Organic / Local Mexican food in Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park (or nearby...)
Are there any good Mexican restaurants near Los Feliz, Silverlake, Echo Park, or Downtown that serve food made with local and organic ingredients? Think Chipotle, but not a chain, and better. One of my favorite spots in San Francisco is a place called Green Chili Kitchen. They use Niman Ranch meats, and mostly organic produce, and I miss their burritos dearly...
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I know you'll be disappointed to hear this, but Mission-style burrito trees just aren't grown this far south, The weather's not cool and foggy enough for them to set fruit, and the really high-quality Bay Area organic bovine fertilizer they need is in short supply around here.
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Homegirl Cafe is supposed to use some organic produce.
Maybe Loteria? Had a really good dinner in Hollywood last weekend. Much better than the stand at the farmer's market.
Bean and Thyme, a stand at the Hollywood Farmer's Market uses food and meat from the farmer's market. The menu varies weekly but when Mexican pops up on the menu it is excellent.
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re: JudiAU
Dommy
Oct 26, 2010 12:43 PM
Not only do they use some organic produce, but they also now have a kitchen garden in the back where they are growing organic herbs and some of the veggies they use in their dishes. at Artisanal LA they had a super yummy potato leek soup with leeks they had grown themselves. :)
--Dommy!
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re: Dommy
Chowpatty
Oct 27, 2010 10:24 PM
I completely forgot about Homegirl and Cacao in my original response. I agree, they are two of the freshest-tasting Mexican places around. And Lil Mikey, don't delete Malo until you've tried their organic margarita!
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Malo
4326 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029-
re: Chowpatty
I forgot about Homegirl as well! Find it hard to get there due to the hours they are open, they tried the dinner hours but no longer, right?
I was focused on Brian J. stating he missed the burrito from Green Chili in SF. As a transplant from the Bay Area as well, I know to well finding the burrito like you love in SF dilemma which L.A. folk will never get! : )-
re: LaLa Eat
Dommy
Oct 30, 2010 07:53 PM
Yeah, sadly aside from special events, their dinner service has been cut. But I had a STUNNING breakfast there this morning... M'jas!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dommichu...
--Dommy!
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re: dovishkay
lil mikey
Oct 24, 2010 07:47 PM
Yes, it's a shame. But Guelaguetza is a good recommendation and Chowpatty mentions the one downtown, too. In fact the whole Mercado la Paloma downtown is a treasure. In addition to Guelaguetza, Mo-Chica is also a great restaurant there, and while Peruvian and not Mexican as the OP requested, it is a great place to try... along the lines of Chowpatty's suggestions (although I'd delete Malo and Loteria from Chowpatty's recommendations).
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Malo
4326 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029Mo-Chica
3655 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007 -
re: dovishkay
Dommy
Oct 24, 2010 09:02 PM
Guelagetza is still there... they just consolidated locations. The Olympic Location (On the border of Korea town) is Guelagetza, will full bar. The 8th Street Location is now a Pal Cabron, it seemed to a better fit with the Natura Bar they opened next door. Cemitas and Rompope Raspado... A meal made in a place even BETTER than heaven...
--Dommy!
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Give up now on finding any kind of burrito that will satisfy your burrito craving, there are none that will match what you are looking for here. One more place that you might add of to try list is CaCao Mexicatessen in Eagle Rock.
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re: LaLa Eat
I won't give up. I've barely begun my search... This new spot downtown might fit the bill:
http://eatocho.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ocho-mexican-...I will try it soon and report back.
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re: aventinus
I went to check out Ocho last night. I walked in and took one look at the steam table and was unimpressed. The meat that looked the best was some shredded beef, but I asked and there was nothing natural about it. The carnitas was listed as being some sort of natural, but it looked like soggy grossness. My gut told me to get out of there quickly, so to be honest I didn't actually eat anything, so I realize this "review" is based upon my intuition, but I've got to trust my gut feeling on this one. The place looked and felt like nothing more than poor man's Chipotle...
I ended getting a pastor-chorizo burrito at the El Flaming Taco truck in Echo Park instead... It was good, although lacking any crema and avocado they had promised it included. Their green avocado-tomatillo salsa is delish, tho...
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I've always like Hugo's Restaurant Taco Stands - there's one in Atwater Village - and they have many organic options. Their salsas don't get hot enough for my friends' tastes, but they're definitely flavorful and the fillings are fresh and good.
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Hugo's Taco's
3300 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039 -
ipsedixit
Oct 13, 2010 05:01 PM
Ocho just opened in downtown LA. Never tried it, dunno how authentic it is, but it does purport to be organic as well as Mexican.
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Chowpatty
Oct 12, 2010 04:22 PM
Los Angeles restaurants in general are not as concerned with local and organic ingredients as Bay Area ones. So the short answer is no. But I would still recommend these restaurants for carefully-prepared food with good quality ingredients: Rivera, Yxta and Chichen Itza downtown, Malo and Alegria in Silver Lake, Loteria in Hollywood and Guelaguetza in Koreatown. Hugo's Tacos in Atwater might have what you're looking for.
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