Openings

Tinga Will Try To Bring Super Rica Taqueria Flavor to Mid-City L.A.

Super Rica Taqueria
Super Rica Taqueria Photo: Diametrik via Flickr

It is surprising that L.A. doesn’t already have a hundred Super Rica rip-offs, considering the far-reaching fame of Santa Barbara’s taqueria that was a well-known favorite of Julia Child’s. In theory, the cooking and recipes seem simple, but it’s one of those restaurants where the grill posses its own blend of magic that can transform a tiny quesadilla into a crunchy, gooey slice of ecstasy in a rough-hewn tortilla. Eater announces that Tinga, the love-child of a former UCSB Guacho and her husband, will open tomorrow in Mid-City, trying its hand at replicating the famous stand, starting with hand-making the tortillas and a similarly spaced menu of 20 dishes and daily specials. There will be also fifteen salsas, which is like twelve more for your mom to steal in a paper cup for her collection back home than the real Super-Rica. What else are Jerry and Chris Baker attempting here besides Mexican cuisine?

It’s hard to improve on what Super Rica does, except for perhaps finally considering the thought of adding a second guy at the flipping cash register after 25 years (with all due respect to Isadore and Martin). But that isn’t stopping the Bakers from adding some strange brew to the Mexillence. There will be coffee available in bulk to take home, with beans roasted by Jerry, and a curious addition of chicken and waffles and pastrami sliders on Sundays. Hold on guys, one restaurant at a time.

In any case, if the husband-and-wife duo of gringos pulls off a decent approximation of Super Rica or anything worth speaking in the same sentence as the restaurant again, we’ll look forward to having it closer by and with hopefully, a shorter wait for tacos de rajas.

Tinga, 142 S. La Brea Ave. Mid-City.


Pre-Opening Alert: Tinga A New Taqueria (and Coffee Place) Opens Tomorrow
[Eater]

Tinga Will Try To Bring Super Rica Taqueria Flavor to Mid-City L.A.