Food and Folk Art at Los Amigos

Los Amigos Taqueria  can’t boast any designer frills. Until recently, this unassuming restaurant didn’t even have a sign.

All you could see from the street was a blank wall. Flyers posted outside listed the day’s specials. They were the only clue that somewhere, someone was cooking.

Now Los Amigos has a spectacular sign, a bright mural of the Mexican countryside. It starts outside with a menu, progresses to a woman cooking on a comal, then disappears inside to cover three walls of the small room where orders are taken. 

As a vibrant example of Latino folk art, the mural is as much an attraction as the restaurant’s freshly cooked Mexican and Salvadoran food. The artist was Alex Riosola of Los Angeles.

Los Amigos is located on West Third Street in a Latino neighborhood just above downtown Los Angeles.

A bakery is on the corner, and the Vivian market  is next door. Offerings of fresh flowers are placed before a tiled image of the Virgin of Guadalupe set in a wall nearby. The image is illuminated at night.

Passing by Los Amigos, it is hard to see anything more than the small front room, which has a counter and a few stools. But beyond is a larger dining area with tables. It is a nice room, cool and clean, with mirrored palm trees, an elephant and mermaid on orange walls.

The menu concentrates on antojitos such as tacos, burritos, quesadillas, sopes, tortas and Salvadoran pupusas.

The tacos, $1.25 each, are composed of two small corn tortillas topped with a pile of meat, red salsa, onions and cilantro. On the side are radish slices, spicy pickled carrot, a jalapeno and a lime wedge.

A good combination is a carnitas taco with another topped with savory marinated carne al pastor. Other fillings are chicken, carne asada, tongue, beef cheeks and buche (hog maw).

There are also hearty combination plates for $6. One of these is carne empanizada, a breaded beef cutlet set on a moist blend of white rice and black beans that is called casamiento (marriage).

Maduros (fried plantains) and a lettuce salad, tomato slice and avocado come with this.

Usually there are chicken enchiladas in a green sauce, buried under a thick layer of  chopped lettuce and crumbled cheese and accompanied by rice and boiled beans.

Chiles rellenos are sometimes available. Another popular dish is fried bananas with beans and cream.

The owner, Aracely Herrera, is from Ecuador, but the food caters to a neighborhood of immigrants from Mexico and Central America and to high school kids, blue collar workers and people like me, who enjoy the atmosphere of this colorful part of the city as well as the food.

Los Amigos Taqueria and Restaurant, 1445 W. Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017.  Tel: (213) 481-2488.