These are the best tacos in Whittier.
When you consider the unincorporated communities of West Whittier/Los Nietos, South Whittier, East Whittier, and North Whittier, narrowing down the best tacos in this vast area is a daunting task. But it must be done.
Whittier has an alluring wealth of tacos, of course, found among restaurants, food trucks, and street vendors. But don’t take our word for it, here are Whittier’s 11 best tacos.
Mochomitos Asador
A taco served with a smoky grilled brontosaurus bone? Yes, please. While Mochomitos in Whittier may not be serving up dino bones exactly, they are serving up one of Los Angeles's best taco de costilla (with beef rib). The family-owned truck is known for its paper-thin handmade flour tortillas, and everything on its menu is done just right, from its rich aguas frescas to the tacos it serves.
According to our editor, Javier Cabral, they are the first truck in Los Angeles to treat asada like an adjective, offering you such cut options as arrachera, costilla, and sirloin. It's ranked #5 in L.A. TACO's 69 Best Tacos in Los Angeles, so you know it's good when it beat out the city's top contenders.
The beef rib tacos are a must when stopping by. They come with perfectly grilled meat on a freshly handmade flour tortilla topped with cilantro, onion, guacamole, and, on the side, a rib bone to nibble on. We recommend topping your tacos with their silky smooth beans, which they will add only upon request.
2252 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, CA 90602.
Tacos Baja
For the rest of L.A., it may be Taconazo. But why would anyone in Whittier go there for tacos de pescado and camarón when they have Tacos Baja in their backyard, especially when there are two locations on Whittier Boulevard?
Beautifully battered and topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, and crema, Tacos Baja is Whittier's best place for fish tacos. The famous blonde chiles de güero are also there, you just have to ask. On Wednesdays, fish tacos are $1.59, meaning you can get three or four tacos for the price of a gallon of gas. Not too shabby.
Feeling experimental? Get a taco de cahuamanta, which is a fisherman soup of braised stingray with shrimp (meant to taste like turtle meat).
16347 Whittier Blvd, Whittier, CA 90603.
Tacos El Tio
Posting up in the same side corridor as Mochomitos, Tacos El Tio is at the corner of Whittier and Washington Boulevards during the week then moves down from the crowded corner on weekends.
The Tijuana-style mulitas and tacos come fully loaded with meat, guacamole, onions, and cilantro inside flame-kissed tortillas. Standout meats include cecina, chorizo, and asada. The salsa game is also extremely top-notch, and when they warn you that the habanero salsa is spicy, listen.
The best thing on the menu, though, might be the huaraches: oblong lengths of masa topped with red and green sauce and queso fresco, along with generous cecina and grilled nopal servings. Tio is fairly new to the Whittier Boulevard taco scene, but this family operation has a strong following, as evident on a recent, busy Friday night.
12414 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, CA 90602
Tacos y Que
There are more notorious Korean tacos in the city, but none with the excess of flavor you'll find at fast-casual Whittier taqueria Tacos y Que. The flavors of scorched sugar resound from this testament to caramelization, where a world of sweet, spicy, deep, dark, and rich flavors ring with every bite through your snappy, pliant Sonoran-style flour tortilla, tender cuts of beef, and squiggly purple cabbage coleslaw. It’s a rabbit hole of echoing umami worth chasing your most curious cravings into, without looking back.
12824 Hadley St. Whittier, CA 90601.
Tacos La Carreta
What makes Tacos La Carreta float among L.A.’s sea of amazing taqueros? It's chef José Manuel Morales Bernal’s hyper-focus on Sinaloan-style asada. For the longest time, it was the only carne that the taquero carried on the menu, and the heavenly smell of the grilled sirloin attracts those who know what’s up from all corners of L.A. County to his taco truck.
La Carreta’s torito is their stand-out offering, an absolutely beautiful charred Anaheim chile that is butterflied and layered with a scant amount of cheese and asada. The tiny details Morales puts into his tacos don’t get enough love. Like the fact that he uses a fatty piece of beef like a paintbrush to gently brush each and every tortilla, instead of dipping them in oil to toast them, boosting each tortilla with an added dose of beefy umami as they crisp up. This beauty ranks #7 in L.A. TACO's 69 Best Tacos in Los Angeles.
11402 Washington Blvd, Whittier, CA 90606.
Tacos Arandinos
Posting up a little further down from El Nuevo Pedimento on weekends, Tacos Arandinos is a family-run operation. Suadero, buche, and pollo are the orders to make here. Deliciously tender and savory, this is a great spot to get a taco or burrito, especially if you’re impatient and just can’t imagine waiting for El Nuevo Pedimento at the moment.
Better yet, to get a taco and eat it while standing in line for Nuevo Pedimento’s riblet taco. Aha!
Oh yeah, salsas are zesty and thick here, too.
12540 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, CA 90602.
Tacos El Toro
Tacos El Toro started out on the front yard of Bradshawe Avenue in East Los Angeles and is now operating out of this trailer in Whittier. Just follow the smell of steamed cuts of beef. Standing behind the vaporera, the Mexican cooking vessel used to keep the meat hot and tender, you'll find the Padilla family slanging tacos al vapor, offering cachete, steamed lip, cabeza, and our favorite, tacos de lengua en trozo (sliced).
While it offers a version where the lengua is finely chopped, we find that it tastes better by the slice. The taquero pulls a hot and steamy piece of lengua out of la vaporera before slicing it into a thick, meaty piece and placing it on top of the steamed tortillas. One glance and you might think the slab of tongue is too thick, but here at El Toro, there’s no such thing because the tongue is cooked so well, it is melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Accompany it with their salsa verde and a dash of their spiciest salsa, and top everything with cilantro and onion. Trust us, you will be ordering another one in seconds.
8230 Pioneer Blvd, Whittier, CA 90606
Bizarra Capital
The Whittier taco scene cannot be mentioned without discussing chef Ricardo Diaz. A co-founder of L.A. taco chain Guisados, Diaz originally put Uptown Whittier’s taco scene on Jonathan Gold’s map with Colonia Tacos Guisados and later with Bizarra Capital and Colonia Publica.
Bizarra will forever hold a place in this writer’s heart. It was the setting of many an outing with a few teaching credential program classmates, and the group dubbed me “not an asshole after all.” (Yes, we’re still friends.) It’s also where I was fortunate to learn that mole fries existed.
Standout tacos include the pato (duck) taco with a hefty heaping of duck carnitas and orange-chocolate salsa inside a puffy chalupa. There’s also a citrusy asada taco topped with avocado salsa, and a taco de queso, with a thick slice of grilled farmers cheese, sauteed potato, and avocado.
The crispy pork belly tacos and fideo that were once standouts at Colonia can now be found at Bizarra. And coming soon to the cold, wintry months at Bizarra? Menudo and pozole.
12706 Philadelphia St. Whittier, CA 90602.
Arturo’s Puffy Taco
Arturo's was the first to unlock this new taco over four decades ago in Whittier, serving generations of Angelenos with the minor miracle of puffy tacos ever since.
Credited to San Antonio, the style involves masa that is deep-fried into v-shaped tortilla-balloons with airy, puri-thin skins. These get filled quickly and efficiently with iceberg lettuce, fluorescent orange cheese, your choice of carne molido, carnitas, guisado de res, chicken, or picadillo, and chunky salsa roja or a spicier, creamier salsa verde. Hot and messy, sweet dreams are made of these.
15693 Leffingwell Rd. Whittier, CA 90604.
Taquería El Poblano
Daniel Alonso of Taqueria El Poblano moved from Puebla to TJ in late 2000. That’s where he was given his first job as a taquero, and it’s where he learned how to perfect the classic TJ style taco: a warm handmade tortilla, carne asada al carbón, or adobada (al pastor), topped with salsa, guacamole, and of course cilantro and onions. It’s the perfect bite, smoky with a spiciness that is instantly soothed by the creamy guacamole. These tacos are like tasting Tijuana.
Alonso started as a taco stand and has grown to multiple brick-and-mortar locations across Los Angeles, with expansions to Orange County. Whether you get their famous vampiros, crisped and crunchy tortillas topped with a melted cheese skirt and your choice of protein, or their massive quesadillas, you’re guaranteed a great bite each time.
16137 Leffingwell Rd, Whittier, CA 90603
Con Tocho Morocho
Whittier does not lag when it comes to having good-tasting al pastor tacos. And Con Tocho Morocho is the stand you’ll want to visit daily, especially on Wednesdays. The taco stand sells mulitas, quesadillas, vampiros, burritos, with meats including charcoal-grilled asada, chorizo, and buche, as well as papas rellenas. But they are mainly known for making a great-tasting al pastor, and on Wednesdays, they are just $1.
13129 Imperial Hwy. Whittier, California 90605
