{"id":183401,"date":"2026-02-18T20:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/183401\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T20:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T20:22:09","slug":"king-taco-the-taqueria-that-launched-soft-tacos-in-l-a-to-become-historic-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/183401\/","title":{"rendered":"King Taco, the taqueria that launched soft tacos in L.A., to become historic site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Los Angeles taqueria where soft tacos were popularized starting 50 years ago is poised to become a city-designated historic-cultural site.<\/p>\n

The original King Taco sparked interest for generations of Angelenos in more varieties of Mexican cuisine and eventually influenced taco culture across the country. <\/p>\n

In the 1970s, an era rife with hard-shelled tacos stuffed with ground beef, cheddar cheese and shredded lettuce, founders Ra\u00fal and Lupe Martinez helped proselytize soft, tender corn tortillas piled with grilled meats, cilantro, onions and fresh salsas. They spread that gospel through a small fleet of food trucks and nearly two dozen restaurants, helping to change the way<\/a> Angelenos conceptualize Mexican food.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me I was crazy,\u201d Ra\u00fal Martinez told The Times in 1987<\/a>, \u201cbut \u2026 here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Their first storefront, a casual walk-up counter founded in 1975, is currently under consideration as a historic-cultural monument, a testimony to its \u201csignificant contributions to the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation, state, city, or community,\u201d according to<\/a> the city\u2019s Cultural Heritage Commission.<\/p>\n

The commission voted unanimously in favor of the designation this month. Next, City Council\u2019s Planning and Land Use Management Committee will weigh in on the original King Taco, followed by City Council. Though no meetings have been scheduled yet, city representatives say these will likely occur by late April. <\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s report found that the Martinezes \u201ccreated the first taco truck in the United States,\u201d also noted by L.A. Times columnist and author Gustavo Arellano in his book \u201cTaco USA.\u201d <\/p>\n

Following Ra\u00fal Martinez\u2019s death in 2013<\/a>, the late L.A. Times Food critic Jonathan Gold called King Taco\u2019s al pastor \u201cthe essential Los Angeles taco.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

If granted monument status, the restaurant\u2019s building could see delays in any efforts to demolish or significantly alter the site in order to preserve the building\u2019s original state for its historical significance.<\/p>\n

Company representatives of King Taco could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

In 1969, after leaving Mexico City for L.A. by way of Tijuana, the husband-and-wife team sought a taste of home and began bringing their own tacos to local soccer matches. The tacos caught on, with players and other attendees asking to purchase them.<\/p>\n

The Martinezes drew on their ancestral flavors \u2014 as well as Ra\u00fal\u2019s experience as a butcher \u2014 to launch their own taco truck out of a former ice cream van<\/a> in 1974. Their first night in business they sold $70 of tacos. Soon, they were selling more than twice as much every night, and they took a gamble on a building that once housed a hot dog and ice cream stand.<\/p>\n

\"Four <\/p>\n

Four tacos at King Taco\u2019s original location, in Cypress Park, clockwise from left: cabeza, chicken tinga, carne asada and al pastor.<\/p>\n

(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

It debuted in 1975, and became a hub for Cypress Park and surrounding Latino and Mexican American communities. It became the central kitchen for a burgeoning fleet of food trucks, which helped their al pastor, cabeza and other fresh meats to fan out across the region. It\u2019s also the birthplace of Lupe Martinez\u2019s signature lightly smoky salsa roja, which can still smother King Taco\u2019s dishes today.<\/p>\n

Today the chain operates nearly two dozen storefronts, but multiple fans say the first Cypress Park restaurant holds a special place in their hearts and memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the original one \u2014 it\u2019s always been \u2018the one,\u2019\u201d said Jaime Martinez, a customer of roughly 40 years and no relation to the King Taco founders. \u201cIt\u2019s just a cool little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

He grew up in nearby Silver Lake, with a mother who regularly brought him to the first King Taco. Now that she\u2019s in her senior years, he comes to the restaurant to pick up food for her. He\u2019s also introduced his own children to the local chain, and while they sometimes visit other locations, Cypress Park\u2019s is always the family favorite.<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

The patio at King Taco\u2019s original location in Cypress Park.<\/p>\n

(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

He usually opts for sopes \u2014 requested as extra crispy, for more crunch on the edges of the masa cakes. He said that decades of consistency keep him coming back, and he hopes that historic denotation could keep King Taco going for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they deserve it, to be honest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Across the dining room, another King Taco enthusiast dug into a burrito, though he, too, usually orders the sopes. David Hernandez has been visiting King Taco for decades, since high school. Now that he\u2019s taken a job near the Cypress Park location, he stops in for lunch two or three times a week.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s rooting for the historic designation too. \u201cI hope it happens because this is the first one,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI know the story: At first it was a stand, then they bought this [restaurant], then it became huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, a plaque hangs along one wall of the cream-colored Cypress Park dining room. It honors co-founder Ra\u00fal Martinez as the man who brought the first al pastor tacos to Los Angeles. Soon, another plaque \u2014 this time from the city itself \u2014 might hang on the restaurant in recognition of his efforts.<\/p>\n

King Taco\u2019s original restaurant is at 1118 Cypress Ave., Los Angeles, and is open 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles taqueria where soft tacos were popularized starting 50 years ago is poised to become a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[86691,4188,1409,26738,86693,86690,23384,86692,86689,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,86694,6700,86695,225,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-183401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-al-pastor","9":"tag-building","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-cypress-park","12":"tag-dish-today","13":"tag-dozen-restaurant","14":"tag-food-truck","15":"tag-hard-shelled-taco","16":"tag-king-taco","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-la-headlines","19":"tag-la-news","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","22":"tag-los-angeles-news","23":"tag-los-angeles-times","24":"tag-raul-martinez","25":"tag-small-fleet","26":"tag-soft-taco","27":"tag-state","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}