In the last few years I’ve spent my fair share of time in West Hollywood.

There was the period where all I did was go to concerts and I spent more evenings than I can recall at The Roxy. Then there were the weekends where all I wanted to do was spend late nights at The Standard and SkyBar. From concerts to parties I quickly learned how beautiful a sunrise was in WeHo. In the time I spent walking Sunset Boulevard, legally of course, I always found my attention being caught by a bright pink building. That building was Pink Taco. While I never walked into the restaurant, I always noticed it. It wouldn’t be until recently that I would finally turn a sight of a restaurant into a dinner.

Sitting in the restaurant with a friend we started the dinner with cocktails. Allow me to rephrase that. We started with cocktails; they were too strong for me, so my friend ended up with two cocktails. The drinks at hand that came to the table were the Cadillac’s ($15). Made with Don Julio and topped with an overturned 50ml bottle of Grand Marnier, this was not the drink for the faint—better known as myself. Even though I had extra strawberries added and sugar around the rim, within the first sips all I could tell was that it held a significant amount of alcohol. This isn’t a bad thing at all, but for me it’s was a bit more than I could handle which is why I passed it to my friend. For the person who loves Don Julio, this should be the perfect dink for you! While I thought it was pretty and looked interesting with the upside down Grand Marnier, it quickly became the second drink for my friend. Instead, I opted for their Agua Frescas ($4). Their watermelon, pineapple, and cucumber drinks were so refreshing, light, and sweet! A complete contrast to the cocktails, with obvious reason, I wanted to hoard these all for myself with a great affinity to the cucumber fresca out of all of them.

As sips of the drinks continued, the set of tacos we ordered arrived. The tacos came on tortillas that were made in the restaurant by hand and stamped with the Pink Taco logo. It was cool to see branded tortillas but part of me thought they did it in case you have too many Cadillac’s and forget where the tacos are from. Whatever the reason, I liked it.

In the trio of tacos, were the Pink Taco (Chicken), Al Pastor, and Sweet Potato (no price available). I started with the marinated chicken that was served with a mild red sauce, habanero pickled onions, and avocado salsa. From the taste, it came across as the simple taco as its ingredients would have you to believe. Fine as it was, the chicken taco here (like at any Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles) was a safe and easy choice. Good meat paired with good toppings. It’s the taco to get if you’ve never had a taco before. How there could be a person in LA who has never had a taco sounds somewhat unbelievable, but if that is you, you should break that streak by starting with the chicken taco here. For the person who loves a great taco, I think there are stronger options on the Pink Taco menu that could be and should be explored.

After the chicken taco, I had the al pastor. This taco took marinated pork shoulder and topped it with pineapple serrano salsa, onions, cilantro all on a corn tortilla. I liked that the pork in this taco was nicely cooked and tender and the salsa offered a juicy richness. While it wasn’t necessarily a standout version to other al pastor tacos in LA, it would serve as a good taco to order whenever you plan to visit the restaurant and are looking for a fresh and citrus infused taco.

The last of the three tacos was the sweet potato taco. Made with a sweet potato purée and topped with chipotle, cactus salsa, and sweet potato chips this taco was my favorite! With each bite I loved the creaminess that arose from the sweet potato purée. But it was the way that the sweetness of the potato blended with the salsa and chipotle that took the flavor of the taco to a level that I wasn’t expecting, but was excited to taste. The taco quickly disappeared and even though I had eaten a good amount during this dinner, I was wishing I had space for at least one more taco. I didn’t, which meant I would just have to come back for it on another day.

To close the dinner off the best way anyone should, we had the Churros ($6) for dessert. A handful of sugary churros came out with chocolate and dulce de leche sauces. The churros were lighter and less dense than the average which meant you could devour them all with less eater’s remorse than with heavier counterparts. That really became less and less of a concern as I dipped the churros in the thick and sweet sauces. It didn’t take long for me to realize how much I liked these, especially since it was only a matter minutes before they were all gone.

It’s safe to say that it took a while for me to visit Pink Taco. I like to think that I was simply preoccupied by all the concerts and all the partying I partook in while on Sunset Boulevard that made it hard for me to step in the restaurant. However, now that there are fewer concerts and not as many parties taking up my time, I’m glad I was finally able to dine in the pink building. Although I tapped out on the cocktail and wasn’t as moved by the first two tacos, the frescas and sweet potato taco were items I really enjoyed. So much so, the next time I find myself in the area I will gladly stop into the bright pink building for another round.

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Address: 8225 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 380-7474
Hours: Sunday – 11:00am to 10:00pm, Monday – 12:00pm to 10:00pm, Tuesday to Thursday – 12:00pm to 12:00am, Friday – 12:00pm to 2:00am, and Saturday – 11:00am to 2:00am
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