L.A.'s Eclectic Food Trucks Serve Up Everything from Nashville Hot Chicken to Scallop Ceviches

Crisp tostadas, zingy shrimp ceviche, fiery Nashville hot chicken: the food trucks of coastal Los Angeles reflect their owners’ storied heritages. "Venice reminds me of a beautiful island," says Antonio Gonzalez, leaning against the bonnet as traditional Mexican ranchera music booms from his truck’s radio. "Plus we’re close to the sea and we liked the song, so we called it La Isla Bonita."

As any 1980s music fan knows, La Isla Bonita is Spanish for "The Beautiful Island." Antonio and his wife, Maria, opened their Mexican food truck business in 1987, the same year Madonna released her Latin-inspired single and shot the video in Los Angeles. On this balmy May afternoon, Antonio is parked on Rose Avenue, just yards from Venice Beach.

Antonio’s truck is one of around 4,000 food trucks in the City of Angels, offering diverse meals on wheels — tacos, kebabs, dumplings, and fried chicken, to name a few — representing hundreds of global cuisines. Mexican influences dominate L.A.'s food truck scene, unsurprising given that about 35% of L.A. County’s population is of Mexican heritage.

Antonio and Maria hail from Jalostotitlán, a small town in Jalisco, Mexico, and have been together for almost 40 years. Two of their eight children, Brenda and Joseph, along with Antonio’s brother-in-law, Israel, are busy serving tacos and seafood dishes from their mobile kitchen.

Customers gather around the family’s white vintage Chevrolet truck, some queuing and others using car bonnets as tables for their zesty ceviche tacos. One customer slurps a shrimp cocktail swimming in lime and tomato juice, while another spills mango shrimp aguachile down his crisp white T-shirt. Amid sizzling pans and passing traffic, Antonio reminisces about his humble beginnings.

"I was polishing shoes in the streets of Mexico when I was eight," he says. In 1977, aged 16, he followed his older brother to Los Angeles, seeking a better life. Antonio’s goal with La Isla Bonita was to run a taqueria that honors his roots, serving "everything that I eat, otherwise I won’t make it for my customers."

The extensive menu includes tacos with carne asada, shrimp, scallops, and chicharrón, as well as burritos, quesadillas, chilaquiles, tostadas, and tortas. The ceviche, whether tuna, scallop, or shrimp, is a customer favorite. Everything is dressed with pickles, fresh salads, and homemade salsas and sauces.

The menu has remained largely unchanged since its inception, to the delight of loyal customers. Isaiah, an actor/bartender who works in Venice, eats there "literally every day." Brenda hands me a shrimp ceviche tostada, urging me to eat it before the juices soak through the tortilla. It’s crispy, tart, and packed with herbs — a testament to the skill inside this humble white truck.

It’s Getting Hot in Here

The next day, I’m at Common Space Brewery in Hawthorne, nine miles southeast of Venice. Nashville-born Kim Prince and soul food connoisseur Greg Dulan are busy feeding beer-quaffing customers fried chicken from their food truck.

"Somebody in Hollywood once called me hot chicken royalty, and I never forgot it," says Kim in a thick Southern accent. "I go to bed thinking chicken. I wake up thinking chicken. Chicken is in my blood!"

Their truck, Dulanville, offers classic soul food and Nashville hot chicken. Kim’s great-great uncle, Thornton Prince, introduced hot chicken to Nashville in the 1930s. In 2013, Kim brought these flavors to Los Angeles through pop-ups, and in 2019, she and Greg launched the Dulanville food truck.

Their joint venture parks all over Los Angeles County. The menu features the Shaw Chicken Sandwich with spicy mayo, crunchy chicken tenders, seasoned fries, vegan kaleslaw, and BBQ baked beans. Southern-inspired sides like corn, collard greens, black-eyed peas, and mac ‘n’ smokin’ cheese pay homage to Greg’s father, Adolf Dulan, the ‘King of Soul Food,’ who opened Southern-style restaurants across the city in the 1970s.

Kim’s chicken comes in four heat levels: West Coast Plain, Cali Mild, Music City Medium, and the infamous Nashville Hot. Despite warnings, I try the Nashville Hot. The spice blend includes cayenne, scorpion, ghost, and Carolina reaper peppers. The heat moves from my taste buds to my lips, pulsating with the fire of a thousand suns, yet I can’t help but go back for more. It’s crispy, filling, and dangerously addictive.

"Now you’ve been crowned," Kim declares, and I savor one last bite, feeling the coronation heat.