Tijuana Taqueria Tijuanazo Opens in Echo Park, Where Its Founder Grew Up

Tijuanero by Tijuanazo now sells adobada tacos out of the old Los Burritos window at 1312 Echo Park Avenue.

Antonio Esquivel grew up in Echo Park with fond memories of Los Burritos. Now the taqueria he started in Tijuana is serving tacos out of that same front window.

Tijuanero by Tijuanazo opened on September 24 at 1312 Echo Park Avenue, just off Sunset Boulevard, after close to a year of construction, Eater LA first reported. The outlet counts the original Tijuanazo among the best taquerias in Tijuana. That's a big claim to carry up a hill in Echo Park.

If you live nearby, the window is open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m., though the family says those hours aren't final yet.

From a cart in Playas to Echo Park Avenue

It began in 2008 with a cart. Antonio and his wife, Claudia, sold tacos under the name Taco Nazo in Playas de Tijuana, Eater LA reported.

The original Tijuanazo restaurant came three years after that, and the couple kept it in Playas.

The family crossed the border in August 2024, when their daughter Aria opened a Tijuanazo in East Los Angeles. Her sister, Karime, opened one in San Diego a few weeks later. That location closed, then came back in another neighborhood under the Tijuanero name the Echo Park shop now carries.

When Aria saw that Los Burritos had shut down, she moved fast, the outlet reported. Part of the pull was her dad's childhood. Part of it was keeping the corner Latino-owned, something she says neighbors have been glad to hear.

A buildout under ICE raids

The construction ran through the immigration sweeps that spread across Southern California starting in mid-2025. Aria told Eater LA she saw the effect at the East L.A. location, where customers seemed scared to walk in.

Then, in January 2026, a worker was taken by ICE from outside the Echo Park storefront. Aria and her team helped connect the family to resources, she said, but the sweep left her more frightened than before. It's a strange way to spend a year getting ready to hang an open sign, and she opened anyway.

What to order

Start with the adobada.

That's Aria's advice for a first visit, and the family's history backs it up. The pork is cooked on a trompo, piled into tacos, then finished with avocado crema and a sweet slice of pineapple. "That is what pretty much fundamentally started this taqueria, and it's been our bestseller since then," she told Eater LA. When the person who runs the place says the whole business grew out of one taco, I don't see much reason to argue with her on your first trip.

After that, the lineup is the one the family runs everywhere else: asada, birria, chorizo and a vegetarian option, each available as tacos, mulitas, burritos or vampiros. To drink, there are daily aguas frescas like horchata and jamaica, plus Mexican Coke and sparkling water.

For Antonio, Aria said, seeing the family's name in the neighborhood where he grew up has been very emotional. "That was something I think he's always kind of dreamed that would happen," she said.

Tijuanero by Tijuanazo is at 1312 Echo Park Avenue, open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.

Source: la.eater.com, retrieved September 29, 2026.