Ay, ay, ay, ay! Mariachi in Los Angeles

Ay, ay, ay, ay! Mariachi in Los Angeles
by AnneLise Sorensen

Pass by during the week, and Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights (Metro: Mariachi Plaza) can look forlorn and empty, as if tumbleweed might come skittering through. Pay a visit on an early Saturday afternoon though, and the plaza lives up to its name. Mariachi musicians, some decked out in snazzy, silver-studded charro suits, congregate here to find work, often for gigs happening later that night. As one of the largest mariachi exchanges in the US, the plaza takes on a festive air, and fills with the rising and falling whines of tuning instruments that spark that anticipatory pleasure of a concert about to begin.

It’s acceptable to negotiate, keeping in mind a general fee of $45–$65 per hour, per musician. If you’d like to watch the musicians in action, head to La Perla Mariachi Restaurant (Metro: Indiana), where Mariachi perform – Ay, ay, ay, ay! Canta y no llores… – on weekdays at 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday starting at noon.

Round out your visit to East LA by shopping alongside locals at the utilitarian, family-owned market Los Cinco Puntos (Metro: Indiana), where a trio of elderly women hand-roll thick corn tortillas – ask for tortillas hecho de mano, rather than de maquina, by machine. Also on the menu are tender pork carnitas; indigenous specialties like nopales, roasted prickly pear leaves that lend a mucilaginous tang to the meal; and guacamole thick enough to break your tortilla chip at first dip.

Travel Transforms: I’m a big fan of using public transport while traveling, and this post shows why: Even in car-obsessed LA, touring the city by metro is one of best ways to delve into the local culture and cuisine.

This above post is part of a recent story I wrote for New York Magazine about exploring East LA on the newly expanded Gold Line Metro.