LA Weekly Tacolandia

THIRD ANNUAL TACO THROWDOWN!!!
BACKGROUND:
Los Angeles is undoubtedly the taco capital of the United States, a magical city where mounds of marinated meat cradled in warm tortillas are available around the clock in every imaginable style. If you wish you could dive mouth-​first into a sea of taco-​ready pastor (or grilled vegetables, whatevs), then L.A. Weekly’s Tacolandia festival on June 6 will make your taco dreams come true. [LA WEEKLY]
STATS:
Single Day Only: 3:00 pm — 8:00 pm
21+ event
GA $ 35.00
VIP $ 55.00-limited number of tickets
Minimal street parking
Lot parking
Shuttles available from select locations
EXPERIENCE;
This event had been on the discussion table between a fellow Unilocaler and me for months. Good thing, this event sells out rapidly. And for good reason. For the entrance fee, attendees got five full hours of taco pleasure from over 80 of the world’s best taquerias, including sneak peaks of soon to open establishments. The tummy stuffin’ doesn’t start and end with just tacos, this event offers up tasty beverages, alcoholic and nonalcoholic, ice cream, arts and craft vendors, and many many more.
This was my first time attending the Tacolandia Festival and I found it to be fairly well planned out. Sure, there’s room for improvement, just as there’s next year. This is what I learned on this go around:
–AVOID TRAFFREAK. Made the right choice to use public transportation. Tacolandia takes place directly across the street from Union Station, the dumping and picking up ground for all metro lines.
–CASUALLY LATE IS TOO LATE. «Gates» open at 3 p.m. Line starts much earlier. I arrived about 2:30ish and the line was already about a block long.
–SHARING IS CARING. Best to attend with a small group and share. By doing so, each person can stand in a different line, get taco sample, and share with the rest of the group. As Unilocalers, we are professional eaters, all that is really needed to sample these tacos is one bite.
–WHERE’S THE BEEF?! Keep in mind, most vendors offer beef tacos. There were very few that offered veggie, chicken, or the other white meat.
–THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER. The event goes until 3, however, many taco vendors ran out of supplies well before, so pace yourself and try to save the non-​taco vendors for the afta party.
By the end of the event, we were over stuffed tacos waddling through the streets of LA, seeking a nice quiet place to allow food coma to set in.
Review 98 Unilocal 100+ Challenge 2015
#tacolandia #laweekly

TACOLANDIA was absolutely amazing. If anyone has ever pondered of what taco heaven would feel like… everyone at this taco festival definitely experienced it.
Tacos are small and bite-​sized and are absolutely delicious. If the world were to end tomorrow, tacos would definitely be on my list of items to eat before the end of the world. Soo, let me begin my pitch and highlight recalls:
–VIP is a must! The line is shorter and the lines entry is much smoother. In addition, you get a handful of drink tickets (for beer), a cool gift bag that includes OC FAIR tickets, and a variety of alcoholic free samples! Its only about $ 30 -$ 40 extra?
–getting to this event early is almost a must! Parking can be tough around this area
–there was over 80 different taquerias?
–the event is AYCE!
–I love tacos!
–So many different tacos to choose from! street tacos, gourmet tacos, chorizo, chicharron, carne asada, al pastor, seafood, lengua, a variety of tasty salsas, scorpion pepper salsa, ghost pepper salsa, beers, cocktails, quesadillas, etc… Yah you get my point
–the lines at most of the stands were average
–you will definitely food coma, I had trouble driving home because I was so full and I definitely got my moneys worth
The event was a total success! What makes this food festival so great is the fact that tacos are very easy to assemble and prep. Like other food festivals, some dishes require a lot of effort and time to prep, which eventually leads to a long line of hungry and anxious customers. NOT HERE! The setup is simple, tortilla (some were handmade), protein, and garnishes. EZ! Of course the longest lines were for the best vendors, but that was expected anyways.
If you are a taco fan or lover… this is a MUST GO TO!
Thank you LA WEEKLY and thank you TACOLANDIA! I cant wait for next year!
UNTIL THEN! ^-^

This seems to be well-​organized event, because I got to eat almost 16 tacos from 15 different stands. Initially, my friend informed me that last year the wait was horrible and many stands ran out of food quickly. Not so this year, the best tacos that I think was out of this world was «La Guerrense» from Ensenada Mexico, it was refreshing with crab and scallop on top of the crispy taco shell, topped with Avocado with your selection of how spicy you could handle. We would love a second round but they ran out, oh well… Time to go to Ensenada for me!!!

Awesome concept that, in my opinion, has gotten too big. After waiting in a huge line to get in, I found lines too long to sample tacos. Also, about ¹⁄₃ of the stands ran out of food after 2 hours. It’s a 5 hour event. Also, I’ve been to all three tacolandia events and personally I think the first one went best because of the low amount of people they let in. But I’m sure selling out three years it’s a rousing success. Just sell less tickets, cut the restaurants in half and the ones that do show up should be prepared to serve for the whole event.
Otherwise a well run event that has gotten too big for it own good. I believe my affair with tacolandia is over.

First time attending Tacolandria. I only got the general admission ticket. What’s the point in purchasing the VIP ticket if you don’t get early access to the event. I really enjoyed the vendors from Mexico and their tacos were great. On the negative side, the event is too big and the lines are massive to sample one taco. Someone told me 4,000 tickets were sold, this is ridiculous. I don’t know if I will attend next year.

My second year attending Tacolandia. I thought this year was much improved from last year. They still need to work on the beer selection (montejo & bud light) and many of the taquerias ran out of food half way through the event which is unacceptable.
Otherwise, it was very easy to find a bathroom and get a beer. The array and quality of tacos, will not be found anywhere else but at Tacolandia, so if you you are a fan of the taco, this event will not disappoint.
Some of my favorites included, the La Guerrense Seafood tostadas (not tacos BTW), were amazing and you did not have to make the trek to Ensenada. The pork puffy taco from bar Ama was fantastic. Crunchy chicharon with great carnitas, tasty creamy salsa roja and salsa verde, all rolled up in their signature puffy tortilla. Those two dishes alone made it worth coming.

Amazing event as always!
The best taqueros don’t have lines every year. You just had to do the research and you will have your fill.
I have been attending since the event launched three years ago. I’ve seen it get bigger and bigger every year. The first year was best because it was still «undiscovered.» Hardly any lines.
No complaints because I got there at 2:30 pm and stuffed myself silly of gourmet tacos. No wait if you get there early. There are more taqueros now, so I had a plan of attack or my own taco eating strategy.
I go straight to the back because it is less crowded and eat tacos from those from Mexico and work my way up to LA. I avoid all local places from the start and save those for last.
I am not sure why people fall in line for Kogi when you can get that any time. Perfect example of the lack of thought people put into this experience. Why not hit up the the taqueros from Mexico without any lines?
By the time the they ran out of tacos, I was so full.
I can’t wait for next year!!!
TIP: Read Bill Esparza’s blog, StreetGourmetLA, and his articles in LA Magazine for some insight for next year or some taco exploring on your own. He curates Tacolandia and I find it helpful in discovering the best tacos all over town and Mexico. Also, I highly recommend taking a Club Tengo Hambre tour. Bill was my tour guide when I did their «craft beer and taco» tour in Tijuana.

I bought VIP tickets to this years event, and they were advertised to grant early access to the event. This benefit was retracted after I bought the tickets and I feel cheated.
When this was pointed out, their response was to send a link with a description of the VIP ticket features which of course didn’t include early entry since it was changed after the fact. Total sham, and no resolution or effort to remedy the situation.

First Time attendee and was so excited to attend and was a little disappointed.
The event was oversold, a good number of vendors folded early, long long long lines, the bar set up was not thought through… more on that later. The Tequila garden was weak and gimmicky, Mangrita, really? something you would not expect in LA and from LA Weekly… kind of a sell out.
The greatness of the event boiled down to a handful of vendors — two of the best Jalisco Mariscos and Guerrilla Tacos! the later just to watch an extremely arrogant chef shave truffles on tacos and prepare food at a post office pace… he is the real deal and was worth the wait and I think one of the first to fold.
Allot of our crew were also raving about the smelt tacos…
Bull Penis tacos and the Spearmint Rhino booths were two low points unless you are into that kind of thing… no judging. The booths should have been contiguous.
The bars were really really slow with long lines albeit good (short) drinks. A few suggestions, how about a beer only bar! How about a VIP bar! The bartenders were great but the offering should be limited to one choice of margarita, beer or wine, appreciate their skill but not the right venue for mixology. That could help expedite the long lines.
I get you do not want to slaughter the crowd with alcohol but come on now.
Not allot of places to sit in the shade, a few easy ups with seating? Allot of folks hanging on the pavement grasping at shade. Did I say long lines?
I do not think I will attend next year, my recommendation is to pack a cooler of refreshments, hire a driver or get a DD and do a legitimate taco tour of LA.

2^nd annual LA Weekly Tacolandia festival was a big success in my book. The only downside were the super long and slow lines at the cocktail bars throughout the festival. And the fact that they stopped serving alcohol at 6:30p while the festival ended at 7p and it was not disclosed ahead of time.
The quality and variety of the offerings were worthwhile with La Guerrerense from Ensenada featuring her tasty salsas and making seafood tostadas that were delicious. Javier Plascencia’s group made some delicious birria tacos and so many more worth mentioning as well.
Here’s a tip: purchase the VIP/​Preferred tix — it came with 5 drink vouchers (cocktails were $ 8 each) and the line to get in was much shorter than the GA tickets. Well worth the extra cost. That is probably another bone of contention, is the long lines to get into the festival, especially for GA attendees.
Overall, the vendors brought it, the organizers need to bring it and I’m looking forward to next year.

unlimited tacos, Jarritos and giveaways for $ 20?! ANNNND Mariachis??? WHAT?! HOW?! who cares, sign me up! Tacolandia was my ultimate foodie fantasy brought to life. I was drooling like a baby as i walked in and preggers with a food baby walking out. Tacos tacos everywhere! The vendors were so friendly and offered generous portions of fantastic tacos & treats. The Jarritos truck was a hit! fully stocked with ice cold Jarritos for all! Leo’s taco truck & the Turbo taco truck had the best tacos in my opinion. I met so many great people here and we even had a few celebs in our midsts! I cant wait to come back next year, the only downside was that this event had to come to an end. Sad face.

What a fantastic LA event! Kudos to LA Weekly for hosting such a well organized and delicioso gathering of taco lovers everywhere, this being their first time and all. A few dozen restaurants, individual chefs and food trucks came out to present their prize offerings and wow, they did not disappoint. This was one of the absolute best food comas I’ve had and I’m getting strategic next year in regards to how many tacos I can pack into my unrelenting gut. It was that good.
Notable establishments worth mentioning over and over again? Leo’s Taco Truck for their amazing pastor, now that’s how you make it! Mariscos Jalisco for their incredibly pretty and savory shrimp tacos, you won’t taste anything like it. I like that they were hanging outside their truck chatting it up with everyone in line (and it was a long line at that). The meat on the Arabian tacos were something else, spicy and sweet all at once, very good stuff. Mo-Chica’s chicharron tacos were out of this world — buttery, crunchy and packed full of flavor, it was magical. Of course, I can’t forget the lifesaver that was the Jarritos truck, handing out all of their overly sugary libations. Mexican Cola is some serious sh*t, my friends. There has got to be something more potent in that 12-​ounce glass bottle.
The mariachi band came on at about 3 PM and Dita Von Teese worked her way to the front of the crowd and danced with a couple of ass kissers. She was, of course, ever the goddess. And oh, there was a Tequila garden where you could get your more choice libations so that was nice. LA Weekly made these cool, compact pocket guides too, so you had all of the information at your fingertips. Again, such a well planned event. You know I’m coming back for more and I’m spreading the word far and wide. 2014 is on!