El Parian - 3.5/5 Jarritos

I was thinking of starting my first taco-related post with the restaurant that started my irrational love of tacos, La Taquiza. But the never-dying taste of onions in my mouth right now is making me think otherwise.

Taco Stand: El Parian
Location: 1528 W. Pico Blvd. (south side, east of Union Ave.), Los Angeles, CA 90015
Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1528+W+Pico+Blvd,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90015&jsv=107&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=40.681389,80.244141&ie=UTF8&ll=34.044232,-118.273101&spn=0.010419,0.019591&z=16&iwloc=addr

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I heard of El Parian thanks to Bandito at The Great Taco hunt (http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/2005/09/el-parian-paraso-asada-la-parrilla.html). At first, before Google Maps "Street View" was invented, I basically drove by it all the time, thinking it was on the north side of Pico, when in fact it was on the opposite side. After countless times of not finding the place (and subsequently going to King Taco on Pico and Hoover), I finally came to realize that it was on the south side of Pico. One of the downsides of being a lawyer is that you often work late, and thus become mentally incapable of using your brain (other than to drive home) for the first 15 minutes of leaving work. But if you're like me, you're completely incapable of forming any rational thought for the first 48 hours after leaving work.

Today, after realizing that the film crew is still occupying that parking lot that supposedly has the 2nd and Beaudry Taco Truck [the subject of a future post], I decided to try El Parian for the first time. Parking wasn't too tricky, since I used the mini parking lot in the shopping complex just west of El Parian on Pico. Not a very nice neighborhood!

I love it when people try to prove how "ghetto" and tough they are by vehemently denying how a certain part of town or a certain area is "not that bad." For example, Skid Row is absolutely disgusting. I love when people (especially people from San Francisco) drive through Skid Row, they're always like "Oh, this ain't that bad. You should see the Tenderloin." Okay, I'll admit that the Tenderloin is probably worse, but still. Saying Skid Row "ain't that bad" is like saying getting punched in the nose (without actually breaking the nose) "doesn't hurt that much."

Well, I will be upfront and honest with my readers: El Parian is not exactly located in a very nice neighborhood. Luckily, the mini parking lot was only about 20 seconds away from the caged front door of El Parian. But if it was pitch-black outside and past midnight, chances are I would not be making that 20 second run. [Note to self: Have a good laugh when people write "Are you kidding? That neighborhood is not that bad!"]

As for the restaurant itself, not bad! Lots of open space, friendly waitresses, and very fast service. Well, it was probably fast for me since I only ordered three tacos - two asada, one carnitas.

The asada was pretty damn good. Lacked a hint of lime, but very fresh. I wouldn't go out and say it's the best asada around town, though. However, now that I think about it, I'm not sure which taco stand would claim those honors. The carnitas was very good. A little on the dry side, but it really packed a lot of flavor. Usually, the carnitas tacos I get at other places are dry bits of rubber band. El Parian has definitely paid special attention to their carnitas to inject it with some great flavor.

Unfortunately, that's about it for El Parian. The tortillas were most likely homemade - but very dry and lacking any kind of flavor. That is, assuming you don't consider cardboard to be a flavor. I was very disappointed with the tortillas, since El Parian really had a good thing going with the meat. The hot sauce that I stole from a party of three Mexican ladies who left was pretty interesting. Enough kick to the sauce, but not too much. The interesting thing about that sauce was that it had a heavy presence of vinegar. Didn't expect that at all. Nonetheless, the sauce complimented the tacos very nicely.

Overall, I would probably not come back to El Parian - unless I wanted to take an extended lunch and didn't feel like going to La Taquiza. The meat was good and I really want to give those tacos a second chance. However, there are simply too many taco stands to try here in L.A. Maybe in about six months I'll come back to El Parian.

[Another note to self: The pineapple jarritos sucks. What the hell were you thinking?!]

Final rating: 3.5/5 jarritos.
I really enjoyed the meat, but the tortillas brought down the score.