ricky's fish tacos

everyone who knows or thinks they know about food has heard about food stand operating out of a smallparkinglot on virgil ave. and everyone who’s been here has done nothing but sung the praises of the tacos that come out of the fryers here, especially the fish ones (duh). i’m not going to go into too much detail, as countless people have probably described these tacos in detail and the history/details of this operation on their respective (and better) blogs or on yelp, where it’s the #1 rated “restaurant” in la. what i will say, however, is that these are the best tacos i’ve ever had. numerous people have told me that this is how it’s done in fish taco capital ensenada, and ricky’s still hangs/beats the best of those. and i wholeheartedly believe that, with my limited experience. while that proclamation means nothing coming from someone like me, for me to come to that conclusion while eating said tacos on a midday saturday when it was cold and slightly drizzling and eating outside re

the home of my current food obsession is basically aparkinglot with a tarp canopy, some cheap plastic tables and folding chairs, a couple deep fryers and a cash register. there’s no sign and the hours are very limited, but when they are open, there is almost always a line of hungry angelenos, eager to devour a specialty of ensenada, mexico. the place is ricky’s fish tacos in silverlake and the tacos there are insanely good. the menu consists of only baja-style fish tacos (made with catfish), shrimp tacos and occasionally lobster tacos, as well as drinks including homemade agua fresca.  for his batter, owner ricky piña uses his grandmother’s recipe, which produces the most delicious, golden, crispy coating on the deep fried seafood.  the tacos are served on warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage and pico de gallo made of fresh tomatos, onions and jalapenos.  to complete these incredible street delicacies, homemade salsas (mild tomatillo, medium tomato/garlic and spicy chipotle) and

every month, it seems as though dozens of new high-concept/fancy/$$$ restaurants open in los angeles. and yes, we do enjoy trying them out, although the speed at which that happens depends on the state of our bank accounts. but the fancy stuff? that's not the main reason why we love the l.a. food scene. much of the beauty of this city is the sheer number of quality cheap food options. and the place that epitomizes the glory that is street food? theparkinglot operation you see below. ricky's fish tacos are bomb as hell. tucked away in a small lot right off sunset junction (around the corner from the vista movie theater), ricky piña mans the double fryer to produce the most amazing fish and shrimp tacos we've ever had. the batter is a thing of beauty - light, airy, and crunchy. both the fish and shrimp come out cooked perfectly, and when stuffed into a warmed tortilla along with shredded lettuce and your choice of any number of available salsas (don't forget the crema

asphalt delight. this is the type of food you move to california for. sitting at messy picnic tables under an awning in a tinyparkinglot seems very odd and charming to me. the only thing i would do differently next time is order more tacos (i thought one fish and a shared shrimp was enough), and load each one heavily with every single condiment.

i hesitated worrying the shrimp would be as bland and rubbery as i've had before; if anything i'd give it the barest edge over the fish (also great and not greasy at all). the watermelon drink was very sweet, but coordinated well with the food.