La Flor De Yucatan Bakery

"At one of LA’s oldest regional Mexican bakeries, vaporcitos (pork and chicken tamales), and colados (fine masa tamales) are available every day. But if you want to go deeper, the catering menu offers brazo de reina (spinach log roll tamal), dzotobichay (spinach and pumpkin seed tamal), and the “whole tamale,” mukbil-pollo, a baked tamal pie filled with chicken in a creamy sauce stained by achiote customarily served for dia de los muertos. Order a nine-pounder for your holiday table, and begin a new family tradition of the carving of the tamal." - Bill Esparza

"Los Angeles doesn’t have many restaurants representing the Yucatán peninsula, but the Burgos family has been delivering the (baked) goods since 1971. Order a taco de relleno negro, where shredded turkey is cooked in a black achiote paste contrasted with pickled red onions and creamy guacamole. Chasing each bite with a whole raw habanero is conventional, but for humanity’s sake, it’s optional." - Bill Esparza

"La Flor De Yucatan is a Mayan bakery in Pico-Union serving Yucatecan baked goods, tacos, and of course, tamales. They specialize in three different varieties: the fluffy colado with chicken and vegetables, hand-patted tortiados, and the chaya-filled dzotobichay. The colado is probably the standout for us, but let’s be honest with ourselves, you’re getting all three—and a relleno negro taco for the road." - brant cox, sylvio martins

"LA doesn’t have many restaurants representing the Yucatán peninsula, but the Burgos family has been delivering the (baked) goods since 1971. Order a taco de relleno negro, where shredded turkey is cooking in a black achiote paste contrasted by pickled red onions and a creamy guacamole. Chasing each bite with a whole raw habanero is conventional, but for humanity’s sake, optional." - Bill Esparza

"There’s an inherent beauty in the loose construction of antojitos yucatecos covered in pale, ripped pieces of iceberg lettuce; frail pickled purple onion strands that stick to the masa, and slices of tomato slowly wilting in the tropical heat. The closest thing we have to an afternoon in a Mérida antojería is the inside table at Pico-Union’s La Flor de Yucatán on a hot day, where the only relief is cooling beads of sweat induced by eating raw habaneros. The salbutes, puffy deep-fried tortillas covered in shredded chicken boiled in recaudo rojo, served alongside a salad dressed in creamy avocado salsa prepared by the Burgos family, are simple, delicious, and just like back home." - Bill Esparza