Northeast Welcomes New Taco-Infused Blog
By Ryan - Monday October 29th 2007 |
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With a masthead stylistically reminiscent of veteran neighblog Franklin Avenue, the Higland Park-based York Boulevard made a modest entrance into the neighborhood blog realm earlier this month. I was introduced to the site after being forwarded an article entitled Top 10 Street Food Vendors. The site offers a brief mission statement, uncredited to any author:
YORK BLVD. is a blog dedicated to Highland Park and it’s residents. The North East is the best part of L.A. and we’re here to spread the love.
It is always refreshing to find a dedicated, hyper-localized blog in Los Angeles. Here’s hoping the efforts eventually grow into something authoritative regarding Highland Park.
Regarding that aforementioned street vendor list, however: Though it is comforting to see façade favorite Rambo’s Tacos and sporadically available vampiros vendor Tacos Sinaloa get respective nods, I am personally puzzled as to the placement of Estrella in the top slot. Why does everybody like this place so much? Personal repeated late-night attempts at the al pastor offering (York/54th locale) left much to be desired, to say the least. I have photo documentation, but the mushy concoction was so god-awful that I pulled the plug on the planned review. Worse, the location’s smaller copycat vendor offers a similarly bad copycat pastor. (Note historic, topical Estrella pastor comment action from Losanjealous’ inaugural commenter of the month Pete here.)
All pastors aside, let us welcome York Blvd into an online street-meat blogging fraternity of sorts, helmed by a godfather whose voice has been conspicuously absent in recent months. (Seriously Bandini where the fuck are you. Your site format has been jacked for months.)
Coincidentally, fellow reliable street-meat gurgitators at LA Taco have posted a review of La Estrella this very morning. Could be I’m ordering the wrong dish; somebody set me straight.
Being a Highland Parker, I know the La Estrella locations and food well. Heres the bottom line:
It has its good days and bad days, but the red salsa is the absolute best in the world.
Sometimes the asada is dry, and sometimes too greasy, but most of the time perfectly in the middle.
Sometimes the tortillas come with the perfect grease crisp, and sometimes they are too soft.
The al pastor should come from a wheel.
Sometimes I go just to buy the red salsa, at a quarter a cup, to have for the week’s cooking (from eggs to anything.
The compa (compadre) at the truck on Fig and Meridian laughed at me once when I asked for the recipe, saying that it was a 100 year family secret, with dozens of spices mixed in.
Sometimes, the salsa can make the taco, which is the case for La Estrella.
thanks A – this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for.
And thank you Ryan for all your essential posts.
A last tidbit about La Estrella: They give you limes and mini salt packets for a reason–as if they know that sometimes the asada needs it.
So in the end, it is this exact combination that will always keep me going back there:
Ask for the asado taco. Ask them to prepare the corn tortillas extra “tostadita”. When you get it, roll it on its side to apply just the right amount of salt and lime/lemon directly to the meat (below the onions and cilantro). Then fold it back up to normal to add red salsa on top of the onions/cilantro.
Eaten this way takes away any possiblily of the meat being bland or dry (if it was to begin with) and it is always delicious.
Man, hopefully the wife lets me break my diet and takes me after Broken Social Scene tonight!
There’s a taco place in Highland Park where I bought carne asada tacos and waited a while because everyone was ordering shrimp cocktails which seemed to be their specialty. When they finally arrived, they were so bad, i decided to take them home to my dog. My dog, who is an omnivore, sniffed at them and then stood over the plate looking miserable without even touching them. I wanted to take a photo and send it back to the place as a postcard with the phrase “so bad, my dog won’t touch em” on the back. I have a strong suspicion this place may be Estrella, but I’ll go back and check the name to save you all from trying it.
Check out Tacos Chapalita on Broadway in Lincoln Heights. Goooooooooooooooooood tacos.
Thanks for the shoutout Ryan and I should probably just cut a paste the first posters comment onto my review. I’ve had La Estrella bad as well, but when it’s good, it’s the best.
yorkblvd.com also just did a writeup on NELA study locations (cafes, libraries, etc). Check it out.
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