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<\/p>\nAndrew Ponce knows what comes to mind when you crunch into one of the crispy beef tacos at his Echo Park restaurant, A T\u00ed.<\/p>\n
Soft, mulchy meat folded around a thin corn tortilla fried until it\u2019s poised to shatter, then dressed with curls of Tillamook cheddar and served with sweet tomato salsa? The mix is an instant hit of hard-shell taco nostalgia, a tribute to the midcentury Southern California craze that, even as we\u2019re passing through the 21st century\u2019s first quarter, endures as a throwback pleasure.<\/p>\n
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Chef-owner Andrew Ponce grew up in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
(Ron De Angelis \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
Ponce\u2019s L.A.-coded Mexican cooking at A T\u00ed is a love letter to the city written in ever clearer, more confident penmanship. Some dishes rechannel professional experiences. Others are familial, or nod to the region\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n
The beef-stuffed tacos manage all three at once.<\/p>\n
Ponce grew up in Culver City. He recalls his father frowning on his occasional trips to Tito\u2019s Tacos<\/a>, a neighborhood institution since 1959, and the half-cylinder shapes, with shards of lettuce peeking out from the orange shredded cheese, he\u2019d bring home in a box. \u201cThat isn\u2019t real Mexican food,\u201d he\u2019d say to his son.<\/p>\n Making them for his menu, Ponce also thinks about pasta. The taco filling draws on methods he learned during his days in the kitchen at Bestia, on duty for the oxtail rag\u00f9 cradled in agnolotti. At A T\u00ed, he braises beef shank, chops the meat, saut\u00e9s aromatics (onions, garlic, shallots, cilantro and Fresno chiles), returns the shank and its braising liquid to the pot, simmering everything down to fragrant stickiness. <\/p>\n Guests in the dining room at A Ti. (Ron De Angelis \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n By the third bite, your brain moves beyond the recognition and the post-irony and begins to pick up on the taco\u2019s layered details. I love that he skips the watery lettuce in favor of sharper, meltier contrasts.<\/p>\n Through the years Ponce also cooked at Jon & Vinny\u2019s<\/a>, Cento Pasta Ba<\/a>r and, during its brief run, Onda<\/a> in Santa Monica. His culinary path began merging with his Mexican American identity under the inspiration of Carlos Salgado, during a pandemic-era stint at Salgado\u2019s closed-and-still-missed Taco Mar\u00eda<\/a> in Costa Mesa. A T\u00ed began as a pop-up in 2021.<\/p>\n Anna Kawanishi, Ponce\u2019s partner, had worked at short-lived Kushiba, located in a small complex along Sunset Boulevard. While the space was in transition, Kawanishi connected Ponce with the owners. They agreed to a trial-run in September 2024 that was originally called Bar A T\u00ed, leaning into cocktails and a short menu of mostly antojitos and tacos.<\/p>\n Tostadas, ceviche and aguachile are among the most popular dishes at A T\u00ed.<\/p>\n (Ron De Angelis\/For The Times)<\/p>\n Right away, the breakout star was the tuna tostada. It always had the visuals: dark blue corn tortilla (using masa from Kernels of Truth), overlapping slices of fish the color of fruit punch, a slick of aioli peeking out around the edges, splotches of salsa negra and whole cilantro leaves to finish. Its composition has been consistent, but as the restaurant settled in \u2014 and, to convey a sense of permanence, dropped the \u201cBar\u201d from its name \u2014 the tostada\u2019s components have sharpened. The aioli is lemonier, and better merges with the yellowfin into unified velvetiness. The salsa rushes the senses more thrillingly with its distinct, smoky-cherry notes from chile puya.<\/p>\n A T\u00ed<\/p>\n 1498 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 290-3857, atilosangeles.com<\/p>\n Prices: antojitos $14 – $27, tacos $6 – $9, larger plates $29 – $45.<\/p>\n Details: Dinner Sunday to Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., Friday to Saturday 5 to 11 p.m. Full bar. Street and limited lot parking.<\/p>\n Open for lunch Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.; dinner Wednesday to Sunday, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; limited-menu ap\u00e9ro Wednesday to Sunday, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Street and paid lot parking.<\/p>\n Recommended dishes: crispy beef tacos, sweet potato tacos, tuna tostada, seasonal plates (tomatoes with cured nopales and whipped feta, for example), date mole. For dessert, try the sweet tamal with rotating fruits or pumpkin spice in the fall.<\/p>\n What to drink: Lots of choices, including a tight curation of tequilas and mescals, flavored sakes from Sawtelle Sake, locally brewed beers, a short list of wines and an evolving cocktail program with light, smart options like a vermouth-based cilantro highball.<\/p>\n As the menu has expanded over two years and Ponce\u2019s style has cohered and become more assured, I\u2019m freshly reminded of an abiding L.A. formula: the pluralism of our communities, plus our region\u2019s unparalleled agriculture, plus our penchant for creative individualism can equal greatness.<\/p>\n How does that translate at A T\u00ed in high summer? Thickly sliced Regier Family Farm peaches paired with wedges of cucumber in a bracing aguachile verde dotted with minty hoja santa. Wedges of Weiser Family Farms melon, its floral qualities teased out by honey and lime, and offset by the distinct pepperiness of red shiso. Meaty red and yellow tomatoes from Munak Ranch, popping against batons of cured nopales over rightly salty whipped feta and more of the good-good salsa negra. Grilled esquites, the grilled sweet corn smoothed with lime crema and given novel umami dimensions via uni butter and tuna bottarga.<\/p>\n The restaurant\u2019s snug, dim dining room appeals any time of year, but this sun-drenched collage seems especially suited for sharing on the small adjacent patio bordered by olive trees.<\/p>\n A mole made with dates served underneath a duck leg confit. Ponce feeds the three-year-old mole in the manner made famous by Enrique Olvera in Mexico City \u2014 sourdough-style.<\/p>\n (Ron De Angelis \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n A date-forward mole, served underneath a crackling duck leg confit, anchors a concise selection of entrees. Ponce concocted it on the fly during his pop-up days when he was missing his father\u2019s birthday celebration and wanted to prepare something that night to honor him. <\/p>\n Ever since then he\u2019s been feeding the mole sourdough-style, in the manner made famous by Enrique Olvera at his Mexico City fixture Pujol. It\u2019s three years old now, and the sweetness is duskier, more complicated, and silkier.<\/p>\n In stone fruit season, though, Ponce makes a peach mole he serves with lamb. It\u2019s lighter and less dense with spice, as moles are often made in Zacatecas, where his father has roots. I\u2019ve never had a version of the dish that sings a hymn to California seasons in such pure tones.<\/p>\n Sliced peaches with wedges of cucumber in an aguachile verde dotted with minty hoja santa.<\/p>\n (Ron De Angelis \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n![\"LOS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786027570_796_.jpeg\")
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