Chefs Alex and Elvia García are opening Evil Cooks Corazón Abierto in El Sereno today, November 13, where they will serve some of the most creative modern Mexican food in Los Angeles . After slinging dishes like black-tinted octopus al pastor and bacon cheeseburger tacos out of their home and at Smorgasburg for the past five years, the chefs finally have a permanent space. The new restaurant on North Eastern Avenue has just five counter seats facing a small kitchen and an outdoor patio that seats 25 diners.
In 2020, Evil Cooks was named one of Los Angeles’s 101 best restaurants by the Los Angeles Times , with critic Bill Addison including the pop-up among his list of the city’s 13 best tacos . Along with the acclaim came offers from investors to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant, but the Garcías chose to operate without partners. (Evil Cooks’ defiant streak was recently highlighted in Life & Thyme’s Rebel Kitchens series .
) The new El Sereno restaurant is located a few blocks from their home. “I think the stars aligned for us because we wanted to wait for our daughter to begin school before even considering a restaurant,” says Elvia. “And the fact that it’s in our neighborhood, where lots of people have supported us, was perfect,” says Alex.
Evil Cooks Corazón Abierto is a love letter to all who have supported the duo over the years. Alex started working in the food industry as a baker at his father’s bakery in Guanajuato, Mexico, and his grandfat.