LA Weekly's Tacolandia, the Hangover Part I

With Dita Von Teese, Miss Los Angeles Latina, and friends of Dita at Tacolandia 2013


I'm still basking in the after-glow of Tacolandia, or maybe it's just the sunburn I got last Sunday, but the reviews have been coming in, and the consensus is that people really enjoyed this taco festival. Of course, all I had to do was look around at all the smiling faces, and eaves drop on all the happy taco chatter going on that day to know it was a success.

My friends at L.A. Taco, Hadley and Alex were certainly pleased with the selections and the vibe, and as Hadley stated in his recap, this was a triumph of the taco lifestyle--a lifestyle that we three lived before all of this and will continue when they kick us to the curb. These guys are fine-tuned barometers when it comes to a party--and it showed on their lazy smiles and slurred speech brought on by many a Bud-Light!

The taco hounds at Serious Eats tried just about everything we offered, as did some those fabulous chowhounders--people were on a mission that day!

The Golden Ticket: Tacolandia

Blood sausage taco at the Mercado Olympic on homemade blue corn tortillas


In just a few hours, select loncheras, mom and pops, taquerias, and chefs will take part in the first annual  LA Weekly's Tacolandia curated by myself. The event sold out surprisingly fast and we've been inundated with requests from all over the U.S. from people trying to get tickets. One woman from the East Coast had booked a flight to L.A. only to attend Tacolandia for her birthday, and was freaking out that there were no more tickets.


Luckily, she had an in through a sponsor--she is in the restaurant business--and today she'll be enjoying the many flavors of one of the United State's favorite foods--the taco.


It seems Tacolandia has become an overnight sensation--simply because people have been wanting a proper celebration of the taco for some time--who knew?


With a small crew, limited marketing--many blogs and stories about Tacolandia were written just because people were excited about this event--we created a taco frenzy. Television spots had to be cancelled because the event had sold out, but many have told us that people are buzzing about Tacolandia everywhere.


If you happened to get a ticket, I look forward to seeing you today--there will be so many special dishes made for this event--you're in for a real treat.

See you at Tacolandia! Thanks for your support for this event, and have fun today.

-Bill