Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Pinches Tacos...a better taco for the Strip when you need it


8200 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323)650-0614
Mon-Wed 11AM-Midnight
Thur-Sat 11AM-3AM
Sun 11AM-10PM

The Sunset strip. A place you love to go and also hate to go to. When you're there and want to be, it's THE place to party. When you HAVE to be there and DON'T want to be it can be the equivalent of sitting on the 405 at 5:05. The joy of the area is that there's lots to like about it even if you aren't there to party, such as shopping and great food. A new restaurant by the name of Pinches Tacos, right at the edge of the strip, is taking advantage of the night life street walkers (no... not "those" street walkers) that are hopping from party to party late at night.

What I like about this place is the fresh taste of the ingredients. The owners, the Anaya brothers of Cha Cha Cha fame, have really tried to keep things legit while at the same time making sure that the ingredients stand out as healthy (or at least as healthy as Mexican food could presume to be).

The place itself has fast food vibe to it where you walk up to the register and order your food and they bring it out. It does however have a great patio that's covered and the food is brought out to you.

Obviously this place is totally a taqueria, but they do serve more than that. The tacos themselves are not cheap but don't let that discourage you in the least. These tacos are filled to the brim with meat. Not fall apart and get you pissed off full, but mighty full. The carnitas shown above were nicely flavored and juicy. Many people's pork tacos fall flate cause they cook them a tad too long and they get prety dried out, but not so with Pinches.

The fish taco was not so much my thing. While it was packed I didn't like the fact that the salsa overpowered the fish all together. Definitely designed for the late night buzzed crowd.

Their flautas are pretty dynamite. Light and well constructed. The meat inside, delicately flavored and moist. All plusses and a sure bet when you can't decide on what to get.

The al pastor was pretty rocking and you could really taste the marinaded char on these. These have been the most consistent for me. I could load these up for a party and everyone would be happy (unless you don't "dine on swine").

Their mole tacos were special indeed. Very packed and slightly sweet which is refreshing from typical mole that has more of an earthiness to it. These were rich and very satisfying. These are wonderful, especially with the horchata they make.

The carne asada had just a hint of smoke and on occasion were juicy but for the most part were bordering on being a little dry. Though not my favorite in LA, I could hit these just about anytime.

As I said before, the tacos aren't that cheap. Ranging between $2 to $3 a taco it could get a little pricey if you're trying to go there when you could eat a small donkey, but those tacos are really packed and packed with good ingredients. There is parking too which is another miracle for Sunset. The final kicker is...they deliver! So next time you're partying on the Strip remember these tacos to send you on your way.

Free refills: On the soda yes, on the horchata no (I badly wish they did though).
Entree Price Range: Instead of quoting things...HERE'S THE MENU

Labels: , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home