From Oregon’s Mid-Williamette Valley’s StatesmanJournal:

Customers at Luis’s Taqueria on Front Street in Woodburn were caught by surprise Friday when Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama walked into the Mexican restaurant during the noon hour and ordered a plate of carne al pastor — a pork dish seasoned with pineapple, onions, cilantro and lime.

From Official Obama HQ blog:

On the campaign trail in Oregon today, Barack stopped at Luis’s Taqueria in Woodburn. He was joined by his brother-in-law Craig Robinson (who was recently hired as the head basketball coach for the Oregon State Beavers). The two sat down for a quick meal of chicken tacos…

So which was it? Al pastor or chicken tacos? The photos seem to depict some dark meat, possibly al pastor , on the plate nearest him. Was there an attempt on the part of Obama’s official blog to cover up an al pastor selection with a more pedestrian, less potentially-controversial chicken selection in order to increase his appeal to undecided swing state voters? Or, perhaps they feared a public al pastor allegiance might subconsciously conjure up all that Pastor Reverend Wright nonsense.

PREVIOUSLY

Photo Op: Hilary Votes King Taco

Crushing a taco at the Boyle Heights King Taco, Hillary erases any and all doubt that she’s one of the people. No word on whether the red salsa made her tear up.

Barack, the gauntlet’s been thrown down. When you swing through town, you better drop in on Cactus #1 or other Top 5 taco shack.

KING TACO

Photos: Reuters

Live, in person, fresh out of the oven, here are the official tallies of our 2007 end-of-year reader polls. Discover within our readership a rampant love for Muse, Daft Punk, Daft Punk, Muse, Muse, Muse, Daft, Punk, Muse, Daft Punk, Hot Hot Heat and not a goddam thing else a few other inconsequential items (coffee, tacos, massages…whatevs).

Once more for the new folks: All of our polls contained reader-submitted choices, and multiple votes were encouraged for the sake of good competition. Official 2007 results, all topics, below. Have fun, don’t be sore losers but do feel free to discuss your votes, and keep your eyes peeled for the compiled Unofficial Results wherein you can actually see how many people voted, and for what, broken down by individual polls (hopefully in one gigantic, gag-inducing, utterly unmanageable post as compared to so much staggered bullshit).

Without further ado…
»continue reading Reader Picks 2007: The Official Results

We’ve a wealth of material to get through before year’s end, to be sure. Thus far we’ve asked for your take on the best individual concert, festival, breakfast and parking spot, and you have responded accordingly. While those polls remain open and incredibly active, at this time we’d like to find out what you consider your favorite taco in Los Angeles. Feel free to go granular and categorize by type as well as purveyor, i.e. “asada @ estrella - HP location #3 - but not that damn pastor” … Multiple votes are allowed so vote now, twice more this afternoon, and two dozen times after this evening’s tacos.

UPDATE, 1/02/08: Polls closed; results now online.
»continue reading Reader Picks ‘07: Your Favorite Taco

Less Jack More Jill presents event #3: Miss Your Face featuring Voxhaul Broadcast, Carolina Liar and assorted miscellany @ Airliner (Broadway, Lincoln Heights, dangerously near porno burrito and chapalita) this evening. Go check out Voxhaul Broadcast prior to their upcoming Spaceland and Silverlake Lounge gigs - on the cheap, no less.

From the mouth of Jill:

“We like to throw in extras…art shows, comedians, facepainting. We’re not in it for profit. We just want people to come hang out, have a good time, and see or hear great art for little to no cover.”

The bands sound great but the event gets the nod this evening for the lucrative $1 PBR policy. Cheapskates take heed: No cover before 9pm, $1 PBR until 11pm. My advice: Go to chapalita. Chapalita also has no cover. Get some tacos. I recommend al pastor; it is super fucking delicious. Go to Airliner at 859pm. Get in free. Eat the tacos and guzzle a few $1 PBRs as fast as humanly possible; if the bands and comedians aren’t to your liking, hooray! you still win.

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? »continue reading Northeast Welcomes New Taco-Infused Blog

As promised, my take on Chicago tacos at this time. I had the good fortune to be hosted by a foodie during my stay. One day we wound up at Carniceria Leon, a deli/meat market/taqueria in Wicker Park. The joint had Al Pastor skewered on a giant spit; as such, I knew I was in the right place.

Five second review: Generous portions, hybrid salsa, delicious tacos. I was expecting the requisite “con todo?” query, so it was bit of a surprise to hear the guy behind the counter ask if we wanted them served “with onions y cilantro?” but, being the only white people in the joint at the time, nice of him to change it up for us.

The last time I had pastor served from a spit, I was in Boyle Heights. Tacos were served on a makeshift table. The prep station was a minivan’s passenger door area. The whole operation was situated in an automotive repair lot. »continue reading The Al Pastor Invitational: Wicker Park v Boyle Heights

This is a wide shot intended to convey the general atmosphere of the festival. Festivals frequently feature large numbers of people (”festival goers”), mechanical contraptions that move bodies through space, against our normal physics in an enjoyable fashion (”rides”) and temporary food and consumer product vendor stations (”booths”). Festivals frequently take place in the open air, as can be seen here.

Here is another one of these festival atmosphere photographs, but taken from a different vantage point. Note booths on the left, festival goers, and ride, in this case, some sort of centrifuge contraption.
»continue reading 2007 Sunset Junction Street Fair

The Canadian Coffee Break brings together some of the finest Canadian minds in Southern California every week for a topical, lively round-tablesque discussion over very dark coffee. Won’t you join us.

The subject on the whiteboard today is the taco. Widely available in 50% of the city’s streets east of La Brea (broad generalization), tacos exemplify the on-the-go southern California meal like nothing else. At $1 a throw on average, can you find a better deal…anywhere?

Sarah (website)
Taco Talk-0

The wonderful thing about the taco is that as a feminist, I can thoroughly get into eating a food that’s the opposite of a phallic symbol (what would you call that? Vaginal symbol? Is that too crass?). Sometimes I feel vaguely uncomfortable slobbering all over a fat, long, wet, juicy popsicle (or corn on a stick), and what’s the perfect empower-ternative? A food shaped like the vulva*.

*My mother, who worked at Planned Parenthood for 10 years, gets angry if I call it a vagina, since if you’re looking at the thing from the outside, you’re really talking about a vulva (the vagina is the cavity just behind it).

But enough about hoohahs and weewees. I’m stalling by using my advanced knowledge of human sexuality, displayed above, to disguise an Escalade-sized hole in my taco knowledge. Growing up in Nova Scotia (my kids are gonna hate these stories someday, as I’m guessing you do by now) my single dad made them on weekend visits, using an Old El Paso taco kit. That was my only taco exposure before moving to California at the tender age of 17. Sidenote: I also had never met anyone Latino; I spent the first six months of my time in LA thinking my friend Paul Rodriguez was from the Phillipines or some other exotic Asian Pacific island country. So basically I’m a hick. Laugh if you must.

Since I’ve moved to LA, really the only taco place I frequent is Machos Tacos (three visits in 2007!). I had the vegetarian tacos there for the first time on Monday night. I was surprised at the use of pepper in the beans. I can’t stop thinking about it. Really. I’ve never had black pepper flavor in a taco before–it was a shock.

I guess I’m not in Old El Paso anymore. But I suppose that’s what growing up is about. That and using the word vagina correctly.
»continue reading Canadian Coffee Break: F#ck The Coffee It’s Taco Time