Mexican Restaurants Los Angeles

For Mexican restaurants Los Angeles is hard to beat. Given the size of the city, the large population of Mexicans and other latinos in the population, and the proximity to Mexico, it is not surprising that there are a huge number of Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles to choose from. But that doesn't mean they are all good!

One of the problems when trying to find the gems, with delicious, traditional Mexican cuisine, is that looks are not always what they seem. Many of the best look crummy or just inconspicuous from the outside, but the food is glorious on the inside. Others look flashy and are always crowded, but the food pales.

For starters, there are dozens of simple, American-ized Mexican restaurants which are quite popular, presumably because of the fun atmosphere and the flowing margaritas. While the food at some isn't necesarily bad, most is just a bit watered-down, bland and homogenous. The most widespread examples include places like Acapulco and El Torito Grill. Others, like El Cholo and El Coyote, have quite a local following but the food is not much better.

We strongly prefer places that are more family-run and authentic. We can excuse a bad atmosphere if the food is great. We don't miss the ubiquitous margaritas and sides of beans and cheese as long as there is plenty of traditionally made food to satisfy our picky palates. Below are some of our favorite Mexican restaurants Los Angeles has to offer. We'll try to keep more coming as there are a lot of good ones out there!

Yuca's Taco Stand is a tiny shack, located in a parking lot in the trendy Los Feliz neighborhood. But don't be fooled, this family-run business churns out some of the most delicious tacos in the LA area.

Bring cash and sit outside on the little tables and scarf down a bunch of these little treats, made with four different traditional Mexican meat recipes including carne asada, machaca, carnitas and cochinita pibil. More...

Taqueria El Tapatio #1 - Another absolute favorite of ours hails from Woodland Hills. This one is hidden in a strip mall and serves up some of the best pastor (spiced pork) tacos, sopes and burritos. The nachos are amazing too. Oh yeah and not to mention the carne asada. It is all scrumptious and authentic grubby Mexican food you'll come to love.

You order at the counter and find a seat. By the way, they have Mexican coca-cola and other bottled drinks that are made with sugar, not corn syrup. Huge bonus! More...

El Abajeno - One of our favorite mexican restaurants in los angeles, El Abajeno is traditional and cheap, serving huge portions of Mexican classics.

Test your stamina with the gargantuan El Abajeno burrito or try a traditional favorite like menudo... its all good. Its in Culver City, off of Culver Blvd. where you might not think to look for an awesome Mexican restaurant, but this is definitely one of our favorite restaurants in LA. More...

El Patio Drive-In #2 - Yeah, okay so this place is in Anaheim. It still makes the list! Why? Because half the people in there drive all the way from Los Angeles just to get a burrito. So it is still an LA Mexican joint, even though it it technically in Orange County.

Don't let the name fool you, it isn't a drive-in at all so you do have to get out of your car which is a bummer on hot or rainy days. I miss drive-ins. Anyway, a wet burrito with all the fixings will make it all better. More...