Tito's Tacos, Culver City, CA

Tito's Tacos
11222 Washington Place, Culver City, CA 90230
310-391-5780
http://www.titostacos.com/
Located just west of Sepulveda Blvd. They have their own parking lot and street parking, however during meal times, parking can be difficult.
Fast food. Order and pick up at the inside or outside counter. Some covered dining. Cash only.

Visited: Numerous times over the years. Dinner, Take-out.

You know it's good if the cops eat here. Well, judging by the lines, everyone eats here!

The menu is limited, but everything they do is good. They have Burritos (bean, BRC, beef), Tamales ($2.70, beef or chicken), Enchilidas ($2.15, Cheddar) and Tostadas ($2.15, beans), but my favorite is the Tito's Taco with Cheese ($2.20) - you must be clear to say with cheese if that's how you want it. The tacos are a crisp shell filled with shredded beef, lettuce, and Cheddar cheese - simple as that.

All orders come with a large portion of chips and their homemade fresh tomato salsa. The salsa is so refreshing, and goes great with their Refried Beans ($1.50). They also have Chili Beans, but I prefer the refritos.

The perfect dinner is 2 tacos with cheese, an order of refried beans, plus the chips and salsa. That means dinner is $5.90. Amazing. While you can order a soda to go, I recommend taking your Tito's Tacos home and opening a bottle of merlot. It sounds odd, but the combination is wonderful.

Lucio's Restaurant, Torrance, CA

Lucio's Restaurant
1605 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501
310-328-9810
Located on the oddly angled corner of Cabrillo and Gramercy in Old Torrance. There are entrances to the restaurant from both streets. Street parking.
Casual. Large dining room.

Visited: February 2009, Dinner, Dine-in


This is definitely a hole in the wall that's been here for decades, yet this is the first time we've been. It's a very casual restaurant, and you could tell that some of the diners had been coming here for ages.

We started off with the chips and salsa. The salsa was very mellow with a great roasted flavor. For entrees, we had:

Carne Asada Dinner ($9.50): comes with guacamole (warning if you don't like raw onions, cuz it was packed with them), rice, refritos and tortillas. This was a huge plate of meat. Everything was pretty mellow tasting, but very satisfying. Dinners come with soup or salad, and we had the albondigas.

Carnitas Dinner ($9.75): served with rice, refritos and tortillas. The meat was very tender and flavorful, and unlike many other restaurants, it wasn't greasy. A huge plus.

Chimichanga ($7.95): comes with shredded beef, rice, refritos, guac and sour cream. The chimi had a great crispy skin and the meat was very well seasoned.

I can see why it's been here for so long.
--T