Angry Egret Dinette

The sandwiches being sold out of the window at Angry Egret in Chinatown are some of the most interesting tortas being made in LA. The Torta Au Pied De Cochon involves pork shoulder rolled in a deboned pig’s foot, served with habañero mustard - the ground pork patty is salty and tender, with just a bit of gaminess. There’s also a (slightly) more traditional brisket sandwich, with avocado, queso fresco, and horseradish cream. No matter which torta you pick, be sure to add in a machaca flauta, a heavily spiced beef flauta topped with very spicy red and green salsas. The operation was started by Wes Avila, who founded Guerrilla Tacos, the food-car-turned-truck-turned-big-deal Arts District restaurant. In some ways, Angry Egret reminds me of the early(ish) days of Guerrilla, when they were a truck outside of Silverlake Wines - innovative and fun, sort of throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. And when you’re a chef as talented as Avila, the answer is: a lot.