800 2009 4547082 10332 mc michael