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Categories: Mexican, Food Stands
Neighborhood: Echo ParkMon-Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
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I remember it well, my first time going out east of Hollywood, all the way to the Short Stop in Echo Park for a friend's birthday party. To a shmuck living in Westwood at the time, I thought I was going to East L.A. Don't worry, since then I have been informed that Echo Park is NOT East L.A....that's just something that white kids say to think they're being edgy, and you know how I feel about white people.
But I digress. My intrepid comrades and I arrived at the party an hour early--somehow it took us much less time to get all the way from Westwood to Echo Park then we thought it would--and decided to grab some grub. Although there were some mysterious hot dogs wrapped in bacon that looked tantalizing (this Westwood resident had never seen such a culinary abomination), I felt the presence of my Jewish grandfather bearing down on me and decided to pass. Incidentally, after the party, when I was drunk at 2 AM, I would go and have my first danger dog, beginning what has now been a 2-year love affair that I hope will never end.
But again, I digress. One of my comrades who was fluent in Spanish asked a Mexican passerby if there was any place in the area to get good, cheap Mexican food at this hour, and he directed us to a little truck off Sunset a few blocks away. Somehow I forgot about my grandfather and ordered 2 tacos al pastor and 2 con chorizo. Oh my freakin' G-d were they unbelievable.
I've since moved out of Westwood a bit further east, and now these tacos are more accessible. Do I go here every time I go to Echo Park? Si. Do I sometimes spend my evening in Echo Park for the sole reason that it allows me to go here? Si. Have I tried everything on the menu? Si. Is there anything I would NOT recommend. Si--stay away from the buche unless you are hard core. Everything else is freaking amazing, dirt cheap, won't kill you (which is more than i can say for danger dogs), and makes this place worth going to no matter where you are or what you're doing.
"Woohoo! As good as it gets!" -Yelp
No really though, theirs are the finest carnitas tacos I have ever encountered. 5 1/2 stars. If you love pork, this is your spot.
PS: The veggie tacos are no good.
I was visiting and I asked a friend where to find good Mexican food in Echo Park (I know, that's like trying to find hay in a haystack) but he said, actually his favorite place is a truck.
So we went and I was really pleased. You order at the truck, and you can get your limes and salsa. They have a few milk crates on the sidewalk, so don't expect picnic tables when you read "outdoor seating"
But I sat at the milk crate and enjoyed my carnitas quesadilla and glass bottle Squirt.
Cheap, delicious and filling? What more can I say?
FINALLY a good bean and cheese burrito. With hot red salsa, limes and lardy tortillas. Just finally.
i finally discovered how to say 'well done' in spanish: buen cocinado
(or the word 'crisp' might also work).
so now i can avoid risking my life eating under cooked meats from this surprisingly delicious rolling kitchen.
i had the tacos carnitas, that, confusingly, is also pork, but shredded and spiced differently than the al pastor i usually order.
stellar tacos! i do wish they offered cilantro separate from onions, but oh well.
met a couple of interesting people as we shared the only 'table' nearby, a newspaper box that i use to park my plate to eat.
might have to go back for dinner today.
had a fine fine plate of tacos al pastor. [see photo]
for the moment restores my faith in arizas.
went…
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I'd take it over Kogi any day...
The people are cool, it's fun to hang around and the carnitas tacos are great.
Carnitas tacos or Tortas. I don't stray far from that. I did once - I got a quesadilla. Don't get a quesadilla. Get the carnitas tacos. Now.
One of the best taco trucks in town! Their carne asada tacos are the best!
Every time I go to a show at The Echo, I ALWAYS make sure I have enough $$$ for booze and tacos at the taco truck.
I've had just about everything here, but my favorite is the CHICKEN SOPES!!! Aw man!
and I make sure that shit is DROWNED in salsa verde!! good stuff!
I love Mexican food.
I love tacos.
But.... I'm a vegetarian. Unfortunately, this adds a bit of complexity when eating at Mexican joints (are the beans/rice cooked in lard and/or beef/chicken stock?) and often limits the options to bland/meager/crappy selections. Such is the case at Tacos Arizas. They did have a few (three, if I recall) veggie options (questionable as to if they were truly vegetarian or not), and they were mediocre at best. The quesadilla and sope were bland and boring, even doused in salsa. And if weird meats sketch you out -- look out! This truck serves every meat product (tongue! tripe! BRAIN!!) that made you an herbivore in the first place!
As for the carnivores I dined with, they were rather disappointed with their small tacos, filled with rubbery meat. I don't think any of us will be going back, especially when there are so many other options in Echo Park. At least the people working there were nice enough, despite the language barrier.
But... if it's 11pm and you crave BRAINS, head on over to the truck -- but don't say I didn't warn you about mad cow disease!!
This truck serves up some of the best Mexican food I have had in this city. While Echo park certainly has a wide variety of awesome Mexican food options, Arizas is your best best if you want food that's made with love at an amazing value. The Al Pastor meat is a succulent foodgasm, and the carne asada is some of the best i've had as well.
The tacos are equipped with a helathy portion of meat, and the burritos and quesadillas are pretty out of this world. I have yet to try the tortas. Taco Zone (over by the Vons parking lot) is also great, but I'd say this one takes it up a notch
Not quite as good as Taco Zone, but not too far behind it either. Arizas does make larger tacos though. The carnitas is incredibly good here.
UPDATED: New favorite: cabezas. I'm still conflicted over what cabezas is exactly, but it's really tender. Some say it's brain, others say it's cheeks. Tastes like cheeks to me.
UPDATED: Every time I try something different at Arizas, it becomes my new favorite. Lengua is now my flavor of the week.
UPDATED: They have fish tacos! They are golden, flakey (not battered, yay), tender and abundantly piled up. This may well be my new favorite thing to order from Arizas.
So luscious. Came here one Sunday night after already filling my belly half full at the Taco Zone down the street, and Arizas still made my eyes widen with joy. I had a tripas and a chorizo taco and both rocked. The tripas was unapologetically gamey and tender. The chorizo was spicy! I also nabbed a bite of my companion's carnitas. Score again. So juicy, and you can actually see every glistening shred of meat. This is not the type of taco you have to drown in salsa and condiments, because the meat is so good on its own. But I drown them anyway just for fun. This place is crave-worthy, drunk OR sober. Also the service is courteous, you get enough napkins (the BIG kind, not the elementary school-sized things) to make yourself presentable again afterwards and they have a good selection of sodas.
Been here a couple times after The Echo and Echoplex concerts. Four Tet killed it, by the way.
Al Pastor tacos and condiments are solid. $1.25 for decent portioned tacos. Quesadilla was good, too. Extra 1/2 star for light bulbs.
Good asada tacos that dont give you the bubbly guts. What more can you asked for? The tacos are $1,25 and they let you pile on the cilantro, onions and chile. To my surprise they had some guacamole out the other night. This little trailer of the taco truck rocks.
You should have seen us... a mob of 10 people (give and take) who just finished a bucket of dried peanuts and 2 tacos each at the Gold Room (which is right around the corner)... trying to get MORE tacos.
In my defense I bought a sope... so good.
Everyone else had tacos de lenguas. No.
Always good ! All the time .
great truck and it is open late , try the Sopes if you get a chance !
Went here on a weeknight at around 11pm with a party of 8, and we each ordered a metric ton of food. There was only one cook and one window lady, and they prepared the food FAST. I ordered last and got my three tacos in 5 minutes flat.
They're fast, but that doesn't mean they cut corners or half-ass the food. The carnitas taco was juicy and flavorful (though gamy, said a friend. i personally like gamy), and the chorizo taco had me licking the plate and sucking my fingers. I'm classy, what can I say. Everything was sooooooooo good, I ordered two more tacos (and all of my friends made fun of me, but I think they were just jealous).
For a taco truck (hell, compared to ANY outdoor food vendor), they were SUPER clean-- from the truck counter to the condiment counter. Their condiments and salsas were fresh and savory (there was an entire BUCKET of freshly chopped, crisp onions that my party and I shamelessly devoured mwahaha).
The lady who was taking orders was so heart-achingly sweet. They have Mexican Coke (made with sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup). They happily recycle. There is plenty of street parking AND a well-lit parking lot available. There is also a massive mural of the Virgin Mary on one of the buildings' side walls, and it really complements the goodness and beauty that you feel after experiencing Tacos Arizas.
When I get married, I'm gonna ask them to cater.
Yum! Taco Truck's are the way to go to get Mexican in LA. This place is great and the hot sauce is tasty! I highly suggest this place if you are in the area!
i don't think its as good as TACO ZONE but these were really pretty good after having no dinner but having a few beers at el prado... nice, quick, and i wish they had more condiments. but i'm a condiment freak.
I'm going to keep this short and sweet.
Best carne asada burrito in all of LA, no joke.
Forget the tacos or the quesadilla. If you have to, a sope because they are pretty damn good. But seriously, get the burrito because I said so.
To everyone standing in line at the Burrito King: fall out before you get the runs and head down 2 blocks to Arizas. For reals.
I think for taco trucks, this is actually five stars. I agree with other reviewers regarding the carnitas tacos here as being particularly good. Forget all those fake trendy food trucks on the westside. Eat here!
i usually have only eaten here when the taco zone is all blowns'd up... or if it's not there yet.
the molitas pretty good though.
Echo Park is a fabulous place if you like street food, two of the best carts (known to me anyways) in the city, in one neighborhood. Tacos Ariza has my heart over The Taco Zone for two reasons, I like Ariza's carnitas better and the salsa is way hotter, a real good hot with nice smokey undertones. Some cool ass older cholo was laughing when I dumped a load of salsa on my burrito because he thought this gringo couldn't hang so i just smiled and dumped another plop for good measure.
The second stop on the mini taco truck crawl. The location is kinda of hard to find, it's just off of Sunset Blvd. Plenty of parking in the back lot or on the streets.
Ok, let's get to the good stuff, the FOOD! We got there and ordered the Tacos Al Pastor and Tacos De Lengua! One for almost everyone. Both were very nicely done with some good flavor with both, especially with the Tacos Al Pastor. Pastor sauce is kinda of tricky sometimes, this place had it going on! Nice amount of heat, flavor, and consistency. The senorita's in the trailer was very nice with me with my broken ass confusing Spanglish! Funny how they can understand me at times!
Ok, now I feel like a stuffed pig at a Hawaiian luau!
a la ultima
i had a taco tasting night, kike's tacos, taco zone and tacos arizas
This place is number one out of the 3. I ordered asada, tripas, buche, and pastor. Every meat was flavorful, good size cuts of meat in each taco. tripas was crunchy and chewy and the buche was extremely stood out here compared to most carts because most just boil their buche, this one is boiled and has a little crispiness to it.
The red salsa is pretty good, has a smokiness to it, the green was a little on the salty side.
If you are ever in the OC/Santa Ana, there is a good cart on 1st st and newhope st. Most tacos are 80 cents, while lengua is $1 and tripas $1.50 (tripas is worth it)
Taco Arizas is a sad, pale comparison to the glory that sits less than half a block away on the other side of the intersection of Logan and Sunset (next to the Walgreens) at Tacos Arabes.
I'm fairly certain this truck's popularity rests solely on the fact that this truck has many more bright lights and drunken hipsters are pulled over in a moth-like trance after getting money at the nearby Bank of America.
The meat here is fairly flavorless, and the salsa is mostly just tongue-numbingly spicy with nothing else going for it. Trust me, go across the street, eat at Tacos Arabes where they HAND-PRESS fresh tortillas with each order of tacos. The only times we've settled for this truck was when we leave the bars too late and the Arabes truck has left.
best tacos, best sopes, best pastor, best hot sauces, best carnitas, best prices. this place can not be beat.
Yeah. Nothing like being on the prowl late at night and stumbling on this place after a night of drinking. The carne asada tacos are fucking BOMB. The only problem I have is that they don't put any cilantro/onions/salsa on them no thanks to the fucking hipsters who can't handle authentic mexican food.
This place rates a 3+ on the taco scale. Taco Zone up the street is better but this is an okay option. The Al Pastor & Carnitas tacos were really tasty. The carne asada was nothing to write home about. The chorizo was good and meaty and flavorful. It's also nice to have parking next door. I'd come back to try their sopes. Where this places loses compared to others is on the sides. 2 salsas, some onions/carrots, old radishese and onion/cilantro mix. Where's that avocado salsa? Why do the radishes look ratty? Salsa and Tacos are symbiotic and together they synergize to become the perfect meal. Until they get their salsa bar up to snuff, 3 stars is all they'll get.
Yeah, okay, I ate too much last Friday night.
Count so far:
half a chicken (plus appetizer, fries, chocolate cake)
2 carne asada tacos
1 bacon wrapped hot dog
Do I even try to attempt something from a taco truck? Yes, of course.
Eeep.
I had a carnitas quesadilla. I ate 1/4 of it. The salsas were freakin' spicy as hell and I had salsa verde. It was $3.25.
But I need to go back to try their sopes because I rarely see sopes served at trucks.
They had a lot of meats including the usual pastor and carne asada. I wondered how the tripas, buche and lengua were but decided to go with my favorite carnitas.
The quesadilla was gooey with lots of cheese and there was a ton of meat in it. Mmm. It was just slightly oily to the touch which probably help it slide into my very full tummy.
I thought it was funny they asked if we wanted it to-go or for here. I asked for it for here and it came on a paper plate. Exactly the same as Erica's and Skylar's to-go paper plates. Napkins are by the cashier. Salsas and limes are set up on a little table outside the truck.
Oh, and they are FAST! I haven't had such fast service at a taco truck. I placed my order and then less than 5 minutes later, I had my quesadilla.
I need to go the gym.
My favorite taco truck in Los Angeles. I am not going to say it is the best because then you'll complain to me that isn't. I do like it better than Taco Zone but I don't hate Taco Zone. I'll just say that just thinking about the carnitas in a taco, on a sope or in a quesadilla makes me salivate.
Uh Oh! My keyboard is wet.
At the end of the night, they park their truck near the street I live. When I see it coming down the street, I am filled with dualing emotions. At first I think, "YAY!!! Tacos Arizas!" and I am filled with pride.
Then I get depressed because I realize that this means I can no longer get a taco that evening. This will usually lead me to locking myself in my room, donning all black clothing and writing some bad poetry while listening to some 80s goth music until I can once again fulfill my carnitas craving.
Tacos Arizas, please don't make me listen to "Bela Lugosi's Dead" again.
Stay open forever!
i tried the carne asada and carnitas tacos. the carnitas was delicious while the carne asada was decent. overall, i will be back and you can't be the price of $1.25 per taco. they could use a few more fresh toppings out front but for the most part everything was very tasty.
3.5 stars
But take into account I was drunk and stuffed with
Hanger steak and mashed potatoes (plus app. french fries soaked in chicken fat mmmmmm chicken fat, chocolate cake)
1.5 carne asada tacos
1 bacon wrapped dog
Along with 2 vodka tonics, 1 pint of PBR, and 3 vodka gimlets.......
So by the time I got to tacos arizas I was both food and liquor drunk
I got a sope de carne asada
It was good, however I couldn't really eat the sope part because I was so full and ended up picking off the cheese and carne asada and lettuce, but what I ate of it was really yummy
They didn't have any cold mexican coke left but I drunkenly managed to coerce them into giving me the warm one from the window
They had a pretty diverse menu with a good choice of meats and had no issue with giving out veg friend a meatless dish even though they didn't advertise anything being veg*n
pretty awesome if you ask me
I'd go back here after another Echo Park bar crawl
What really kills me about Tacos Ariza's is the fact that all my friends who eat here/live in the area get some intense cravings for Ariza's, and ONLY Ariza's. There have been times when I just got paid and TOTALLY have the option of going someplace nice and upscale, but instead I find myself veering off Sunset to snag two carnitas tacos and a sope de pastor with lots of spicy green sauce. Another thing I must mention is that the people who run this truck are really, really sweet and hospitable.
Uh-oh... the cravings are kicking up again...
Disclaimer: I am a vegetarian reviewer of Mexican food, therefore any Mexican review I give will most likely be irrelevant for most.
Oh, and I have only ever truly liked one Mexican restaurant. Ever. Di Cero on Randolph in Chicago. If you are ever in Chicago, I highly recommend it.
That said, Tacos Arizas wins my vote with their table to the side of the truck that holds buckets of radishes, an onion and cilantro mixture, tangy salsas, and quartered limes. A squeeze of lime really makes a taco. Here you can load up a cheap tiny taco and turn it into a meal.
Funny side note - I asked for no tomatoes (to-may-toes) but the woman did not understand me. Her coworker walked up, I repeated my request, and she explained to the woman that I did not want to-mah-toes. I wanted to laugh because it is the only time that I can think of where life followed the lyrics to a bad sing-a-long. Oh, and as I was finishing my taco a car drove by and snagged the electricity plug for Ariza's and the truck went dark. I was glad my taco was already in my hand.
Always a yummy Rice, bean, and cheese (with green sauce) burrito waiting for me.
Can't beat $3!
I'd give it a 4.5 if I could, but I'll err on the side of 4. Although, 5/5 in the taco-truck denomination, if there was one.
I had the carnitas, pastor and carne asada tacos. All were prepared in a jiffy and met my standards, with the pastor (sans pineapple or cilantro) ranking as the most flavorful. I thought the carnitas were good -- I'd been yelped into great expectations -- but was expecting a little more. I also enjoyed the range of condiments from pickled onions to cilantro and radishes, but thought there could have been a rojo to complement the verde salsa. Of course, you also can't have too many qualms when you're paying $5 for 4 tacos.
Am I expecting too much from a taco truck? I don't know. I will say I'll definitely be back and would gladly order any of the three tacos I had again.
UPDATE
I've been back to Tacos Arizas a couple times since. Must have had a below-par batch of carnitas my first time out because they're nothing short of fantastic. Enough to tack on that 5th star and makes Arizas my go-to taco spot.
This past Mother's Day, I was sitting at home feeling kind of (okay, really) drunk, missing my Mom, missing Texas, missing... tacos.
"Yes, tacos from a taco truck!" I thought. "That's what I need right now!"
Alas, I dragged my drunk self off the couch and headed for Tacos Arizas and arrived two minutes after 11pm, 58 minutes until they closed. Plenty of time for taco truck tacos.
When I walked up to the window, the nice lady inside the truck says, "Oh, I was just about to close. Mother's Day." She explained that they usually stay open until Midnight, but it being Mother's Day and all, they wanted to go home to be, you know, Mothers. I decided that taco truck tacos really weren't that important to me and stepped back. The nice lady, however, insisted that I stay, possibly realizing that I was in need of some Motherly love in the form of 5 tacos for $5.00.
The tacos were ready in no time, I loaded some plastic cups with lemon wedges and radishes, and shuffled home with delicious taco truck tacos mumbling to myself, "Moms are cool."
Thank you for existing Tacos Arizas. Im only sad that you now park above Sunset but maybe you were too convenient before and maybe I was getting a little fat. Whatever, you are the bomb. You have never, however, created a bomb in my stomach so that is why I keep coming back.
I am a taco hunter. I spend at least one night a week going to 4-5 taco stands trying out their goods. As a Silverlaker of course I hit up the neighborhood first, and on my 2nd or 3rd taco hunt ended up at Tacos Arizas. It was here where I decided to try Carnitas for the first time.
Oh. my. gosh. DIVINE!
I have gone to at least 10 more taco stands since the first time I went to Ariza's and no one yet has topped their carnitas. I like my "dorado" which is spanish for crispy. Their pastor and asada are great too.
I wont be stopping my hunt anytime soon, but for now I can tell you that Ariza's is my favorite taco stand at the moment. ( but if you want some amazing suadero you must for down Alvarado to the Taco Zone!!. )
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Neighborhood: Highland Park
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Echo Park
Category: Food Stands
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