New Eagle Rock Restaurant Embraces the ‘Everything Is a Taco’ Approach

Eagle Rock’s Taco Social — stylized as “Taco/Social” — opens in the former Lucky Bird space on Tuesday, September 26. This time around, locals can count on a taco menu with flavors from around the globe by a known group of Pasadena restaurateurs.

Quite a crew it is. The crew behind Taco Social includes Blaze Pizza, Gus’s BBQ, Dog Haus Biergarten, Kings Row Gastropub, Magnolia House, the Original Tops, and Wetzel’s Pretzels. As for the menu, Top Chef season two winner Ilan Hall and former Nueva chef Jonathan Paiz developed menu items like Greek tacos, one with banh mi fillings, po’ boy, or tikka masala tacos.

The 5,000-square-foot brick building has indoor and outdoor seating, a full bar, and a private dining room. They’re leaning heavily on tequila drinks with fresh and frozen margaritas, cocktails like hot honey whiskey lemonade, Oaxacan old-fashioned, wine, and draft beer. Taco Social is the latest restaurant to occupy this historic building. The six-year-old Eagle Rock Public House closed in 2020, while Lucky Bird remained open for a year starting in 2021.

Portuguese Bend bankruptcy

Long Beach distillery Portuguese Bend filed for bankruptcy, reports Longbeachize. In February, the Long Beach Post reported the kitchen ceased operations while litigation between owners alleged fraud, a toxic work environment, quality issues surrounding alcohol production, and conflicts of interest. Portuguese Bend opened in June 2019.

More Long Beach news, but plant-based

In more Long Beach news, a plant-based deli opens next week on October 1 called the Plant Butchers. It’ll operate next door to the Long Beach arm of Sugar Taco at Broadway and Magnolia Avenue in Downtown Long Beach, writes Longbeachize.

The Los Angeles Times reviews Perilla

Los Angeles Times restaurant reviewer Bill Addison has been spending time at Perilla and tells the story of owner and chef Jihee Kim. Addison declares Kim’s small side dishes as “banchan heaven.”

Food waste at Erewhon’s new Pasadena location

While visiting Erewhon’s new Pasadena location, LA private chef Denà Brummer observed a green waste bin filled with produce and cardboard containers, and then posted a video on Instagram. Outrage followed, as did a response to Brummer’s post from Erewhon HQ, acknowledging, “That there may have been instances where our established protocol was not followed as it should have been. We take this oversight seriously, and we rectified it immediately.”