Kogi Taqueria
Asian fusion restaurant · Palms ·
Iconic Korean-Mexican fusion tacos, burritos, & quesadillas
Iconic Korean-Mexican fusion tacos, burritos, & quesadillas
"I point to Roy Choi’s Kogi BBQ truck as emblematic of a shift: during the late-2000s turn toward food trucks and cheap eats, he was able to open his Kogi BBQ truck and soon be named Bon Appétit’s Best New Chef, showing how mobile, affordable food moved to the center of culinary attention." - Jaya Saxena
"Roy Choi’s 2008 Kogi truck pioneered the food-truck boom and popularized playful Korean–Mexican mashups—Korean short rib tacos, kimchi quesadillas, and blue moon mulitas—that redefined fusion and made hunting down a Kogi truck a must-do LA experience." - Eater Staff
"The OG LA food truck now has a brick and mortar spot of its very own. Despite Kogi’s success, they’ve kept things low-key with this order-at-the-counter operation in a strip mall in Palms. The menu is a combination of the Korean-Mexican tacos and burritos you’ve probably had from the truck after day drinking on Abbot Kinney, as well as traditional items that are exclusive to this spot. There’s also a hot wings situation you definitely should get involved in." - Jess Basser Sanders
"In early 2009 in Los Angeles, Roy Choi’s Kogi truck created a feverish street-food scene where you’d wait in long lines in dimly lit parking lots—drawn by a tweet, Jonathan Gold’s review, or a nearby bar—to order too many tacos and eat them perched on car trunks. The big flavors demanded attention: the cheese oozing from the kimchi quesadilla rounded out the fermentation, the salsa roja amplified the gochugaru and the blend of Korean and Mexican chiles brought out the punchy kalbi marinade, while rotating, funky specials like pork belly tteokbokki or the Kogi Hogi torta constantly introduced new combinations. Choi and partner Mark Manguera leaned on fine-dining training, rebellious spirit, Korean heritage, and their LA upbringing—where Koreatown abuts Mexican American neighborhoods—to make food that was innovative yet unmistakably of Los Angeles, and their savvy use of Twitter turned finding the truck into a scavenger-hunt moment that felt especially meaningful during the Great Recession." - Ben Mesirow
"When chef Roy Choi launched his first Kogi food truck in 2008, he not only kicked off a trend of mobile eateries that would expand worldwide, but he also added a new chapter to Los Angeles’ history of fusion cuisine. At the heart of Kogi is the short rib taco, which takes Korean short ribs and couples them with a mix of Mexican and Korean chiles, a chili-soy slaw, and griddled corn tortillas for a handheld taste of L.A. at its finest." - Vox Creative
