Mexican food
Babita Mexicuisine
1823 S. San Gabriel Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91776
Nestled in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it suburban storefront, San Gabriel’s Babita Mexicuisine finds the gracious middle ground with such daintily presented dishes as green cilantro margarita sorbet and tequila-soaked salmon sopes.
Neighborhood: San Gabriel
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat, Mexican food, Restaurants
Birrieria Apatzingan
10040 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91331
818-890-6265
You’re in the northern San Fernando Valley, savoring the food of Apatzingán, a city in the state of Michoacán.
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Birrieria Flor del Rio
3201 East 4th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90063
(323) 268-0319
Central Mexico has a weekend tradition of slow-roasting goat to make birria, a soulful stew with a wallop of dried chiles that will cure whatever ails you. This East L.A. dive is the city’s premier purveyor of the cumin-laced dish
Neighborhood: Boyle Heights
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Brirrieria Apatzingan
10040 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Pacoima, CA
818-890-6265
The rich concoctions are poured over satiny eggs that have been fried in a generous amount of hot oil—just like Abuelita used to make
Neighborhood: Pacoima
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2014: Eat, Best of LA: 2014, Best of LA: Eat, Mexican food, Restaurants
Cenaduria Gumacus
8646 State Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90280
(323) 566-5522
Most of L.A.’s Sinaloan restaurants are seafood centric, but this homey joint is dedicated to the meatier side of that state’s cuisine.
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Día de Campo
1238 Hermosa Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90254
310-379-1829
We can now say we’re jellyfish fans.
Neighborhood: Hermosa Beach
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Flor de Yucatan
1800 South Hoover Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90006
(213) 748-6090
The cuisine of the Yucatán is expressed simply at this old-line bakery and storefront near USC. Grab a plastic seat on the patio and dig into cochinita pibil (pork slow roasted in banana leaves) or papadzules (hard-boiled egg tacos). Every weekend is a tamale fest—get ’em while they’re hot.
Neighborhood: Westlake
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Gish Bac
4163 West Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90018
(323) 737-5050
L.A. has the third-largest number of Oaxacan restaurants in the world—holy mole! At this Mid City find from David Padilla and Maria Ramos, the mole negro boasts a blend of more than 30 ingredients.
Neighborhood: Mid-City
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Gracias Madre
8905 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90069
323-978-2170
Young celebrities are fond of this San Francisco import, a vegan cantina that offers sweet potato flautas and mushroom mole enchiladas.
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Guelaguetza
3014 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90006
213-427-0608
An authentic Oaxacan restaurant located in a former Korean banquet hall makes for a happy jumble.
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Guisados
2100 East Cesar E Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90033
(323) 264-7201
In partnership with Armando De La Torre, Ricardo Diaz is building a Mexican American restaurant empire in East L.A. At Guisados his one-of-a-kind tacos are made with braised meats and homestyle stews
Neighborhood: Lincoln Heights
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat, Mexican food, Restaurants
La Casita Mexicana
4030 E. Gage Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90201
323-773-1898
This narrow Bell kitchen where Ramiro Arvizu and Jaime Martin Del Campo work the stoves represents the refined logic behind traditional Mexican cooking.
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
La Huasteca
3150 E. Imperial Hwy., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA, 90262
310-537-8800
Inside Plaza Mexico, the elaborate Spanish colonial mall in central Lynwood, topless Indians peer from the murals of La Huasteca. Rocio Camacho cooks in a multitude of styles, including dishes that pay lip service to indigenous Mexico…
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
La Taquiza
3009 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA, 90007
213-741-9795
Hard by USC’s frat houses, the Figueroa Street hangout attracts a mishmash of pistol-packing cops, ID-wielding office workers, and everything-but-the-bong students for lunch.
Neighborhood: University Park
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Las 7 Regiones de Oaxaca
2648 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90006
213-385-7458
Oaxacan cuisine is the new black in what we could start calling “Oaxacalifornia,” and that’s largely due to the Mexican state’s unparalleled mole negro.
Neighborhood: Pico-Union
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat, Mexican food, Restaurants
Lotería Grill Hollywood
6627 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90028
323-465-2500
Jimmy Shaw honors authenticity while updating Mexican food for a city in which the radio pulses with ranchera music and Ralphs carries Virgen de Guadalupe candles.
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Mar Azul Truck
4700 N. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA, 90042
Don’t bother asking Felipe Cejudo what’s in the squirt bottles at his undersea-themed truck. His proprietary creams, secret sauces, and coleslaw enhance sweet and tangy shrimp cocktails and Mexico City-style seafood dishes, including a cool octopus tostada.
Neighborhood: Highland Park
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants
Mariscos Chente
3544 W. Imperial Hwy., Los Angeles, CA, 90303
310-672-2339
Sprawled along the Pacific, the Mexican state of Nayarit is known for its pristine seafood. Lots of restaurants in L.A. produce a decent version, but none with the rigor and gusto of Mariscos Chente.
Category: Mexican food, Restaurants