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Tacos El Gordo
Tacos El Gordo traces back to Tijuana, Mexico, where the original location has operated since the 1970s specializing specifically in Tijuana-style tacos, a format built around finely chopped meats — particularly adobada, a marinated pork distinct from Mexico City-style al pastor — served on small, doubled corn tortillas. The chain's Chula Vista, California location, opened just north of the US-Mexico border, became one of the most nationally cited examples of authentic Tijuana-style street tacos available in the United States, drawing food writers and taco enthusiasts specifically for a format that stays closer to its Baja California origins than most Mexican restaurants further from the border. The restaurant's adobada is prepared on a vertical trompo spit similar to al pastor but with its own distinct marinade and seasoning profile, a specifically Tijuana take on the technique that food writers have repeatedly distinguished from the more widely known Mexico City version found at most American taquerias. For a national tacos list, Tacos El Gordo is the essential "Tijuana style, done at the source" entry — a border-adjacent taqueria serving genuine Baja California-style adobada tacos on doubled corn tortillas, distinct from the more commonly seen al pastor style found elsewhere in the country.
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Guisados
"Guisados" means "stews" in Spanish, and that's exactly what fills the small, hand-pressed corn tortillas at the restaurant of the same name — a format more common on home stoves in Mexico than on American taco menus, built around braised meat and vegetable fillings rather than anything grilled. Armando De La Torre Sr. opened the original Boyle Heights location in 2010 around that idea, encouraging customers to order several small tacos instead of committing to just one — a built-in tasting-menu structure most taquerias don't offer. The fillings rotate through a wide range — cochinita pibil, mole, chicharrón, and vegetarian options like squash blossom all show up regularly — each one built around a slow-cooked stew rather than a quickly grilled protein, which gives the kitchen a very different rhythm than a griddle-and-trompo taco stand. That format rewards ordering a mixed plate rather than committing to a single filling. From the original Boyle Heights location, Guisados has expanded to multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods, including Echo Park, downtown, and Highland Park, while keeping the same small-tortilla, stew-based format at every location — a rare instance of a concept scaling without diluting what made the original distinctive. For a national tacos list, Guisados is the essential "the stewed taco, not the grilled one" entry — small hand-pressed corn tortillas piled with slow-braised fillings, built specifically to be ordered five different ways on the same plate.
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