Avoiding the Accidental "Snout" Taco at Grand Central Market

As you know, I loooooove me some Downtown Los Angeles. Just before Christmas I took some visiting family for a Jewelry District shopping trip and we stopped in at the historic Grand Central Market at Third/Broadway for a quick morning snack. I stopped at a relatively large/prominent counter perched at the entrance to the place, figuring a little $2 soft taco would be perfect for the three of us girls.

Little did I know I'd have to scan the entire menu, limited as it was, to find a meat filling for my taco that did not evoke bad memories of accidental orders in foreign languages! Check the center column on the menu board in the photo. Mercifully it provided English translations, but here were the meat offerings for us:

Ribs

Skin

Tongue

"lomo" (which it turns out is "tenderloin" and not scary)

Ham (but given the other options listed, I don't think this is what I would consider "ham" but some other funky version of it)

Pork (also suspect- never heard of "espaldillo")

Heart

Liver

Kidney

"buche" (which I find online is a mixture of pig and cow "scraps")

Snout

Ears

Feet

Tripe (stomach)

and . . .

Carne Asada

Ding ding ding! That's the ticket. Reading through that list of horrors and I was treated with the best for last- carne asada it was!