It marks year three of the Long Beach Taco Festival—and with a new location in DTLB (and free entrance to those who registered early), the folks behind organizing it—LB Living—wanted to continue the tradition that lifts up the humble-but-mighty taco to new heights in Long Beach.
And while this year’s festival brings in the great state of Jalisco—celebrating its 200th birthday in Mexico—to the northern stretch of the Promenade at Mosaic, the main thing will be not just tacos but uplifting Mexican culture.
“As a person who was born in Mexico, it’s always been important for me to find ways to highlight my culture,” said Sal Flores-Trimble, a Jalisco native and longtime Long Beach resident, said about organizing this year’s festival. “To have the state of Jalisco join in our celebration makes it nearly impossible to describe how heartwarming and comforting it all is. It feels like a true melding of Jalisciense culture and Long Beach culture.”
So are the spots you gotta visit?
Cochinita pibil, barbacoa de borrego, and tacos dorados from Los Reyes del Taco Sabroso
For those that might not know, tucked into an unassuming building at the northwest corner of Junipero and Anaheim is what could easily be Long Beach’s most dedicated and beautiful ode to the vast, region stretching food of Mexico, with its heart at Mexico City—and it will be participating in this year’s festival for the first time.
Learning from their family members in Tabasco, the crew’s cochinita pibil is a wonder to behold, cooked slowly across hours under the delicate wrap of banana leaves, this pork-centric beauty is the perfect pairing to the space’s most bold offering: barbacoa de borrego—or lamb barbacoa.
What was once a regular offering on the menu—but only becomes a special since it strangely didn’t sell well—it is a stellar example of how to perfect a meat that can come off as gamey to some: Delicate, fall-off-the-bone strips of lamb stuffed into a hearty tortilla before being doused in the space’s habanero salsa, this is a taco to behold.
Not that exploratory? Get their tacos dorados, where chicken-stuffed, rolled tortillas are deep fried and slathered in crema, salsa verde, cotija, and lettuce. The result? A savory, citric bomb.
Lengua trompo (oh yes), black pastor, “Poseidon,” and the McSatan taco from Evil Cooks
Ever since El Barrio Cantina first invited them to the shores of Long Beach, L.A.’s “gothtromp” masters Evil Cooks have been long- and warmly welcomed guests—and they are back in the with husband-and-wife, king-and-queen Elvia Huerta and Alex Garcia. They’ve created a pastor heaven that not only earned them a spot on the Los Angeles Times’s Best 101 Restaurants in 2021 (despite not having a brick-and-mortar) but has rightfully garnered them a cult-like following.
Their famed black pastor—a beautiful sight to behold: a trompo stacked thick with lines of pork and pineapple that are drenched in Huerta’s famed black pastor sauce—is making its way to the shores of Long Beach along with their equally stellar (if not slightly better) octo-trompo creation that is their pulpo al pastor.
And, for the first time in Long Beach, the happily deranged McSatan taco, a cheeseburger taco that comes with bacon and avocado—and is a true reflection of the pair’s ability to happily mess with senses about the boundaries of Mexican and Mexican-American food.
But perhaps most hyped? A trompo stacked with slivers of lengua, happily fulfilling the lovers of tongue in a world oversaturated in birria de res and carne asada.
And don’t forget Evil Cooks’s Long Beach origins: In Los Angeles, they are known as the Gothtrompo pioneers, using their own take on the Yucateco adobo-like paste called recado negro to create pitch black versions of pastor that are as visually luring as they are tasty.
In Long Beach, they were known as the humble Torta Wednesday masters at the now-closed Los Primos restaurant near 6th and Atlantic, the very gig that brought Evil Cooks to life.
TacosTadas from El Barrio
Speaking of El Barrio, the cantina which replaced Ashley’s (in what seems like eons ago) has quickly become a neighborhood staple: Through seemingly constant and consistent collabs that push the boundaries of Mexican cuisine here in the region, Chef Ulises Pineda-Alfaro of El Barrio has created community.
And their menu for this year’s taco festival reflect the beauty of their summer offerings: There’s an ahi tuna tostadita doused in salsa macha—where heat and umami combine seamlessly. The smokey wonder that is the ceviche marinero makes an appearance. Salmon slathered in garlic and ginger—a play to Pineda-Alfaro’s love affair with pan-Pacific flavors—is on the menu.
And for the vegans, there’s an artichoke and jicama taco that I am as intrigued as I am excited to try.
In other words: Go—because this event supports and is about community. And that deserves our love and money consistently.
Long Beach Taco and Tequila Festival will be held on the northern stretch of the Promenade above 3rd Street at Mosaic in DTLB. For tickets, click here.
