LA’s Best New Taco Spot Opens in Downtown LA Next Week

Tacos 1986, the best new taco spot to open in LA in the past year, is finally ready to open its first permanent location. Starting Monday in Downtown LA, the Tijuana-style carne asada and adobada restaurant from Victor Delgado and Jorge “Joy” Alvarez-Tostado will serve a full menu of grilled meats, mulitas, vampiros, quesadillas, and soft drinks from a standing room-only storefront near the corner of 6th and Spring Streets in Historic Core.

Tacos 1986 first began operations in late November 2018, garnering celebrity support and street cred before landing coverage from multiple local food publications. Bill Addison wrote them a favorable review for the LA Times. Since then, Tacos 1986 has served in numerous pop-ups from Koreatown to Venice to even stints in Austin and New York City. The only permanent place they’ll continue to serve on the street is at Smorgasburg on Sundays. Tacos 1986 even amassed one of the longest lines at this past weekend’s mega taco festival Taqueando. But Delgado and Alvarez-Tostado are ready to get down to business with this location.

A couple of things to know about Tijuana-style carne asada and adobada tacos. Delgado and Alvarez-Tostado both hail from the Mexican border city. Tijuana is famous for its late night taco scene, and the Tacos 1986 duo felt there weren’t enough options in LA that reflected the taco culture of their upbringing. Before moving to LA, Alvarez-Tostado helped open the incredibly popular New York City destination Los Tacos No. 1 after spending time in fine dining kitchens there.

Sure, there’s Tire Shop Taqueria, Los Poblanos, and other stands around town, but Tacos 1986 brings their stuff to the heart of Downtown LA. That means grilled thinly cut beef, marinated pork meat for the adobada (a Tijuana term for al pastor), grilled chicken (because Angelenos love chicken, not because it’s something they serve in Tijuana), and mushroom (because, vegetarians). But still, these tacos are a study in simplicity and excellence, with handmade tortillas, salsas, guacamole, and a paper wrap to each order.

Feast on the full menu below, plus see the cooks assemble a full 170 pound trompo that’ll surely be swinging around for hours on end once 1986 opens. Hours will run wide from 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, plus extended weekend service once the team settles in. Anyone who wants an early sneak peek would be wise to check out the restaurant starting tomorrow.

Taco 1986. 609 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014

• All Tacos 1986 Coverage [ELA]

Wonho Frank Lee

Wonho Frank Lee

Wonho Frank Lee

Wonho Frank Lee

Wonho Frank Lee

Wonho Frank Lee