Historically, restaurants and street food vendors situated south of the 105 freeway and east of the 110 freeway don’t get a whole lot of coverage from local writers, but that’s changing thanks to efforts from writers like Bill Esparza and websites like L.A. Taco. I learned about La Carreta from Esparza in Los Angeles magazine. By the time I got the opportunity to visit the Sinaloa-style carne asada vendor, “Los Mazatlecos” moved from Compton to Bellflower, where José Morales and son José now operate inside Sinaloa Fish Market on Sundays from 1-7 p.m. This family-run side hustle draws bigger crowds for their mesquite grilled, cleaver-hacked beef tacos than the market does for fish, with good reason.
Morales assembles tacos to order from behind a branded cart that parks inside the market. Anything they serve on a corn tortilla is worth the drive, starting with a taco topped with minced cabbage, minced red onion, and a salsa rojo slurry. I’m also a believer in their vampiros, crispy tostadas topped with melted mozzarella and similar accompaniments. Still, it’s their chorreadas that take matters over the top, adding a layer of molten lard between cheese and meat.
La Carreta also sells fully loaded quesadillas and papas locas, mashed potato mountains topped with carne asada.
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