Tacos are to Los Angeles what pizza is to New York, cheesesteak is to Philadelphia, and pho is to Vietnam. Every Angeleno worth her weight in masa knows the go-to truck for al pastor pork sabered from the spit into warm and pliant tortillas, and each is privy to the fedora’d taquero who fries Ensenada-style fish tacos to order in a parking lot in Silverlake.

What makes L.A. tacos so great? The city is graced with recipes brought north by its more than one million Mexican-born residents and their ancestors—iconic dishes like cochinita pibil from the Yucatán and birria from Guadalajara. L.A. isn’t Baja, D.F., Jalisco, or Oaxaca; it’s all of these places rolled into one glorious city brimming with stewed meat, grilled carne asada, spit-roasted pork, tortillas hecho a mano, and scorching salsa.

Without further ado, we bring you the city’s 10 essential tacos.

Written and shot by Erin Mosbaugh (@JayBlague)