Rate-A-Restaurant #327: Guisados (Boyle Heights)

Restaurant: Guisados

Location: 2100 East Cesar E Chavez Ave. (Boyle Heights)

Type of restaurant: Tacos



We stipulated: While riding my bike on Sunday's CicLAvia, I knew I wanted to stop and some point and refuel with some tasty tacos. Guisados fit the bill.

They stipulated: "Born in Boyle Heights in December 2010, Guisados set out to serve homestyle braises on handmade corn tortillas made to order from the fresh ground masa next door at Carnitas Uruapan. We created a simple menu, one which reminded us of home and how mom spent her afternoons. It’s that same feeling that we try to put into every bite—it’s simply how we ate."



What we ordered: The 6 mini taco sampler platter ($6.99): Mole Poblano (Shredded chicken breast in a nutty Poblano style Mole. Served with sour cream, queso fresco, red onion and dried chile); Tinga de Pollo (Shredded chicken breast braised with tomatoes, cabbage and chipotle chile. Served with chipotle chile and avocado); Chorizo (Mexican sausage en su jugo served with red onion, green serrano chile and chile arbol atop black beans); Cochinita Pibil (Shredded pork cooked in a sweet, red achiote chile atop black beans. Served with Yucatan compliments, Pickled red onions and habanero chile. Taco defaults at a 3 on scale of 1-10); Hongos con Cilantro (Mushrooms cooked with cilantro and onions. Served with green serrano chile and queso fresco).




High point:  That $6.99 platter is quite a great deal -- and the tacos are as tasty as they look.

Low point:  I can't say there was any, other than the long line -- but given the crowds for CicLAvia, that was understandable.



Overall impression: I won't step into the gentrification debate here. But I will say Guisados is another great reason to visit Boyle Heights, and I think exploring your city is a good thing -- it's the entire point of this blog!

Will we return: Absolutely! Many many times. #InTacosWeTrust

Scenes from CicLAvia's Return to the Heart of Los Angeles

We never get tired of CicLAvia, the day that miles of L.A. roads are shut down to cars and turned over to bicyclists and pedestrians. For this Sunday's edition of CicLAvia, organizers returned to the heart of downtown, with spokes to Chinatown, Mariachi Plaza, Pico/Central and MacArthur Park. Food trucks, bands, activities, bike repair, retail booths and more were there at every stop. And at the center of it all, in Grand Park, everything from a kids' play area to an Italian food festival greeted participants.



More than 100,000 people took part in October's event, according to organizers, who hope to eventually turn CicLAvia into a monthly event. (Too much of a good thing?) A few pics from this time:


Zumba marathon in Boyle Heights at Mariachi Plaza


The dancing Stop sign at City Hall


Concert stage in Chinatown


Coca-Cola bottling building at Central and Pico


Game area at Grand Park

CicLAvia Round Up: A Perfect Day for a Bike Ride

What a great day for a bike ride. We installed our brand-new bike rack and headed downtown for Sunday's CicLAvia -- which, according to the L.A. Times, made us four of the estimated 100,000 who took part in the popular event. With 10 miles of L.A. streets closed to traffic, bikers, joggers, walkers and even parents with strollers took to the car-free streets to leisurely ride and take in the sights.

We've participated in past CicLAvia events, but normally Maria and I walk while Evan rides his bike and Nathan sits in his stroller. But no more -- with the bike rack, we were all finally able to take full advantage of the event. We rode through downtown; south to the African American Firefighters Museum (on Central near the 10); east to Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights (on the other side of the 4th Street bridge); and through Little Tokyo on our way back to City Hall.

We even grabbed some food from local stands; and more food later from trucks parked at Hollenbeck. Plus, we managed to make it back to our car right at 4, when streets re-opened to traffic. It was a fantastic day, as the L.A. Times notes:

Sunday, which marked the fourth version of the event, tested the city's flexibility as cyclists invaded downtown, Dodgers fans attended a home game up the hill and the Lakers faithful poured into L.A. Live — all at roughly the same time. And somehow the city still seemed to function. The idea of booting cars off the roads and turning the asphalt over to cyclists and pedestrians first took hold as a weekly ciclovía in Colombia more than 30 years ago and was later adopted by cities elsewhere in Latin America and in the United States. The festival was an immediate hit in L.A. and quickly became the city's marquee event for pedestrians and cyclists.

The one portion of CicLAvia we didn't get a chance to ride was the spur to MacArthur Park. Next time! Here are some shots from our day pedaling on the streets of Los Angeles:


Riding down Spring Street.


Jump rope break!


Things you notice when taking your time on bike around downtown: "Dancing Girls."


Riding through the garment district.


Just $4 for two chicken tacos and a pupusa at this spot along the 9th Street "Pinata District" food stands.


Memories! The Coca-Cola ship building (at Central and Pico) was where our second Great Los Angeles Walk, in 2007, started!


A band performs outside the African American Firefighters Museum, on Central across the street from Coca-Cola.


CicLAvia's South LA stop.


Little Tokyo.


Riding through the Arts District.


On the 4th Street bridge.


View from the 4th Street bridge (looking east), with snow-capped mountains in the distance.


View of downtown from the 4th Street bridge (looking west), with train tracks below.


More tracks below!


Over the L.A. river, as an Amtrak train speeds by.


CicLAvia takes over Hollenbeck Park in Boyle Heights. Food trucks, rock climbing, music and more.


Enjoying the fountain at Hollenbeck Park

A Little Ditty About L.A. Public Transportation

Boyle Heights-based hardcore band It's Casual has come up with an ode to public transportation in Los Angeles. "The Redline," the first single from the band's upcoming release "The New Los Angeles Part I: Through The Eyes Of A Bus Rider," looks at what it's like to avoid the freeways and take public transportation (and a skateboard) to work. (In real life, It's Casual lead singer Edward Solis doesn't own a car and really does ride public transportation.)

Rick Kosick ("Jackass") shot and directed the video, above. The group's album is released on March 13.

CicLAvia This Sunday: Will You Be Biking Or Walking L.A.'s Empty Streets?

How will you CicLAvia this Sunday?

The event (see map above), a first of its kind in L.A., will shut down a dozen streets from Hollywood, through downtown and over to Boyle Heights from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 10.

More details from the L.A. Times:

In this car-centric metropolis, where drivers spend an average of 72 hours stuck in traffic annually and jaywalkers are heavily fined, CicLAvia, as the event is known, is something of a marvel.

It is designed to challenge the idea — so ingrained in the city's psyche — that automobiles rule the road.

Jimmy Lizama, a Koreatown bike messenger, plans to march the route with a group practicing capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian mix of martial arts and dance. His 9-year-old stepson, meanwhile, will join in a children's bike ride. Lizama said CicLAvia will transform the road into "a re-imagined, reinvented public space."

It's a free-form event. There's no official schedule to tell you what's happening where. But organizers say they have heard of people planning to use that space for soccer matches, yoga classes, dance routines and political protests. And because many of CicLAvia's planners are active in L.A.'s growing bicycle scene, there are sure to be cyclists galore.

A diverse group of bike activists, transportation experts, academics, artists and event planners has been working for a couple of years to make CicLAvia, pronounced seek-la-VEE-uh, a reality.

Meanwhile, over at Eating LA, Pat has a list of food trucks and eateries on the route.

Get out there -- it'll be good practice for our Nov. 20 Great Los Angeles Walk!

Riding the Rails: The Gold Line's Eastside Extension

A few weeks ago, the Franklin Avenue Foursome (yes, including the baby) finally took the full tour of the Metro Gold Line's newly opened Eastside extension. (Hey look -- an actual correct "Eastside" reference!)

The line now continues after Union Station -- past Little Tokyo and on to Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

We took a pit stop at Mariachi Plaza to walk around and have a late lunch at La Serenata de Garibaldi; then, it was back on the train, and all the way to Atlantic -- the final stop, in East Los Angeles -- and then back.

A few sights along the way:


Mariachi Plaza


Entrance to the Mariachi Plaza subway stop.


Turnstiles line up at the train stop.


The Gold Line subway tunnel


La Serenata -- possibly the best-known and revered restaurant on the Gold Line in East L.A.


My favorite part of this mural, of course, is the skeleton's moustache.


Jim's in Boyle Heights


Here comes the train... at the underground Mariachi Plaza stop.


Art at the Indiana stop


East L.A. Civic Center stop


All aboard the Gold Line!


Sunset from a Gold Line stop


24-hour King Taco


I love this Metro house ad -- but wish it included one more scene: The moment where the tagger beats the crap out of the tipster, having spotted him making an anonymous call.

Metro's Gold Line Map Inconsistency

Yes, I love to be nitpicky on some things -- and it especially bugs me when things aren't consistent. Take the new Gold Line map found on the Metro, which divides the train's stops by city: Pasadena, South Pasadena, Los Angeles, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

Wait. One of these things is not like the other. Boyle Heights is not a city, but a community within Los Angeles City Limits.

That'd be fine, I suppose, except that the map chooses not to recognize other L.A. neighborhoods. Why the love for Boyle Heights, but not Highland Park? Chinatown? Little Tokyo?

Yes, like I said, nitpicky. But someone's gotta be!

Introducing... the Gold Line Extension, Opening This Sunday

The Franklin Avenue crew (now four strong!) will be riding the rails this Sunday, taking advantage of the Metro's all-day free entry to the Gold Line.

The long-awaited Gold Line extension to the Eastside now makes it even easier to head over to spots like Boyle Heights and attractions like the Mariachi Plaza (now a stop!) and La Serenata de Garibaldi, one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city.

We're already huge fans of the Gold Line -- we'll frequently take it down to Union Station, for example, for an afternoon strolling around Olvera Street, or for French dips at Philippe's. And of course, the South Pasadena Farmers' Market on Thursday night, located right next to the train stop, is a favorite.

We were also there on day one in 2003, when the Gold Line also offered free rides for its grand opening. Now it's time to celebrate again!

Meanwhile, the always informative Militant Angeleno has put together quite a nifty Guide to the existing, Union Station-to-Sierra Madre portion of the Gold Line. Check it out before hitting the rails on Sunday.

More guides to the new Gold Line extension:

-- Streetsblog takes a tour and review of the new Gold Line extension by bike.

-- The L.A. Times surveys the eating options along the Gold Line.

And here's the official Metro site on the extension.