HomeState

Love this little breakfast /​lunch place. I think the put crack in those picadillo tacos coz me and the Mrs need our fix at least once every two weeks. The chicken tacos are also epic. Friendly staff all round love it!

I’m so glad I finally made it out to this little slice of Texas in LA. Everything about it, from the queso to Topo Chico, reminded me of Austin, Texas. There wasn’t a long line this today which I understand is rare for this spot.
I shared some tacos, chips and queso. My favorite taco was the Trinity (traditional breakfast style with eggs, cheese, potatoes and bacon). I added a squeeze of the red salsa on the table and smiled as I took each bite. The Potato taco (potatoes, cheddar, cabbage slaw, guacamole, pico de gallo and pickled jalapeño) came in second place, it surprisingly had a lot much flavor. Everything tasted fresh, the homemade tortillas were delicious, it was tempting to not get a side of them to go.
I thought the Pesos brisket taco was just ok but table next to us was raving about proving everyone has different tastes. That said, I probably wouldn’t get the hibiscus limeade again, I thought it might taste like a traditional agua fresca but it was a bit tart.
Love the outdoor seating area, bright yellow umbrellas and blue chairs have to put you in a good mood. The staff was friendly throughout our dining experience. I’ll definitely be back again soon (this time, I’ll save room for the bunelos).

Rating: ⁷²⁄₁₀₀ pts
The Tex-​Mex style of tacos is rare in Los Angeles, but HomeState delivers in full stride on horseback, lasso in hand. What to expect:
— Small tacos with your choice of tasty fillings wrapped inside (rendering these tacos delicious, but impossible to photograph in a way that looks even semi-​appealing).
— All-​day breakfast tacos, and additional varieties at lunch time.
— Quality ingredients East LA is known for.
— Long, but fairly quick moving lines.
These factors coalesce into 4 stars for this restaurant representing our Lone Star State. The fact is, though, that it’s pretty overpriced. Reviews that precede me claim it’s not, but let’s face it: $ 3.50 (as of ⁵⁄₁₆) per small taco? …hello? You’ll need 3 of these plus sides to even start to feel full, making these prices unquestionably hipstered-​out.
Still, the ingredients are good, so the prices are not unreasonable. The tortillas are freshly made and pressed, right before your eyes out of the open-​style kitchen at back. They use all grass-fed/free-range/organic/(insert hipster-​monker) ingredients, meaning even after 3 tacos you still walk away feeling light and refreshed, rather than being subjugated by that heavy remorse that sets in after eating poor quality food. This is the reason why I give them 4 stars.
To round things out, they also serve Cuvee Coffee from Austin, which I recommend, and cinnamon sugar dusted Mexican Bunuelos for dessert, which are fine but I wouldn’t say essential.
**What is essential is the Brisket lunch taco which, after trying 7 varieties, I’d consider their best.**
Though low on the 4-​star spectrum, I still consider HomeState worthy both of 4 stars and occasional visits.

I saw this place on Studio DIY’s Guide to LA, and realized it was a mile from my house! So this past Saturday my boyfriend and sister and I decided to try it out. We had every intention of eating in but when we arrived we realized the line was LONG and the place was small, so there weren’t very many tables. So we decided to get our food to go.
All of their tacos are $ 3.50, which is a pretty good price because they’re rather large.
I ordered the Neches (eggs, black beans, & monterey jack) and the potato taco (potatoes, cheddar, sour cream, cabbage slaw, guacamole, pico de gallo, pickled jalapeño). The first thing I noticed about both was the freshness of the flour tortillas! They make them there and I have never had a better tortilla! Both were still hot upon eating them, which was good. No one likes cold tacos. The Neches was really good, just simple. I LOVED the potato taco. So much flavor happening and the potatoes were cooked perfectly.
We also ordered the Loaded Queso (chili con carne, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream). It was pretty good. For some reason it was really runny. Which was strange. I didn’t actually see any guacamole or sour cream and there was minimal pico de gallo. Since it was $ 9 I expected it to blow me away but we didn’t even finish it. I think I’ll try the regular queso next time and compare. This is the only reason I’m not giving them five stars!
Be prepared to wait awhile, but I think it’s worth it! The service was really good as well. I think next time I’ll call my order in ahead of time!

Best breakfast tacos in town! Reminds me of my college years in Austin. I really appreciate that they actually make a Tex-​Mex queso. I remember when I went to Bar Ama, and they kept giving me lukewarm queso. that just pissed me off. I don’t need it piping hot, but come on! All the tacos are good, and I love how they are always able to modify it to the consumer’s needs. I prefer the potato tacos on flour. My man likes everything on corn. We come together when it comes to the queso though. He couldn’t keep his hands off! Try everything! Very much worth the price. Street parking only.

Came to HomeState for lunch. I ordered the brisket sandwich and was really disappointed with it. Nothing unique about it especially the ingredients and small size. The lack of brisket made the sandwich more of a coleslaw and bread sandwich. It’s definitely not worth $ 10.
I guess I can’t expect HomeState to represent with «Everything is bigger in Texas».

YUM! This place is so great. I came here for lunch with some coworkers and wish I had come before.
I love that they have vegetarian friendly potato tacos (3.50 each) – they are kinda small and I wish they had more potatoes in them but were still delicious. We also got an order of chips and guacamole which I think was pretty pricy (8 bucks).
We sat outside and enjoyed our lunch. Will come back for the tacos. They also have sandwiches which my coworker got and said was good but I think he liked the tacos better. Check it out!

Always wanted to try this place and I finally did! I really liked homestate. Everything is literally made freshly In house and you can taste it in the food. I got the trinity and peco (brisket) breakfast tacos. The trinity taco was good. It had your basic eggs, bacon, potato, and cheese. The brisket taco on the other hand was very good, once I finished I right away got another one with no hesitation. The owners are from Texas so you know the briskest is going to be good. The tacos come with red and green salsa. Another thing I really liked about this place is the service. The whole staff is nice and friendly.

I absolutely love this neighborhood breakfast/​lunch spot in East Hollywood. It’s inexpensive and all the employees are super friendly, a nice change from the often rude wait staff in many Los Angeles establishments. It’s the perfect place for grabbing a quick bite and there is ample outside seating. They get really busy and the line to order becomes super long during prime lunch time so I often phone in an order to go.
I’m a pescetarian so there are only a few items I order and they are all delicious. I like that they have corn tortillas for a gluten-​free option.
Potato Taco — my favorite! Crispy potatoes, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, guac and spicy pickled jalapeño slices.
Bianca Taco — mushrooms, monteray jack cheese and egg whites. I add both red and green salsa. Both salsas are mild so I add hot sauce as well.
I love both the Queso and Guac served with endless tortilla chips.
They also have yummy soy lattes and several hot tea flavors to choose from.

Tex-​mex for sure.
Ordered some breakfast tacos ($ 3.50) to-​go and tried the…
Frio– refried beans with bacon and jack cheese
Pecos– shredded brisket and egg
Trinity– eggs cheddar bacon potatoes
The flour tortillas were fluffy and soft. Like the size of your standard corn tortilla. They were pretty much perfect. Didn’t break.
If I had to rate them in terms of taste, the order for me goes like this…
1) frio
2) Pecos
3) trinity
The frio taco had the most flavor! Must have been the bean and bacon combo.
They have red and green salsas that you can add to your tacos as well. The green one didn’t taste like anything and the red one was a little better, but pretty much no heat.
Let’s step it up!

HomeState is a great ode to the artisan tacos and queso that are pervasive in Austin.
Beyond being a novel treat in Austin, breakfast tacos work really well – it’s the perfect meal size for me and just the right kind of combination of ingredients. At HomeState, they have a simplified menu of breakfast tacos available for unsavvy Californians. They are tasty and they get the job done.
The real star of the show is the brisket. I got an egg and brisket taco and a bacon, egg, and potato taco. The brisket is marvelous. It’s wonderfully fatty and flavorful, and remarkably tender. It really accompanies the egg and taco situation well. The bacon, egg, and potato is pretty good, too. The bacon, egg, and potato is, of course, a mainstay of breakfast foods that is delicious when served with salsa and served in a tortilla.
Another big star is the loaded queso. I LOVE queso. It’s hard to describe to people. It’s basically cheese salsa. Kind of like a mix between nacho cheese and salsa, but far more satisfying than both. The loaded queso competes with some of best queso I had in Austin: the flavor and texture is perfectly thick and delicious, and it comes with meat and avocado inside the queso. I would eat this for every meal if I could. But sadly, it has not caught on in LA, and I can only eat it in the nostalgic moments I share while at HomeState.
HomeState is a win. I wish it were more convenient – it’s in a particularly dense and popular part of LA, and it’s only open for morning and lunch, and the lines can be long. For me, I can mostly only long for the prospect of returning to HomeState, not unlike the nostalgia that draws me to return to Austin. Perhaps that day will come again soon.

Best breakfast tacos I’ve ever had. I got the Trinity and Potato tacos and they were both soo good that I don’t know if I will even give anything else a try. The iced coffee with almond milk was also great! I got full off of two tacos but if you have an appetite I would suggest ordering more because they are pretty small.
Parking is kind of inconvenient but its cool because this place is worth the trouble.

My Texas-​raised friend brought me here for some breakfast tacos and I was so pleased! Parking is a bit hard but we found street parking in the neighborhood behind the place. It’s fast-​casual, and there’s a line out the door, but it moves fairly quickly. And we even found seats quickly!
Tried the trinity and pecos tacos, and had queso with chips. Also had an iced latte and they were all absolutely delicious! And quite affordable, too!
Yum! I recommend, and hope to come back.

I often travel to Texas for work. Austin, Dallas, and Houston are responsible for the best BBQ I’ve ever had and while Homestate doesn’t quite hit the Texas note I was looking for, it’s the best substitute I’ve found LA has to offer. It’s a surprisingly hipster spot given it’s Hollywood Blvd. location. It takes cues right of out of hipster Austin’s book with it’s cute deco and laid back style. It’s front patio is also very inviting.
Went this Sunday with my boyfriend for breakfast tacos. Had to wait in line for about 20 minutes, but in that time we were brought a menu to expedite our decision on what to order. We each got two breakfast tacos and the queso to share. The queso was tasty, but it wasn’t even luke warm. I imagine it’s a lot better properly heated. Recommend both salsas and even dipping the tacos into the queso if you’re feeling frisky. Could have used a little more flavor on the ingredients inside each taco, but can’t hate on how good the flour tortillas were.
There’s also a great photo op a short walk just across Hollywood Blvd. where there’s a black and yellow wall mural to pose against.

Tex-​Mex. A word. A hyphenated word. A good word. Tex-​Mex.
But what about the food? As soon as you take a bite of the Migas, with a generous amount of salsa, you’ll feel transported to Austin. You’ll feel the weird, you’ll want to keep it weird. Hopefully you’ve been to Austin.
What should you try? The Migas with the Brisket. They manage to put in some fried tortilla strips to it that gives it an amazing texture and slight subtle accent in taste. The beans with bacon (Charro) are damn amazing. Who doesn’t like beans?
Finally, they make a good latte. I’m a fan of coffee. I need it with my brunch and breakfast and this is a perfect way to finish off a meal.
The one thing I’ll warn you, you must be prepared to see hipsters. So much facial hair and flannel. It’s insane. I was worried they’d start bringing record players into the restaurant…

My therapist’s office is right next door, so I’m here quite often. Usually it’s just to pick up a coffee, but sometimes I also get a breakfast taco or two. They are quite small (Trinity is my fave), so order one more than you think you’d want. Also, get them wrapped in the flour tortillas, as they make those fresh on-​site.
The cold brew is banoonoos expensive, so either get a hot coffee or an iced americano. Also, I used to live in Texas, and their Frito pie leaves something to be desired.
The line can get crazy, so either get there early or at non-​peak times. They’ve got a lively patio area and some kickin’ tunes.

Very popular and very hipster. We came for brunch on a Sunday and it was pretty busy. I loved their color scheme, which was a Tiffany blue color.
We ordered the trinity and guadalupe tacos along with the lonestar migas. My favorite was the trinity taco, which had eggs, potatoes, bacon and cheddar. There was just something about this taco that was simple but delicious. The Guadalupe had chorizo and cheddar but it was just okay. The lonestar migas has tortilla strips topped with their brisket, eggs and cheese. This dish was pretty good! The portions looked small but it was really filling. Also, don’t forget about the red salsa sauce, which I drizzle all over my food.

Disclaimer alert: I’m an Angeleno who has never been to Texas and never tried real Tex-​Mex cuisine.
A Texan friend raved about HomeState and a quick google search revealed stellar reviews from Jonathan Gold. I walked in intrigued and hungry and left feeling oddly ripped off.
The queso with salsa and meat was great, but I love cheese in any form so that’s not saying much. The chips were thin and fragile, and everything else was just meh. The salsas were watery and mild. I tried 3 different tacos and the Frito Pie. While they were not bad per se, I could have gotten 4 times as much food at Taco Bell and enjoyed it just as much.
I still might come back for the plain queso one day.

For as long as this place has been open, considering how good it is — I’m very, very surprised this only has 317 reviews.
I present to you, my 1000^th review.
I use HomeState as a basis for comparison for almost every other place in Los Angeles that proclaims they’ve got a breakfast taco. Oh, sure you do. Except yours is terrible. How do you fuck up a breakfast taco? I mean seriously. This is a real question. How do you do that? It’s SO SIMPLE.
And yet, here we are. HomeState has, by far, the best tacos this side of the Lone Star State. They compare to Torchy’s, that’s how high on the pedestal they’re ranked. Order any type of breakfast taco along with some of their queso (because your queso-​meter is empty and needs to be filled), and you won’t have to ask yourself anymore how it is possibly worth the HOUR DRIVE FROM THE WESTSIDE. Yeah, I said it. An hour.
Usually for my milestone reviews I talk about someone, or something in particular. Who to dedicate this to?
How about me. How about I’ve been doing this for eight years, and for the first time in my life can finally say I stuck to something? How I’ve grown up, how I’m in a relationship with a wonderfully supportive, patient man, who is actually NICE. How this is all just a metaphor for the idea that, really you don’t need to make shit complicated for it to be good? You just gotta work on making the few things you have, amazing. You’ll see that it’s worth it in the end.
So there you go. Beautiful simplicity in HomeState breakfast tacos. Eggs. Meat. Cheese. Tortilla. Love.

I love any place that make their own tortillas. I even love it more when they use the fresh tortillas and make breakfast tacos out of it.
I ended up getting two breakfast tacos. I got the trinity that has eggs, bacon, potato and cheddar. The second one, I ordered was the frio. It has refried beans and monterey jack cheese. I enjoyed the trinity more. Next time, I would skip the frio.
My hubby got the brisket sandwich and love it. The sandwich has shredded brisket, cabbage slaw, guacamole, and pickled jalapenos. He said he would subtract the jalapenos next time.
We ended up getting the loaded queso to share. The queso has chilli con carne, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream. I like it a lot. They also come with chips. The chips were pretty good. It had a good crunch. I wanted to buy more chips cause I guess my ratio with chips and dip isn’t right. I ran out with still half of my queso left but no problem, cause they would gladly give you more chips for free. FREE!!!
Overall, cute place with good simple food.