Carnitas Tacos @ Carnitas y Chicharrones “El Gallo” (Highland Park)
Carnitas Tacos @ Carnitas y Chicharrones “El Gallo” (Highland Park)
by soulsides
6 Comments
soulsides
As street stands have increased exponentially in recent years, besides there now being TJ-style taco stands all across L.A., I’ve noticed a small uptick in carnitas specialty stands as well.
In particular, I’m talking about places that cook their pork in those huge vats of lard, with a mix of different cuts from the pig. Most taco stands that offer carnitas alongside asada, pollo, chorizo, lengua, etc. stick only to one cut (usually pork shoulder aka maciza) but at the speciality spots, they include belly, snout, leg, ribs, etc. If you ask for *mixta/s* (I’ve seen it spelled both ways), you get all those cuts into a single taco and that, to me, produces an awesome mix of textures and flavors. For me, once I had my first carnitas mixta taco, I couldn’t go back to the maciza-only.
I want to say I first had a mixta taco at Metro Balderas (Highland Park), at least 15+ years ago. At the time (maybe still?), they only had that option available on the weekend. And I assume Villa Moreliana in Grand Central Market also did their carnitas this way when they opened back in ’08, same with the venerable Los Cinco Puntos in Boyle heights. The newer carnitas spots all do this as well, including Carnitas El Momo and [Carnitas Los Gabrieles](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodLosAngeles/comments/1flrz0l/carnitas_tacos_carnitas_los_gabrieles_dtla/)
[**The El Gallo stand**](https://www.instagram.com/carnitaselgallohlp/?hl=en) is newer I think; I don’t know if they existed before 2023. They now have at least three locations listed on their IG account; I went to what I think was their original location, on the [corner of N. Ave 55 and Figueroa in Highland Park](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTQa9UgKj8dmi2J78), on the sidewalk of the shopping plaza that also has Villa’s Tacos in it. There’s metered street parking but I just park in the plaza parking lot as it’s not particularly full midday.
I bought two carnitas tacos, mixta style. $4 each which is on par with most other places. They use store bought tortillas from what I could tell…given that, when I was there, it was a two person operation, I’m not going to complain about this since it’s a lot easier to have handmade tortillas when you have a larger staff dedicated to those. Regardless though, I found the carnitas mixta here to be good but still a tier below a lot of the other places I mentioned above; a solid B if you will.
They also do chicharron con carne (i.e. fried pork belly w/ meat still attached) by the pound. I usually like getting a small piece to add some crunch to my tacos and in this case, they just gave me a large nugget-sized piece when I asked.
There’s no reason to think that, if current trends continue, we’ll see even more carnitas specialty spots pop up across the city. Bring ‘em on.
Bluefrogvenom
Great shot, those look perfect.
SinoSoul
Hilarious you pulled up to this place this week. I went last Saturday for dinner, saw the completely dead trunk, left, and went to DS night market. Empty trucks scare me.
_its_a_SWEATER_
Is this the spot in front of Grocery Outlet?
cyberspacestation
I just looked up their Google listing, and oh man, that looks good. All the night stands where I live only do al pastor, and a nearby restaurant with good carnitas closed a few months ago. I’ll have to check that out if I’m ever near Highland Park for lunch.
6 Comments
As street stands have increased exponentially in recent years, besides there now being TJ-style taco stands all across L.A., I’ve noticed a small uptick in carnitas specialty stands as well.
In particular, I’m talking about places that cook their pork in those huge vats of lard, with a mix of different cuts from the pig. Most taco stands that offer carnitas alongside asada, pollo, chorizo, lengua, etc. stick only to one cut (usually pork shoulder aka maciza) but at the speciality spots, they include belly, snout, leg, ribs, etc. If you ask for *mixta/s* (I’ve seen it spelled both ways), you get all those cuts into a single taco and that, to me, produces an awesome mix of textures and flavors. For me, once I had my first carnitas mixta taco, I couldn’t go back to the maciza-only.
I want to say I first had a mixta taco at Metro Balderas (Highland Park), at least 15+ years ago. At the time (maybe still?), they only had that option available on the weekend. And I assume Villa Moreliana in Grand Central Market also did their carnitas this way when they opened back in ’08, same with the venerable Los Cinco Puntos in Boyle heights. The newer carnitas spots all do this as well, including Carnitas El Momo and [Carnitas Los Gabrieles](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodLosAngeles/comments/1flrz0l/carnitas_tacos_carnitas_los_gabrieles_dtla/)
[**The El Gallo stand**](https://www.instagram.com/carnitaselgallohlp/?hl=en) is newer I think; I don’t know if they existed before 2023. They now have at least three locations listed on their IG account; I went to what I think was their original location, on the [corner of N. Ave 55 and Figueroa in Highland Park](https://maps.app.goo.gl/UTQa9UgKj8dmi2J78), on the sidewalk of the shopping plaza that also has Villa’s Tacos in it. There’s metered street parking but I just park in the plaza parking lot as it’s not particularly full midday.
I bought two carnitas tacos, mixta style. $4 each which is on par with most other places. They use store bought tortillas from what I could tell…given that, when I was there, it was a two person operation, I’m not going to complain about this since it’s a lot easier to have handmade tortillas when you have a larger staff dedicated to those. Regardless though, I found the carnitas mixta here to be good but still a tier below a lot of the other places I mentioned above; a solid B if you will.
They also do chicharron con carne (i.e. fried pork belly w/ meat still attached) by the pound. I usually like getting a small piece to add some crunch to my tacos and in this case, they just gave me a large nugget-sized piece when I asked.
There’s no reason to think that, if current trends continue, we’ll see even more carnitas specialty spots pop up across the city. Bring ‘em on.
Great shot, those look perfect.
Hilarious you pulled up to this place this week. I went last Saturday for dinner, saw the completely dead trunk, left, and went to DS night market. Empty trucks scare me.
Is this the spot in front of Grocery Outlet?
I just looked up their Google listing, and oh man, that looks good. All the night stands where I live only do al pastor, and a nearby restaurant with good carnitas closed a few months ago. I’ll have to check that out if I’m ever near Highland Park for lunch.
I’m gonna try it tomorrow thanks for posting