Let’s face it; LA is a great place to reside if you like tacos. While Tito’s Tacos set an early craze for tacos in the ’60s, King Taco’s soft tacos with carne asada took LA by storm in the mid-’70s. More recently the tacos dorados de camaron from Mariscos Jalisco. Barbacoa La Brava, a pop-up making the rounds at South Bay breweries, caught my eye, and I visited them.
Like many start-ups that lack a brick & mortar, Barbacoa La Brava is a mobile taqueria and sets up its operation at various LA craft breweries. They set up a large canopy, folding tables, a propane griddle, and other items required to set up for the day. Barbacoa is slow-cooked at a commercial kitchen offsite and brought in a large cooler.
While waiting for my order, I visited the Smog City tasting room. I selected one of my favorite beers, the Coffee Porter, a beer more like coffee than a beer. I also like their flagship Smog City IPA, but it was chilly that day, and I thought a porter was more suitable.
Because their griddle is small, they could only cook four tacos at a time. Each corn tortilla is dropped into its red chile sauce and placed on the hot grill. They add beef barbacoa and a blend of Mozzarella and Monterey Jack Cheese. I recommend adding the optional onions and cilantro to amplify the flavor. Single taco is $3.99 / six-pack is $22.99.
If you prefer eating sliders instead of tacos, they provide barbacoa with a salsa verde using Hawaiian Sweet Roll Slider Buns. Sliders may be easier to eat because they are small in size. The bun is sweet and nicely contrasts the salt present in the barbacoa.
Their Quesadilla ($8.49) is made with a large flour tortilla instead of a corn tortilla. One of Barbacoa La Brava’s most popular items is the Loaded Barbacoa Nachos. It is topped with beans, rice, salsa verde, onion, and cilantro and priced at $14.99
The Queso Tacos are worth ordering after trying everything except for the nachos. The corn tortilla is crisp from the grill, and the combination of the seasoned barbacoa beef with cheese, onion, cilantro, and red sauce is a definite winner. I’d return to eat this taco.
Barbacoa La Brava: Find them on their Instagram account @barbacoalabrava