• Tacos 1986 is a phenomenon in Los Angeles. Jorge “Joy” Alvarez-Tostado opened the business as a taco stand in November 2018,
  • Joy’s already opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant that has quickly become one of the best restaurants in LA.
  • Here’s how the famous trompo is made for the delicious pork adobada and why Joy is so passionate about this project.

the following is a transcript

Sydney Kramer: Yep, we’re back with more tacos. But this is LA, baby, and we love tacos.

Jorge “Joy” Alvarez-Tostado: Yo te dije a todos ustedes. I told you, I’m the greatest.

Sydney: I don’t know if you guys are ready for this, but we’re here at Tacos 1986, the hottest place in LA to get tacos right now. They started out as a small food stand, and not too long ago they opened up this brick-and-mortar. The line is already crazy; it’s barely lunchtime. But we have an in, so let’s go inside and try these tacos. Oh, my God. Partners and childhood friends Jorge “Joy” Alvarez-Tostado and Victor Delgado opened Tacos 1986 as a pop-up in November 2018. It was an instant success. The pair’s downtown location is no different, with people coming from all over LA and beyond to try Joy’s famous Tijuana-style pork adobada. They wanted to bring Tijuana’s vibrant late-night taco scene to downtown LA, and, clearly, it’s working.

Joy: Oh, it's a regional thing. People in the north call it adobada because it's marinated in adobo. It's a little bit more acidic and salty. We actually put strawberries in our adobo. And people in the south call it al pastor because that's where it'd be made with goats. I think the Lebanese brought it into Mexico and I don't know what kind of rub they used, but that's how it was introduced. Sydney: To make the adobada, Joy and his team construct a monster trompo that can weigh up to 200 pounds. Joy: So we're just, like, stacking it, we're making sure, like, it's nice and pressed. The bigger, the better for the slice. It just comes out really nice if it's compact. It's been a lot of work, a lot of learning, that's for sure. A lot of learning, a lot of teachings. I always tell my taqueros, you know, if you take respect and honor into building one of these and then selling it, and you find your own style, you know, and execution, I don't think you'll ever be hungry. If you decide, "Oh, I'm going to go this taquero route." It's just a great way to be a host and cook. "Hey, what's up, welcome, you want a taco? Pásale, pásale, I'm the greatest." You know, it just gives that playing field to any cook.

OFF CAMERA: So it's about confidence

Joy: Exactly. Well, when you have a big stack of meat that you need to sell in hours, you know? And if you have no line, what are you going to do? You must talk, you must sell tickets. You can't just stand there and be like, "Yeah, I got, you know, 200 pounds of meat ready to rot and not go into people's bellies and explode in people's mouths and create this amazing explosion of acidity, masa, guacamole, textures, fresh onions and cilantro, and ." You know, and then you get a little showcase of, "Hey, what's up?" This good-looking guy blowing kisses at me, you know, in a very Benihana way, kind of, you know? Like this little... And it's gotten us to this great momentum. I've always been like this, you know. My friends back home, la fresas, they know that I've always been outgoing, you know, and I've always gone like this and been like, "Hey , what's up, man? No, I'm the greatest, you know?" Sydney: Yeah, we know, everyone knows. Look at this line. Joy's cult of personality truly has taken LA by storm. And the tacos are there to back him up. Joy: Look at that body. Shake that body. Look at that body.

Sydney: They're not even open yet and they already started letting people in because they're just that dedicated to serving the most delicious tacos in LA. Like any good taqueria worth its salt, the tortillas are handmade. And the carne asada is just as delicious as the signature adobada.

Joy: Dios mio charro! The best meat for carne asada. I'm a passionate guy, for sure. Express yourself freely, directly, and back it up. You must express, you know, facial expressions. Body expressions. And you must execute. If you say you're the No. 1 taquero in the world, like I say it, every day when I wake up, I must back it up. I must stay open. I must feed people. In here, you know, they're like, "Oh yeah, this guy, what he's saying is true. He has the means to back it up. And you know what? He's funny. He's a funny cat." I told him I'm the greatest. Twice, twice in one day. Sydney: I want to ask people what they think about these tacos, but everyone's too busy eating to talk to me. Customer: They're really good.

Customer: Yes, amazing. The tortillas are homemade, you don't get that a lot. Do it!

Customer: I think from Eater, was talking about the best, hottest 17 restaurants to go to right now, and so I had to try the taco. I go to Guisados down the street, so I had to try this one. It is delicious, I haven't had it with a cheese layer on the taco itself, so it's pretty good. It's kind of combining flavors in there, it's almost like a chemical reaction. And the carne asada is really well marinated with really good spices. It's delicious, fresh cilantro. Es perfecto.

Customer: Surprisingly, the line just filled in immediately after we got here. We've been enjoying the tacos so far.

Customer: Good tacos!

Customer: Good tacos.

Sydney: After watching everyone eat, it was finally my turn, and I was so ready. All right, we're going to start with the pork that we watched them make. It smells heaven-sent. I'm gonna try it on its own first. That is tender. Oh, my God. Wow. This is amazing. You can really taste the housemade tortilla; it makes all the difference. It needs to have enough, like, heft to it to hold everything that's inside this delicious little present. Killing it, killing it. And you saw Joy, you saw how passionate he is about this. And you can tell, when you taste his food, you know that there is passion behind this food. And I am passionate about it. Got to get up on the carne asada, as well. Don't forget about it. How he gets so much flavor with so few ingredients is beyond me. You got to come here, you can meet Joy, he'll flex for you, blow you a kiss, slap the meat, you know, all of that. Probably shouldn't say "slap the meat," that's fine. All right, y'all leave me alone with my tacos because, baby, this is the real deal. I love Los Angeles.

Joy: We're ready for you. We're the kings of LA, though. This is where we're staying, this is home.