Barbacoa Ramirez
Restaurant · Arleta ·
Smoky lamb barbacoa tacos, pancita, moronga, and rich consomé
Smoky lamb barbacoa tacos, pancita, moronga, and rich consomé
"For barbacoyero Gonzalo Ramírez, there’s only one way to make barbacoa, the recipe he learned from his grandfather in Atotonilco El Grande, Hidalgo. Ramírez raises his own lambs, butchers them, roasts large cuts in a cylindrical pit wrapped in maguey spines, and then serves smoky, tender lamb barbacoa tacos across from the DMV in Arleta on Sunday mornings only. Order a mix of barbacoa; herbaceous stewed moronga (blood sausage); pancita (offal stuffed stomach), and Ramírez’s earthy consomé, a stock made from the lamb drippings that taste like the smoldering essence of the pit." - Bill Esparza
"Famed for smoky lamb barbacoa tacos that are described as the most destination-worthy street tacos in Los Angeles; served Saturday and Sunday mornings next to the DMV, making timing and location part of the experience." - Eater Staff
"I’d love to visit Barbacoa Estilo Atotonilco El Grande in Arleta, California, for its barbacoa de chivo that begins its journey in Pixley and that feeds its community from outside an Arleta DMV." - Eater Staff
"Out of a small window of a rusty pickup camper parked in front of a house in East LA, Javier Ramírez sells chivo blanco — adobo-less goat seasoned with salt — cooked in an underground pit the way they do in Tlacotepec de Benito Juárez, Puebla. After I placed my order, I sipped a bright consomé studded with garbanzos, carrots, and fresh epazote (with a touch of adobo for balance) and ate lean, flavorful goat tacos alongside local gardeners knocking back Modelos; the whole scene felt like a beloved ritual and a perfect weekend morning pit stop." - Bill Esparza
"A gritty, working shed that doubles as a slaughterhouse, smoke kitchen, and artist’s studio for a four-generation Hidalguense barbacoa practice: it contains brick-lined in-ground pits, meat hooks, blocked windows, and a nearby pen of lambs that the cook raises himself. The operation is obsessively hands-on — raising lambs on alfalfa and cracked corn, personally butchering and cleaning each animal, layering maguey leaves and bone-in lamb cuts in the pit, and rubbing the meat with a signature garlic-plus-adobo blend. Traditional offal preparations like pancita and moronga are cooked alongside racks and shoulders, while a circular pit funnels rendered oils and smoke into a rich, smoky consomé that is bailed out with a beer bucket into an Igloo cooler. The scene is physically demanding and ritualized, shared with family helpers, and yields intensely grassy, buttery lamb and an almost sacred consomé served to lucky visitors and morning customers." - Bill Esparza
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