Cemitas Y Clayudas Pal Cabron

Love the huaraches. (I recommend the regular, no meat huarache.)

I had no idea what to get so I ended up with the carnitas cemita, which I don’t think is their best meat after reading all these reviews. The sandwiches were gigantic. I thought it was a giant bun, but no — it was a giant pile of MEAT under there. the string cheese was okkaaayyyy, but I’m (mostly) a cheese-​hater so you’ll probably feel different. Next time I think i’ll try the clayudas.
The décor is ummm interesting, felt a little less woman-​ly after staring at the drawings.

So filling and oh so GOOD!
Grabbed some tacos arabes… the meat was SO TENDER and holy crap… veeeeeeery good! Then tried the clayuda vegetariana… black bean spread on a crispy tortilla-​esque skin with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and avocados… oh and topped with cheese~ It was okay… a bit bland without the salsa, but you get used to it. I think I’ll stick with the cemitas. Not bad, but I would definitely go for the cemitas instead.

After reading up on the joys of the Cemita, I figured I’d choose Pal Cabron to see what all the fuss was about. Definitely not disappointed, and quite intrigued to come back and try more varieties.
I went with the Mas Cabrona (beef milanesa and headcheese) which was great. I also tried M.‘s breaded pork option which was very good — had a little more kick to it than mine.
One thing to be aware of, these sandwiches are HUGE! Much bigger than any torta or burger I’ve had. Bring your appetite!
We had a surprisingly easy time finding parking right in front, but be aware of the need to find spots on the street.

Though I have been here a few times now, I decided, after eating there over the weekend, I am officially obsessed.
I stumbled across this place before grabbing a drink at R Bar next door — completely unconsulted by Unilocal– but it has been one of my favorite random finds in the area to date. Granted, this is my first and only cemita/​clayuda experience but if you told me it got any better than this I would not believe you. The food is so flavorful and the textures are great. This is the stuff foodgasms are made of.
I REALLY love the cemitas — tasty sandwiches with a huge selection of meats. The clayudas are like flatbreads and they are enormous. I got the vegetariano (which is admittedly less flavorful than something with their fabulous meats) and it was too much for two people.
On top of excellent food — the staff here is great. They take pride in this place why wouldn’t they? The food is terrific. Very casual, but a fun atmosphere. I was told they have a «BYOB» policy (Jon’s market is across the street and they told my friend and I to feel free to bring a six pack next time). But, if that is not your thing, the adjoining place has AWESOME milkshakes and fruit juices. Yum. I will be going back again this week — call me a fatass, but I have been thinking about this food almost nonstop since I finished my meal :)

I had the ham cemita because I was not feeling so daring, but next time i come because i will be back I will order the marinated pork cemita. So many flavors and the cheeses are so good. I had an Horchata and it was like any other except for the toppings, cantaloupe and walnuts i believe. I didn’t mind it at all just different.
The décor of this place also adds to the experience, so major points for that!

I really dont understand all the hype. This place was whatevers in my book. I tried the veggie clayuda and it was super blah. I probably ordered the wrong thing. My hunny got the chicken cemita which is basically a torta with string cheese and black beans. It was tastier than my clayuda for sure. The art work all about the shop was interesting. Parking is a bit of a pain in the butt too.

So freakin’ good!!!
I’ve had the #1 (breaded beef) and #4 (breaded pork) and they were both amazing. I mean, have you seen the pictures people!!!
I wasn’t a fan of their horchata, but I’m picky with my drinks.
I can’t wait to go back again and again and again. I’m in love!

I’m rapidly impressing my co-​workers with my knowledge of awesome local eats around work with this restaurant. I called in an order for pick up, and in the leisurely 10 minutes it took to walk here, our food was ready. Awesome.
Total, we ordered 3 Tacos Arabe and 1 De la Barbacha and a Coke for $ 23. My friend is more familiar with this food from Puebla than I am because his best friend is from Puebla, and his best friend’s mom apparently makes some kick-​ass food. My friend was impressed by the size of the cemita, and he said the Taco Arabe was good although not as good as his best friend’s mom’s. The Taco Arabe has a thick, fluffy tortilla with really well-​seasoned meat inside. There was only meat and nothing else. I’m excited to go back and work my way through the menu.

The food was decent… not great. We had the most popular and recommended item, the #3 La Mas Cabrona.
Good:
I like the bread (soft French roll with crunchy chewy outside and soft inside).
The overall mix of flavors from the headmeat, cheese, and jalapeños was good.
Bad: Beef is breaded and there seems to be about the same amount of bread as beef which is as thin deli meat.
Other:
Cost $ 5.99 for the #3.
The colors outside are «unique» pink.
The music videos playing on the televisions are classic:

I’m a fat boy.(always trust a fat boy) I ate two Cemitas… What are Cemitas you may ask? Cemitas are a delicious sandwich and that’s all you really need to know. I had two types– the Milenesa-​which is lightly breaded steak and the pollo asado. Both Cemitas were extremely tasty and filled with plenty of cheese and ripe avocado. I also had the homemade horchata which is topped off with pralines and bright red prickly pear juice (cactus). It’s in the «hood par t» of K– town and definitely
worth a try.

My husband is Oaxacan which makes him a tough critic on ANY Oaxacan restaurant. We’re both big fans of La Guelaguetza so we decided to try out Pal Cabron since there was so much talk about it.
I enjoyed #3 La Mas Cabrona with quesillo and chipotle which was amazing. The meat was a lil on the dry side but potions are very large.
My husband had the #1 La Muy Muy de res… very tough critic here haha. He said it was on the dry side BUT was highly pisst about the extra $ 2 for quesillo hahaha. When I asked if he would return, he’s response was «Nah, i’ll stick to my spot in East LA, La China Poblana»
Note to Self/​Yelpers:
–Share a cemita, really big portions
–DONT ADD QUESILLO, save your $ 2 for that addition
–Bring your own beer so they can make you a Michelada
¡Provecho!

Coordinated a work lunch with some of my fellow co-​workers on Friday for cemitas and tlayudas. It was overall a pleasant experience; customers pick their meal and pay first at the register up front and wait for their food at the tables. This cut down on the usual time it takes to figure out bill-​splitting and tip and all that junk.
I believe they have about 10 to 15 «cemita» sandwich types that one can choose from, along with a similar offering of tlayuda dishes. Most people in our group went with the sandwiches, which were HUGE and delicious. Most cemita sandwiches come with some sort of breaded meat, «queso de puerco», avocado chunks, onions, mexican cheese, and «papalo», which is kind of like a minty cilantro tastin’ leaf. It is a beautiful combination.
You also get your choice of jalapeño or chipotle in your sandwich. I found the chipotle sauce a bit sweet last time I went, so I went with jalapeño. It was filled with pickled red jalapeño slices… yummM!
For an additional two dollars to your 5 – 6 dollar sandwich, you can get Oaxacan string cheese added. Granted, this is a bit pricey for about 2oz of cheese, but there is nothing in the world quite like Oaxacan cheese. It’s like. string cheese on crack! Delicious.
There are also speciality drinks that aren’t shown on the menu, such as horchata and jamaica, you just have to ask ‘em.

These sandwiches are super different. Common in central and south America, but I only tried it recently. The have different types of meats you can try, and different toppings. The prices can seem pricey for something similar to a burger. But this sandwich is huge, and very filling.
Did not try the other things like tacos ans burritos, but the sandwiches are the signature dish. La muy muy is very tasty.
and smoothies are available as well… Go try the sandwiches/​burger/​delicious.

This place make you wanna walk in with a swagger and go, «Yo I got yer back, dude!»
The murals are HILARIOUS. It really sets the mood for this place. You immediately just chill out, and everything is just so laid back… until it comes to the food.
Dude. The food at Pal Cabron is hard-​core, yo! They specialize in cemitas, which is a kick-​ass sandwich that will make you a fat-​ass. And worth every damn calorie, so there.
Each of them sandwiches is exploding which rich, creamy Oaxacan cheese and fillings. They’re like hand-​held voluptuous sacks of orgasmic goodness. The best part? It’s damn CHEAP, at less than $ 8 for each baby.
Another thing I really recommend is their clayuda (really actually written as Tlayuda), I got the Coloradito: Red Mole and Quesillo on a giant tostada.
Dang. It is HUGE, more than double the size of my face! The tostada is first smeared with bean paste that has been fried with lard. And then, a lovely layer of rich, spicy red mole sauce. And then, the hand-​torn strews of oozing, chewy Oaxacan cheese.
Despite the richness and the size, the crust is a thin, crispy griddled tortilla, so I had no trouble finished this of myself, plus ample bites stolen from my friends’ cemitas.
I walked out feeling like a fat ass, but at least I was a happy, jolly fat ass.
Ho ho ho.

My new fave place! :D
We had:
— #3 La Mas Cabrona w/​quesillo ($ 7.99)
-
beef & head cheese.
the bread it was on was so goddamn good!
The quesillo (oaxacan string cheese) went so well with this sandwich,
milanesa de res (beef dipped into egg and bread crumbs then fried on pan) was flavorful,
had a lot of avocado,
head cheese (not a cheese. it’s like meat jelly and it kinda looked/​tasted like ham: P)
and had a strong herb (I’m not sure what it was: P but it kinda tasted like fresh sweet basil. and I say it’s strong. ’cause I don’t do herbs: P)
— #8 Mamacita Carnitas w/​quesillo ($ 7.99) — pork carnitas. put together just like #3. minus the head cheese. :]
— sangria $ 2
— squirt $ 2 — the one in glass bottles
Both cemitas came with ‘rajas’.
red bell pepper and carrot rajas
(roasted, sauteed, and cut into strips)
and it was so good!
Oh, and they have free water on the side.
and it tastes like cucumber and lemon.
which wasn’t bad. :]
There’s NO parking around this area…
if you’re lucky you’ll find street parking right in the front.
Forget the tortas!!!
I’m in love with their cemitas. :]
woot!

Anyone that rates this a 5 star has not been to Puebla.
Here’s what I DIDN’T like about this place:
My meatless cemita actually cost more than any other one on the menu!
Bread was sorta dry and hard to eat
Neither one of us felt like finishing dinner, they were heavy in a not-​so-​good sort of way
There was paper in my glass of water!
I’m still tasting that shit and it’s been 4 hours
I can’t speak to the Tlayudas, and it was nice to eat real Oaxaca cheese, but it’s highly unlikely I’ll be back, even though it’s just a few blocks away from my favorite mamacita’s pad.
The only things that truly rocked were the names of the sandwiches. How’s la Tetanic for you!!! La gordis?
Final word on this place…
meh!

A friend of mine got me to eat here with the promise of it being «adventurous and cheap,» and that about sums up Pal Cabron for me. It is a trip down the culinary rabbit hole not for the unadventurous, the timid, or definitely the vegan.
But, if you love cheap, delectable, unusual food, then come to Pal Cabron, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to eat!
I don’t think we realized the portion size situation when we decided to order three items. One cemita, one clayuda and something off the appetizer menu that roughly translates to, «Arab taco.» The food that emerged from the kitchen was HUGE, the clayuda, especially. It’s now Saturday, we ate at Pal Cabron Thursday, I’m on my fourth meal of leftover clayuda and I’m still not done. Just FYI.
Taste-​wise, the cemita was the winner by far. We ordered the beef Milanese with headcheese, avocado, cohita and that special Oaxacan string cheese. Can I tell you? I haven’t voluntarily eaten avocado in about ten years, and I scarfed that thing right down, that’s how good our cemita was. The headcheese was tough and the beef a little gristly in places, but the combination of flavors, plus that awesomely soft yet sturdy bread, made for an awesome, awesome sandwich.
The clayuda, honestly, was disappointing. We ordered the chorizo sausage, again with the string cheese, but I found it too cool for my taste and the pieces weren’t sufficiently cut so eating it was just plain difficult. Flavor-​wise, there was not enough depth, though I will say that on subsequent eatings, it’s improved.
Oh, and the highlight of the night, for me anyway, was the late arrival of the Michelada mix, which I’ve wanted to try for a long time. I’d even brought two beers with me, purloined from a work office party earlier in the day, and was saddened to hear that they didn’t have any mix when I first arrived. Though later, the guy who took our order (who I think might have been the owner) came over with a plastic cup and a bottle of the mix and fixed me a drink right then and there. Very smooth, a little spicy, mmmmm-​yum.
I’ve never eaten food like the kind I had at Pal Cabron, and I love being introduced to new things. So, despite a few misses with the food, I loved the overall experience.

LA Street Food Fest ’10:
I’ve never had this type of food before. It was a great way to start off the LA Street Food Fest! They served a marinated pork cemita. which had some avocado, and cabbage. The bread was a little hard, but maybe they made all the bread a few days before? It wasn’t bad enough to make the cemita bad, though. It was so delish, and I’m interested in the other cemitas they have at their restaurant. I’m definitely gonna go try it out. The marinated pork cemita is my introduction drug.
I was really interested in this place, so I did some research. and found this helpful guide to their menu (their online menu is in Spanish):

Cabron y Cabronas, Hijole Guey… this place is Puebla meets Oaxaca and offering a very simple menu, the items have a sexy caricature of a lady and names like: LA TETANIC, LA MUY MUY, LA BRONCA, LA MAS CABRONA, LA BRAVA, LA GORDIS, LA CACHONDA, LA CHOKOLATA, LA PIPIRIS NAIS, LA DE BARBACHA (well you gotta see the photos).
This place is small but with it’s bright colored walls and murals everywhere you have plenty to look at while your food is being prepared, while this food might be something different to Huntington Park, their are many places in Los Angeles selling the same items and I’ve had many Cemitas y Tlayudas *(they call it Clayudas) and I must say this place does them right.
They import the Hugh corn tortilla from Oaxaca for their Clayudas, and for the Cemitas they bake their own bread/​cemitas in house

A Clayuda (also referred to as a ‘Tlayuda’) is the signature street food of Oaxaca. It consists of a HUGE crispy hand-​made tortilla (MADE IN OAXACA– We import these on a regular basis. If they are not made in Oaxaca, they CAN NOT be called a Tlayuda). It is smothered with a pork and black bean paste, then sprinkled with cabbage and Queso Fresco or Queso Oaxaca, you can also get it with meat and I chose Tasajo (Beef).
Clayudas de Tasajo —

A Cemita is a regional Mexican sandwich from the state of Puebla. It differentiates itself from an ordinary ‘torta’ because of its complex bread and ingredients. The bread can be best described as a cross between a Ciabbata, a Mexican roll and a hamburger bun. Unlike an ordinary ‘torta’ a cemita does NOT have mayo, mustard, beans, lettuce nor tomatoes. I chose their Cemita La Mas Cabrona which has Milanesa (Beef) that was wonderfully cooked, Ham, Avocado, Queso Oaxaca, Onion & a house made Chipotle, I also used plenty of their red salsa because I just don’t like dry sandwiches.
Cemita La Mas Cabrona —

If your in the area I’d definitely recommend you come check this place out and experience a different taste of Mexico.