La Reyna Tacos #2 - Western Ave and Romaine St

There’s a pretty good chance that at some time during the day or night you’ll see a taco truck parked in front of a Smart & Final. I don’t know what it is, but practically every Smart & Final in LA has one. There’s Tacos El Compita that parks outside the Smart & Final in downtown LA where you can get excellent tacos dorados. There’s the Pico Union Smart & Final where you’ll find Tacos El Magalon and their insane habanero onions. Then there are some of the weaker trucks in LA that try to tempt unsuspecting Smart & Final customers into trying their bad tacos. I guess there’s no rule that you have to have great tacos to park in front of a Smart & Final.



Tacos Reyna parks in front of a Smart & Final Extra which I figured was just a bigger Smart & Final. But once inside it looked like the same size as other Smart & Finals I have been in. I went in to get some cash and buy some water but I was also tempted to buy some Ramona’s bean and cheese burritos. They aren’t nearly as good as the fresh ones you can get in Gardena, but they are kind of a nostalgic snack for me. But I decided not to because I hadn’t planned on returning home until later that night and didn’t have anywhere to store them other than a friend’s house. And frozen burritos aren’t important enough that you would ask a friend if you could keep them in their freezer. It’s the kind of thing you would forget about and eventually you would have to make the decision to go get them or give your friend permission to do what they want with them. And if you aren’t all that crazy about the friend in the first place and they constantly remind you that you left some frozen burritos in their freezer. Well, it just not really worth it no matter how nostalgic a snack they are.



La Reyna Tacos is pretty worth it though. Not worth driving out of your way to, but certainly worth eating at if you're exiting the Smart & Final. The truck seems to only serve tacos, though a secret menu may include burritos, quesadillas, and tortas for all I know.

I ordered carne asada, al pastor, and a lime jarritos. The tacos came topped with onions and cilantro, and I peppered them with salsa from the squeeze bottles they had on ice. My plate also included a grilled serrano pepper and grilled onions but sadly the pepper was cold and the onions luke warm. I can’t complain about the quality of the meats, which were fine. There were no fatty bits or tough bits in either taco and both salsas had good flavor and a little spice. The beef with the salsa roja was a pretty good pairing. It was definitely a drunk man’s taco. The kind of taco you would think was the best thing you ever ate after you had been drinking pints of Stella Artois all night.

All of a sudden I wondered if this was La Reyna Tacos #2 then where was #1? I asked the gentleman that was taking the orders but my question was misunderstood. He thought I wanted another taco. I said I didn’t, that I just wanted to know where #1 was. He looked at me like I was crazy and after all I might be, but my question went unanswered. I guess if I really want to find #1 I can start by looking for other Smart & Finals.

La Reyna Tacos #2
Western and Romaine
Los Angeles 90029
tacos $1.25
2.5/5

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