The Bellevue Steakhouse

I had no idea that this taco stand was in a guy’s garage, but it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. My wife and I came here after a few drinks and it was perfect. I had three tacos — carne asada, al pastor, and beef cheek (my first ever) — and they were seriously some of the very best tacos in the world. I grew up in San Francisco, and have taken several extensive trips through Mexico and Central America, so my taco taste is probably more legit than your average white dude, in case you’re curious. My wife agreed, and I actually had three more — six total. We sat down on some folding chairs in the garage there with this guy’s family and had such a great time. Everyone was so nice and made us feel at home. One of my favorite LA dining experiences.

I was not impressed. The tacos had a lot of fat and they were greasy. Don’t be fool by the pictures.

Favorite taco place. Their suadero meat is a must and bursting with flavor, their avocado sauce is amazing, and the quesadilla is packed and filling. For the price of $ 1.25/taco, it’s so tempting to get this instead of cooking a meal.

Yep this place is where it’s at! Incredible street food and casual vibe. I’m a sucker for authentic Mexican… I’ll definitely be back!

Rating: ⁶⁷⁄₁₀₀ pts
Bellevue Steakhouse: the name is 2/​3rds accurate.
Yes, it is on Bellevue Avenue.
No, they do not serve Steak.
It is indeed a House. Like, literally, it’s just some dude’s house.
Semantics aside, let’s get to the point: they make some darn good tacos here, for cheap!
They have your standard taco meats to choose from (Suadero, Chorizo, Pastor, etc), all an easy $ 1.25 each and served atop a grilled-​to-​order double layer tortilla. The meat is fairly good quality for the price, the only problem I found being that some overly-​well-​done pieces were indiscriminately mixed in, producing an unbalanced consistency throughout – but for $ 1.25, this is tough to complain about.
Venturing deeper into the garage past the children asleep on strollers, you find a makeshift salsa bar. The salsas and chopped taco fixings were all particularly good, and tactfully chilled and kept fresh in a large ice bin.
The chef was jovial and friendly, and had a great sense of humor. As he was grilling up our tortillas, I casually asked where he was from. He retorted «England”*.
*He was not actually from England.
Open till 1am on Fridays — Sundays, Bellevue Steakhouse is perfect for those late-​night weekend taco runs, and is definitely one of the better options for tacos at this time of night. I for one am glad they’re here, and I recommend stopping by when hungry or to conclude a night of taco hopping (as I did) around the Silver Lake area.

I just ate some if not the best al pastor tacos of my life and chase them down with two of what could be considered the worlds best carne asada tacos.
I know what your thinking;
«You don’t know what im thinking»
To which I say «that’s not what I mean»
I mean to say I know your thinking there are a million places to get a great cheap and delicious taco at a Health rating I’m willing to put up with. And what im saying is this is that spot, you just haven’t been here.
$ 1.25 for the tacos, in this awesome block over looking downtown, tacos are handed to you fresh off the grill and he a selection of sauces that were like both I’ve ever tasted before.
One smokey, a fresh herbaly one, a yellow one rich yet tart and a roast your face one.
Seriously I eat over 10 tacos a week at any new shack I can find and these guys and gals here blew me away with the whole experience.
I’m going back to eat more now…

Now located in a garage (next to or part of the local church I think?) Bellevue has continued to be one of the best taco stands in the area. Their braised meats are the best — but really everything is amazing. They’re also funny & cool peeps with a great attitude. Love them!!!

If you go, try the suavero (marinated beef) quesadilla.

Best tacos in the world. If you haven’t tried them .You really have to go… They have the best quality of meat, tortillas, flavored waters such as horchata, Jamaica, tamarindo, sodas. Best place ever. Very cheap too. The street vendors are amazing…

As we drove down Bellevue Avenue, we passed by a patrol car making an arrest stop. Were we in the right neighborhood? I couldn’t really imagine a steakhouse located in such a residential area. Then we saw a light on the left. A dimly-​lit garage. That seems pretty safe, right?
La Movidita, or affectionately known as The Bellevue Steakhouse to locals, boasts some of the best tacos on the East side. Meat offerings include carne asada, al pastor, chorizo, cabeza, and suadero. The tacos are small, but they’re packed with meat. Optional toppings including cilantro, onions, salsa, radish, and lime are self-​serve. The only knock on the steakhouse is the store bought tortillas. Tacos were $ 1.25 each while a cheesy quesadilla with meat at $ 3.
Overall, it was greasy taco goodness. Classiest taco steakhouse east of the 101.

The BF was hungry at 6pm, but I wasn’t hungry. He got three carne asada tacos. He thought they were good and a great deal. The people were nice, but confusing of how to order as there were people standing outside and eating and headed back into the garage to get more to eat without paying. Maybe they have tabs?
It is next to the church and they’re open late. There was a sign in the street, but it did not say Bellevue Steakhouse. However, you can tell you’re at the right spot… unless we stopped by a house party and paid them. lol.
Hopefully, I get to try it next time we’re in LA.

I made the original Unilocal review for this place just over 5 years ago for fun (I’ll paste it below).
Well, I find it very, very strange and hilarious that my nickname for this wonderful and ambitious taco stand took on a life of its own — and was even unofficially adopted by the lovely proprietors of «La Movidita». I first noticed this when I saw a blog post on The Eastsider LA that featured a photo of this taco stand with a spray painted sign reading «BELLEVUE STEAKHOUSE».
Since I no longer live up the street, I haven’t been able to visit in a long time. The other Saturday night, however, I was hosting a pair of Hungarians who had never been to the beautiful City of LA before and I decided to visit the old neighborhood. I insisted that they have their first taco of their lives at Bellevue Steakhouse.
Sadly, the stand wasn’t at its usual spot!
A little puzzled, I drove further east down Bellevue toward East Edgeware so that I could show my guests the houses on Carroll Ave. Before I could reach East Edgeware, however, I noticed an interesting sight: a well-​lit and open garage with two trash cans set up outside. Could it be?
I pulled over and sure enough, I recognized the same friendly faces and even a little «LA MOVIDITA» sign! The dream of Bellevue Steakhouse is still alive!
I told the owners about my guests and how we couldn’t find them, etc. Apparently they had to move about a month ago and now they have a cozy spot inside a garage.
They were shutting down on a low-​key Saturday night (maybe because everyone was taking it easy before Mothers’ Day?) and we got their last tacos of the night. Their Al Pastor tacos were magnificent and my Hungarian friend thought his very first taco was great. His wife is a vegetarian so she soaked in the atmosphere and took pictures of Downtown.
The location is different, but the friendly, upbeat, even family-​like atmosphere that our intrepid hosts at La Movidita created lives on.
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Original review from 2÷22÷2009:
These guys actually call themselves «La Movidita». However, we see their deluxe lighting and general arrangement and call them «Bellevue Steakhouse»
The tacos are great, but really, I go there for the guys who run it. They are funny as hell. They are amazingly funny in Spanish, but they’re pretty good at making jokes in English, too. The folks at Bellevue Steakhouse work hard and really know how to have a good time.
I love their ambition and I wish them luck in the future.

These are fine tacos but nothing to jump up and down about. Inexpensive. Reasonably tasty. Not worth driving more than 5 minutes for.
For context, La Estrella in Highland Park is my benchmark.

These are the best tacos I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Flavorful meat, flavorful salsa, no other tacos compare. So so so so freaking unbelievably good!

Best tacos I’ve ever had. Tons of meat for $ 1.25 a taco. In my opinion their best meat is suadero. All of their meats are pretty tasty though. I am also fond of their buche. Four different types of salsa and onions.
Can’t beat this place. Too bad they’re only there during the weekends.

A sidewalk stand around the corner from Echo Park serving up cheap tacos and quesadillas. I thought, «Great name.»
This gringo was craving tacos one day, like, a lot of tacos. In the running for the hottest day of the year, eating outside seemed like a great plan, but the sun had gone down enough that Echo Park was just perfect and sitting outside finally seemed like a fine respite from the stuck indoors itinerary with a soundtrack of the hum of the AC that had come before.
The cook pointed out the different meat laid out on the cooktop in front of him — and I just started pointing whatever looked good and demanding tacos ($ 1.25!) and quesadillas ($ 3) with wild abandon.
A lot looked good.
There was a pile of chorizo, some cheek stewing, asada and the usual suspects (though no carnitas) and some other things I didn’t catch the name of and was more likely to order it if I didn’t know which part of the animal it came from. He handed me the food as it was done and directed me to the right.
Even this gringo knows what the orange pepper is. He also doesn’t think it’s a meal without a lime, some radish, and at least two kinds of salsa. This place obliges. Onions, cliantro, red, green, the gangs all here. And I have to say, that salsa verde is especially delicious.

Hipsters need not apply. Foodies stay away. Food critics ala Anthony Bourdain etc, stay out of here. This place is the bomb diggity, its ghetto, «dirty», cheap, authentic, and just fucking delicious.
Order whatever steak taco you want. Order 3, 4, 5 who cares because its under $ 2 a taco. Get the food from the really nice guys making nothing but awesome meats. Top it off with a variety of salsa and veggies (go for the marinated onions) that are in plastic paint/​mayo tubs. Yeah, if you aren’t a risky eater, go down the street to El Cholo because you might risk your precious insides if you can’t eat street food. Pay. Pass out.
Had pork and 2 steaks. Delicious, smokey, crispy, and piled high of meat. Next time, I’m going «todo carne», nothing but meat. Cover it in marinated onions and the «house» hot salsa (delicious and on fire). Little squirt of lime. Close eyes. LEGIT.

I have never seen a sign, marking this taco stand as either La Movidita or the Bellevue Steakhouse. Whatever this stand is called, it’s excellent. I walk over here about once per weekend and they’ve never let me down.
The chorizo, pastor, and asada are all good. The pastor is not on a spit, but it’s decent. The real hot ticket here, though, is the suadero (that’s Mexican brisket, for all you gueros.) The suadero’s cooked well and has lots of flavor; it’s meaty and rich and absolutely delicious.
I come here enough that they recognize me and always say hi. They offer four different types of salsa: a grilled one, a green one, a red one, and an avocado one. The onions and cilantro are in separate containers, which I always like because it allows you to add more of whichever you prefer (I tend to like a little more cilantro than onions.) They also offer pickled onions with chopped habaneros in them, which are my fave! All of these little things, I consider bonus points. It’s always a bummer when a taco stand has great meat but lousy condiments.
I even took my mom here, and even she fell in love with the suadero! Five stars, all around. I wish they set up every night.

I was looking for their make-​shift food stand when I saw the truck. Good for them!
Anyway, now that it’s pretty much official, maybe this Bellevue Steakhouse thing will be put to rest? Or maybe they’ll add it to the truck’s insignia? We’ll see.
I ordered 4 tacos — 2 chorizo and 2 of suadero (brisket). The tacos are handed to you naked — just doubled-​up tortillas piled up with with a lot of meat and a crisp deep fried tostada.
That’s when the fun begins at the salsa bar. Here, they offer cilantro, pickled onion, lime, radish, a loose avocado salsa, tomatillo salsa, a tomato based salsa and a roasted dry chile and tomatillo salsa.
These tacos are fanstastic. Just looking at the photograph is making me crave them again. These guys are known for their suadero but my favorite was the chorizo. Another thing that stood out to me was that they didn’t skimp out on the meat. Now these, are tacos done right. I’ll be back to try more.

Still Cruzin’ Echo Park looking for this lady
should you spot her PLEASE report her whereabouts to Pancho…
Meanwhile I’m out to prove Tacos Arizas ain’t the best tacos in Echo Park when I remember a fellow Unilocaler
messaged me to check this place out, trusting his good taste in Authentic Mexican Tacos I had to see what this place is all about.
La Movidita is their official name but seems that Unilocalers have dubbed them as The Bellevue Steakhouse
Just a few feet away from the Echo Park exit off the 101 Frwy you’ll find La Movidita aka The Bellevue Steakhouse set up under a blue canopy with the aroma of grilled meats filling the air.
El Jefe and manning the grill is Juan Carlos Mora aka «Carlos» who will soon replace this Street set up and will have a Taco Truck in the same location, so be on the lookout for a truck named La Movidita and come check them out!
TACOS:
Suadero —
Some of the best saudero I’ve had these tacos are legit
5-​Stars
Buche y Al Pastor —
Buche —
I always ask for my buche bien dorado frito, which means cook it til it’s nice and crispy… Carlos knows what’s up that’s how they automatically prepare the buche, crunch, crunch, crunch it was so good! 5-​Stars
Al Pastor —
No trompo here, hopefully on the truck when they get it… I thought it was good but not great, the little pieces of caramelized onions were a nice touch. 4-​Stars
Quesadille con Carne asada —
A nice large tortilla filled with plenty of cheese and carne asada
that was lean, tender and very flavorful! 4.5-Stars
SALAS:
Real nice salsa bar!, not just spicy but nice flavor!
Yeah I’ll be back real soon!, meanwhile still looking for the Qaxacan Quesadilla Cart LADY…