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Restaurants

What to order at Guisados in Los Angeles

11 · Oct 6, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Guisados is a family-owned restaurant that serves tacos stuffed with homestyle braises such as tinga de pollo, chuleta en chile verde, and cochinita pibil, and is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in LA.

The term “guisado” literally means “stewed” and usually follows a formula of meat (most typical are pork, beef or chicken) braised in a salsa made with chiles, tomatoes or tomatillos, spices and herbs, and sometimes vegetables. The type of chiles, spices and meat combinations used vary according to region and family recipes.

Tacos and tamales from Guisados in Los Angeles
Pictured above: Tamal de pollo, regular size chicharrón and bistek roja tacos.

You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu at Guisados. However, if you’re indecisive and want to try several kinds, the best deal is to order the sampler that comes with six small tacos.

Most everything on the regular menu at Guisados is gluten-free. (Ask servers about the specials, though—sometimes those contain gluten.) They also have some vegetarian options. If you’re vegan, they’ll make you a taco with sauteed bell peppers and onions if you ask.

The tortillas at Guisados are made fresh, by hand, every day at every location, too. They’ll sell you a half-dozen or dozen handmade tortillas to take home if you ask. They’re not cheap, but they’re damn good. A little on the thick side, but way better than grocery store tortillas for sure.

One of the things I really like about the servers at Guisados is that they always offer to tell you which tacos are which (especially if you order the sampler) when they deliver your order to your table. Although I eat there often enough to tell them apart without any help, the first time I ate there I thought it was a nice touch.

Portion sizes:

2-3 of the standard size tacos per person, or 1 sampler is usually sufficient for a meal.

Taco Sampler and jamaica agua fresca at Guisados in Los Angeles, California
The Guisados sampler comes with your choice of 6 tacos.

My favorite taco at Guisados: Chicharrón

In fact, I like their version so much that I made tacos de chicharrón guisado at home to share the recipe here on the blog.

Taco de chicharron at Guisados in Los Angeles, California

My meat-lovers’ taco picks at Guisados

Bistek en salsa roja (flank steak simmered with red bell peppers and tomato, served over a smear of black beans and topped with chile de árbol and avocado), chorizo (served over black beans, topped with red onion and salsa verde), and steak picado (flank steak simmered with green bell peppers and bacon, served over black beans and topped with salsa verde).

Taco de bistec from Guisados in Los Angeles, California

The chuleta en chile verde is consistently good, but I don’t order it often because that’s something I make regularly at home. I don’t love their tinga, but that’s more of a personal flavor preference.

Taco de chuleta en salsa verde from Guisados in Los Angeles, California

Vegetarian taco picks at Guisados

Hongos con cilantro (mushrooms, onions and cilantro, topped with a dollop of salsa verde and queso fresco) or calabacitas (squash, tomato, bell peppers, corn and onions, topped with a chipotle sour cream and queso fresco). The chiles toreados taco is also excellent but very spicy. Skip the frijoles con queso and get a quesadilla instead.

Taco de hongos at Guisados in Los Angeles, California

To drink at Guisados

Jamaica or Armando Palmero (2/3 jamaica and 1/3 agua de limón) are your best choices because they’re consistently good. Yes, they have horchata, but I don’t love the one they serve because it always has too much grit at the bottom of the cup. In my opinion, you can skip the horchata latte (iced coffee with horchata) and spend your money on another taco instead.

Other details

Also on the menu regularly (but not listed on the menu on their website), the tamales are worth exploring. My favorite is the the tamal de elote, but the chicken tamal with green chile is a close second.

There are 5 Guisados locations across Los Angeles: Boyle Heights, Echo Park, DTLA, West Hollywood and Burbank.

Restaurants gluten-free, Los Angeles

What to order at Gracias Madre

11 · Jun 25, 2017 · 1 Comment

Gracias Madre is my favorite restaurant in West Hollywood and one of my top 3 favorites in Los Angeles. And I’m betting if nobody told you in advance that it was a vegan restaurant, you might not even notice because the menu is that good.

What to order at Gracias Madre in West Hollywood via theothersideofthetortilla.com

Vegan and Mexican are two words that most people wouldn’t necessarily associate with each other, however, there are actually quite a few vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes that are part of the cuisine. Everything on the menu at Gracias Madre is organic and vegan, but don’t let that distract you; you’re in for a truly excellent Mexican meal.

If you’re visiting Los Angeles, Gracias Madre definitely deserves to be on your list of restaurants to check out, and if you’re local to LA, early lunch or happy hour is the best time to go if you want your choice of tables (you might even see me there).

Paparazzi tend to lurk nearby, as this restaurant and several others in the neighborhood are celebrity favorites. Request to be seated on the patio if it’s not too hot outside—you’ll have the best chance to see famous faces or at least catch a glimpse while they’re leaving.

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Restaurants Los Angeles, vegan, vegetarian

What to order at El Borrego Viudo in Mexico City

5 · Dec 16, 2010 · 2 Comments

Yesterday for a late breakfast we drove all the way to José’s favorite place for carnitas, only to find that all they had left were maciza (the “white meat” with no fat or bone), hígado (liver) and riñones (kidneys) – which was not exactly what we were hoping to eat. Unfortunately, when you arrive later in the morning, you risk them running out of the best parts. So we turned around and headed back to the car and resolved to show up earlier another day.

We hadn’t eaten breakfast in anticipation of eating carnitas, so we were starving. The friend we brought with us recommended another taquería not too far away called El Borrego Viudo, or The Widowed Sheep, which is supposedly one of the best taquerías in Mexico City, especially after a night of drinking.

There are only seven items on the menu: al pastor, suadero, longaniza, sesos, lengua, cabeza and tepache (a drink made of fermented pineapple and sugar).

We stuffed our panzas with tacos de suadero, longaniza and al pastor, and drank an apple-flavored soda called Sidral Aga. According to Chilango magazine, it’s the taquería’s red salsa that people love the most but the truth is that José and I didn’t think it was anything phenomenal. What was phenomenal though was the longaniza, which was perfectly spicy and not greasy at all….

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Mexico City, Restaurants, Tacomiendo, Travel El Borrego Viudo, longaniza, suadero, tacos al pastor, taquería

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¡Bienvenidos!

Hi, I'm Maura Hernández. Welcome to my kitchen! I'm an award-winning food and travel blogger, recipe developer, and former journalist sharing my passion for all things Mexico. Married to a Chilango, I've traveled Mexico extensively over the last 15 years. Here, you'll find a mix of traditional and modern Mexican cooking, along with my advice on where to eat, stay and play on your visit to Mexico! READ MORE

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