Here is how it went last night with text messages to CantStayJose:
15 or 20 minutes later, Jose was in my truck we were looking for the perfect taco. It was an easy persuasion.
So
Mi Pariente was closed; we already knew that since it was close to 8pm. We drove down Pacific Coast Highway to Wilmington to see if
Carnitas Patzcuaro was still open but nope, they were closed too... which was when Jose said,
"lets go check out this other taco place, I seen it on Anaheim but I forgot exactly where it was... we'll find it". We turned around and headed back to our charming city of Long Beach to investigate this new spot.
To most people, eating tacos out of a window in an alley next to a gas station may be way too gnarly. But this is what you eat when you're into chopper period correctness and being all 60's like it was the biker b-movie Hells Angels '69. I swear, trust me! This is the spot you'll find original Bates seats and Borrani rims in sizes you've never even dreamed of!!! Or you may find good tacos.
As I had reported to many of you before, most
GOOD taco places have
ONE or
MAYBE a couple of items that are outstanding. Since this spot was new to us, I had to try a variety on my first order. As you may know, I always skip the carne asada and the pollo. For my
first order, I went for one of the following: al pastor, barbacoa and the tripas.
I noticed that all the tacos were priced at $1 each EXCEPT for the tripas, which was $1.50. This immediately got my attention as to why beef guts would cost 50 cents more than all the other more "desirable" parts.
These photos I took with my phone cannot show you how good the fucking
TRIPAS was. Not even an inkling. It was like
Three's Company, I was
Jack Tripper, just cold
trippin' on the greasy bovine intestinal goodness. What about the barbacoa and the al pastor I had? aaah, whatever. I could live without them... but this
taco de tripas - where have you been all my life! After I had that one tripas taco I ordered, I went back for two more (below).
Me: This is the best tripas I ever had, man.
Jose: seriously, this is the best tripas I've had outside my mom's kitchen.
The tripas were prepared greasy, as they usually are, and on the fried-crunchy side. The flavor was perfect. Not too livery at all, just fried crunchy goodness. Definitely not that rubbery mess that I can't stand.
Where's this place at? Not sure! I'll go back to find out. I think it was in the alley of an Arco gas station but we actually forgot to look what the cross street was! Don't worry, your faithful reporters will re-open this investigation!
Life's too short for burgers and fries!
Frequently Asked Questions:
What's interesting was that he's a radio DJ once a week. I guess this is his usual schedule below, but last night he was on from 9pm to midnight. You can stream it to listen and even watch his show live. I had no clue he had an ongoing radio show. Click below for the Ozcat Radio site:
Mike Scraggs is one of those people that you'll never read about on the internet or get much info in magazines (there's probably more about him in Japanese mags). You'd need to practice the fine art of conversation to get info from guys like this. For well over a decade now, he's been one of the people that I got history on the undocumented black art of hot rod FXR's and the origins of Frisco style choppers.
As you may or may not know, T-Bone has been a herbivore for a while now. That doesn't compute with me and I'm glad he is now normal again and using his canines and his incisors for what they were meant to be used for: tearing flesh from bone.
Shot these photos in March of 2008 for a feature in The Horse, which was one of my first features using a digital camera. I was late to the game with digital. I got a ton of stuff on slides.
This one is the shit. It's like the light of God is shining down unto him:
He's gonna lose his shoe:
Must be the raddest of feeling of being totally fucking plastered by yourself and never knowing when/if you'll ever get home. Over and over. 
Considering how safe it is in Japanese cities compared to American cities, they rarely ever get fucked with. I've seen them since I ever could remember on my trips to Japan.
It was served with our favorite maple syrup from Sprague's Maple Farms. Bringing it all together is bacon from our favorite local butcher.
Late lunch/early dinner was served. From the 12 o'clock position:
I did the dishes and we even had time to fit in a quirky foreign film and The Godfather. Sorry, I didn't get to take photos of the baked rhubarb with heavy cream, which was a sauce that went over our gourmet vanilla bean ice cream.
15 or 20 minutes later, Jose was in my truck we were looking for the perfect taco. It was an easy persuasion.
As I had reported to many of you before, most GOOD taco places have ONE or MAYBE a couple of items that are outstanding. Since this spot was new to us, I had to try a variety on my first order. As you may know, I always skip the carne asada and the pollo. For my first order, I went for one of the following: al pastor, barbacoa and the tripas.
I noticed that all the tacos were priced at $1 each EXCEPT for the tripas, which was $1.50. This immediately got my attention as to why beef guts would cost 50 cents more than all the other more "desirable" parts.
These photos I took with my phone cannot show you how good the fucking TRIPAS was. Not even an inkling. It was like Three's Company, I was Jack Tripper, just cold trippin' on the greasy bovine intestinal goodness. What about the barbacoa and the al pastor I had? aaah, whatever. I could live without them... but this taco de tripas - where have you been all my life! After I had that one tripas taco I ordered, I went back for two more (below).
The tripas were prepared greasy, as they usually are, and on the fried-crunchy side. The flavor was perfect. Not too livery at all, just fried crunchy goodness. Definitely not that rubbery mess that I can't stand.
The "scene" was so different just a few years ago. Crazy how things have changed so much.
It should be on the stands in the first week of January.
TWO WHEELED FURY!
"First time with a Harley, kickstart and jockey shift." 
Pepe has become a connoisseur of ramen in the last couple of years. Sort of an expert on local ramen joints. This little story took place a couple of years ago, when he only knew of one spot. 
Kohryu 
