The Brief

I’ve always believed there's something about the food truck that screams Los Angeles. Serving food from a vehicle feels pretty on-brand for a city that spends most of its time in its cars. Not to mention the sheer variety of food on offer, repping the city’s diversity.

They're now firmly established in the city’s social fabric, there when you need them most. Despite various legislative efforts to clamp down on them, most Angelenos enjoy the sense of community they bring — and are very happy to get good food at a good price.

Here are a few of our favorite food trucks, which capture the dynamism of the city's cuisines.

Simón

Fish al pastor, soft shell crab and enchilada suiza tacos from Simón.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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These days, the Simón cobalt-blue truck can be found in the driveway of event space York Manor in Highland Park. Its logo reads, “Mariscos Chingones, Seafood Bomb AF.” While such boastful declarations might be a turn-off to some, Simón delivers.

Chef Francisco Aguilar came to L.A. after stints in Oaxaca and Chiapas, where he developed his culinary language. His fish al pastor is a favorite, rubbed with spices, then grilled and garnished with a sizable slice of lightly caramelized pineapple, a helping of guacamole and crispy onions. Or check out the soft shell crab, which comes whole, topped with chipotle mayo, along with pico piña, his version of pico de gallo with pineapple and pickled onion.

Watch Gab and host Sheba Turk take a food truck tour on KCAL's morning show

Don Pollón

A tray of ribs to go with your tacos at Don Pollón.

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Courtesy Don Pollón

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What goes great with a plate of tacos? Answer: a side of ribs. In addition to specializing in Tijuana-style tacos, Don Pollón gets down with some serious grilled meats. Located in East Los Angeles on Atlantic Boulevard, diners can feast on grilled meats, ribs, pollo asado or even bone marrow, making for the best taco side you’ve never thought of.

Try any of their signature sauces, like barbecue habanero or an exquisite peanut salsa reminiscent of the flavor of Filipino peanut stew known as kare-kare.

Upping the ante is their fiery red salsa, which brings a rush of heat and will have you devouring your taco in just a few bites before returning for more. The tacos fit perfectly into your hand and are filled with your choice of chorizo or al pastor. And yes, they contain the proper amount of bark from time spent on the open mesquite grill.

Era Grill

A variety of Uzbek dishes, including "plow," a pilaf-like dish made with lamb, Libananyan chicken shawarma, and shurpa, a meat and vegetable soup seasoned with fresh dill.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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From our colleague Yusra Farzan:

Era Grill serves foods from Central Asia, mostly Uzbekistan.

I always joke with friends that I can roast an elaborate duck, but give me something as simple as rice and I will botch it. But rice is not simple. I believe it is an art form to get each grain perfectly cooked and fluffy. And Era Grill’s “plow,” a Central Asian version of pilaf, manages to do that beautifully.

The sweetness of the carrots and plump raisins with the richness of the tender lamb pairs so well with a fresh tomato, cucumber and dill salad. We also tried the shurpa, a meat and vegetable soup. The broth was light yet had depth with cumin and pepper notes. To my delight, the soup had soft chunks of carrot and potato and cooked-down sweet peppers.

There’s also the Libananyan shawarma, which was much larger than a typical shawarma — and could easily feed two people. Seasoned chicken, cooked on the vertical rotating spit, is packed into a large tortilla topped with fresh-tasting tomato and onion seasoned with sumac.

El Fogon

Quesabirra tacos, garnachas, rellenitos and ceviche.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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I first became aware of El Fogon a few years back when writing about the different types of tamales found around Los Angeles. A friend told me about a truck that parks at Alondra Park near Lawndale and serves up a variety of Guatemalan tamales during the holidays.

Its regular menu, however, with its deeply comforting dishes, never ceases to disappoint. I’d urge you to try the garnachas, fried tortillas a bit larger than a silver dollar topped with seasoned shredded beef and refried beans, freshly crumbled queso fresco and the pickled cabbage slaw known as curtido.

El Fogon also has a rotating list of specials. When I visited, they made rellenitos with sweet plantains stuffed with either a mixture of black beans or a smooth velvet rice custard. It provided a bit of sweetness to round out the rest of the meal.

Bun & Blanket 

Stuffed burgers and fries from Bun & Blanket

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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During last year’s Tournament of Cheeseburgers, I became aware of Bun & Blanket, a food truck that regularly parks outside Paperback Brewing Company in Glendale.

I felt an immediate connection to the name. My daughter Luisa, who is 6, has her favorite stuffed bunny, Bun, which usually comes with a collection of blankets she carries around the house. Here, however, the name refers to the melted cheese and other condiments that come blanketed over the bun.

These aren’t run-of-the-mill smashburgers outside a brewery that we all know and love. (There will be no besmirching of burgers of that variety — as I've always said, there’s a time and place for everything.)

The thick patty with a supple brioche bun is loaded with fresh ingredients that feel more on par with a quality pub-style burger. The “stuffed burgers” feature hits like the Gogi-Gooey, packed with bulgogi beef, cheese, kimchi slaw, and house gochujang aioli. Or you can do what I did and order the quesabirria burger, made with braised beef marinated with guajillo and ancho chilis, blanketed with pepper jack cheese and served with a side of consomme for dipping. The burger conjures a quality quesabirria experience that avoids being kitschy, while still being fun and incredibly delicious.

A pair of nesting bald eagles was spotted in Los Angeles County this past week, according to a social media post from the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Nesting bald eagles are a fairly rare sight in Southern California, since they typically nest along the California-Oregon border. Their mating season is between January and July or August, according to the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Department of Parks and Recreation did not disclose the location of the birds, and reminded L.A. residents in their post that bald eagles are a federally protected species and disturbing their nests could “disrupt breeding and impact their success.”

It takes about 35 days for bald eagle eggs to incubate. If the new visitors lay eggs, Los Angeles could have our very own eaglets as early as next month.

Held by the Los Angeles Review of Books since 2019, LITLIT, or The Little Literary Fair, started out as a way to introduce students from workshops to the publishing industry.

It has since grown into a gathering of independent West Coast publishers from Seattle to Santa Monica. This year’s iteration on June 6 and 7 is the biggest yet, with more than 50 publishers participating in the event at Sci-Arc in Downtown L.A.

People look through a small library of used books from "A Good Used Book," a Los Angeles based book pop-up, during LITLIT 2024.

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Los Angeles Review of Books

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It’s ‘small’ lit

The fair aims to get the public in front of books that don’t originate from the so-called “Big Five” publishers — behemoths like Penguin Random House and HarperCollins.

“They really get to control what people get to see, and so we hope LITLIT lets people see more of what is out there and what they can support directly,” said Emily VanKoughnett, public programs and engagement director for LARB.

One of VanKoughnett’s favorite independent publishers will be there. Two Lines Press, the publishing arm of San Francisco’s Center for the Art of Translation, deals specifically in translated works.

Two Lines Press, which specializes in translated works, show off their books to attendees of LITLIT.

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Los Angeles Review of Books

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They’ve published authors from across the world, translating books from more than 100 different languages into English.

“ We do our work in quiet rooms, so it's really nice to be able to meet readers and talk to them about what's interesting them. These festivals are really valuable to us in that way,” said CJ Evans, publisher and editor-in-chief of Two Lines.

Pressed locally

Local favorite Angel City Press, which operates under the auspices of L.A. Public Library, will also be there with one of their newly published titles, Los Angeles Central Library POPS, that celebrates 100 years of the Central Library.

People at LITLIT 2024 look through different small presses.

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Los Angeles Review of Books

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You’ll also find LA-based Errant Press, which specializes in books that break the traditional form — like a poem printed on measuring tape or a matchbox sized poetry collection.

“It’s really cool to see the kinds of risks that people are able to take, the kinds of communities they’re able to serve and really highlight here on the West Coast,” said Irene Yoon, executive director of LARB.

Panels, printing presses, and workshops

The two-day fair also hosts various panels and workshops, including one on the art of comedic writing and another on how to tell the stories of Los Angeles through archival materials.

“This is, I think, the most panels we've ever done,” VanKoughnett said.

People sit down for a panel discussion at LITLIT 2024.

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Los Angeles Review of Books

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Workshops on how to navigate the literary world with a completed manuscript and making your own comics and zines are also on the itinerary.

And Carson’s International Printing Museum will demonstrate how to screen print your own bookmark.

“It's not until we're all in the same room with all our best books literally out on the table that you get to see kind of what a phenomenal publishing culture Los Angeles truly has,” said Terri Accomazzo, editorial director of Angel City Press.

Running a small business is tough under normal circumstances. Running one in a wildfire burn scar can feel nearly impossible.

That's the reality many Altadena business owners are still navigating nearly a year and a half after the Eaton Fire destroyed the community and the local economy. Businesses are grappling with how do you stay open when so many of your customers are gone?

At Wet Paws, a pet grooming business along Lake Avenue, that question recently came to a head.

The shop reopened in January but business remained slow. Wet Paws co-owner Stephanie Trujillo estimates the fire had displaced up to 90% of their customers.

Marley, a Cane Corso from Pasadena, went for her first grooming session at Wet Paws in more than a year.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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Then came a conversation with their landlord several months ago that forced a decision.

"He reached out and said, 'Are you going to re-sign your lease?'" Trujillo recalled.

The answer wasn't obvious.

"I said, unfortunately, we're not even making it. We're paying out of our own pocket," she said. "So he said, 'I'll give you until June 1.'"

The deadline meant Trujillo and her mother, Linda Alashti, who have owned the business together since 2023, had only a few months to figure out whether Wet Paws had a future in Altadena.

Wet Paws is hardly alone. As businesses struggle, Los Angeles County recently launched a program offering free marketing assistance and storefront improvements to fire-affected businesses. The deadline to apply is June 8.

A flag banner and sandwich board on the sidewalk outside Wet Paws advertises its services.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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The county also operates a gift card program to encourage residents to spend money at fire-impacted businesses.

But relief has not arrived quickly enough for many businesses.

One particularly slow April Sunday at Wet Paws drove home how dire the situation had become, when they had only one customer.

As she drove home to Fontana, Trujillo began composing a social media post.

"So this isn't easy for us to share," the post began, "but I wanted to reach out with an open heart and hope."

In the message, Trujillo asked the community to book appointments and spread the word to help their business survive.

Before posting it, Trujillo showed it to her mother.

Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes takes care of a basset hound client.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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"We're very prideful, and it's very hard to ask people for help," she said. "I felt embarrassed that we had to ask the community for help."

Her mother's advice was simple. "Just post it," she told her. "The worst that's going to happen is nobody sees it or nobody cares."

Instead, the opposite happened. By the next day, the post had been viewed and shared hundreds of times across Instagram and Facebook.

The phone started ringing, said Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes.

"I got well over 50 calls," Ranes said. "We booked out for the last three weeks of the month when we made that post.”

Customers told Alashti that they “didn't know you were back, because they don't come this way anymore.”

Decor inside Wet Paws embraces a playful canine motif.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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Among those who returned was Penny Dahlstrom, a Pasadena resident whose 113-pound Cane Corso Marley had been a Wet Paws regular before the fire.

Dahlstrom had tried taking Marley to a large pet store chain while Wet Paws was closed.

"My husband went in to pick her up, and he hears crying, and it was her," Dahlstrom said. "That's not just her nature."

The social media appeal didn't just bring back former customers. It also introduced the business to new ones, Trujillo said.

But recovery remains uneven.

Some days are still slow. And the shop continues to deal with lingering fire-related electrical damage in the back of the building.

Wet Paws is operating on a temporary electrical system, limiting how much power it can use at any given time.

"If we run our AC, and the neighbors run their AC, we lose power," Trujillo said.

As the June 1 lease deadline approached, Trujillo and her mother weighed their options. They could walk away and cut their losses. Or they could commit to rebuilding alongside a community they had come to love.

Ultimately, they thought about the response to their post and the customers who had shown up when the business needed them most. And they had faith that Altadena would rebuild to its full strength.

They chose to renew the lease for another three years.

"I can't imagine what the community is going through, losing their homes and losing everything that they had," Trujillo said. "Yet they're still coming back."

And as long as they do, she said Wet Paws will be there for them and their fur babies.

On a recent Monday, students at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights started their day like no other — with a tour of the murals hand-painted over the weekend across the playground.

It’s the latest of seven elementary schools in and around L.A. to get the treatment. Over 70 murals in the last 13 years, brought by a collective of artists to students in under-resourced neighborhoods with little access to art education.

“The kids were so excited,” said Stefanie Barbee, a math teacher at Breed. “Just pure joy.”

The students snaked through the paintings on handball courts and school walls: cartoon animals, bright orange flowers, a circle of meticulously painted lines. The works span genres and sensibilities.

Mural by artist hi-dutch.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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“It's grassroots. We're not getting money from anyone,” said Erik Caruso, the fifth-grade teacher in Paramount who's the group glue. To them, they are just an assembly of like-minded friends — and friends of friends — who spend one weekend out of the year hanging out and painting murals for school kids.

But the collective is anything but typical. It includes artists like the late Rich Jacobs, who died from leukemia this year; Tim Kerr; pro skater Ray Barbee; and Japanese artists Yusuke Hanai and hi-dutch. The vibe's always low-key, and somehow they've managed to stay under the radar.

Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.

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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin

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“The kids have no idea that they show in huge galleries or have pieces hanging in museums,” said writer Martin Wong, co-founder of the pioneering Asian pop culture magazine Giant Robot. "Or they're famous in the skateboarding scene or surf or music."

Their reward is the Monday morning after, seeing the happiness on the kids’ faces.

“The artists are waiting all weekend — it’s that moment,” Caruso said.

Mural by artists Sandy Yang and James Hamblin.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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James Hamblin was at Breed for the meet-and-greet earlier this month. He painted a mural designed by his partner Sandy Yang on one of the handball walls.

“Sandy's design is pretty abstract, so it was interesting because the kids were [asking], you know, ‘ What is it?’” Hamblin said. “It was great because I could tell them I had no idea and like, ‘What do you guys think it is?’"

Bring the art museum to the school

Erik Caruso.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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The idea came to Caruso in 2011, after he took about two dozen students from his Paramount school to MOCA and discovered that only four had ever been to an art museum.

“I wonder if there's a way we can bring the art museum to the school,” he said.

Caruso, a 24-year veteran, was no stranger to bringing art — and artists — directly to his students. In 2009, he launched a monthly art project for fifth-graders that culminated in a year-end show where they met and shared work with living contemporary artists.

Caruso's 5th grade art project, featuring works by artist Tim Kerr.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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The murals were next.

They painted their first ones at his school in 2012. Soon, the project expanded to the rest of Los Angeles.

Crew at work

Mural by artist Chris Johanson.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Mural by artist Chris Johanson.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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The painting takes place between Friday and Sunday, but planning takes months.

At Breed, the connection was made through math teacher Barbee — wife of Ray — who is on a two-year stint at the Boyle Heights school to help students catch up on the subject.

“I had sort of planted that seed that at some point I would love for a school I was working at to be the recipient of the beautiful work,” she said.

Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights.

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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin

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She brought Caruso out for a site visit last September.

“He has a really amazing kind of vision about where to place the artists … based on just their artwork and where it is in relation to the street view,” Barbee said.

Next came an introduction to the principal and the approval process.

“One of the biggest challenges with what we are doing is, you know, they want flipping dolphins and stuff like that,” Caruso said. “But we want to cross over into fine art pieces.”

Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Paying it forward

Caruso estimated that as many as 40 artists and musicians have joined the effort.

The core group now, he said, is about 11 people, and friends and families often tag along to help out, given they have just 16 hours over three days to finish the job.

Mural by artist Oitama.

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Sandy Yang / James Hamblin

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Mural by artist Lori Damiano.

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Operation Creative Freedom

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Among the regulars: Wong and his wife, Wendy Lau, who once organized DIY punk shows to fund music education at their daughter's Chinatown school. In Caruso, they saw a kindred spirit.

Caruso later brought the collective to paint at that school and eventually invited their daughter, Linda Lindas bassist Eloise Wong, to join his fifth-grade art and music project.

“All of these kids on the blacktop were all just screaming their hearts out,” Eloise said. “It's cool how Erik — Mr. Caruso to them — shows them, like, raw ways to express themselves through cool art.”