If so, salsa, onion and cilantro will be added. You may be asked if you want the taco con todo. But it could also be sesos (brains), cabeza (head meat), buche (hog maw), chicharrones (pork cracklings) or tripas (beef small intestine, which one taqueria menu defines as вЂњgutsвЂќ). The meat could be carne asada (steak), carnitas (fried pork) or carne al pastor (spit-grilled marinated pork). The tortillas should be tender and warm from grilling or steaming. The meat, freshly cooked and well seasoned, is placed on top, and the taco is served open-face. There are even taco drive-throughs and 24-hour taco places.ДЄ cult taco is simple, just two soft corn tortillas (smaller than the standard 6-inchers). Paper plates and plastic cutlery are routine, table service almost unknown. TheyвЂ™re sold from catering trucks, stands, carnicerias, tortillerias and neighborhood cafes. Gazing at murals depicting scenes of the state of Jalisco, they settle down to devour their little bits of heaven on a plate.Д¬ult tacos are not fancy or high-priced.

Grilled onions accompany the orders.ДЄfter stopping at the condiment table and helping themselves to sliced radishes, limes and a chopped salsa in which bits of nopal cactus mingle with tomato and onion, diners head for the mosaic-topped stone tables and benches of the open-air dining pavilion. For the customer requesting con todo (with everything), they spoon on just the right amount of spicy salsa, chopped onion and cilantro to make one tasty bundle. Inside a silvery catering truck, cooks pile carnitas, carne asada, barbacoa and other meats onto hot soft tortillas. There, as at dozens of other modest eateries across the Southland, hungry diners are savoring the simple but perfectly satisfying combination of meat, corn and seasoning that makes up a comfort food we call the cult taco. We follow a purple-and-red neon sign that reads Bienvenidos to HugoвЂ™s Tacos in East Los Angeles where, on weekends, the crew dishes out food until 4 a.m. But lovers of Mexican food head out in search of something else. Some night owls head to PinkвЂ™s for chili dogs, others to TommyвЂ™s for burgers. At this hour, spicy street food is enticing - never mind the heartburn. ItвЂ™s late at night, time for a quick bite.

Al pastor meat