Where Mario Lopez goes for the best Mexican food in Los Angeles

The actor and born-and-bred Chicano loves hole-in-the wall Mexican food. Here are his top eats in LA from birria tacos at Birrieria Gonzalez to cócteles de camarón at Mariscos el Bigoton.

In recent years, Mario Lopez – forever beloved for playing the self-sure AC Slater on the early 1990s teen sitcom, Saved by the Bell – has become almost as known for his love for Mexican food as he is for his epic dancing talent and easygoing, affable TV and podcast persona.

"I'm really a fat kid at heart, and I love food," jokes the famously dimpled and fit Lopez, who identifies as a "first-generation, Mexican kid" with a foot in both worlds. "I grew up on Mexican food. I'm fortunate that in Southern California it's the best. It's authentic, it's delicious. Outside of LA, Mexican food is a step down. I'm sorry," he shrugs. "But it is."

Lopez moved to Los Angeles as a young actor and calls it home. "I love Los Angeles," he says. "All my kids were born here. And my dad, when he immigrated to this country [from Culiacán, Mexico], first came to LA."

In 1781, the first Mexican settlers established the pueblo of Los Angeles, then part of Mexico; 40 years before Mexico would declare independence from Spain. Today, Mexican Americans comprise 31.9% of the city's population, and there are many historically Mexican enclaves, including East Los Angeles, Pacoima, the Boyle Heights neighbourhood – home to Mariachi Plaza – and colourful Olvera Street, a tree-shaded block lined with Mexican restaurants, museums and kitschy souvenir shops.

"[Mexican culture is] everywhere you go," says Lopez. "Mexicans are all around us, really. That's what's beautiful. You don't have to look far…. Even if you're not Mexican you're a little bit Mexican because the culture is so strong, and it permeates with food and the music and just the people. It's the fabric of the society here."

Lopez's pride in his Mexican heritage is never more on display than when he talks about his culture's food or devours it in his charming Instagram food vids. "I love mariscos (seafood) specifically. That's my favourite," he says. "But I don't discriminate when it comes to Mexican food."

Here are Lopez's favourite places to get Mexican food in Los Angeles.

"I don't really go to a lot of high-end Mexican restaurants," says Lopez. "I can't even tell you the last one, because when I want to eat Mexican, I just usually go to hole-in-the-wall places. I like to support these businesses; mom and pop, family owned. I'd like to raise their profile, if I can."

Like Birrieria Gonzalez: a fleet of Mexican lunch trucks with locations throughout the Greater Los Angeles area (Lopez hits the Pacoima branch). The eye-catching red carts serve a delicious array of tacos and quesadillas, but Lopez especially loves their Tijuana-style beef birria tacos. "Those are delicious, and the consommé is just so fresh and tasty," he says. 

Birria, a type of marinated beef barbacoa served au jus, native to western Mexico, is a highly popular filling for tacos; served on griddled corn tortillas and dunked in consommé before each crispy, juicy bite. Never tried one? "You're missing out," says Lopez. "You got to try it. It's amazing. You can't beat it. You can have it with cheese. You can have it without cheese. You can have it dorado (golden-fried). You can have it soft. I like it soft, but you got to dip it in the consommé. That's good stuff, and it makes it very, very flavourful."

Website: https://birrieriagonzalezofficial.com/

Address: 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Pacoima, CA 91331

Phone: (213) 588-3914

Instagram: @birrieria_gonzalez

The market (mercado) – plays a pivotal role in Mexican culture; a place to meet, a place to eat. In Los Angeles, Mexican mercados range from the traditional labyrinthine El Mercadito in East Los Angeles to chic Mexican food courts like La Paloma in South LA's Figueroa Corridor to everyday Mexican shopping experiences, like Lopez's pick: Vallarta Supermarkets. "They got a bunch of them all over here in LA," he says. "I really like those guys."

The Vallarta Supermarket chain began as a family-run carnicería (butcher shop) in Van Nuys in 1985, later expanding to full-blown supermarkets and becoming a South California institution. Browse Mexican butchery, dry ingredients, snacks and produce as well as the prepared foods in the market's La Cocina section. The Tortilleria produces handmade tortillas, hot from the grill, as well as sweet and savoury tamales.

Website: https://vallartasupermarkets.com/en/

Instagram: @vallarta.supermarkets

Fresh seafood is an essential element of Mexican cuisine; flavoured with bright squeezes of lime and zesty cilantro. Lopez's top Mexican seafood experience in LA is found at the truck, Mariscos el Bigoton.

"There's a few of them [now]," he says "I really like those guys personally, and their food is top notch. And they get very creative. They've got four trucks now. They started off with one, out in East LA and now they're doing really well. Great guys."

Mariscos el Bigoton has trucks on Whittier Boulevard and Nadeau Street, as well as outposts in Pacoima and Riverside. Diehard mariscos lovers can feast on classic fish tacos, shrimp empanadas, towering seafood tostadas and epic "miche cups"; a Michelada (tomato and beer cocktail) served in a glass rimmed with zingy chipotle sauce, fiery spices, cucumber slices and fat cocktail shrimp.

Lopez's order? "Well, everything," he says. "Cóctel de camarón, pulpo y abulón (shrimp, octopus and abalone cocktail, swimming in citrusy juice). I love all that. I love their camarón dorados; the [fried] shrimp tacos. Everything's good. I like everything. I eat everything!"

Mariscos el Bigoton offers five tacos for $5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Address: 5458 Whittier Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90022

Phone: (323) 357-4269

Instagram: @mariscos_el_bigoton  

Lopez also loves Mariscos el Faro, a mariscos truck in Los Angeles's artsy Highland Park neighbourhood; fringed with historic Craftsman-style homes and lush trees. "[Mariscos el Faro is] amazing," he says. "My dad and I recently went, and it's been there a really long time. They do sushi too, in that Mexican style. Everything was fresh, and it was a must-try. It was really good."

Sinaloa region-style ceviche (fish crudo) made with fat slabs of fresh raw fish and shrimp and chiltepin pepper-laced red aguachile (spicy ceviche) are among the truck's most popular items, along with crunchy fish-topped tostadas and the campechana seafood cocktail, served in a hollowed-out coconut. "They do little modern takes, but it's still a truck. It's still down home," says Lopez.

The family-run truck is found in front of the Highland Park Recreation Center, where a smattering of tables and stools on the sidewalk allow for an al fresco dining experience. As for Lopez's order: "I get everything. They have good specials all the time."

Website: http://ordermariscoselfaro.com/

Address: 6139 N Figueroa St #6113, Los Angeles, CA 90042

Phone: (323) 359-3814

Instagram: @El_Faro_Mariscos_

When Lopez feels like sitting down indoors to eat a proper Mexican meal, he heads to El Sauz Tacos just north of Los Angeles in Glendale, nestled in the Verdugo Mountains. "It's really, really good," he says. "Big variety, because I like tacos with lengua (beef tongue) and tripa (cattle or beef tripe) …. Obviously, carne asada. They have all kinds of different varieties. So they're just really good variety and really, really good."

El Sauz Tacos, a squat roadside structure, may look unassuming, but its tacos, served on paper plates and in polystyrene containers, are bursting with flavour and old-school style.

"It's just very hole-in-the-wall, a mom-and-pop kind of place," says Lopez, who loves his tacos "with everything" and spicy, doused in his favourite red sauce, La Guacamaya. "They're all about authenticity and good food."

"I really don't know what life would be without being surrounded by a lot of Latinos, a lot of Mexicans," muses Lopez. "And I think that's a beautiful thing. I love diversity, and I love different cultures, and especially mine. I'm proud to be Mexican American, and I'm proud to represent."

Website: https://sauz-taco.cafes-nearby.com/

Address: 4432 San Fernando Rd #4432, Glendale, CA 91204

Phone: (818) 246-9701

Instagram: @elsauztacos

BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

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