DTLA: Checking Out the Spice Level at Guisados

 

Admittedly I have not been to the original or even the Silver Lake locations of Guisados but I knew I had to get over to the new Downtown Los Angeles spot. As every Guisados newbie who preceded me, I got the tacos sampler. All the pictures I’ve seen of the tacos made them seem like dainty bite sized tacos. Nah, man. These things are maybe just a tad smaller than a corn tortilla at those real good, down home Mexican places most people don’t know about. I was full before I even took second bites of the 6 different tacos.

On this particular day, the sampler included steak picado, bisteca en salsa roja, tinga de pollo, (chicken) mole blanco, (pork) chicharron and cochinita pibil. So two beef, two chicken and two pork tacos. Doable, right?

Oh damn, I forgot about the spice levels! The two spiciest tacos were the chicharron and the cochinita pibil. The pibil does is offered on a scale of spice from 1 to 10. I didn’t specify. I will specify next time.

And which ones did I love the most? The chicharron even if it was kicking my ass. I looked like I was crying but I was clearly crying for joy. I also liked the two beef tacos with a slight edge to the bisteca taco. Guisados by the way means stewed so you can’t go wrong with the wonderfully pull-apart-texture of the tinga de pollo.

 

Want to insta-hipsterize your horchata? Add a shot of Stumptown cold brew. However, I do not recommend that if you are pretty much caffeine-free like I am. That shizz kept me up for two nights. But it was good. No-coffee horchata for me next time. Seriously.

 

For size comparison, here are the regular tacos and not the “tiny” sampler size. Yeah.

 

Oh, I’m not full, right? Let’s try the fish and shrimp tacos! I gotta try everything …

I liked both but I preferred the shrimp. I don’t really like that much stuff on my fish tacos. Maybe a little cabbage and crema. No tomatoes! But the fajita-like shrimp with peppers was fine.

 

Here’s a pic of the Spring Arcade Building where the new Guisados DTLA is located. The building is going foodie heaven with crepes, Uli Gelateria and there are more shops coming including a juice bar. It’s looking a bit like the new Grand Central Market (minus the produce).

I hope to get out to Guisados in East LA proper but until then, I’ll take the DTLA one.

Guisados DTLA

541 S Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013  —  (213) 627-7656

 

© The Minty 2014