La Amistad Taxi

Whenever Über or Lyft has crazy surcharges, I have used these folks. There are dependable, and reasonably priced. A tad higher than an Über, but much cheaper than a cab.

Über/​Lyft was a fail last night wanting to charge almost $ 75 for a ride from Silver Lake to Downtown LA due to «rush hour» so I jumped on Unilocal to find an alternative and landed on Amistad.
Driver came within 10 mins (call was made around 1:30 am) in an old red mini van, pretty sketch but we needed to get home. The guy knew my name but more importantly when I called back the same guy answered and was able to give me quick updates on the drivers status which I appreciated considering we were 3 girls.
Cost us $ 18 total.
I would use these guys again if all else fails but the old mini van could probably use an upgrade. Driver spoke English (for the most part).

The last time I used this service I was over charged. UberX was much cheaper from my house to the same location

Ok — when the guy first pulled up it was SUPER sketchy — it had NO LOGO on it. But the ride was safe and he was super chill, so I really enjoyed it. They came pretty fast (esp at 3 am) AND the car was really clean. And the price was good but I’m not sure how it was calculated considering there was no meter and I didn’t ask on the phone, so. Thanks for the safe nice ride guys!

It was a cold and rainy December Monday night. I had just finished a wonderful dinner/​movie date in Silverlake. And I wanted to head home downtown.
I asked my trusty friend, Unilocal,if there were any good taxis around. It showed me «La Amistad» as one of the top. Ok then, Unilocal,if you say so.
I called them and they said «5 – 10 minutes.» So far so good. I gave my date a kiss goodbye and stepped outside.
I pulled out my phone. It was ringing. But there was no yellow cab outside. The woman on the phone said my cab was there.
Up the street I could see white headlights, but I couldn’t make out the car behind them. The lights approached me. It didn’t look like a Crown Victoria or a Prius. It didn’t look bright yellow, green, or pink.
It was a Corolla – dark blue. There wasn’t a senior foreign man behind the wheel; it was a middle-​aged American woman. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that; just calling out all the deviations I saw). There was no license or meter or photo ID in the car. It was just a regular woman in a regular car.
WTF. I’ve never seen this before in the States. Aren’t taxi cabs regulated? Isn’t this illegal? Isn’t a fixed-​price cab ride always more expensive than a metered one?
As I was walking away in disbelief, I noticed the «Downtown LA — 4» orange sign on an oncoming bus. It was two blocks away. I had to cross Sunset Blvd, but a red light stood between me and my ride home. Oh well, not too many cars at this late hour. Cross.
I hopped on the bus and rode home. While I walked the last half mile, I thought maybe they weren’t so sketchy after all. But better safe than sorry. Taxi cabs are regulated for a reason. And metered is always cheaper!

I will use this service from now on! Quick fast and honest. This past Halloween we were having so much trouble trying to get a regular cab, I even used #taxi and still got nowhere but busy signals and disconnections after long holds. Called Amistad and they were out front in 5 minutes! We loved the service so much that we called them the next night to go out and had the same experience! Ktown — Noho — $ 25 Ktown-​hollywood/​vine — $ 13
Bacardi and cola DO IT.

I don’t know why everyone is so bent out of shape?! I’ve used these guys a few times in Hollywood/​Mid-​City and they are most definitely the best and cheapest! They show up when they say they will (which is always very quick), get me to my destination in a speedy manner, and ALWAYS with a smile. (Smiles are more valuable than anything here in LA to me… thanks guys!) I’ll call you again when I need to fetch my car from the party the night before. ;o)

I had been using La Amistad for years and loved the speedy service at a discounted rate. For years they knew who I was whenever I called. Knew my name and address, until one day. Never again am I going to use them. cI had an issue with a lady who kept giving the wrong address to the driver. I was one hour late to work and very upset. The driver kept blaming the woman who barely spoke english and when he dropped me off he charged me $ 12 to a route that I ALWAYS charged $ 8. First he was one hour late, then had the audacity to charge me $ 4 more than what I normally pay. (I have taken other taxi’s like Yellow, United independent and they all charge me the same) Dont trust this Gypsy taxi service! after I paid i was so angry that i slammed the door and he got out of the car and shouting «FAGGOT» at me in front of everyone in the street. After ripping me off he humiliated me in front of everyone! I called after and talked to the dispatcher and she didnt seem to care and just said that they were suspending this driver. I dont believe it and never riding with these homophobes ever again!

I called for a taxi, the person that answered the phone spoke only Spanish!
While waiting, I had to call 5 times to confirm that they were still coming! They never got here!
I have a bad leg witch I’m rehabbing after surgery… I had to walk two blocks with my girlfriend to find another taxi!
Terrible service!

Gypsy cab indeed! Start with a dispatcher that «no speak Eenglis” – I’m not being a racist, this was, quite literally, the response.
Well, no one’s perfect, including the cab driver who called me back and had enough English to understand my address, if not a lot more. But then when he arrived, and I asked him how much to go to my destination (no meters in gypsy cabs, of course), which was 5.1 miles away, he said «thirty.» As I was getting out of the cab he said, «no, no, twenty, twenty, twenty!»
The official rate, by the way, is «$ 2.85 FLAG DROP OR STARTING AMOUNT ON METER + $ 2.70 PER MILE, which would make the correct rate $ 2.85 plus 5.1 times $ 2.70, or $ 16.62.
You have been warned…

«I scheduled a taxi in the morning, a ‘gypsy cab’, I think they call it»
«What the hell is a gypsy cab?»
«I’m not sure, I think a ‘gypsy cab’ is when they use a civilian car»
«Sounds sketchy, why didn’t you just call some yellow cab company?»
«Because all their reviews suck ass.»
«So this one had good reviews?»
«Yeah, somewhat»
«How many?»
«4. And 3 were positive.»
«Only 4?! Ummmm ooookay»
«Look, we live in a shitty neighborhood, it’s not like they’ll kidnap me and hold me for ransom.»
Here’s the fifth review: Thanks La Amistad Taxi! You were on time, cordial, cheap AND I didn’t wake up in some seedy motel with a roofies hangover, in a tub of ice with my kidney missing OR with my underwear on backwards and my ass bleeding, because well… those incidences are always cumbersome. You’re awesome! Thanks for not being rotten.

Good service… speedy, friendly, and will call upon arrival

We needed to get to a show 10 blocks away at 2:00 pm. I called for a cab at 1:34 and the dispatcher said there would be a car outside in 5 minutes. When he called to say the car was there, we went outside and could not find one. i even looked for an unmarked car like fellow Unilocalers suggested… nothing. So i called the dispathcer again, who was like, «well he was there, but then he left. i’m gonna get you another car. it’ll be there in 5 minutes.
that was frustrating. we would be cutting it close, but it should be ok. so we waited. and waited. 12 minutes later, and it was 1:52. unacceptable. we gave up and drove ourselves. I called to cancel but he kept saying hold please so i don’t know if he even heard me. blerg

I used this service twice, once at 4:30am and the following day 5:30am, they were pleasant and on time but more importantly they were cheap. I went from the Pico Union/​Koreatown area to downtown and it only cost $ 8. It was a gypsy cab, i.e. unmarked, but it was clean and the car was decent. I highly recommend them.

The driver was on-​time and the trip was reasonably priced, so they did fine on the taxi basics. But they certainly have no frills! An unmarked station wagon picked me up with scented trees, icons, and rosaries hanging from the ceiling… plus language barriers made it difficult to communicate pick-​up/​drop-​off locations and directions.

o.m.g. GYPSY cab, and I mean that in the best possible way – got there in 3 minutes when they said 10, knew the esoteric street I was on, didn’t give me a hard time about the massage table I threw in the back, and UNDERCHARGED me! Granted, it’s only one time I’ve used ‘em, but oooo baby, I will use ‘em again!