Introducing: La Carnita, the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of the pop-up taco sensation

By Renée Suen | June 15, 2012

By Renée Suen | 06/15/2012

(Image: Renée Suen)

Last July we introduced you to La Carnita, the city’s first pop-up taco stand. It was also, of course, a cheeky experiment by co-owners Andrew Richmond and Amin Todai (of marketing shop OneMethod) to get around health code regulations by selling street art and siding it with complimentary loot bags filled with tacos. After gaining a cult-like following, the taco-slinging operation has now taken permanent residence at College and Bathurst, and it’s arguably one of the summer’s most highly anticipated openings—no mean feat for restaurant industry outsiders.

Prospective diners hoping to score a taco fix shouldn’t look for the restaurant’s name, but rather its signature Meathead mascot—a Día de los Muertos–inspired skull made up of taco ingredients—and the word “gringo” tiled on its entrance step. The 2,000-square-foot space, which previously housed Briscola, marries steel with concrete in black, white and various shades of orange and yellow (Richmond worked with Solid Design and Build on the space). Sand-blasted concrete walls adorned with freehand graffiti by artist Andrew Kidder fill out the front room, while in the back room, there’s a wall inscribed with shout-outs to Richmond’s friends, affiliates and former OneMethod colleagues. The street art extends into the basement level, where Meathead posters, all based on Matt Webb’s original design, are wheat-pasted by Skam and Webb on the “chaos wall” across from five unisex washrooms. Although much of the layout and fixtures are borrowed from its predecessor, the restaurant’s reused elements have been skip-planned, stripped, stained, distressed and refitted to project a more industrial feel (and yes, there’s reclaimed wood). Above the bar, an eye-catching light fixture by Milke Bau resembles telephone wires strung together.

While this is technically Richmond’s first restaurant job, he has surrounded himself with industry vets, including chefs Jonathan Hamilton (Pizzeria Libretto) and Nathan Middleton (Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, 416 Snack Bar) and pastry chef Sasha Bogin (Pizzeria Libretto), who will operate the open kitchen with Richmond. The small menu naturally boasts tacos ($5 each), including the signature In Cod We Trust with “Voltron” sauce and others topped with house-made red and green chorizo. It’s rounded out by a handful of other street food dishes like Mexican sweet corn ($7 for two cobs), avocado mango salad ($8) and house-fried tortilla chips ($6.50–$13) with guacamole, Sikil Pak Mezcal (pumpkin seed dip) and chipotle chicken liver pâté. For dessert, there are churros with cajeta ($5) and paletas ($3.50), Mexican popsicles that will change with the season. The restaurant has a growing beer list, mainly featuring Canadian and American craft beers in bottles and on tap. There’s also a focused wine list, plus tequilas and cocktails, including Micheladas.

And what of the original collectable art concept? The restaurant will be selling shirts designed by guest artists ($21) and various one-off art pieces. And every month, signed limited-edition Meathead prints will be given out with each of the first 5,000 tacos purchased, a neat reversal of the trick that got the whole operation started.

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Paletas ($3.50): flavours will change with the season. Pictured here: pineapple with guajillo and arbol chili; lime pie with crumbled graham crackers

La Carnita’s signature taco, In Cod We Trust ($5): deep-fried cod topped with “Voltron” sauce, house-made lime crema, pickled red cabbage, green apple and cilantro. Tacos are assembled on fresh La Tortilleria tortillas

Mexican sweet corn ($7 per pair): the corn is blanched, then grilled and finished with Mexican crema, queso añejo, arbol and ancho chili powder

Richmond told us these fixtures were inspired by chicken coop

A view of the dining rooms from the back

The larger, communal dining area in the back is filled with banquette seating, shared booths and unique light fixtures, these ones inspired by a chicken coop

Besides names of former OneMethod colleagues, you can also discern La Carnita–related terms like “Voltron,” for the signature sauce found on its cod taco, and “Toronto Underground Market”

Across from the kitchen, there’s a graffiti and paste-up wall that essentially serves as a shout-out to all of Richmond’s affiliates and former OneMethod colleagues who were instrumental to the business’ early growth

Looking back from the front of the restaurant

Two hundred signed and numbered prints of San Francisco’s Sam Flores’ stunning *Flight of the Bumblebee* will be available for $200 at the restaurant. The original piece was created for La Carnita’s Uno event in April (it sold for $9,500)

The front room houses not only the bar, but also window seats for a view of College Street, and a standing bar along one wall

Artist Andrew Kidder freehanded these graffiti pieces on the front room’s concrete walls

The shelving units behind the bar were cabinets, but have had their doors removed and caps put on the hinges

The long bar top in the front space is a remnant of Briscola, but the finish has been stripped, stained and refitted with steel mouldings to create a more industrial look. Above the bar, a unique light fixture by Milke Bau resembles telephone wires; around it are metal bar stools powder-coated in the restaurant’s signature colours: black, white, orange and yellow

“Gringo” is tiled on the restaurant’s entrance step (note the “gold tooth”)

La Carnita’s double-sided sign on College shows its Meathead mascot but not its name

La Carnita, 501 College St, 416-964-1555, lacarnita.com, @la_carnita

4 thoughts on “Introducing: La Carnita, the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of the pop-up taco sensation”

Eaton Beever says:

June 15, 2012 at 10:22 am

Beautiful…!
Can’t wait to try it!
borg says:

June 16, 2012 at 4:19 pm

Red and green chorizo? Crazy inventive new sausages, or just a typo?
Lourdes says:

June 19, 2012 at 8:55 am

Muero por comerme esos elotes con crema!

I die for eat those corn with cream!!
Dan Thompson says:

January 22, 2013 at 1:56 pm

This place is overpriced and underwhelming. After spending $200 on dinner for two I was left with a burning sensation in my mouth from everything being over spiced. Even plain tortillas where covered in chilli powder. Additionally none of the servers knew anything about the wine list (starting bottle of champagne was over $100 – I would think they had at lest sampled it). Stick to DT when wanting to eat out – my experience is the father west you go the worse the food gets.

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Introducing: La Carnita, the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of the pop-up taco sensation

4 thoughts on “Introducing: La Carnita, the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of the pop-up taco sensation”

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