A Michelin-guide taqueria is coming to Grand Central Market this fall
Villa’s Tacos Grand Central Market
Villa’s Tacos, which makes some of L.A.’s most celebrated tacos, plans to open a location at Grand Central Market downtown as early as next month, bringing freshly pressed blue corn tortillas, char-grilled meats and family salsa recipes to one of the country’s most historic food halls.
The taqueria is an L.A. Times 101 list awardee with options hailed as “large and lavish” and “deftly engineered chaos” by L.A. Times Food critic Bill Addison.
“I wanted to move forward with something not only like another restaurant, but for the next one having so much meaning to it,” chef-founder Victor Villa said. “Being part of something so amazing like the Grand Central Market, I’m ready for the next step.”
Villa’s Highland Park pop-ups began drawing lines down the block in 2018, and the crowds kept coming when it began a nearby residency on York Boulevard. Earlier this year Villa’s debuted its first bricks-and-mortar taqueria — also in Highland Park — and just recently the colorful tacos that pile grilled meats and vegetables into crispy-cheese-lined tortillas were named a Michelin Guide value pick, or Bib Gourmand.
This fall Villa is set to take over the former Belcampo Meat Co. stall, which features roughly a half dozen seats at a low counter and a large kitchen for him and his team to experiment.
“Because we’re gonna have more room to cook, we’re gonna have more room to play with our menu,” Villa said. “Maybe throw people a curveball.” He’s expecting to offer weekend specials such as barbacoa or, for rainy days, a family recipe caldo de res.
Villa is aiming for a mid-October opening, pending inspections and the installation of one of his signature mesquite grills. The refrigerated case that once held sausages and cuts of meat soon will host a rainbow of aguas frescas and to-go containers of salsas, while the taps will flow with beer and wine — a first for the local taqueria. Villa envisions a mix of some of his favorite local and international beers, such as options from West Adams brewery Party Beer Co.
The vision for the restaurant has always included multiple bricks-and-mortars, Villa said. He said when he reached out to Grand Central Market, he heard back one minute later and set the plans in motion. Villa expects to end his years-long sidewalk station along York Boulevard in Highland Park but will maintain his shop in the same neighborhood and has big dreams for the business — including more locations in L.A. and beyond California.
There’s nothing quite like the all-in experience of Victor Villa’s queso tacos, made in a style that epitomizes the L.A. dreamer, the go-getter.
The food hall has seen a constant rotation of vendors through its century-plus history, including the recent loss of long-standing tienda and mole shop Chiles Secos and beloved cheesemonger DTLA Cheese, which reopened in a larger space down the block. Meanwhile, new stalls Sushi Rush, Maple Block Meat Co. and Teddy’s Tiny Bites all opened within the last month.
One of the most striking aspects of the move to Grand Central Market, Villa said, is the storytelling he hears from other vendors, restaurateurs and guests as they pass through and share tales of their own families’ stalls or childhood visits. “I have two daughters, and that’s going to be the case for them,” he said. “When they grow up, they’re gonna tell their kids or their grandkids, ‘My dad had a restaurant here. I grew up here at the Grand Central Market.’”
317 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, instagram.com/villastacoslosangeles
Calic Bagel
The viral bread company that cropped up during the pandemic now has a storefront in Westlake for cream-cheese-stuffed garlic bagels, Korean-inspired pantry goods, black sesame cream cheese and more. Calic Bagel, which began as a garlic bread service in 2020, is the popular hand-rolled-bagel outfit from ALMG Hospitality, the group behind Egg Tuck, Oppa Juicery and Yup Dduk.
When husband-and-wife team Alex and Sun Sohn took trips to Korea, they noticed bagels and garlic bread taking off and tried to tap into that with Egg Tuck’s bakery team. When Sun Sohn’s job as a teacher paused due to the pandemic, the couple began making garlic bread in their home oven for friends and family, then launched an Instagram account, which exploded with orders. Now with their own shop, they offer bagels that are chewy and dense inside with a light, golden crust on the exterior.
There are classic options — such as plain, sesame and everything — as well as stuffed bagels filled with mashed potatoes, ham and cheese, or butter and salt, but the namesake Calic is the most popular: It’s filled with garlic cream cheese and dipped in garlic butter before it’s toasted. Calic also offers eight varieties of cream cheese, including a number of Korean-leaning flavors such as sweet corn, jeju hallabong and a black sesame collaboration with local maker Rooted Fare. Other local products and collabs, such as a lager made in partnership with Common Space Brewery, also can be found there.
The team recently opened their casual bagel shop in the former All Good Things cafe space on 8th Street, now calling it Markeat 8 and with plans to open multiple restaurant concepts there. A forthcoming pizzeria, Seven Tigers Pie Club, is set to launch this fall with Detroit-inspired deep-dish pies with toppings such as 48-hour sous-vide Korean short ribs. Calic Bagel is open Tuesday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
2748 W. 8th St., Suite 107, Los Angeles, almghospitality.com/calicbagel
Parakeet Cafe
San Diego-founded, health-minded chain Parakeet Cafe just touched down in Los Angeles with grain bowls, tapas, salads, pizzas and a range of tartines. The new Beverly Hills location includes a patio, ample indoor dining across a black-and-white-striped floor, and a pastry case, an espresso and matcha bar and tipples such as mocktails, wine, beer and lemon-and-lavender mimosas. The cafe from husband-and-wife team Jonathan Goldwasser and Carol Roizen specializes in all-day breakfast with options such as chilaquiles with green ricotta, truffled egg toast, labneh-laced breakfast burritos and eggs Benedict with roasted-poblano hollandaise. It also offers Neapolitan-style sourdough pizzas, Thai-inspired squash and quinoa bowls with hazelnut miso, and salmon tartare. A location is planned for Brentwood. Parakeet Cafe is open in Beverly Hills from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
206 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, parakeetcafe.com
Madre Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria Santa Clarita
Ivan Vasquez’s temple to Oaxacan cuisine and agave has expanded again, adding a Santa Clarita location to Madre’s growing empire. The menu — full of signatures also found in Torrance, West Hollywood and Palms — features dishes in homage to Vasquez’s home and his mother’s cooking. Colorful tlayudas fan out across the tables, moles arrive in a range of colors — with mole negro, rojo, verde and more — chorizo-flecked queso fundido pulls away from its skillet, and fried quesadillas come stuffed with squash blossoms. On weekends, lamb barbacoa marinates in avocado leaves before slow cooking, then gets served alongside tortillas and beans. Like the locations before it, Santa Clarita’s Madre stocks hundreds of bottles of agave-based spirits, including 500 bottles of mezcal, and serves cocktails, imported Mexican beer and wine, and tasting flights. The latest features Oaxacan art such as murals and sculptures, plus a wood-accented patio and lounge area in addition to its indoor dining room and bar. Madre Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria is open in Santa Clarita Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight.
27007 McBean Pkwy., Valencia, (661) 262-3731, madrerestaurants.com
HomeState Atwater and Culver City
Some of L.A.’s favorite breakfast tacos can now be found in two new neighborhoods. Now a decade in, founder and native Texan Briana “Breezy” Valdez is bringing HomeState and its signature tacos, migas, queso and handmade award-winning flour tortillas to Atwater Village and Culver City. The former launched Sept. 18 in the El Cañon shopping center with roughly 70 seats spread across indoor tables and a patio, while the latter opens Sept. 27 in the former Konbi space with nearly 50 seats.
Both locations serve HomeState’s tacos, sides, brisket sandwiches and other food items, plus coffee and alcoholic beverages such as frozen spicy palomas and margaritas. HomeState is open daily in Atwater Village from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., while HomeState will open in Culver City daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with extended hours to follow.
Atwater Village: 3170 Glendale Blvd., Unit A & D, Los Angeles, (213) 459-0199; Culver City: 10000 W. Washington Blvd., Suite 104, Culver City, myhomestate.com
Yangban
The Arts District’s acclaimed modern Korean deli, Yangban Society, is now simply Yangban — with a new menu and a newly overhauled space. Chef-owners and husband-and-wife team Katianna and John Hong opened their restaurant in early 2022 to local and national accolades that included L.A. Times Food critic Bill Addison describing the chef-partners as “vital local talents grafting innovative ideas with the region’s rich Korean restaurant culture.” The restaurant debuted with a casual walk-up format and a large deli-style case rife with banchan and salads such as chilled acorn noodles in perilla-seed vinaigrette. Now, riffing on the couple’s fine-dining pedigrees that include Mélisse, where they met, Yangban’s new iteration offers table service and a focus on more upscale interpretations of Korean American dishes and flavor profiles.
A number of fan favorites — such as the buffalo-milk soft serve and the crispy wings — remain, while new items include gochujang-braised black cod with Korean radish, rice cake, kabocha and black rice, and bindaetteok-inspired falafel with mung beans, sprouts, white kimchi, soy hummus and chrysanthemum. The beverage program also has been redesigned, with Dave Purcell (the Waterfront, Best Bet, the Nomad) introducing cocktails such as a martini featuring toasted rice and makgeolli, and mezcal with prickly pear, cactus brandy and mezcal. Yangban is open Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 11 p.m.
712 Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 866-1987, yangbanla.com
Mama’s Night Market
The sprawling Asian-focused night market from Mama, a community-minded delivery service, returns Sept. 30 with more than 40 vendors serving street food, signature dishes, desserts and other items amid DJ sets, karaoke and other entertainment. Mama’s Night Market is back for its fourth iteration, hosting some of the region’s notable new restaurants, pop-ups, bakers and street stalls such as Holy Basil, Domi, Metztli Taqueria, Didi, Simón, Chimmelier, Evil Cooks and beyond. General admission costs $39 per person and includes entry and food and drink for purchase, while VIP tickets run $99 and include early entry, open bar and access to VIP-only vendors. Mama’s Night Market runs 6 p.m. to midnight and is a 21+ event. A portion of ticket proceeds benefits Respect Your Elders, a tandem nonprofit from the Mama team that feeds minority-community seniors in L.A.
1057 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, mama.co/pages/nightmarket
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