A new Cypress Park taqueria brings a taste of Tijuana — from the family behind a popular TJ taco chain
A new Tijuana-style taquería in Cypress Park is pressing fresh handmade tortillas to order and filling them with 24-hour-marinated meats and hearty scoops of guacamole, with customers lining the counter stools late into the night under a sign that reads “MORE TACOS LESS BORDERS.”
“We’re trying to bring Tijuana to Los Angeles,” said Taquería Frontera owner Juan Carlos “J.C.” Guerra.
While this is Guerra’s first restaurant, he’s no novice at the trompo.
His father owns seven locations of Tijuana-based chain Tijuanazo Taquerías, and the family also owns Rancho Meat Market in Lincoln Heights. Guerra, who grew up in Northeast L.A., began popping up at the market with a tented puesto roughly two years ago serving a streamlined menu of street tacos. Now with a bricks-and-mortar he’s expanded his offerings with tortas, more meats, burritos, mulitas and quesadillas.
He didn't always know that he wanted to join the family business, but when he was approached about expanding its taco empire in the U.S., Guerra began shadowing his father to learn how he’s been grilling and marinating meat for two decades.
At Taquería Frontera he wanted to diverge from his dad’s practices in a few key ways: asada marinated in a more citrusy style, with pineapple and orange juice, and an adobada seasoned with more than 20 spices. He also offers chicken, which his father does not. Some of these deviations, he said, have gotten his dad’s approval — and might even be better.
“There are certain things he likes about mine that he doesn't want to change at his [restaurants], just because his client is already used to that taste,” he laughed.
Taquería Frontera, with options such as chorizo, lengua and birria, tailors each meat to a special salsa, such as a red chile serrano on the thick cubes of carne asada, or a small river of tangy cilantro crema on the adobada. Wash it all down with a rotation of house-made aguas frescas. Taquería Frontera is open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
700 Cypress Ave., Los Angeles, instagram.com/taqueriafrontera
Read more: What are the best tacos in L.A.?
Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. Pasadena
Some of the region’s top tempura can now be found in a small Pasadena arcade. Chef-owner Carlos Pinto’s frying-focused Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. made waves when it debuted in Torrance in 2019, and his new Pasadena location has 18 seats, a slightly pared-down menu and lines that form for Pinto’s fried-to-order, customizable piles of tempura shrimp, chicken, eel, pumpkin, peppers, white fish, whole eggs and more.
In his early 20s the Peruvian-born chef moved to Japan but didn’t speak the language, so he connected with the country’s cuisine — especially its tempura. He trained in Kaneko Hannosuke’s famed Tokyo tempura restaurant and then in its Torrance outpost, and after its eventual California closure, Pinto opened his own tempura house. His temple to tempura is celebrated for the crispness of the koromo, or batter, as well as its secret-recipe tare and the breadth of options: A range of soba, udon and rice all come adorned with a bevy of fried items, which are enjoyed with condiments of pickled ginger and burdock or celery. The new location also serves sushi alongside sake, wine and beer. Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr. is open in Pasadena Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 7:30 p.m.
694 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 298-6200, instagram.com/tempuracarlosjr
Norikaya
Prolific restaurateur Akira Back just debuted a temaki bar in the heart of Koreatown, where the Seoul-born chef hopes to blend his Korean heritage with Japanese classics in hand rolls, crudos and beyond. At Norikaya, with “nori” referencing the seaweed used to make temaki, and “kaya” a nod to the format of an izakaya, where small plates are often served, diners can find creative hand rolls such as baked unagi and avocado purée under sliced strawberries. Small plates include deep-fried geso, or octopus legs; garlic-coated edamame; and, in a nod to the chef’s many steakhouses, a skillet of seared filet mignon with sea beans and mushrooms. Sake, soju, wine, beer, teas and sparkling sodas are also on offer. More dishes, such as otoro, uni and caviar temaki with gochujang miso, or a caviar-topped hand roll, will be added when the menu expands next month.
Back operates more than two dozen restaurants, bars and lounges around the world — some of which serve sushi — but this is the chef’s first Norikaya, and his second restaurant in L.A. He also operates ABSteak in Beverly Grove, one of the top Korean BBQ restaurants in the city, and teamed up with Robert Kim (also of ABSteak, as well as Mama Lion) to bring the 20-seat sushi bar to life. Norikaya is open Tuesday to Thursday from 5:30 to 10 p.m., and Friday to Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to midnight.
554 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 816 8720, norikaya.com
Danny Boy’s Westwood
Some of L.A.’s favorite New York-style pizza is now available in Westwood Village, with by-the-slice options, whole pies, Sicilian pizzas, parm sandwiches, salads and beer and wine served beneath neon signs of pizza slices. Danny Boy’s Famous Original launched in a downtown food hall in 2021, the first L.A. restaurant from Daniel Holzman — a New York native and a veteran of storied restaurants such as Le Bernardin, Palladin and now-shuttered Venice spot Axe. Upon returning to L.A. the chef sought to recreate the nostalgic, Italian American food of his childhood and opened his pizzeria. With more than 50 seats and 2,300 square feet, Danny Boy’s second location is serving new items as well as signatures such as beef-and-pork meatballs — a throwback to Holzman’s popular Meatball Shop, an East Coast chain he co-opened in 2010. Look for garlic knots, hot wings, salads and pizzas topped with ricotta, pepperoni, mushrooms, hot pickled peppers, chicken cutlets, vegan cheese and more.
New items in Westwood include bottles of house-made dressing and ready-made cold sandwiches, such as a thoughtfully layered Italian sub, as well as alcohol. The beverage program is curated by sommelier Cameron Mahlstede (formerly of Osteria Mozza and Jon & Vinny’s), with a focus on wines to pair with each menu classic, plus locally made craft beer. Holzman plans to expand his full restaurant’s menu further with entrées, stromboli and more. Danny Boy’s Famous Original is open in Westwood Village Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
10889 Lindbrook Dr., Los Angeles, (559) 468-7664, dannyboysfamousoriginalpizza.com
The Hummingbird Ceviche House
Chef Ricardo Zarate is no stranger to L.A.’s restaurant scene, having opened, cooked or partnered in more than a half dozen concepts throughout the last 15 years, including Picca, Mo-Chica, Paiche, Causita, Rosaliné, Pikoh, Mamacita, Short Stories and multiple pop-ups. But his newest effort, the Hummingbird Ceviche House, is his first chef-owned restaurant. The casual new Echo Park spot — housed in the former Mayas’ Tacos — focuses on Peruvian-Japanese Nikkei cuisine, weaving the cultures’ flavors for hand rolls stuffed with rocoto-laced tuna; Hokkaido-scallop aguachile tinged with aji amarillo and pepper ash; and fried dumplings to be scooped up with whole shiso leaves.
The small, open dining room features a long counter where guests can watch Zarate and his team top hummus with grilled octopus or dab ikura onto cylinders of salmon sashimi. While Zarate’s menu of hand rolls, tiraditos, tostadas and ceviches spotlight raw seafood, he also offers cooked small plates such as a risotto-like mariscos dish with aji limo; rib-eye steak; and the “papa no rellena,” which fills a split potato with the likes of salmon, tomato, tuna or crab. Zarate said he hopes to offer beer and wine in the future; in the meantime, look for nonalcoholic wine, beer, margaritas and CBD drinks, as well as a take on chicha morada with chia seeds, apple and pineapple, and a house horchata made with Japanese rice. The Hummingbird Ceviche House is open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.
1600 N. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, (213) 929-9610, instagram.com/thehummingbird.la
Black Restaurant Week
This week L.A. is celebrating Black-owned bistros, food trucks, taquerias, wine bars, dessert destinations and more with its seventh iteration of Black Restaurant Week. The annual event runs now through Sept. 1 to raise year-round awareness and support for Black-owned restaurants, many of which cannot afford marketing, social media or PR outreach. Now, 9 years into the national event, the team behind it estimates that they’ve helped more than 3,000 restaurants by providing resources and attracting new customers. In L.A., this year’s dozens of participants include Dulan’s, Blaqhaus Noho, Happy Ice, Alma’s Place, Post & Beam, the Peppered Grill, Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, Darrow’s New Orleans Grill and 1010 Wine and Events.
“We want knowing your favorite Black-owned restaurant to be the same as knowing your favorite sushi spot or favorite Italian restaurant,” Warren Luckett, who founded Black Restaurant Week in Houston in 2016, told The Times.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
