Taqueando with Bill Esparza

Bill Esparza welcomes Mona Holmes, editor of Eater LA , to Taqueando for a candid, hilarious, and occasionally confrontational conversation about Los Angeles food, journalism, and the people shaping the city's restaurant scene. First, Bill and Mona lay down the rules of food event etiquette, including how to escape a conversation that just won't end. Then they get into the increasingly pre...

All hell has broken loose at LA TACO. Following the firing of longtime reporter Memo Torres, the departure of Izzy Ramirez, and a series of increasingly contentious public statements, one of Los Angeles' most beloved independent publications finds itself at the center of an extraordinary controversy. Bill Esparza and Rob break down the entire saga, from the ethical questions surrounding Torres...

Los Angeles, we have a wet trompo problem. And Bill Esparza has had enough. This week on Taqueando , Bill and Robert Haleblian get to the bottom of why so much of LA's beloved al pastor is drowning in adobo. From Angel's Tijuana Tacos to the legendary trompos of Mexico City, they break down what separates a truly great taco from a soggy imitation, why the traditional taco brigade matters,...

Taqueando has a new home! Search “ Acquired Taste ” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and follow the feed for new episodes of Taqueando with Bill Esparza, alongside The LA Food Podcast and Compliments to the Chef. This week: are Mexico City’s most viral tacos worth the hype? Bill and producer Robert Haleblian dig into Michelin-starred taquerías, La Once Mil, and the influencers steering tourists toward...

This week's Taqueando is available on the Acquired Taste podcast feed! Bill Esparza sits down with Heritage Barbecue's Danny Castillo to uncover California BBQ's Mexican roots, celebrate forgotten barbecue pioneers, and discuss the future of Heritage Barbecue in San Juan Capistrano. Plus, Bill shares his latest LA restaurant adventures and revisits the controversy surrounding Asadero L...

Bill Esparza is back answering your questions, your DMs and, yes, your hate. Bill and Rob tackle the backlash over their LA mariscos guide, what makes great ceviche and aguachile, oyster red flags, King Taco’s place in taco truck history, the best pozole and chile en nogada in Los Angeles, Coyoacán recommendations and Bill’s perfect day of eating in LA. Plus, the Antojitos Rundown covers Loreto, B...

Bill Esparza is joined by longtime food writer and Eater LA contributor Matt Kang to unpack the hype around Asadero , one of Los Angeles’ buzziest new taco stands. They debate whether it’s really Sonora-style, how LA diners and influencers can reshape a taqueria, why salsa and tortilla matter as much as the meat, and what separates a viral taco from a truly great one. Plus, Bill and Matt get into...

This week on Taqueando, Bill Esparza sits down with Chef Alex Garcia of Evil Cooks to talk about the restaurant’s evolution from a backyard pop-up into one of Los Angeles’ most distinctive Mexican restaurants, and the return of Disciples of the Corn, an ambitious dinner celebrating the food of all 32 states of Mexico. Alex shares the story behind the event, the chaos of pulling it off, and this ye...

What happens when a former employee leaves one of LA’s most acclaimed restaurants and opens a place that looks… remarkably familiar? Bill Esparza and Robert Haleblian dig into Goldfish Seafood in Orange County, the restaurant they argue borrows heavily from Michelin-starred Holbox , from the menu and plating to the logo and overall aesthetic, and debate where inspiration ends and straight-up copyi...

Bill Esparza spent more than a year helping The New York Times build its list of the 41 greatest Mexican restaurants in America . This week, Rob flips the script and interviews Bill about how the list came together, why so many “best Mexican restaurant” lists get the country wrong, and what he found crisscrossing America in search of regional Mexican cooking, from al pastor in Charlotte and gordit...

On Episode 69 of Taqueando, Bill Esparza returns from Barcelona with a challenge to the way Americans talk about Spanish food: Michelin-starred temples may dazzle, but they’re only part of the story, and the country’s simplest dishes lose something essential when removed from their context. He moves from a spectacular tasting menu at Esperit Roca in Girona to bocadillos, tortillas, croquetas, cons...

Chef Jonathan Zaragoza joins Bill Esparza to trace his journey from his family’s acclaimed Birrieria Zaragoza and Michelin-starred Chicago kitchens to Goatboy International, Salsa 101 and America’s Test Kitchen. They dig into the unwritten rules of Mexican salsa, salsa falsa, regional birria, fully loaded Ensenada fish tacos and Jonathan’s controversial belief that brioche buns don’t belong on bur...

Los Angeles mayoral candidate and City Councilmember Nithya Raman joins Bill Esparza at Las Margaritas in Boyle Heights to explain how she would confront the crisis facing LA restaurants, street vendors and small businesses. Raman lays out plans to accelerate restaurant permitting, simplify outdoor dining and liquor approvals, protect immigrant communities during ICE raids, reduce homelessness and...

Gabriela Cámara has brought the spirit of Mexico City’s legendary Contramar to the Las Vegas Strip. In this episode, Bill Esparza explores Cantina Contramar at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the acclaimed chef and restaurateur’s first U.S. expansion of Contramar. Bill examines how the new restaurant translates Contramar’s seafood-driven cooking and lively cantina energy for Las Vegas, from its iconic tu...

Before Mexico City became one of the world’s most celebrated dining destinations, Daniel Ovadia was helping create its modern culinary identity. He opened the groundbreaking restaurant Paxia at just 21 years old, serving ambitious Mexican tasting menus, artisanal mezcal and even an all-taco menu years before those ideas became fashionable. Daniel joins Bill Esparza to revisit the early days of Pax...

Where can you find the best ceviche, aguachile and Mexican seafood in Los Angeles? Bill Esparza drops his definitive LA mariscos guide, explaining why great seafood requires more than an overflowing aluminum tray, a backyard location or a pile of lime and salsa. Bill breaks down the three pillars of Mexican mariscos: the barra fría, barra caliente and parrilla. He explains why Mexican ceviche is d...

Somebody Feed Phil host Phil Rosenthal joins Bill Esparza at Max & Helen’s, his Los Angeles diner created with Nancy Silverton, for a wide-ranging conversation about food, travel and the value of remaining curious. Phil reveals why Somebody Feed Phil is leaving Netflix for YouTube, calls out the negativity and rage bait driving food-influencer culture, and finally learns why filming pirated DV...

In this episode of Taqueando , Bill Esparza sits down at Michelin-starred Valle in Oceanside with Chef Roberto Alcocer , the Ensenada-born chef behind Valle and the beloved Baja restaurant Malva . Roberto reflects on his early days cooking in France, Puebla, and Pujol, the once-intimate rise of Valle de Guadalupe, and how Baja’s seafood, wine, and farm-to-table culture helped shape modern Mexican...

At Alto in Studio City, chefs Juana Castellanos Lagemann and Esteban Klenzi are bringing the food and fire traditions of Argentina, Uruguay and the Río de la Plata to Los Angeles in a way the city has never experienced before. Bill Esparza joins the duo to discuss their journey from some of the world’s most demanding fine-dining kitchens to Ventura Boulevard, why asado should be cooked over glowin...

In Part 2 of Bill Esparza’s intimate conversation with chef, author and television personality Marcela Valladolid , the two dig deeper into Matriarca , her growing Mexican pantry brand built around clean ingredients, traditional cooking and the belief that Mexican families deserve beautiful, high-quality products rooted in their own culture. Marcela breaks down Matriarca’s expanding lineup, from o...

In Part 1 of a two-part conversation , chef, author and television personality Marcela Valladolid welcomes Bill Esparza into her Chula Vista home for an intimate look back at her journey from Tijuana’s culinary world to becoming one of the Food Network’s most recognizable Mexican chefs. Over a pot of fideo seco, Marcela opens up about fighting for authentic Mexican representation on television, th...

This week on Taqueando with Bill Esparza , Bill sits down at one of Los Angeles’ most iconic Mexican American restaurants, Casa Vega , with owner Christy Vega and Nayomie Mendoza , owner of Cuernavaca’s Grill , for a conversation about legacy, survival, margaritas, wet burritos, taquitos, salsa, and what it really takes to preserve an LA institution. From Casa Vega’s 70-year history in Sherman Oak...

This week on Taqueando , Bill Esparza heads to Canter’s Deli to talk with Marc Canter about the deep history between Jewish delis, Boyle Heights, East LA, Fairfax, and Los Angeles’ Mexican American love affair with pastrami. From pastrami burritos and pastrami fries to the survival of old-school LA delis, the conversation traces how Canter’s helped shape one of the city’s most unexpected food conn...

On this episode of Taqueando, Bill Esparza sits down with Chef Xrysw Ruelas of Xokol , the Michelin-starred Guadalajara restaurant she runs with Chef Oscar Segundo. They discuss Xokol’s evolution from a humble molino and antojería into one of Mexico’s most important modern Mexican restaurants, rooted in heirloom corn, indigenous knowledge, the milpa, and the culinary traditions of Jalisco and Esta...

This week on Taqueando , Bill Esparza takes on the messy new era of LA food influencers, anti-influencers, restaurant grifters, and the viral claim that “LA dining is a scam.” He breaks down the Christian Garcia /Hollywood Thai controversy, the rise of outrage-based restaurant content, and why struggling small restaurants are especially vulnerable when influencers promise exposure but may not deli...