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True foodies want to know who makes the best tamales in town. Who has their own tortilleria, making the flour and corn staples right before your very eyes? Whose hot sauce provides the most flavor? Who has the best selection of tequila? Who makes their margaritas fresh? All these questions are Mexican food for thought. Presented in alphabetical order, here are the top ten Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles.
True foodies want to know who makes the best tamales in town. Who has their own tortilleria, making the flour and corn staples right before your very eyes? W... more
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1
Antonio's
7470 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90046 / 323-655-0480
Since 1970, Antonio's has been one of L.A.'s most popular Mexican eateries, in part because of its warm hospitality and colorful surroundings. The menu veers away from the usual enchiladas and tacos and instead offers specialties from Mexico's diverse regions. Featured dishes from Mexico City include Tuesday-only spare ribs sautéed in a potent chile and herb sauce and Thursday-only cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef, chorizo and herbs, “graced” with a smoky chipotle sauce. Explore the cuisine of Monterrey with cubed pork leg in a tangy chile verde, or Hamburguesa Hacienda---ground sirloin with green pepper, onions, coriander and a “whisper” of garlic.
2
Border Grill
1445 Fourth St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 / 310-451-1655
Experiencing the Latin-spiced cuisine of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, formerly Food Network's Too Hot Tamales, has become an L.A. tradition. Like the magnetic personalities they have always displayed, their flagship spot (Ciudad is their downtown Los Angeles gem and there’s a Border Grill in Las Vegas) is raucous, funky and intensely colorful. This is no taco stand or little Mexican joint on the corner but one of the country's top Latin restaurants. Based on the duo's travels---and creativity---you'll find sophisticated dinner entrées such as the adobo pork chop with an apple-tamarind sauce and grilled salmon with tomato-herb salsa. However, we've been disappointed with the cochinita pibil, a surprisingly weak rendition of the Yucatan classic. For starters, the various ceviches, empanadas and wild mushroom quesadilla are terrific, and you can continue grazing---and saving money---on a selection of small plates: green corn tamales, black-bean-stuffed panuchos and griddled tacos filled with everything from potato and rajas to roasted lamb. But, beware, bring a pair of earplugs if you hate noisy restaurants.
3
El Cholo
1121 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006 / 323-734-2773
El Cholo has been around since 1927 and it’s still great fun. Many customers---legions of U.S.C. students among them---come here for the incredible margaritas (the restaurant serves over 1,000 a day and is the world’s largest consumer of Cuervo 1800 tequila). But the always-festive atmosphere is also a draw, as is the reasonably good food, although it may not live up to the quality of those legendary margaritas. Favorites include chicken breast in flour tortillas with guacamole and zucchini, salsa verde crab enchiladas, Sonora-style enchilada topped with a fried egg, and the kitchen’s famous homemade green corn tamales from June to September. Also located at 1025 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, 310-899-1106; and 958 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, 626-441-4353.
4
El Coyote
7312 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 / 323-939-2255
On March 5, 1931, Blanche March and husband George opened El Coyote at La Brea and 1st Street. The L.A. institution now occupies a 375-seat space in the middle of Beverly Boulevard’s restaurant row. The casual Mexican café is an Angeleno right of passage due to its south of the border prices, fiesta-like atmosphere and strong margaritas. The menu is filled with good values, especially the Coyote Combos: enchiladas, tacos, chiles rellenos and tamales. Most items are available with beef, chicken or ostrich meat. That’s right, ostrich. Specials are carnitas, fajitas and the Enchilada Howard, named for the restaurant’s first regular, a cheese enchilada covered with chile con carne. For dessert, the choice is simple: ice cream, sherbet or flan.
5
Frida Mexican Cuisine
236 S. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212 / 310-278-7666
Beverly Drive is dotted with its fair share of recognizable restaurant chains, yet Frida Mexican Cuisine blends in nicely with sidewalk-to-awning plate glass windows and neatly-set, white linen covered outdoor tables. Good chips arrive promptly with three addictive dips. Frida’s menu touts its healthy take on traditional Mexican cuisine. For lunch, try the burrito stuffed with grilled chicken, rice and beans laced with sour cream. Dinner finds chicken simmered in pumpkin seed sauce, mahi mahi in lemon-garlic butter, and prawns in an orange-tequila sauce. Service anticipates well, and is helpful with suggestions and questions. There’s a compact list of wines by-the-glass or bottle. Desserts include flan and tres leches cake, but it’s more fun to grab from the small baskets of Mexican candy offered on your way out.
6
La Casita Mexicana
4030 E. Gage Ave., Bell, CA 90201 / 323-773-1898
When Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu debuted La Casita Mexicana in a forgotten corner of South L.A. in 1999, their affordable, seasonal Mexican food was well received. Spanish tiles and stained glass windows create the facade of a casita, or little house. Walls are brilliant orange and blue. Complimentary tortilla chips come drizzled with three uniquely flavorful moles: burgundy-hued poblano; pepian verde, made with Serrano chilies; and burnt-orange pepian rojo. Start with queso Azteco, plantain leaves containing a slab of four Mexican cheeses, poblanos, nopales (cactus strips) and mushrooms. Top entrées include roasted poblano peppers stuffed with ground meat, dried fruits, walnuts and candied cactus, topped with pecan-cream sauce and pomegranate seeds. Previously, La Casita Mexicana only offered fish during Lent. Thankfully, del Campo and Arvizu have added fish to the regular menu. Flaky adobo-spiced sea bass filet is especially satisfying, steamed in cornhusks with nopales. Entrées come with the soup of the day, which could be cream of chicharrones or tortilla soup with herbs and shredded cheese. Semi-sweet lemonade contains tiny glutinous chia seeds, which add texture. Desserts include fresh guava drizzled with eggnog and a fried tortilla purse filled with rice pudding and smothered with pecan-cream sauce.
7
La Serenata de Garibaldi
1842 E. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90033 / 323-265-2887
Jose Rodriguez and wife Aurora opened this authentic Mexican restaurant in 1985, naming their Boyle Heights establishment for the Spanish expression for “serenade.” Word spread once downtown lawyers and government workers made La Serenata a top lunch option. The Rodriguez clan opened two Westside branches, but the Eastside original remains the flagship. Jose Rodriguez is known as the “Maestro de Salsas,” offering more than 30 varieties of chile sauce. Basic dishes like fish tacos and gorditas are well above average, but the reason to visit La Serenata is to sample inventive seafood preparations. Don’t miss Veracruz-style fish or giant shrimp in smoky chipotle sauce. Jose’s son Marco makes the tortillas and pastries on site daily. Finish strong with a textbook flan or a slice of cheesecake. Also located at 10924 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, 310-441-9667; and 1416 Fourth St., Santa Monica, 310-656-7017.
8
Lares
2909 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405 / 310-829-4550
n an atmospheric room furnished with Mission-style furniture and a great carved bar, this family-run place offers better-than-average Mexican food and polite, attentive service. Specialties include savanitas (thinly sliced steak in mild chile sauce) and carnitas, as well as several varieties of fajitas, seafood, Southern Mexican dishes and comforting standards. Large margaritas are good for washing down flavorful chipotle salsa served in homey stone bowls. Guitar entertainment nightly.
9
Señor Fred
13730 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 / 818-789-3200
Wrought-iron features, pressed tin ceilings, a fireplace and comfortable booths await in the dimly-lit, ’20s-style dining room. No fajitas or burritos are served here, rather you might start with a quesadilla de huitlacoche, an ensalada de camarones, or a chile verde con nopales (simmered pork in tomatillo-and-green-chile sauce with cactus). Follow with a traditional robalo of pan-roasted sea bass with mango-black bean salsa topped with ancho chile and avocado sauce and the very comforting birria en estilo Jalisco, a Jalisco-style, slow-braised lamb shank in a mild red chile sauce with a poblano-goat cheese relleno. Leave room for the chocolate con leche y galletas and flan con lima. All this gets washed down with special margaritas or house cocktails, Mexican beers or wine from the small but approachable wine list with three Mexican offerings.
10
Tlapazola Grill
Barrington Gateway Center, 11676 Gateway Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064 / 310-477-1577
With its colorful assortment of mole sauces, Oaxacan cuisine is Mexican with a twist. The quietly gourmet Tlapazola twists it another notch with California touches, making it a favorite of foodies city-wide. Don’t let its strip-mall shell put you off: inside, mottled walls and framed black-and-white photos lend refinement. It’s not your everyday menu either; start with the attractive salmon vegetable roll (deep fried like a spring roll), or chicken tortilla soup, then move on to grilled fish (salmon with pumpkin seed sauce and a roasted garlic-spinach quesadilla), New York steak tacos, barbacoa (braised lamb) or, of course, meats in mole. The lighter lunchtime menu includes salads, fajitas and roll-your-own fish tacos. For dessert, the bollo de manzana, a sort of warm apple strudel in a tortilla topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce, would be at home in any Beverly Hills restaurant.
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