Under $10: Huarache Azteca (Highland Park)
Weathered Sandal
With rave reviews in notable publications like the LA TIMES, the LA WEEKLY, and Los Angeles Magazine, just to name a few, it’s no wonder I eagerly looked forward to trying the “Huaraches” at my neighbourhood “gem” of the same moniker, ‘Huarache Azteca Restaurants’ in Highland Park. At the risk of disagreeing with the pseudo culinary expertise of YELPers far and wide, this brick pile is a 2.5 star joint, AT BEST.
Maybe I am being too hard on this place because I grew up eating Mexican food, or maybe all the praise and hype I heard about it falsely raised my expectations. Whatever it was, I can honestly say that I gave it the ol’ college try. I once read an article about the rules to writing food reviews which included a list of do’s and dont’s. I found the list redundant and obvious, but one rule that seemed logical was that in order to review a restaurant fairly, one had to try it more than once, and that is just what I did.
ROUND ONE
I sampled the famous huarache, a torta and a taco de suadero. Everything aside, I will say that the price was right! With the drink included, I barely broke 10 bucks, but as the popular adage goes, “you get what you pay for.” I was not impressed by the elongated deep fried sope-like tostada that is the huarache. It’s deep fried and deceptively chewy, not crunchy as you would expect it to be. The asada meat lacked flavor, and the crema cheese that was poured over it was runny and thin. The torta was just okay, and the suadero was absolutely terrible. (For a good torta go to My Taco on York, also in Highland Park, and for the best suadero, Taco Zone in Echo Park. I’ts a truck parked on Alvarado right by VONS.)
ROUND TWO
< -- That shiny pool over in the top corner of the plate is...yummy grease!
This time I went with something different: two sopes and a burrito. AGAIN, the meat needed flavor and the sopes were a greasy fried crunchy mess. As a rule I always order burritos “sin arroz/without rice” because that way you get the most meat. This pathetic little burrito was full of dry beans and unsavory meat. (For good sopes try Senor Fish or King Taco, there are several locations in and around Los Angeles. As for the asada, my personal favorite cheap, meaty, two-hand burrito is @ Estrella, open 24 hours, located on Figueroa Blvd in Highland Park. Ask for the red sauce, it’s the BEST!)
The first time I ordered my food to go; the second time I ate in-house. The place was packed with an authentic cross-section of the community, with an eclectic mix of characters filling the living room-sized restaurant while lethargic flies hovered in and around the patrons’ faces and food. Ummm, sanitary.
In the end, it really is of no consequence how good or bad their sorry ass “chanclas” are because this place is inexpensive. As much as I disliked the food, I may entertain the idea of going back to try the chilaquiles…and maybe one of those aguas frescas they boast about (which, I must admit, looked very refreshing). I had the horchata during round two. I find that one can gauge the quality of the food in a Mexican restaurant by how good the horchata is. This one was just okay; too much ice, not sweet enough. On second thought, I’m not going back to that shit pile, I make some excellent chilaquiles…
Huarache Azteca Restaurante
5225 York Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90042
I’ve had the weathered sandals but not the torta there. What kind of torta did you have/how much $$?
Damn, you are so wrong.
* Huaraches are not fried, they are cooked on a comal like a big fat tortilla.
* Since when are sandals crunchy anyways? Last time I ate mine they were chewy as fuck.
* My Taco, besides the stupid name, is white folk Mex food.
* Only idiots want horchata to be sweeter.
* Mexican crema is meant to be thinner, only Mex-American food has that Dollop of Daisy you seem to want.
* They make some of the best Huevos Rancheros anywhere. http://chanfles.com/blog/?p=1006
* This is DF style food at its finest. Not sure what kinda Mexican food you are looking for.
* STFU.
OUCH!
)
I may be wrong and that’s cool. Before this place, I have never heard of a Huarache (other than the ones you wear on the feet.) I did not care for it. The meat was not good, it’s too greasy and if it was not fried, why was it so greasy? I agree My Taco is white people Mexican food, but the torta was good. Daisy is yummy, but I wanted that cacique crema. I have never been to Mexico, DF. Baja does not really count. Like I said, people LOVE this place. But this stupid idiot did not.
I am so not going to get in the middle of thi-okok fuck it, just briefly. I had a meal here, once, ten minutes to closing time. One of the huaraches was very good, must admit, but the condiments were put away before I had the chance to dress the second one. That action alone earned this joint a demerit for not providing the customer with authentic DF-styled customer service. The end.
i still don’t get why people like taco zone. i tried it. it’s meh, meh, meh.
Oh man el chavo…if my taco is white folk mex food then what is baja fresh? Mitt Romney mex food?
Bandini resurfaces! New blog I see, good to have you back.
only a poser would say that my taco is white people mexican food. it is mexican food.<– that's a period.
white people have nothing to do with it other than eating it as far as i can see, they can come there if they want, or they can not come there. not having white people at your restaurant does not make it good. the owners, chefs, and most of the patrons at mytaco are mexicans and they all seem to like it. the menu may be tweaked a bit to simplify it but that is done by mexican americans, for other americans, not for white people. i wont tell you to stfu because that is rude.
did my comment go through? I feel kind of bad about it now because i checked out el chavo’s blog and he seems nice. but i still disagree.
juan, looks like your first comment was flagged as spam for some reason. fixed. now you guys can all go duke it out over weathered sandals (and/or MyTaco) in Highland Park.
Call me a poser then. Even though I occassionaly eat there, My Taco is bland, bland, bland. They don’t even put salt in the guacamole, wtf is up with that? I used to like the tacos de papa, despite the excess lettuce and cheese, but they’ve also gone down that safe and bland route.
I’ll take an occassional fly over tasteless food any day.
http://laeastside.com/2008/06/tacos-de-papa-round-up/
I’m sad no one commented on the “best” (insert-whatever-Mexican-food-based-on-masa-here) at Senor Fish + King Taco yet.
Love it when a post gets taken to school.
Clearly we need Bertha to flesh out full posts on My Taco, King Taco and Senor Fish, so we can all go praise the merits of / bitch about Huarache Azteca on those threads. Bertha, step up.
Me, I just submitted my business plan to the board of directors for approval. Restaurant name: My Senor King Fish Taco. Owned and operated by a white dude, yet catering exclusively to Latinos. Location: Crenshaw. Coming 2010!
Business plan? Now we know where your taste buds lean!
PS. Will you have Huevos Rancheros?
Not sure yet, but we’ll definitely have Huaraches, this much I know. If I can get a pre-opening annual investment commitment of x% from you, now, veggie Huevos Rancheros will be touted as house specialty upon opening.
also – just to further fuel discussion and post-hijack, any joint that offers cabeza (e.g., My Taco) does not qualify as “white people” mex in this white person’s book. it may be bland as shit (I didn’t find it to be a while back) but you still would never find it at El Coyote. maybe just the veggie options are bland. I should ask the ex down in Atlanta. plus…come on. those carne asada fries are killer. (sorry el chavo but this is where you miss the point, being a vege.) Originally went there on Jgold’s recommendation (he labels it gabacho cuisine, essentially agreeing with you. you are both wrong. inside it’s all clean and pretty, but those qualities don’t make it “white”.)
Even though I have the misfortune of being a veg, I can tell when they tone down the flavors for a certain clientele. My Taco is one of those places, and I’ve tried many of their plates. It’s not just the meat, it’s the way you put it all together. You can tell alot just by the beans and rice, believe you me.
You would know far better than I on the MT beans and rice. Actually don’t think I’ve tried either, there (carne asada fries + tacos being the standard order)
mytaco is mexican american food version 2.0. Version 1.0 are the old places with beans and rice covered in cheese. I agree about the guacamole but the some of the other things I’ve had there have been just fine. I just think it’s an easy way to win an argument to call something white people food, although ironically the minute you do that, all the white hipsters will run away from the place screaming, leaving the mexicans sitting there enjoying their food.
Ryan thanks for the welcome back.
As much as i like el chavo i think his point is weak. Because once you call MyTaco mexican food for white people then what do you call baja fresh, chipotle, la salsa? Mytaco serves lengua, buche, and borrego. Your avergage westside soft ass white person freaks out if anything other than carne asada or chicken is in their taco.
I don’t particularly care if you think my point is weak, I know what I know. I still eat at Baja Fresh, even though it’s Mexican food for Canadians. Or something like that. The Westside might have lots of Mex-American food places that cater to the bland palate, but that doesn’t mean My Taco (giggle!) is somehow different just because they have more options.
I just finished a post that somehow deals with this topic, just like now. http://chanfles.com/blog/?p=1495
Since the MyTaco remodel about 2 years ago it’s been obvious they have been trying to appeal to a wider demographic. Basically you are saying with their food they have sold out one audience for another. But the tacos taste the same as they always have. From my perspective they have just been trying to reach a wider audience with the remodel and larger menu. You said they don’t add enough salt to the dishes…since when do white folk not like salt? If the tastes are bland I don’t think this is on purpose. Lay off Mytaco el chavo and stop eating at baja fresh.
Hmm, I don’t think I said they “sold out one audience for another” at all. I’m just saying they cater to a different palate, or as you call it, “appeal to a wider demographic”. What does that mean? I said that the guacamole has no salt, which is a waste of avocados, and an insult to taste buds everywhere. The potato tacos that I used to enjoy are quite forgettable now.
If the tastes are bland, be it on purpose or not, it should be noted. I will still eat there but I’m under no delusions about their product.
the tastes may be blander than you have experienced them.That has nothing to do with white folk liking blander food, i don’t think they do. IHOP pancakes taste more bland to me then they did 10 years ago. The Tito’s bean and cheese burrito tastes bland. We’re not talking bland here..the question here is , is Mytaco white folk food? It’s not.
clearly the gueriness of My Taco must be explored in depth, soon. I would like to organize a task force. how we do this is up in the air, and I welcome your suggestions and recommendations. initially I might propose we take one taco and a small sample scoop of beans and rice from My Taco, one taco and a small sample scoop of beans and rice from (insert proven “non-gabacho” joint here), and one taco and a small sample scoop of beans and rice from Tito’s to the Santa Monica Pier, look for the whitest person possible, and ask them which they prefer and why.
also – enjoyed your A/B huevos photos, el chavo. opens a broader discussion: who was the first person to brand something akin to the top photo on your page “authentic Mexican food” in America, when, and why? This would be something I’d be interested in reading.
This question of “authenticity” was the topic of a Zócalo talk earlier this year -
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2009/03/last-night-can-food-really-be-authentic/
Of course the over-priced/-rated Lotería Grill was represented. Not sure they arrived at any real conclusions.
Personally, I vote for phasing out the (over)use of the relative term “authentic”.
[...] Dr. Pepper? And whether or not ‘My Taco’ is “authentic” or “white people” Mexican food (see comments here – [...]
To be fair, I’ve tried Huaraches wherever I could find them in LA and none of them have tasted anything like the ones I’ve gotten on the street in DF. My uncle dragged us to about 6 or 7 of his favorite huarache spots and I don’t know if he has a preference for a certain style, but they all were made with blue corn flour, filled with beans, fried in what looked like a giant wok and served with spicy as hell red sauce and crema on top. Everything I’ve tried in LA was a soggy, yellow mess with cabbage on top.
…also, Taco Zone used to be amazing. I have no idea why now their tacos are not so great. It’s true… I’ve had some recently.
I find this poll really racist, most white people I know like spicy not bland food. Ever eat thai food most whites love it, is that bland? It may be more appropiate to say americans, since italians, greeks, polish, french, are all white people and they do not eat bland food. I am white and I am far from a ’soft ass” whatever thats suppose to mean.