L.A.’s Hottest New Taco Stop Makes Fresh Flour Tortillas to Order and They Might Steal the Show
Los Angeles has no shortage of taco spots, but El Ruso’s new Studio City restaurant is drawing attention for a reason that starts before the meat even hits the plate: it makes its flour tortillas fresh to order. The acclaimed street-taqueria-turned-restaurant brings mesquite-grilled meats, hefty tacos, and a long-awaited permanent home to Ventura Boulevard.
El Ruso finally has a permanent home
For years, El Ruso built a devoted following while operating as a street vendor across Los Angeles. Now, founders Walter Soto and Julia Silva have opened the taqueria’s first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Studio City, marking a major shift for a business previously associated with food trucks, pop-ups and the restless logistics of vending from one location to another. The restaurant launched July 22 at 10628 Ventura Blvd. and seats roughly 150 guests across an indoor bar and a large patio.
The new location gives Soto and Silva more than a bigger kitchen. It gives them stability after years of moving between Boyle Heights, Highland Park, Echo Park, and other parts of Los Angeles. Soto, who was born in Tijuana and sold tacos on the street for more than 15 years, told the Los Angeles Times that operating from a trailer came with constant complications.
“It’s better working here, because in the trailer it’s too [many] problems, and temporary,” Soto said. “[With] the ticket guys and LAPD, moving from one place to another place, it was too hard for me.”
Soto estimated that he spent about $10,000 a year on parking tickets while also paying $1,200 per month for a commissary kitchen. He told the Times that competition among street vendors could be fierce, with some fellow vendors reporting him to parking enforcement after his taco stand began drawing customers. The Studio City restaurant changes that equation, allowing El Ruso to concentrate its operation in a space designed for both its grill and its tortilla-making.
The move also follows an earlier attempt to open a permanent restaurant that did not work out. Soto and Silva came close to securing a Silver Lake space in 2021, but Soto said rising rent costs forced them to walk away. This time, a conversation with restaurateur and bar owner Vincent Laresca led to an opening at the former Roadside Tacos site, and El Ruso moved in within days of the deal coming together.
Related: New York Just Got a Seafood Bar With Shrimp in Almost Every Form You Can Imagine
The tortillas are the headline act
El Ruso is known for a Sonoran-style approach that puts as much emphasis on flour tortillas as it does on flame-grilled meat. Silva has been making flour tortillas since she was 4 years old, according to the Los Angeles Times, and at the Studio City restaurant she can be found forming the dough, cooking the tortillas on a plancha and, for certain orders, covering one side with cheese.
Those tortillas are not a background detail. Infatuation reports that they make them fresh to order using flour from Sonora, describing the finished rounds as “chewy” and “translucent.” The publication says the tortillas “steal the spotlight,” a notable compliment in a city where taco loyalty can be fiercely specific.
That made-to-order approach gives diners something more immediate than a prepped, reheated tortilla. It also fits the restaurant’s broader model, which centers on fresh food prepared in real time. Ben Goglia, a business partner involved in the new restaurant, praised both the speed and care behind Soto’s cooking.
“I think the real star here is the food,” Goglia told the Los Angeles Times. “What [Soto] does is impressive: Not only does he do it quickly, but it’s all fresh and made to order. We need to be able to keep the drinks coming quick, so people can complement it with their food, especially when it’s hot like this.”
The format is a natural extension of what El Ruso had already become known for on the street: fresh flour tortillas, charcoal-grilled meats and rich braises. The brick-and-mortar setting doesn’t change that identity; it gives the operation more room for the grill, a dedicated area for tortilla production, and space to add menu items that previously appeared only as occasional specials.
Mesquite-grilled meats take center stage
Tortillas may be the star attraction, but El Ruso’s menu doesn’t rely on bread alone. Soto grills meats over mesquite charcoal, with flames rising through an adjustable metal grate as rib-eye, costillas, and carne asada cook over the fire. The new space makes the process part of the restaurant’s atmosphere, with smoke drifting through the patio and the sound of Soto chopping meat on a large block of Sinaloan alamo wood.
The taqueria’s signature fillings include chile colorado, carne asada, and birria de res, available as tacos or larger sobaqueras. The restaurant has kept its established salsa lineup while adding a bright molcajete salsa, according to the Times. The expanded cooking area has also made room for items that were once specials, including marinated shrimp sautéed on the grill and battered fish, plus limited offerings such as bone-in or shaved costilla tacos.
For diners deciding where to start, The Infatuation recommends focusing on the mesquite-grilled meats, particularly the carne asada and the thin-cut rib-eye. The review describes the carne asada as smoky and the rib-eye as charred, while noting that the $10 rib-eye taco is substantial enough to function as a meal. The Los Angeles Times lists the rib-eye taco at $13, while most tacos are priced at two for $12 and sobaqueras are $20; prices and menu availability can change, so diners should verify before visiting.
The restaurant now also has a full liquor license, giving guests the option of margaritas and beer alongside the tacos for the first time. Laresca and Goglia have deliberately kept the beverage program relatively focused, according to the Times, so it supports rather than competes with the food. Daily aguas frescas and locally made paletas are also available.
A new chapter for an L.A. taco favorite
El Ruso’s debut is significant because it preserves what longtime customers already liked while giving the founders a more sustainable platform. The trucks are temporarily not operating as Soto and Silva focus on the Studio City restaurant, though they have said the trucks could return for catering and related events in the future. For now, the new restaurant is where you’ll find the full operation: flour tortillas made to order, grilled meats cooked over mesquite, and a patio built for lingering over tacos and drinks.
The business is also entering a new phase as restaurant costs remain a concern. Goglia acknowledged the pressure of rising expenses for ingredients, insurance, and labor, while defending the menu’s updated prices. “The price of goods has gone through the roof,” he told the Times. “It’s hard to raise the prices people associate it with, but I know, I see what [Soto is] doing and the time they put into it. This is still a good deal.”
El Ruso is open Thursday, Sunday and Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times lists the restaurant at 10628 Ventura Blvd., while The Infatuation lists it at 10624 Ventura Blvd., so visitors should confirm the exact address with the restaurant before heading out.
The takeaway is simple: in a taco city packed with choices, freshness still matters. At El Ruso, it is not just the mesquite smoke or the steak-like rib-eye drawing people in; it is the sight and feel of a fresh flour tortilla made for the taco in front of you.
