tl;dr: one of the best in SGV. All meats are tasty, portions are great, prices are really…read morereasonable. Solid 4.5 stars You know how you always see so many taco trucks or stands on a main street? Do you ever stop by all of them and check them out? No need, I am the one who eats. My goal is to try all the taco stands in Los Angeles. Located in front of an El Monte Numero Uno market and CVS, this is one of my new finds and definitely one that I would eat at every week. Their style is like a blend of Tj and traditional taco stands. This is their setup: charcoal grill only for asada, pastor spit, stewing pot, vast condiments stand (incl. guacamole), and auga frescas. Asada is grilled nicely and retains so much flavors despite I didn't get a freshly grilled batch. If it retains grilled flavors and stays juicy after sitting in the steam bath containers, it must be seasoned well and the right cut of beef was chosen. Pastor is nicely seasoned and not that greasy. They sometimes will give you pineapples but it is still good without it. I wished it was sweeter and a bit more meat juicy but I can't fault their pastor because it's beautifully cut and roasted. Goes really well with grilled onions. Cabeza is tender and already seasoned; good amount of meat and fat (albeit more fat, makes it juicier) makes it perfect for two tortillas. Tripas is good; it may not have the best flavors but it is nicely stewed, grilled right, and tastes clean. They use store-bought tortillas but don't fret, all the flavors are there. They use the stewing meat pot's (cabeza, buche, tripas) oil to season their tortillas for grilling. Their dark red salsa is seriously perfect :D nicely roasted chiles smoke flavor combined with a thick savory consistency makes it perfect for any meats. Not too spicy to be unenjoyable but enough to make you want more. The workers told me it's a blend of arbol chiles. This is one of the best salsa I've had at taco stands. Guacamole salsa has a decent amount of avocado with the right acidity, saltiness, and creamy texture. Again, goes well on any meat. The fact that they let you scoop this yourself makes the $2 a bargain. Salsa verde is good; high acidity (I like) and a good tomatillo flavor makes this a good choice for those who enjoy a mild salsa (it's on the upper end of mild). The orange salsa (taquera) is spicy! Good smoky flavors and only a few drops are needed for a nice burning kick. I need to come back and try rest of their meats (I always get their asada and pastor every time) because I keep getting what tastes good even though I should try the rest :) Their quesadillas and alambre portions are HUGE especially if you order multiples. Give this place a try and tell me if I'm wrong. I eat tacos every week and typically drive to South LA for my likings, but this place is winning my emotions. This is the upper echelon of $2 tacos in SGV.

Came across Mike L's review for Tacos Xaam and decided to check it out myself. Seeing the open…read morecondiments table and the unlimited sauces were pretty much what drew me in. Not sure if there are set hours that they are set up, but we stopped by on a Thursday night last week to grab some tacos for dinner. They're located on Garvey Avenue (near the back of the parking lot), in front of the Numero Uno Market - there's also a small churro stand adjacent to Tacos Xaam as well as a hot dog stand in the plaza across the street. So when we walked up to the stand, we saw one of the workers managing the meat. They have pastor roasting on a spit while some meats are inside of a pot and other meats that have already been premade. We originally only wanted asada tacos, but the worker convinced me to try the pastor. And I ended up adding a cabeza and tripa as well. I'm not a taco connoisseur, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the tacos from this stand. For one thing, they give a ton of meat! Tacos are a little pricier than the place that we usually visit ($2 a piece), but I think the quality is there - and the quantity is definitely there! Out of all the ones that I tried, I actually enjoyed the tripas taco the most. This was on the crispy side and retained its crunch as I bit into the taco. The tortillas are on the oily side with the combination of the oil and the meat, but everything tasted really good together. And of course, you have to try the asada if you're getting a taco. We ordered five or six of these - my sister agreed that it was packed with meat and really tasty. The steak was cooked well and wasn't chewy or dry. I also ordered cabeza on a whim and thought it was pretty good, but probably not my favorite. This reminded me of the beef stew meat that my mom makes at home. It had good flavor and was actually really filling, but I'd prefer asada over the cabeza. The worker asked why I didn't want to try the pastor, so of course I gave in and ordered one. I really liked the fact that this came with some grilled pineapples - reminded me of the Brazilian steakhouses! This was a little on the salty side, but with the addition of the sauces and condiments - I'd say that the taste was really good. If you order your tacos to eat there, they serve it on a plate, making it easy to load up your tacos with the condiments. If you plan to eat them at home, they offer bags for the condiments as well as sauce containers to scoop out the sauces. There was a container for lemons, onions, cilantro (love that this was by itself and finely chopped), and a spicy jalapeno pepper/onion mix that looked way more innocent than it tasted. Unfortuately there weren't any limes that night - as for the sauces, there's the guacamole, salsa verde, and two kinds of red sauces that looked super intimidating. We enjoyed the salsa verde the most - not spicy and had a nice zest to it. The people operating this booth were friendly - everything was super fast and we got our tacos within minutes. tl;dr - Tacos Xaam is definitely a taco stand you want to consider for those late night cravings! It's a little further out there than the regular SGV places, but it's worth it. They also have quesadillas, burritos, tortas, etc. I will return to get more tacos!

Drove by several days ago to walk around San Gabriel x Valley with friends after dinner and boba…read more While we were too full to try anything, one spot that stood out to me was this 土家酱香饼. Lo and behold, thanks to Christina the business exists on here and has been christened "Jiang Xiang Bing Guy"! Although he was working solo that day, when I decided to return on an empty stomach, he had an assistant helping with seasoning and chopping up the 酱香饼. There were about five folks waiting by the time I got there Sunday evening. The guy with the blue UCLA hoodie was purposefully putting on a show, since he had two phones set up for streaming. Every now and again, when he gets a request from someone, he would say "OK no problem!" and continues with kneading, rolling, and transferring the dough to the big ol' frying machine. At $10 per order, perhaps a part of the cost is the spirited mini-interactions. After paying via Venmo, I showed the gal my phone. 他是老板 she said jokingly as she handed me the food. I had mine mild, and honestly it was a delightfully crispy and savory snack for a cold winter evening.

On Christmas day while heading up San Gabriel Blvd, I saw a guy making food on the back of a white…read moreModel X. Intrigued and a lover of street foods, I went last night to check it out hoping he was at the same spot and he was! (Honestly San Gabriel Superstore parking lot be popping with bomb street food stalls and trucks over these past years). The guy was calling his food a Chinese pizza but it's actually a Chinese street food called Jiang Xiang Bing(酱香饼) which basically means "saucy pancake". If you can't speak Chinese(don't worry he does understand English though but he spoke to me in Mandarin by default lol), just give him $10 and he will give you a portion. If you don't have cash, he has QR codes for digital payments and once it goes through you can hear his phone notification from his car. When he's done making the bread and ready to chop it, he will ask you how spicy you want it. You can say "xiao la" for mild or say yes and nod your head for the regular spicy lol. The pan fried flat bread was crispy and the sweet and spicy soy bean sauce really went well with it, I'd get it again!!!

Omg regret only buying 1, but I was on a budget. Bought the lomo saltado. Flavors were on point,…read morebut the crust!!!! Omg best crust I have ever had on an empanada, and I've tried the popular downtown ones. Give them try, you will not regret it.

The best food ever . And their service is amazing these…read morepeople know how to treat their customers

I miss them so much I've called their number and have not been able to locate them the people that…read morehave taken over their spot are racist Andy is absolutely right ! I went this past Friday and right away talking mess. Now I'm mixed but I look like one side more than the other I could understand them and had taken a friend sadly we didn't have much time to travel elsewhere but the new ppl have even upcharged us like crazy. The new people charge you fifteen dollars for one burrito ! With poor meat quality . Super Tacos please come reclaim your spot from these frauds. My coworkers, my family, the neighborhood misses you so much.

They are racist, they were literally making fun of me while cooking my burrito. They did not even…read morehave the decency to wait until I was gone? I literally was their only customer and I could tell they were guessing my ethnicity. If you are Asian do NOT support them. Edit: I was just notified that they actually moved and that the people who took their old spot are completely different, I apologize. I have ordered from these people before and they were chill, and the food was good. The new people that took their old spot in San Gabriel are racist.

I found the Fontana location and have been a regular customer since! Those tacos and burritos are…read moredelicious. They have also a baked potato with el pastor omg I gotta try it next time the corn tortillas are hand made and definitely worth the trip. They have (3) locations and they post up on there Instagram on the address and times. https://instagram.com/tacos.el_amigo igshid=MWI4MTIyMDE=

Their cabeza and al pastor tacos are where it's at!! So tasty and flavorful. I love Tacos El…read moreAmigo's handmade tortillas and the fact that they really stack their tacos with meat and toppings. I personally found that their carne asada was just okay (could use more flavor), but I would definitely recommend the cabeza and al pastor meats. I'm so happy that we came across Tacos El Amigo, and I can't wait to come back and try more items off of their menu! *They are located in the Chevron parking lot on the corner of San Bernardino and Irwindale

Food: 5/5 Tacos were delicious! Asada, buche, lengua were all top tier. Horchata always a must…read moreorder drink. Service: 4/5 Nice staff. Definitely learning some common Spanish words goes a long way. Ambiance: 4/5 Standing style type of spot.

Tried out Secret Tacos, although I noticed the green truck is now named Tacos Los Poblanos…read more I ordered the carne asada and pastor tacos. The carne asada was definitely the highlight as it had a nice char and plenty of flavor. The wait was a little longer than expected, but I went during peak dinner time, so that's understandable. The pastor was a little weaker flavor-wise and didn't stand out as much as the asada. Overall, a decent taco spot with the carne asada being my favorite.

Undoubtedly one of the best food stalls out there. Had these guys several times and became friends…read morewith the owner Ian, the whole crew is incredibly hardworking and they produce one of my absolute favorite dishes perfectly. Make sure you grab a sample platter and shout these guys out!!

Review On 8/17/24 I…read morewent to Indonesian Night Market with my wife. She was born and raised in Indonesia and we were very excited. LA SATAY was set up there, along with a few other food vendors. ALL the lines were long so we just decided to choose LA SATAY because it looked shorter than Marine Satay. We waited in line for 2 hours and as we finally neared the front, one worker said they were running out of meat so we might not get to our order. He said we could order but would refund us if we didn't get any food. I told him we were in line for 2 hours and missed most of the Indonesian Night Market shows and events and the best he could come up with was to put hands up with a shoulder shrug. We ordered with the female owner and I expressed to her our frustration. I told her we waited in line for 2 hours and missed a lot of the events and she apologized. She said the event did not supply them with electricity so they had to use a generator that ended up malfunctioning at some point I guess. I would hope a well run business had contingencies such as a back up generator and/or an additional battery. Also, I would assume a well run business would know their inventory and to give guests in line a warning PRIOR to waiting up to over an hour that they may run out of food. Further, if something goes wrong because of poor planning, I would fully expect the business to take accountability and offer the customer an incentive such as a discount at time of purchase or a gift card or something to make things right. We ordered and people AFTER us began getting their orders. Mind you, they ran out of tofu so all the orders were chicken plates so they were all the same. We complained that people AFTER us were getting orders before us and all the workers seemed confused and overwhelmed. We waited 30 minutes to finally get our orders and the chicken was COLD, BURNT, DRY and had NO flavor. The rice was between cold and warm. We didn't get any shrimp chips because they ran out. So we paid FULL PRICE and didn't get what's supposed to be included in the plate. If I wasn't starving and didn't wait 2.5 hours to get our food, I'd return it and demand a refund. The entire experience with LA SATAY was EXTREMELY UNSATISFACTORY. The lack of organization, customer service and food quality was so VERY poor. The male owner posted a video the morning of the Indonesian Night Market and said his "lifestyle" affects his product and his services. Recipe is from his Grandmother and he takes a lot of pride in what he does. He wanted to serve the "best product tonight". I left a short and polite review on the comment section and they deleted it. I doubt their Grandmother would approve of serving customers cold food, poor business management and poor customer service. This is not the type of service I was expecting from the Indonesian culture and they lacked empathy, grace, pride, generosity and the desire to please. I would NOT recommend eating at an LA SATAY tent. Choose another vendor.

Was in the area and looking for something to eat, so I decided to stop by Carnitas Y Chicharrones…read morein El Monte. It's located in a small plaza and wasn't hard to find. The restaurant itself is pretty small with limited seating. At first glance, the place felt a little dark and chaotic, and some of the prep areas and surfaces looked worn and could use a deeper cleaning. You can see the food being prepared behind the counter, and they also have a condiment bar where they provide small containers and plastic baggies so you can take salsa, onions, cilantro, and other condiments to go. I ordered four tacos: asada, pastor, chorizo, and chicharrón. The total was $20 before tax -- $5 per taco. My first reaction was, "Whoa... $5 tacos? These better be good." Then I got my order. These tacos are HUGE. Two tacos practically filled an entire takeout container, so the $5 price made a lot more sense once I saw the portions. They definitely don't hold back on the meat. My favorites were the chorizo and pastor. Both had plenty of flavor and were generously portioned. The asada was okay, but for me it lacked some of the seasoning and flavor I was looking for. I was also hoping for a little more char on the meat. The chicharrón was unfortunately too hard and dry for my liking. The salsas were good and helped bring everything together. Overall, the price initially gave me sticker shock, but these definitely aren't your typical small street tacos. The portions are massive, and two tacos could easily be enough for one person. I'd come back for the chorizo and pastor, but I'd probably skip the chicharrón next time.

Since moving to El Monte, I've been trying to check out more of the local Mexican spots, and this…read moreplace kept popping up on Yelp. I'm a big fan of carnitas when they're done right, so I decided to give it a shot. The place feels pretty authentic. They have those giant silver pots in the back slowly cooking the carnitas, which is always a good sign. I ordered two mixta tacos, which come with a mix of different pork cuts including meat, skin, and all the good stuff. These tacos were huge. Honestly, the two tacos could easily be turned into four normal-sized tacos if you wanted. They also have a condiment bar where you can load up on all the fixings. I also grabbed a bag of chicharrones and those were excellent. Crispy, fresh, and dangerously easy to keep snacking on. After this visit, I definitely want to come back and try more of the menu, especially the chicharrones plate which looked amazing when I saw it come out for another table. Overall, this feels like one of those local gems that's worth checking out if you're in the area and craving carnitas.

10/02/2021 I have seen this truck parked here next to the…read morecar wash in Baldwin Ave at Valley Blvd. telling you the location in case they move or disappear from this spot. I have stopped here from time to time even before they decorated the truck part. Trailer part? You get the idea. The sauces are really good but be careful of the onions when you see little bits of orange, that's actually the spiciest habaneros I've endured. They set up tables so it's like a salsa and condiments bar. Step right up and fix your tacos how you like it. Drinks are here too if it gets too spicy for you. They are closed on Mondays so meet me here on Taco Tuesday.

Would return Drove…read morepast their spot on san gabriel blvd near quickly's and decided on a whim to try their offerings. The cabeza has bits of beef tongue in it. Best of both worlds lol They give you plenty of bags for the condiments and the tacos are the smaller kind with double layer tortilla

If you are craving a Halo Halo but Vietnamese, I highly recommend coming here! I got their House…read moreSpecial and their Pandan, but this feels very similar to a Filipino halo-halo. With a collaborative mix of jellos and beans, it combines well with the sweetened milk and icy texture. Disclaimer: if you don't like durian you will not like the taste. I personally am not a durian lover but it is very present in their house special. Still, you can customize your order to not include that.There is a kiosk where you can order yourself or go to the cashier. There are pastries, coffees, teas, and even mooncakes you can buy but what their famous for is their House Special. Parking - can be hard to find if you come peak hours, very limited and tiny spots

I've been here twice--once shortly after they opened and again last Thursday. You know a bakery is…read morepopular when they consistently sell out daily! That said, I'm giving 4 stars mainly because both times I came, they had sold out of nearly every baked dessert before 3pm. So if you have your heart set on something specific, I'd definitely recommend going earlier. So far, I've only tried the durian pandan, and it's very good! The durian-to-pandan ratio is honestly perfect--you can taste both flavors without one overpowering the other. It is a little sweeter than my personal preference, but I can definitely see why it's such a popular flavor. I'd love to try their che's next time, along with some of their other baked goodies. Hopefully I'll actually make it early enough to get one! Another plus is that they have parking, which is shared with Da Vien, so you don't have to stress too much about finding street parking.