tito's tacos

this is a little bit late for kitchen wench's nostalgia event, but i thought i'd get a post up before i get accused of becoming a by-stander to my own blog. due to the harmonic convergence of a relatively strong economy, an immigration system that's about to collapse and a maddeningly indifferent congress, this little parakeet found herself at the office quite a bit during the month of march preparing to file a bunch of cases for delivery to uscis on april 2. now that's over and done, i can come up for air again and maybe even start posting again once in a while. hopefully my new adventure in patio container gardening will provide some good post fodder!

anyway, on to the nostalgia. as we had some tito's tacos yesterday while we were watching the game that shall remain nameless, it reminded me that we here at pbe have never done a write up on this so-cal institution.


mecca

in business at (almost) the same location in culver city since the 60s, tito's tacos has a short menu - hard shell tacos, burritos, rice and beans - and long lines. there's also some other stuff, like tamales, on the menu, but don't waste your time. you cannot drive by tito's on a weekend and not see the four lines at the front window stretched all the way to the curb. it's definitely not fancy and some people would say they're not even real tacos (ahem, bandini), but i beg to differ on that last point...and the people keeping the lines long would probably tend to agree with me. these tacos really hit the spot sometimes, especially if you grew up with them. they haven't changed since i've been eating them (and that's basically since i was in utero). i'm sure doodles and mooncrazy would agree with that assertion. in fact, when doodles comes to town, it's the first place we stop on the way home from the airport!


tacos in situ

the best part about tito's, though, is the salsa. it's nothing fancy, but the flavor is great, with tomatoes, onions and jalepenos chopped really fine (probably milled?), and the tacos just aren't complete without them.


salsa and beans

and it really is a so-cal experience. in fact, i'm sure huell howser's done a show on it! you'll see all types of people in line: old people, young people, rich people, poor people, black, white, asian, hispanic, you name it...everyone comes to tito's and they all want the same two things: to eat a taco and for the person in front of them in line not to have a big order!