HomeState
Tex-Mex restaurant · Highland Park ·
Texas-inspired tacos, queso, and chow with drinks and patio
Texas-inspired tacos, queso, and chow with drinks and patio
"This lively little taco stand is all about inhaling a few tacos with friends before the tortillas dissolve in your hands. Hungover or not, you'll inhale these tacos with tortillas handmade to perfection. Start a perfect day with their "Trinity"—eggs, bacon, potato and cheese. The best things in life are simple, especially paired in a winning combination with Southern hospitality and speedy, smiley service. Bonus: the Highland Park location now serves some of the best margaritas in town." - Celeste Moure
"One of our favorite Tex-Mex spots in LA, HomeState is offering their excellent breakfast tacos, queso, and more starting at 10am Monday-Thursday and 8am Friday-Sunday. Right now, all three locations (Los Feliz, Highland Park, and Playa del Rey) are offering takeout only and ordering is done through their website." - brant cox
"This small Los Feliz restaurant (that also has locations in Highland Park, Pasadena, West Adams, and Playa Vista) serves some of the best Tex-Mex we’ve encountered in the city. People line up for their queso, migas, and most importantly, breakfast tacos. It all starts with their excellent flour tortillas, which come loaded with bacon, potatoes, eggs, cheese, beans, and shredded brisket. What you’ll get is an excellent breakfast, ideal for a mid-morning snack or to magically bring you back from the brink of hangover death at 2pm on a Saturday. Food Rundown Queso Queso is a key reason why Tex-Mex holds a place in our hearts, and Homestate does it right. Make sure you order it “loaded,” and please sign our petition for the restaurant to make “loaded” your only option. It’s for the good of everyone. Migas We recommend the Lonestar Migas, which adds in a good amount of brisket on top of the warm and filling migas: eggs scrambled with corn strips, onion, and cheese. Tacos As far as breakfast tacos go, we love the Comal (black beans, eggs, Monterey jack), the Pecos (egg and brisket), and the Trinity (eggs, bacon, cheddar, potato) - but you really can’t go wrong. The lunch menu has a few highlights as well: the brisket and chicken tacos are both solid choices, with a great cabbage slaw on top. Buñuelos In A Bag Light, airy, and sweet. Take a few bites first, in case you fill up on the queso and can’t get to them after." - Michael Burke
"Craving savory over sweet sent me to HomeState for a Frito pie in a bag — an inexpensive, perfectly compact snack that can substitute for a meal when filled with HomeState’s wonderfully hearty brisket chili. Served out of an actual Fritos bag (half the charm), it can also be made vegetarian with queso, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, pickled jalapeños, pickled red onions, and black beans; take a fork and dig in immediately, because delivery or takeout will ruin the magic of the crispy corn chips and warm queso." - Eater Staff
"Founded by Texas native Briana “Breezy” Valdez, this breakfast taco specialist has four well-loved Los Angeles locations and is opening its first outpost outside the LA region in Oceanside. Valdez, who went to college in Austin and previously worked at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, builds tacos with pastured eggs and award-winning flour tortillas made from a Valdez family recipe; menu highlights include the Trinity (eggs, Beeler’s bacon, potatoes, and cheddar) and the Blanco (egg-white with shiitake mushrooms and Monterey Jack), alongside Tex‑Mex favorites like migas, Frito pie, and a creamy cheddar queso. The restaurant frequently collaborates with bands and musicians—the current menu features taco creations from Leon Bridges and the Tijuana Panthers—with proceeds going to local charities. Cocktails on offer include margaritas, palomas, and ranch water. The Oceanside spot occupies a renovated 1950s building about 500 steps from the beach in a 2,067-square-foot space with an 816-square-foot patio (formerly a grocery store) and should be up and running before the end of the year, with plans to open additional San Diego locations." - Candice Woo