Tijuanazo, a taco chain from Tijuana with seven locations, has expanded to East LA, bringing some of the most popular Tijuana-style tacos to Los Angeles. Under the ownership of Aria Esquivel, the daughter of founders Antonio and Claudia Esquivel, Tijuanazo’s debut on August 23 marked the next chapter in one family’s storied restaurant history that began at an iconic Beverly Hills French restaurant in the 1980s. Tijuananzo’s opening follows Cypress Park’s new Taquería Frontera, owned by Antonio’s son Juan Carlos Guerra, which recently landed opening stories in L.A. Taco and the Los Angeles Times.

Beyond the influence of Mexico City, Tijuana’s taco culture of carne asada, adobada (the regional style of al pastor), and birria de res has garnered considerable attention among hungry travelers to Mexico. Given their proximity, both San Diego and Los Angeles have been portals to the tacos from the Mexican border town, yet only a few Mexico-based taquerías have actually opened stateside. One notable exception is Tacos El Gordo, which first opened in Tijuana in 1971, expanded to San Diego in 1998, and opened in Las Vegas in 2010. In both San Diego and Las Vegas, El Gordo has achieved viral success, leading to long queues. Los Angeles has not been a primary destination for such enterprising taquerías until now, with the entry of Tijuanazo.

Born in Uruapan, Michoacán, Antonio moved to Los Angeles and graduated from Belmont High School in Westlake. In the mid-1980s, he started working at Bistango, an iconic California French restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills that was held in the same esteem as Spago and L’Orangerie (Bistango still operates in Irvine). “I worked my way up to runner and would be the one telling cooks to fire dishes. I would send any dishes back if they weren’t up to our standard,” Antonio told Eater over the phone.

Antonio worked his way up as a cook at both Bistango and Four Oaks Cafe — another high-end French restaurant located in Beverly Glen, gleaning lessons from the late Claude Segal, a prominent French chef who took over Ma Maison when Wolfgang Puck departed to open Spago. In this time period, Antonio says he served Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, and Cyndi Lauper during the now-famous recording sessions of “We Are the World.”

In the mid-’90s, Antonio met Claudia González, who would eventually become his second wife. They took frequent trips to Tijuana, inspired by the carne asada and adobada at Tacos El Paisa in the city’s Colonia Soler. Antonio opened two casual Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles after his time at Bistango, called Restaurante Antonio’s and Molcajete Norteño, which have since closed. The Esquivels eventually opened their first taco cart, called Taco Nazo, in Playas de Tijuana in 2008, setting the stage for a thriving chain (recently renamed Tijuanazo, due, in part, to a Taco Nazo already established in Los Angeles).

The couple opened the first Tijuanazo brick-and-mortar taquería in Playas in 2011, placing a polished stainless steel taco cart inside a fast-casual space. They created the DNA for a new wave of family-friendly Tijuana restaurants that break from the loud, gritty, open-air taquerías that were the norm. They introduced niceties like patio heaters during the winter, raised gardens, retracting awnings, and glass screen walls that provided a comfortable place to enjoy tacos, features that are now commonplace in Tijuana. They employed a staff counselor to help workers with mental health and motivation, a rarity in the U.S., let alone in Mexico.

The model has garnered the affection of other operators in Tijuana. “Tijuanazo is the best [taquería] business in Tijuana for service, style — and also having good tacos,” says chef and restaurateur Adrian Mejía, owner of El Gallito and other restaurants in Tijuana.

Two things distinguish Tijuanazo’s food from other taquerías in Tijuana. Typically, tacos de carne asada and adobada come dressed with brilliant red, white, and green stripes of roasted tomato salsa, chopped onions and cilantro, and creamy guacamole. Tijuanazo’s tacos de adobada get the addition of crema de adobada (a white-and-green cilantro dip), and the carne asada is marinated, unlike other taquerías that only season with salt.

These departures came from Antonio’s background working at the two iconic Los Angeles restaurants in the 1980s. Similar to the French technique of seasoning and marinating meats for an extended period before cooking, beef gets marinated at Tijuanazo, Taquería Frontera, and Thlaco Taco. The crema de adobada was inspired by a vegetable terrine that was served at Bistango, mixing cilantro, crema mexicana, avocado, and chives. While other taquerías offer an array of salsas to let diners pick and choose, Antonio selects a specific salsa for each taco, like how French sauces are paired with certain dishes to complement their flavor profile.

And now Antonio’s children are following in his footsteps. In 2022, Antonio’s daughter, Lizbeth Esquivel, opened Thlaco Taco Tijuanense in Chicago, which has quickly become popular — landing as a vendor at the VIP lounge at Lollapalooza — and is poised to open a second location. In August, Antonio’s son Juan Carlos Guerra opened Taquería Frontera in Cypress Park. Later that month, Aria Esquivel opened the first official Tijuanazo in East LA; her sister Karime Esquivel opened a second Tijuanazo in San Diego on September 7. In anticipation of this armada of taquerías, Antonio opened Rancho Meat Market in Lincoln Heights to help supply the stores’ meats. The market sources Canadian shoulder clod for carne asada and marinates a 50-50 blend of pork butt and shoulder with Antonio’s own recipe.

Antonio has trained his children in the business and helped curate individual touches for each location of their restaurants. “JC asked if he could shadow me and I said sure,” says Antonio. Aria started working for her father four years ago and Karime lived and worked with her father for years in Tijuana. “So I told each one, stay with me, follow my steps, and follow my instructions,” says Antonio, who has closely mentored each of his children in Tijuana, and on frequent FaceTime calls when they need guidance. He helped Lizbeth open Thlaco Tacos Tijuanense in Chicago and Juan Carlos Guerra open Taquería Frontera in Cypress Park. He granted Aria and Karime to use the name and likeness of the Tijuanazo brand. “The goal is that they all have something that’s their own,” says Antonio.

At Tijuanazo in East LA, the 40-seat dining room that was once a Tacos Mexico location is highlighted by a black wall adorned with cowboy boot cutouts. Equipped with her parents’ recipes and a kitchen staff brought over from Tijuana to train the East LA team, Aria had everything she needed to take on Los Angeles’s taco scene, except one. Unlike their Tijuana forebearers, both Tijuanazo and Taquería Frontera only use gas grills. “We are missing the carbón [the flavor of smoke], but since this is my first taquería I didn’t want to have to do too much with the space,” she says matter-of-factly.

While the distinctive char of Tijuana-style carne asada is missing, the outstanding salsas, umami-rich steak, handmade corn tortillas, and construction with individual paper-wrapped tacos are already hitting the mark. Tacos come with finely chopped onions, cilantro, and smooth guacamole, which is a garnish no Tijuanense could live without. Carne asada is served as tacos, tostadas, mulitas, tortas, burritos, quesadillas, and even the taco azteca, which comes in a grilled nopal wrapper. Antonio pairs the carne asada with salsa of cooked tomato with raw chile serrano.

“We are letting customers know that ‘con todo’ means the salsas and condiments we choose, but they are welcome to have salsa on the side, or they can use whichever salsa they want,” says Aria.

The adobada has a polished balance of sweetness, spice, and acid cooked on an automated trompo. Aria recommends the adobada as a taco or mulita to appreciate the pork. According to Antonio, the key is the contrast of temperature between the meat and salsa. Salsa de adobada combines toasted chile California and boiled tomatillos for a mild heat, while the crema de adobada adds a cool, complex layer of fruit, herbs, and nutty cream. Slivers of pineapple are uncommon in Tijuana-style adobada, but Antonio chooses to add a slice here to sweeten the dish. On the side, customers can order a surtido (assortment) of grilled onions, grilled cactus, and roasted chiles gũeros for an extra kick.

Many of Tijuana’s biggest taquerías — Tacos El Franc, Tacos El Chino, and Tijuanazo among them — provide an expanded menu that includes vasos de frijol, or beans in a cup. Tijuanazo offers the same taco accompaniments in East LA. Order the vasos de frijol with the works: beans, cheese, and meat, beef consomé, and extra guacamole.

A comal de acero (stainless steel comal) is crammed in a tight space between the charbroiler and trompo for the tacos de fritanga, where tripas (pork intestines), buche (pork stomach), lengua (beef tongue), and suadero are fried in their own fat. Tijuanazo also serves an outstanding birria de res that’s marinated over 24 hours and slow-cooked until tender. Order a bowl with handmade corn tortillas that use masa from Amapola Deli & Market. Already-made tortillas recién hechas (fresh from the tortillería) are imported from El Grano de Oro, a tortillería, carnicería, and abarrotes (convenience store) based in Tijuana since 1972. Flour tortillas are sourced from tried-and-true local producer Diana’s Mexican Food Products in El Monte.

Los Angeles has been fortunate to have traditional Tijuana street vendors like Tacos Don Cuco, Taquería San Miguel (also known as Tire Shop Taquería), and Taco Los Poblanos. Tacos 1986 and Loqui, both from Baja California-born founders, have expanded into multiple locations around Los Angeles. But Tijuanazo’s long history in Tijuana adds something special to the mix. For Antonio, it’s more than a taquería — it’s a presentation. “You gotta do some show business, you know? You attract people by the way you use your hands, the way you cut the meat, the way you put the sauce. You gotta be more artistic.”

Tijuanazo is open at 355 S. Atlantic Boulevard, East Los Angeles from Tuesday to Sunday, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. (323) 604-9363.