Tacos Por Favor is a Loveable West Side Institution

Tacos Por Favor

Buying this month’s issue of Los Angeles Magazine just shot to the top of my to-do list! It features The Ultimate Guide to Mexican Food in L.A., and from the sound of things it’s not a completely whitewashed list either.  They enlisted Mexican food hype man Bill Esparza (from the website Street Gourmet L.A.) for a number of the features, ensuring that it will be immune to criticism from hyper critical bloggers and food writers.  Only bits and pieces of the guide are online (LAMag still believes they can get people to buy magazines!) but I think it’s pretty safe to say that Tacos Por Favor, the popular Santa Monica lunch spot on Olympic, probably didn’t make the list.

But after four different profiled Lunchers mentioned it, I thought it might be time to check the place out.

Tacos Por Favor

The menu at Tacos Por Favor is pretty standard, and while I’m still in the beginning phases of learning the different regions of Mexican cuisine, I think it’s safe to say that places like this are best described as being from the region of Los Angeles.  They do “soft” tacos, and hard tacos (natch), plus burritos, quesadillas, sopes, and tortas.  There are also combo plates and specials, as well as aguas frescas (watermelon and horchata being the standards).

Tacos Por Favor

My heart cries a little bit when I see Mexican restaurants touting their menu as “healthy” or lard-less, and there is no justification for not serving lengua (or cabeza), but there is still a lot to like about Tacos por Favor.

Tacos Por Favor

In a matter of 3 weeks both Lunch’er Cristine and Lunch’er Steven recommended their spinach burrito, so as crazy as it felt to say the words I ordered the spinach burrito.

Tacos Por Favor

It wasn’t as much a spinach burrito as it was a regular meat less burrito (rice, black beans, pico, salsa, and guac) with a little bit of raw spinach added at the end.  I can’t imagine a world where anything green and/or leafy would be a suitable replacement for… say… carnitas, but the spinach was a nice change.  And for $4.85 it was a nice size, and the kind of burrito you could probably eat a couple of times a week and not think twice about it- although admittedly we might have made a mistake.  For 14 cents more we could have ordered the spinach BREAKFAST burrito.  What’s better than breakfast for lunch!?

Tacos Por Favor

I also wanted to try the tacos, which turned out to be a decent size for $2.15.  I had heard chorizo and cheese (shredded mozzarella?)  were one of their popular specialties, and it didn’t disappoint.  The big chunks were nice, and the whole thing had a great kick.   I also wanted to try their mole, which they’ll serve over a chicken taco- even though it’s not on the menu.  It was fine, although some aficionados might complain that it’s too sweet and not complex enough.

Tacos Por Favor
Apparently there is no difference between a cemita & a torta?

The real star of the show, though, was their cemita poblana- which Lunch’er Steven described as being like a torta, but way better.  It’s not actually on the regular printed menu, but if you look close it is listed above the kitchen window.

Tacos Por Favor

I don’t have a ton of experience with cemitas, but from what I understand they are from puebla (unlike tortas which are a specialty of Mexico City?) and are distinguished by their sesame seed roll.  I haven’t tried the torta at Tacos Por Favor, but I saw one on a table and if you just go by the look of the bread- this bad boy is the clear winner.

Inside the slightly chewy but perfectly soft roll goes meat (I went with carnitas), cheese (panela?), red onions, and avocado.   It was a bit dry overall (they don’t add any sauce or pickled peppers) but the gigantic chunks of carnitas were great, and they put what felt like an entire avocado on the sandwich.  I don’t know how authentic a version of the sandwich this is, but the bread alone made it better than most tortas I’ve ever had.  (Aka, I was a fan.)

So… should anybody be insulted that TPF was not included in Los Angeles Magazine’s Guide to Mexican Food in L.A.?  Uh, no.  I would never tell anybody to drive across the city for Tacos Por Favor… but if I worked in the area, I’d be all over that cemita- with occasional healthier interludes courtesy of that spinach burrito (just don’t tell the carnitas or lengua or cabeza that I said that!)

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • I don’t care about authentic regional cuisine of Mexico.  I just work on the west side and want a burrito I could eat every day without feeling super gross afterwards
  • The bread they use on that cemita is really great.  (You might say the secret ingredient is butter!)
  • I love avocado, and they put a ton on their sandwiches
  • Hello giant hunks of carnitas
  • The chorizo and cheese is the way to go!  Love it.

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • Healthy!? No lard!?  No thanks!
  • L.A. has way to much amazing Mexican food to waste your time with these generic places
  • How do you not have lengua or cabeza!  It’s an embarrassment.
  • I prefer string cheese on my cemita.  And beef milanese.  That’s not an “authentic” cemita!
  • The cemita should also have pickled peppers too.  And salsa.  I hate doing everything myself.

Tacos Por Favor, 1408 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica 310-392-5768

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