As Edwin notes on this page, the current craze in the Los Angeles taco-truck galaxy is Kogi Korean BBQ-to-Go, a lonchera that grills Korean meats such as kalbi and bulgogi, wraps them in a tortilla, throws in salsa and kimchi, and sells them to people who don’t mind waiting in line for an hour. They still don’t want to cross into la naranja, despite the best pleadings of local chowhounds. Instead, we’ll have to content ourselves with another roach-coach innovation: the rise of a pocho taco truck and the most-perfect Sonoran hot dog in Southern California.
Location Info
To get this truck to visit your sad, sad office complex, call (951) 218-7938
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Category: Restaurant
> Mexican
Region: Santa Ana
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Los Hermanos Lonchera Sin Fronteras is the three-month-old brainchild of two Riverside brothers who want to assimilate the taco truck into Orange County society without losing its inherent wabbiness. That means an iPod blasts banda alongside alt-rock, Monster Energy drinks chill alongside Jarritos, and the brothers lay on the charm to little old white ladies as easily as they trade vulgar quips with mechanics. They currently ply their trade in Santa Ana, but far from the onerous regulations that city politicians want to place on businesses giving off any whiff of mexicanidad. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Los Hermanos park in the Bowers Museum parking lot from 12:30 until 2 in the afternoon; they keep the same hours Tuesdays and Fridays, but station their clean, well-kept meals on wheels in the lot of a tire guy on the corner of Buffalo and Main streets. Want them near you? Call the number above; they’re looking for new terrain for their culinary reconquista.
For being new to the food biz, Los Hermanos already understand what makes a great taco truck. Their logo—a spin-off of the iconic, immigrant-crossing freeway hazard sign—draws attention from even the most-harried driver; the tacos, though violating my commandment that no taco should cost more than a buck, nevertheless justify their $1.25 price with well-flavored meats (chicken, adobada and carne asada), a five-bite-large size and a stellar tomatillo salsa. You won’t find quesadillas on the menu, but you can still order these half-moon, perfectly crisped, cheesy behemoths, drizzled with spicy red salsa while the tomatillo one oozes inside. Items to come include veggie tacos and . . . well, I don’t want to give away all their tricks.
Here, too, is the much-fabled Sonoran dog. I’ve only seen the original incarnation executed locally at Los Hermanos. Instead of the monstrous creations hawked by street vendors, a true Sonoran dog is deceptively simple: the bacon-wrapped hot dog inside a bun and topped with mayo, chopped tomatoes, yellow cheese, onions and a mild salsa, as quintessentially Tucson as Linda Ronstadt. That’s how Los Hermanos makes its version, and it’s yours for two bucks here—go now, before some Bowers Museum docent hogs them all.
Los Hermanos Lonchera Sin Fronteras: To get this truck to visit your sad, sad office complex, call (951) 218-7938. Otherwise, find it at the locations mentioned.
garellano@ocweekly.com
