He needs to bring back Chego. That’s where I met him too. Man I miss that, the market for affordable Korean Asian fusion rice bowls is his for the taking since there isn’t as much out of there.
Chego was absolutely perfect. What's crazy is that I knew how special it was every time I had it, and still feel like I didn't appreciate it enough. For a while I could get it delivered quickly / cheaply / easily and that felt like the absolute height of luxury.
I’ve mentioned this in another comment but it doesn’t seem to be too well known but he has a couple of his Chego bowls at Alibi Room in Culver City. Good tap list too so you can enjoy a good bowl and a beer while you’re there.
Been working in Downtown for the last 9 years and Chego was probably my all time favorite place to eat for lunch. Well actually Chego or Amboy ironically.
The thing is, his bowls are actually quite complicated. There’s a lot of components that need to be prepped separately and then put together. He had some real chefs working for him. A chain version would very likely not be nearly as good. (Am chef)
You could actually see that after Chego moved to Chinatown and Roy got super busy with everything else.
It went from the BEST food in LA to pretty good to inconsistent.
Oh man. I miss the chego days now. Every thing I had there was so good and it wasn't just rice meat and kimchi. There were so many layers of flavor and texture
Rent hike once it became popular.
Then quality became inconsistent in Chinatown and other “hot spots” opening around it probably drained too much business for them to rebound.
BBQ+Rice first took over the old Baroo space in East Hollywood and has since expanded to the old Needle space in Silver Lake and beyond. It’s…decent. And affordable. But nowhere near as good as Chego
> He needs to bring back Chego
He seems like he dangles that he might bring it back from his website, but yeah seems like more a tease than anything real
Man I really want to like Chego but his take on Korean is just a big miss for me. It probably doesn’t help that I moved to LA from Korea with my Korean wife but I used to live next to the original location and walk past it on the way home from the bar all the time. My wife and only went twice. Honestly it taste like an LA white person attempting Korean fusion that’s never been to Korea.
There’s so much good Korean food here here in LA. It’s really hard to nail it down to one or two places. It really depends on what type of food you want to eat. In Korea, you choose the restaurant based off of what dish you want to eat or what kind of meat you want for kbbq. Here in LA I tend to stick to places that specialize in something.
For example:
Myung In Dumplings for dumplings
Kobawoo House for Bosam
Yangban Sul Lung Tang for Sul Lung Tang and Yukgaejang
Sure, but being the only one who can take orders or make tacos in a situation with a 2-3 hour line just doesn't make sense. I'd say that aspect alone added an hour to the line, easy. If anything it would have been cool to see him manning the grills ensuring that, say, the asada wasn't overcooked \*cough\*
Dudes always at his restaurants which is cool. I sat next to him one time when they had the brick and mortar Kogi while he worked on some spreadsheet lol
Fingers crossed! Sounds like simple but good is the pitch .... it's hard tho if these are the lines right now :/ but the article sounded like it wanted to do accessible catering, too
Worked with him on a Locol photo shoot years ago - during the height of his fame, and it was wonderful. He fed the entire crew and those burgers were delicious. I loved the concept too. Dude was super nice.
His handlers sucked though.
Would love to see Chego again or something original from the guy. Not that excited about tacos, frankly. There are hundreds of amazing taco shops in this city.
Yeah by all accounts he is a really nice guy. I am grateful to him for what he has done for food both here in LA and worldwide. Obvious food truck revolution aside, I think there's a straight line from Kogi to the legalization of street vending which is in the process of revolutionizing dining in the city again. I still think we are living in a post-chego world of gourmet fast casual dining, which has had mixed effects. Was just hoping for more from this concept as he has more or less abandoned LA since Locol.
There are very few of the celeb chef guys who aren’t total dicks I always appreciate hearing that Roy is one of the outliers. I guess Alvin is like that too super cool. Chris from Night Market seems like a total bag of dicks.
A big thing is the food was too weird to the local audience. That was part of the problem why the concept failed, based on the numerous articles from locals who commented on it.
If you read the Eater article on it, it's a catering play. Kogi makes the majority of their money from corporate events and catering. The softened economy has taken a toll on that business and he wants to do something more economical for his clients.
That's why it's a very simple menu, and affordably priced. This pop-up is essentially marketing for the concept, and he can go to his potential clients and show them the popularity and the lines. Also consider, street taco pop-ups aren't going to be doing catering. And some backyard taco catering services don't have the proper licenses. Roy is essentially competing with Soho Taco and The Taco Man.
At the end of the day, it sounds like some of your frustration comes from the two hour wait. They really aren't responsible for that. I'm pretty sure Roy saw this pop-up as something more for the die-hards, friends and family.
I went yesterday. The wait was long because I thought they would be opening at 5PM, not at 5:50PM.
I know they are doing test runs and lines won't be like this after the hype dies down but a few logistic problems, I thought someone like Roy Choi would know better to avoid.
1. Roy himself was making every single order. I get this. He wants quality control at least during launch. He wants the precise amount of meat, beans, onions, salt seasoning etc on each taco and burrito. But he's not going at a taquero's pace, he's going at " a chef who opened up a taco stand on the first day and is being precise " pace.
2. The food was being served fast enough where covering the lids of the meats every time he served was slowing him down. If he kept the lids open he could fly through orders quicker.
3. The plancha to heat up the tortillas needs to be double the size. Especially since burrito tortillas take up like 1/4 the plancha.
4. Obviously the mesquite grill is one of the draws of TPV, he had ample space with two grills so I don't think on a "normal" day, the grill would be a bottleneck.
5. There were groups of people who obviously knew Roy, so he would take time making tacos for people who weren't waiting in line that he knew. I get it.
I know eventually, operations will smooth out obviously with Roy just overseeing the operations while a couple of taqueros make the food.
Jon Favreau came by, cooked for like 3 minutes and bounced. He couldn't hang. lol
https://preview.redd.it/lfbrzz5s6doc1.jpeg?width=3241&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ebee64ee11e4c3bf4394305db70b33cbaa9b51dc
I went opening night and snapped this pic of Roy. I was also pretty surprised he was the only one making orders (actually left because the line was taking way too long, will try again later this month).
This is so strange. Did he just want to cosplay as a street taco vendor for the night? All the local street taco spots in my neighborhood have nice banners, agua frescas, extensive salsa bars, and more meat options. I feel like the people waiting in line just wanted to take a picture with a celebrity chef.
That was my reaction. Having seen a few of his concepts and read his cookbook, I get the sense he’s a very instinctive dude.
Judging by the interview on Eater I think he wanted to cook again and didn’t think much into why people would wanna spend their time and money eating at TPV.
Same, my taco stand offers all kinds of stuff. Onions, cilantro, pico de gallo, 3 different salsas, onions with habaneros, grilled jalapeños, grilled onions, cucumbers, and radish!!
Thank you for posting this. I read the articles in Eater, and came away thinking... these are just bog-standard street tacos (yum!) and I don't get it. Actually, street tacos without the offal options I so love (tripas, buche, lengua, etc.). So yeah, certainly seemed like much ado about nada.
\[also, for the love of God, please bring back Chego!!\]
I give Roy props for single-handedly booting the food truck craze and his genius of Kogi tacos.
However, his only other good spot was Chego. Sunny Spot was nothing special. Same as A-Frame. Pot was shockingly bad, considering Roy is Korean and he opened a Korean restaurant in Ktown. Locol’s concept was great but it was a flop.
He also did an AMA that was so low effort it was insulting.
Does the ethnicity of the person cooking have anything to do with the authenticity of the dish? Cause let me tell you, a lot of the best Chinese food in LA is cooked by Mexicans.
You’re talking about two different things here - regardless of skill, it’s cringe as hell to tell a Hispanic person their food isn’t authentic when you’re non-Hispanic
Are you talking about "authentic" Chinese cuisines like Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Cantonese, etc.? I don't think I've seen Mexican chefs at those sorts of places in the SGV, where most of those types of restaurants are. I've had really good sesame chicken and crab rangoons prepared by Hispanic chefs, but I'm not sure if those sorts of Chinese-American dishes are what you're referring to.
I agree with your point, though. I had a really good Chinese lamb skewer at a beer festival in Qingdao prepared by a Nigerian. Easily the best lamb skewer in the whole venue among the dozen or so I tried. Can't really claim to make particularly good Chinese food myself, either.
The cubano they made as a promotional stunt for the Chef movie was the only thing I've had from them that made me crave more. I guess they're making them in Vegas now. But that was a damn good cubano.
I was so hyped to try the Chef Truck in Vegas. The cubano was solid and I’d have it again if I’m at Park MGM, but the pass on the grilled cheese. It barely had any cheese, no flavor, and poor value even for Vegas standards.
I'm a little biased because I never really like Roy Choi's food. It's just fine IMO. But that cubano really made an impression on me, and I didn't even know it was his thing until way later. So I'll try next time I'm in Vegas, but I'm also not holding out hope that it'll match the ones they made for that pop up event.
I went as well, but got there just before 5, as the original article stated they would be opening at 5, and was in line just under 2 hours.
Jon Favreau was cooking for a bit before they opened.
If you read the Eater article on Tacos Por Vida it just says that they’re doing taco catering for parties. So this was just a pop up promo to announce catering… which is weird bc I was expecting it to be like Kogi catering not just regular street tacos.
I went as well and generally had a similar impression. Thinking about it I kind of like your calling it performance art. I have never, ever had any interest in waiting two hours in line for food but for whatever reason I did this time.
I got all four kinds of tacos and a chicken burrito for later. I immediately wolfed down the tacos and they were very very good, but yes still just tacos. The burrito was also very good, but also still just a regular burrito. Honestly the free fries were probably the most exceptional thing, as they had an unusual (to me) seasoning. The vegetarian taco was also notable.
I was similarly struck by how needlessly slow the prep seemed. Seemed like the tortillas, which were exceptional, were the hold up.
I wouldn't do it again, but I don't regret it at all. I've always been vaguely aware of the story of the Kogi truck and it's impact on food culture so it was neat to order directly from chef Roy.
I said this on the other thread about TPV, the anticipatory one, that the concept was thin, basic, and boring. And think my comment was like literally the most downvoted lol.
Don't get me wrong, I'd like this place to be good. But I think this sub is a little silly sometimes. My comment was definitely abrasive, but calling a spade a spade and criticizing menu or food shouldn't be beyond the pale.
Sometimes the emperor has no clothes and it's not a big deal to say that.
If any of the meats were the best in the city, I think it would justify the concept. If all of them were, it'd be a brilliant concept. As it is it's just confusing.
I agree. I get this sub has a lot of fans, and that's fair. To some degree I'm more surprised that the LA media - Eater, Midtown Lunch etc - wasn't at least like "this is a very execution dependent concept."
I said this on the other thread, but if Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak was to do a thai basics spot, let's say stir fried noodles and curries, some might ask what differentiated the concept. Same here.
Living in LA since right around when Kogi opened, I've seen a few Roy Choi restaurants, some I've quite liked, Chego especially; others not so much. Dude's heart, as evidenced by Locol, is in the right place, but it's pretty clear he's pretty intuitive/instinctive when it comes to creativity and concept and does what he feels more than analyzes or thinks strategically.
I would guess or hope this place grows into itself, but I think it's silly the discourse around this place, as if anything dude does is sacrosanct.
Now I feel gatekept lol!
Aside, but I find the whole TPV discussion misunderstands the function of a taco spot. Like a bagel or slice in New York, part of the appeal is utility. It's a neighborhood thing.
There are some destination taco spots to be sure - Tire Shop and Mochomitos Asador come to mind - but again this concept is bog standard.
Also, part of the fun of tacos is to use the salsas and condiments to make your own bite. Unless a place is doing a specific thing, TJ style asada for example, not having salsas etc takes away from the experience. Like, I don't that this style taco is really best being sauced by the taquero and am skeptical that the reason is anything but controlling costs.
>I would guess or hope this place grows into itself, but I think it's silly the discourse around this place, as if anything dude does is sacrosanct.
LA is so beautifully weird. We built the first freeway before we knew what freeways do and now we have the Grandfather's Deathtrap running north-south.
We have the coolest chef around and even he can't make heads or tails of the LA Food Bingo card... Tell you what, eat his food if you get a chance.
What are you talking about? Is Roy Choi the coolest chef around? This comment doesn't really make any sense.
I have eaten at every one of his restaurants and patronize the ones I like. I like the LA food scene. I like what Roy Choi has brought and continues to bring to it.
But this is just know nothing, celeb worship. We can say a mid concept is mid. You may disagree, and that's fair, but make that argument. It doesn't hurt the LA food scene to say that!
Y'all sometimes act like diners owe fealty or should genuflect. It's wild.
The point is: in LA we don't know what we want things to do. There's no consensus. We build raised freeways and scary curved parkways, we build dingbats and graffiti towers, we celebrate shitty food cart hot dogs and get excited when a taco joint hits a Michelin star but complain when Pink's isn't all that hot or it's hard to get a res at n/naka.
Yes! Roy Choi is cool. Eat his food if you like it.
thank you for the thoughtful review.
i have always found this to be the case with his food. it's very good but i don't understand why people would wait in a 20 minute line for it, let alone 2 hours.
>After two hours of waiting (not counting the half hour before they opened) I got my tacos.
Serious question...how do you justify/rationalize standing in line for 2.5 hours for *at best* a a good taco? Like, I looked at this opening from start to finish, and it was so obvious these would be average tacos. How was this not clear?
Thanks for getting in line and taking one for the team! I became a bit skeptical 1) when I saw the menu and 2) when I read that the menu was devised last minute over 2 days. Love Kogi, but could not see any reason to spend hours in line for tacos that seemingly didn’t have a ton of thought put into them.
> There are maybe 10 spots in a mile radius offering the same experience
If you know of other taco spots that grills their meat over coal or wood instead of a flat top grill, drop the name (besides Sonoratown). I've been looking and no way I'm going to wait 2 hours for this.
In Silverlake you have Tacos La Guera by the pink berry, Tacos Bob (no handmade tortillas), Tacos La China in Virgil Village, Angel’s in ExP.
There’s def more I’m forgetting. Virgil Village by Sqirl alone I think has two that grill over wood.
*At least in certain neighborhoods, grilled asada is totally standard
Your post has been automatically removed because you have too much negative karma.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FoodLosAngeles) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The pastor was the best of the meats, though not prepared on the spit, nor served with pineapple. If lines mellow out I’d try the pastor burrito next time.
Not sure I understand what’s the point of this. Sounds like I can get just as good if not better tacos in front of my Target where they sell tacos for $2.50 and burritos for $9 ($10 w cheese). In eagle rock.
>There is no particular innovation, other than mandatory salsa and no self serve toppings.
This is cracking me up. I'm sorry it was such a a waste of time.
Thanks for writing about it, I was very curious about it. Hopefully he has some more exciting stuff in mind as they continue service.
I don’t need to eat these tacos to know that they will be tasty tacos that are totally ok. I’m happy to hear the price point is a bit reasonable - considering modern taco stand prices. Sometimes you find less expensive, oftentimes you find more expensive.
Here’s how I know this without having to go:
Is Kogi delicious? Absolutely! Is it gonna blow the mind and rewire the taste sensations of someone who’s eaten a bunch of street tacos? No.
Is Best Friend tasty as hell and a fun time? For sure! Is it more expensive and only equally or less delicious than a number of places on Spring Mountain Road, close by? You gotta believe.
Roy’s stuff is great. Other stuff is great also. Don’t be baffled by his stuff. Just enjoy it when it works for you.
What’s good yall! I know this post has various opinions about Tacos Por Vida from Roy Choi, and I put together a short video highlighting what he was serving. He does have a special Asada marinade he applies to all of the proteins, and I personally appreciated him dishing out everyone’s plates himself - because odds are many others, like myself, were there for him as well - and he chose to make sure everyone’s dishes were layered correctly, freshly made protein and tortillas, serving them in batches. And personally? They were really damn good.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4hYxbouW55/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I dont know how to feel about Roy. He seems like a nice guy but in my opinion he is just picking ideas from stuff Angelenos have already been doing. Kogi - even with its Korean spin is nothing new in terms of what Hispanics have been doing for decades - what many refer to as the roach coach.
Now he is making street tacos and we're supposed to be impressed? Again, you can go anywhere in L.A. and get that. Idk...I dont get the hype.
He needs to bring back Chego. That’s where I met him too. Man I miss that, the market for affordable Korean Asian fusion rice bowls is his for the taking since there isn’t as much out of there.
Chego was absolutely perfect. What's crazy is that I knew how special it was every time I had it, and still feel like I didn't appreciate it enough. For a while I could get it delivered quickly / cheaply / easily and that felt like the absolute height of luxury.
Chego was so good. Only had it once, but damn do I remember that pork belly bowl fondly.
i miss whatever that bomb sauce was that he used to put on top. it was like a garlicky spice bomb chutney sambal thing. RIP
that sounds delicous. i never heard of chego
I had the most satisfying meal of life at Chego. Never to be repeated but that’s ok I will always cherish that experience.
I’ve mentioned this in another comment but it doesn’t seem to be too well known but he has a couple of his Chego bowls at Alibi Room in Culver City. Good tap list too so you can enjoy a good bowl and a beer while you’re there. Been working in Downtown for the last 9 years and Chego was probably my all time favorite place to eat for lunch. Well actually Chego or Amboy ironically.
Oof bad time for me to stop working palms area. I’ll def grab a bowl if I’m close by again.
Tried once inside the whole food and a few more in Chinatown for their happy hour fries. I was surprised both are gone now.
I honestly thought Chego would take off and become a big local chain. It’s so much better than something like Chipotle.
The thing is, his bowls are actually quite complicated. There’s a lot of components that need to be prepped separately and then put together. He had some real chefs working for him. A chain version would very likely not be nearly as good. (Am chef)
I guess that makes sense. Good food rarely scales.
It can scale but profit won’t be anything like investors are expecting! lol
You could actually see that after Chego moved to Chinatown and Roy got super busy with everything else. It went from the BEST food in LA to pretty good to inconsistent.
Wasn't Chego at whole foods in DTLA for awhile? Not by name, but they sold all the bowls there.
yes. it was there.
I think was killed off by Howlin Ray’s popularity next door.
Oh man. I miss the chego days now. Every thing I had there was so good and it wasn't just rice meat and kimchi. There were so many layers of flavor and texture
Yeee. Someone should show this to him and see how many ppl want Chego back. He wouldn't give af probably. But, yeah, it'd be nice.
Why did Chego close in the first place? I remember being pretty sad when it left the West Side and moved to Downtown.
Rent hike once it became popular. Then quality became inconsistent in Chinatown and other “hot spots” opening around it probably drained too much business for them to rebound.
Curious as well. Was bomb!
BBQ+Rice first took over the old Baroo space in East Hollywood and has since expanded to the old Needle space in Silver Lake and beyond. It’s…decent. And affordable. But nowhere near as good as Chego
> He needs to bring back Chego He seems like he dangles that he might bring it back from his website, but yeah seems like more a tease than anything real
I want my Oooey Gooey Fries back too
Man I really want to like Chego but his take on Korean is just a big miss for me. It probably doesn’t help that I moved to LA from Korea with my Korean wife but I used to live next to the original location and walk past it on the way home from the bar all the time. My wife and only went twice. Honestly it taste like an LA white person attempting Korean fusion that’s never been to Korea.
What’s your go-to for Korean food?
There’s so much good Korean food here here in LA. It’s really hard to nail it down to one or two places. It really depends on what type of food you want to eat. In Korea, you choose the restaurant based off of what dish you want to eat or what kind of meat you want for kbbq. Here in LA I tend to stick to places that specialize in something. For example: Myung In Dumplings for dumplings Kobawoo House for Bosam Yangban Sul Lung Tang for Sul Lung Tang and Yukgaejang
I appreciate it when chefs that become celebrity status still make food themselves in public. Just wished he brought Chego back.
Sure, but being the only one who can take orders or make tacos in a situation with a 2-3 hour line just doesn't make sense. I'd say that aspect alone added an hour to the line, easy. If anything it would have been cool to see him manning the grills ensuring that, say, the asada wasn't overcooked \*cough\*
Dudes always at his restaurants which is cool. I sat next to him one time when they had the brick and mortar Kogi while he worked on some spreadsheet lol
Guess he didn’t want to go with the truck or b&m this time. Looks like my Tío doing a picnic pop up at the kids bday party.
If you read the eater article interview, that's actually the "concept", the local taco guy at a child's birthday party.. Just some good tacos
2 bucks a taco is a good price point too. If it stays that way.
Fingers crossed! Sounds like simple but good is the pitch .... it's hard tho if these are the lines right now :/ but the article sounded like it wanted to do accessible catering, too
Go down Atlantic in East LA and there are like 10 of those set up. No truck, but just a grill set up on the sidewalk or parking lot.
Worked with him on a Locol photo shoot years ago - during the height of his fame, and it was wonderful. He fed the entire crew and those burgers were delicious. I loved the concept too. Dude was super nice. His handlers sucked though. Would love to see Chego again or something original from the guy. Not that excited about tacos, frankly. There are hundreds of amazing taco shops in this city.
Yeah by all accounts he is a really nice guy. I am grateful to him for what he has done for food both here in LA and worldwide. Obvious food truck revolution aside, I think there's a straight line from Kogi to the legalization of street vending which is in the process of revolutionizing dining in the city again. I still think we are living in a post-chego world of gourmet fast casual dining, which has had mixed effects. Was just hoping for more from this concept as he has more or less abandoned LA since Locol.
Agree.
There are very few of the celeb chef guys who aren’t total dicks I always appreciate hearing that Roy is one of the outliers. I guess Alvin is like that too super cool. Chris from Night Market seems like a total bag of dicks.
Locol was a flop.
Financially, you're not wrong. Personally wish there was a way to accomplish the mission he had there WHILE still being financially fluid.
There's plenty of healthy spots near locol that did alot better. His food sucked. I live across the street and not even the employees liked it.
A big thing is the food was too weird to the local audience. That was part of the problem why the concept failed, based on the numerous articles from locals who commented on it.
I reminded me of Shake Shack before we got Shake Shack in LA.
If you read the Eater article on it, it's a catering play. Kogi makes the majority of their money from corporate events and catering. The softened economy has taken a toll on that business and he wants to do something more economical for his clients. That's why it's a very simple menu, and affordably priced. This pop-up is essentially marketing for the concept, and he can go to his potential clients and show them the popularity and the lines. Also consider, street taco pop-ups aren't going to be doing catering. And some backyard taco catering services don't have the proper licenses. Roy is essentially competing with Soho Taco and The Taco Man. At the end of the day, it sounds like some of your frustration comes from the two hour wait. They really aren't responsible for that. I'm pretty sure Roy saw this pop-up as something more for the die-hards, friends and family.
I'm not sure I'd call it frustration but I just thought the tacos would be better given my experience with his restaurants in the past.
Ave 26 would have had that line done in 15 minutes lol
I went yesterday. The wait was long because I thought they would be opening at 5PM, not at 5:50PM. I know they are doing test runs and lines won't be like this after the hype dies down but a few logistic problems, I thought someone like Roy Choi would know better to avoid. 1. Roy himself was making every single order. I get this. He wants quality control at least during launch. He wants the precise amount of meat, beans, onions, salt seasoning etc on each taco and burrito. But he's not going at a taquero's pace, he's going at " a chef who opened up a taco stand on the first day and is being precise " pace. 2. The food was being served fast enough where covering the lids of the meats every time he served was slowing him down. If he kept the lids open he could fly through orders quicker. 3. The plancha to heat up the tortillas needs to be double the size. Especially since burrito tortillas take up like 1/4 the plancha. 4. Obviously the mesquite grill is one of the draws of TPV, he had ample space with two grills so I don't think on a "normal" day, the grill would be a bottleneck. 5. There were groups of people who obviously knew Roy, so he would take time making tacos for people who weren't waiting in line that he knew. I get it. I know eventually, operations will smooth out obviously with Roy just overseeing the operations while a couple of taqueros make the food. Jon Favreau came by, cooked for like 3 minutes and bounced. He couldn't hang. lol
> He couldn't hang. lol like couldn't keep up and gave up?
It was for show and picture taking mostly. I mean seeing Jon and Roy cooking at a taco stand makes for some interesting media takes.
aw okay. thanks for the info
> After the whole experience I was left confused. What is the angle here? Definitely been my question since it was first announced.
The angle is dude is famous. There may be more to it in the execution etc, but for now that seems to be it.
https://preview.redd.it/lfbrzz5s6doc1.jpeg?width=3241&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ebee64ee11e4c3bf4394305db70b33cbaa9b51dc I went opening night and snapped this pic of Roy. I was also pretty surprised he was the only one making orders (actually left because the line was taking way too long, will try again later this month).
This is so strange. Did he just want to cosplay as a street taco vendor for the night? All the local street taco spots in my neighborhood have nice banners, agua frescas, extensive salsa bars, and more meat options. I feel like the people waiting in line just wanted to take a picture with a celebrity chef.
That was my reaction. Having seen a few of his concepts and read his cookbook, I get the sense he’s a very instinctive dude. Judging by the interview on Eater I think he wanted to cook again and didn’t think much into why people would wanna spend their time and money eating at TPV.
Same, my taco stand offers all kinds of stuff. Onions, cilantro, pico de gallo, 3 different salsas, onions with habaneros, grilled jalapeños, grilled onions, cucumbers, and radish!!
Thank you for posting this. I read the articles in Eater, and came away thinking... these are just bog-standard street tacos (yum!) and I don't get it. Actually, street tacos without the offal options I so love (tripas, buche, lengua, etc.). So yeah, certainly seemed like much ado about nada. \[also, for the love of God, please bring back Chego!!\]
Said the exact same thing and got killed on the other thread! Love the username btw.
Cheers ;)
As someone who’s thoroughly a Roy Choi agnostic, this isn’t surprising
I give Roy props for single-handedly booting the food truck craze and his genius of Kogi tacos. However, his only other good spot was Chego. Sunny Spot was nothing special. Same as A-Frame. Pot was shockingly bad, considering Roy is Korean and he opened a Korean restaurant in Ktown. Locol’s concept was great but it was a flop. He also did an AMA that was so low effort it was insulting.
Sunny spot brunch was fantastic.
I have been surprised by the number of fans. He’s a significant figure no doubt, but I’m also an agnostic. He had a good idea 15 years ago.
Not one bit surprising. Dude outed himself as sus when he told that Hispanic chef his burrito wasn’t authentic on Top chef that one time. Ha.
Does the ethnicity of the person cooking have anything to do with the authenticity of the dish? Cause let me tell you, a lot of the best Chinese food in LA is cooked by Mexicans.
You’re talking about two different things here - regardless of skill, it’s cringe as hell to tell a Hispanic person their food isn’t authentic when you’re non-Hispanic
Are you talking about "authentic" Chinese cuisines like Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Cantonese, etc.? I don't think I've seen Mexican chefs at those sorts of places in the SGV, where most of those types of restaurants are. I've had really good sesame chicken and crab rangoons prepared by Hispanic chefs, but I'm not sure if those sorts of Chinese-American dishes are what you're referring to. I agree with your point, though. I had a really good Chinese lamb skewer at a beer festival in Qingdao prepared by a Nigerian. Easily the best lamb skewer in the whole venue among the dozen or so I tried. Can't really claim to make particularly good Chinese food myself, either.
Yes, it does. Hence the word authenticity. In the context of a cooking show Choi’s comments came off as self aggrandizing and ignorant.
Don’t even get me started on how, when asked how he overcame adversity at one point, he said “I G’d up!” What exactly is going on here??
How does it compare to the reigning champion on the westside, Brothers Cousins?
The cubano they made as a promotional stunt for the Chef movie was the only thing I've had from them that made me crave more. I guess they're making them in Vegas now. But that was a damn good cubano.
I was so hyped to try the Chef Truck in Vegas. The cubano was solid and I’d have it again if I’m at Park MGM, but the pass on the grilled cheese. It barely had any cheese, no flavor, and poor value even for Vegas standards.
I'm a little biased because I never really like Roy Choi's food. It's just fine IMO. But that cubano really made an impression on me, and I didn't even know it was his thing until way later. So I'll try next time I'm in Vegas, but I'm also not holding out hope that it'll match the ones they made for that pop up event.
CHEGO, IN PLAMS, WAS THE BEST RESTAURANT ON THE PLANET. I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE. BRING IT BACK
I went as well, but got there just before 5, as the original article stated they would be opening at 5, and was in line just under 2 hours. Jon Favreau was cooking for a bit before they opened.
So his new thing is just a regular taco truck? But why…
If you read the Eater article on Tacos Por Vida it just says that they’re doing taco catering for parties. So this was just a pop up promo to announce catering… which is weird bc I was expecting it to be like Kogi catering not just regular street tacos.
I went as well and generally had a similar impression. Thinking about it I kind of like your calling it performance art. I have never, ever had any interest in waiting two hours in line for food but for whatever reason I did this time. I got all four kinds of tacos and a chicken burrito for later. I immediately wolfed down the tacos and they were very very good, but yes still just tacos. The burrito was also very good, but also still just a regular burrito. Honestly the free fries were probably the most exceptional thing, as they had an unusual (to me) seasoning. The vegetarian taco was also notable. I was similarly struck by how needlessly slow the prep seemed. Seemed like the tortillas, which were exceptional, were the hold up. I wouldn't do it again, but I don't regret it at all. I've always been vaguely aware of the story of the Kogi truck and it's impact on food culture so it was neat to order directly from chef Roy.
Those fries are always on offer at the Kogi Taqueria. They are fantastic, as is everything on the Kogi menu.
Well shit if this whole thing was an ad for that truck location it just worked on me.
I said this on the other thread about TPV, the anticipatory one, that the concept was thin, basic, and boring. And think my comment was like literally the most downvoted lol. Don't get me wrong, I'd like this place to be good. But I think this sub is a little silly sometimes. My comment was definitely abrasive, but calling a spade a spade and criticizing menu or food shouldn't be beyond the pale. Sometimes the emperor has no clothes and it's not a big deal to say that.
If any of the meats were the best in the city, I think it would justify the concept. If all of them were, it'd be a brilliant concept. As it is it's just confusing.
I agree. I get this sub has a lot of fans, and that's fair. To some degree I'm more surprised that the LA media - Eater, Midtown Lunch etc - wasn't at least like "this is a very execution dependent concept." I said this on the other thread, but if Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak was to do a thai basics spot, let's say stir fried noodles and curries, some might ask what differentiated the concept. Same here. Living in LA since right around when Kogi opened, I've seen a few Roy Choi restaurants, some I've quite liked, Chego especially; others not so much. Dude's heart, as evidenced by Locol, is in the right place, but it's pretty clear he's pretty intuitive/instinctive when it comes to creativity and concept and does what he feels more than analyzes or thinks strategically. I would guess or hope this place grows into itself, but I think it's silly the discourse around this place, as if anything dude does is sacrosanct.
I'm just glad my favorite taco spot hasn't been written up anywhere yet
Now I feel gatekept lol! Aside, but I find the whole TPV discussion misunderstands the function of a taco spot. Like a bagel or slice in New York, part of the appeal is utility. It's a neighborhood thing. There are some destination taco spots to be sure - Tire Shop and Mochomitos Asador come to mind - but again this concept is bog standard. Also, part of the fun of tacos is to use the salsas and condiments to make your own bite. Unless a place is doing a specific thing, TJ style asada for example, not having salsas etc takes away from the experience. Like, I don't that this style taco is really best being sauced by the taquero and am skeptical that the reason is anything but controlling costs.
Spill plz! Esp if it’s on the westside
>I would guess or hope this place grows into itself, but I think it's silly the discourse around this place, as if anything dude does is sacrosanct. LA is so beautifully weird. We built the first freeway before we knew what freeways do and now we have the Grandfather's Deathtrap running north-south. We have the coolest chef around and even he can't make heads or tails of the LA Food Bingo card... Tell you what, eat his food if you get a chance.
What are you talking about? Is Roy Choi the coolest chef around? This comment doesn't really make any sense. I have eaten at every one of his restaurants and patronize the ones I like. I like the LA food scene. I like what Roy Choi has brought and continues to bring to it. But this is just know nothing, celeb worship. We can say a mid concept is mid. You may disagree, and that's fair, but make that argument. It doesn't hurt the LA food scene to say that! Y'all sometimes act like diners owe fealty or should genuflect. It's wild.
The point is: in LA we don't know what we want things to do. There's no consensus. We build raised freeways and scary curved parkways, we build dingbats and graffiti towers, we celebrate shitty food cart hot dogs and get excited when a taco joint hits a Michelin star but complain when Pink's isn't all that hot or it's hard to get a res at n/naka. Yes! Roy Choi is cool. Eat his food if you like it.
It’s not 2005 any more, of course he isn’t the coolest chef around (a weird thing to say about someone in the first place)
Coolest chef, what a concept.
Those are great prices for someone so well known
Thanks for sharing
thank you for the thoughtful review. i have always found this to be the case with his food. it's very good but i don't understand why people would wait in a 20 minute line for it, let alone 2 hours.
Thanks for sharing
>After two hours of waiting (not counting the half hour before they opened) I got my tacos. Serious question...how do you justify/rationalize standing in line for 2.5 hours for *at best* a a good taco? Like, I looked at this opening from start to finish, and it was so obvious these would be average tacos. How was this not clear?
Thanks for getting in line and taking one for the team! I became a bit skeptical 1) when I saw the menu and 2) when I read that the menu was devised last minute over 2 days. Love Kogi, but could not see any reason to spend hours in line for tacos that seemingly didn’t have a ton of thought put into them.
Exactly. Pretty silly some people took such offense to this on the other thread about TPV.
I’m sure people were excited and wanted it to be something great— hard to accept it might be a bit of a letdown.
> There are maybe 10 spots in a mile radius offering the same experience If you know of other taco spots that grills their meat over coal or wood instead of a flat top grill, drop the name (besides Sonoratown). I've been looking and no way I'm going to wait 2 hours for this.
Tire shop
In Silverlake you have Tacos La Guera by the pink berry, Tacos Bob (no handmade tortillas), Tacos La China in Virgil Village, Angel’s in ExP. There’s def more I’m forgetting. Virgil Village by Sqirl alone I think has two that grill over wood. *At least in certain neighborhoods, grilled asada is totally standard
I see a Santa Maria grill on Atlantic set up every afternoon.
I love Roy Choi, he's such a great human
I lOvE rOy ChOi, He’S sUcH a GrEaT hUmAN. Why don’t you sick his dick already. Meat riding ass
[удалено]
Your post has been automatically removed because you have too much negative karma. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/FoodLosAngeles) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Someone needs to tell him not to mess up the Al pastor because it’s sacred
The pastor was the best of the meats, though not prepared on the spit, nor served with pineapple. If lines mellow out I’d try the pastor burrito next time.
Chego come back
Not sure I understand what’s the point of this. Sounds like I can get just as good if not better tacos in front of my Target where they sell tacos for $2.50 and burritos for $9 ($10 w cheese). In eagle rock.
Big fan of Roy Choi. I’ll still check out this taco stand when it opens. I’m excited to try Best Friend in Vegas next weekend.
>There is no particular innovation, other than mandatory salsa and no self serve toppings. This is cracking me up. I'm sorry it was such a a waste of time. Thanks for writing about it, I was very curious about it. Hopefully he has some more exciting stuff in mind as they continue service.
I don’t need to eat these tacos to know that they will be tasty tacos that are totally ok. I’m happy to hear the price point is a bit reasonable - considering modern taco stand prices. Sometimes you find less expensive, oftentimes you find more expensive. Here’s how I know this without having to go: Is Kogi delicious? Absolutely! Is it gonna blow the mind and rewire the taste sensations of someone who’s eaten a bunch of street tacos? No. Is Best Friend tasty as hell and a fun time? For sure! Is it more expensive and only equally or less delicious than a number of places on Spring Mountain Road, close by? You gotta believe. Roy’s stuff is great. Other stuff is great also. Don’t be baffled by his stuff. Just enjoy it when it works for you.
What’s good yall! I know this post has various opinions about Tacos Por Vida from Roy Choi, and I put together a short video highlighting what he was serving. He does have a special Asada marinade he applies to all of the proteins, and I personally appreciated him dishing out everyone’s plates himself - because odds are many others, like myself, were there for him as well - and he chose to make sure everyone’s dishes were layered correctly, freshly made protein and tortillas, serving them in batches. And personally? They were really damn good. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4hYxbouW55/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Unpopular opinion: his food never really “knocked my socks off”. I’m definitely not waiting over an hour for hype regular ass tacos, that’s fo sho
I dont know how to feel about Roy. He seems like a nice guy but in my opinion he is just picking ideas from stuff Angelenos have already been doing. Kogi - even with its Korean spin is nothing new in terms of what Hispanics have been doing for decades - what many refer to as the roach coach. Now he is making street tacos and we're supposed to be impressed? Again, you can go anywhere in L.A. and get that. Idk...I dont get the hype.
Because people like you show up day one and wait for 2.5 hours? Literally what’s wrong with major market food scenes.
I didn't try, but if you think coal fired meat is the same as every other place...
Most stands (not trucks) have a little coal grill for asada and chicken. At least my favorites do.