La Noche Buena Restaurant

Best Mexican food that I’ve had in awhile. Super authentic and good prices (they accept credit cards).
It doesn’t look fancy but don’t let that fool you. This place was packed and we were fortunate to have someone share their table with us. It’s tiny in there but it works. If you have space issues then this place is not for you… get take away instead.
We sat down and immediately had a bowl of chips and salsa served. I had combo C. It was a little bit of everything: 1 taquito, 1 enchilada, and 1 tamale with beans and rice. Everything was delicious! The tamale was super fresh. Even the salsa selections were awesome. I thought the portion size was just right. It was nice not to have the whole plate be engulfed with rice and beans. Our server was nice and attentive. One thing to add is that they have the «good ice».
I totally recommend checking this place out.

The others… Don’t bother. This place has phenomenal taquitos and my kids loved the other menu selections they ordered as well. This will be worth a special trip back here. Just be prepared for a wait, but it’s well worth it. Don’t bother with others.

I’ve always wanted to eat at Placita, & Unilocal,you didn’t disappoint.
This little hole in the wall was getting in good with all my taste buds.
It’s a tiny shack with about 5 tables that seat 4 comfortably inside. There are also about 5 booths outside where you can watch the magic happen. As I walked by, I spotted an empty table & swooped in for my family of 4. We had trouble finding a place to park my son’s stroller, but a server, Guierllmo, found a little nook & said, «Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on the Ferrari for you». Ha.
My kids split a Jamon con Huevo. (Ham & Eggs)
I got the Combo plate of: Tamale, Taquito, & Enchilada with Rice. Side of Sope de Carne Asada
Hubs got 2 Sopes de Al Pastor. & a Quesadilla Al Pastor.
I dug in excited to see what all the fuss was about, AND because I had talked it up to my viejo so much, I couldn’t be wrong, you know? Haha.
Everything was bomb! Although, I wasn’t too impressed with my sope de asada. When I tried my Husband’s sope de Al Pastor, THAT sooo good. In short, we got a little bit of everything, & it only cost us about $ 30. That’s 4 mouths for $ 30 people!
My only tiff’ is that it’s so busy in there, that they don’t put lids on the drinks. A big no no to this Mom with two kids that can’t sit still for squat!
We’ll defiantly be back!

Good, affordable, and fast comfort food.
The tamales were delicious, the taqitos were good, and the tacos were sparse in meat. Overall, I’d recommend this place if you were visiting Olvera street as it’s affordable and quick. Delicious guacamole sauce. The Champerrino was way too sweet.
Great hardworking staff!

A very good Mexican restaurant around DTLA area! We came in very random and we were greeted by friendly waiter. Then we ordered our food. My husband and I ordered beef fajitas ! I have to say it is the best! So delicious and fresh! The beef was so tender and the vegetables are yummy! I also like the brown rice with the smashed beans! Yummy in my tummy!
Great eating experience here!

This was excellent homemade styled street Mexican food. Would go here again in a heartbeat. The waiters/​cooks were very friendly and bilingual. The complementary salsas on the table were outstanding.

It’s Christmas Eve. I wanted to know if they were open and if they have a mariachi band that plays because my mom loves a good mariachi band. The guy who answered the phone was plain rude. I will never go here, ever.

Man this place is delicious. I had not had delicious authentic Mexican food in a while and this place hit the spot. I ordered a «Noche Buena Special» but the waiter got my order wrong (I got an enchilada rather than a tamale in my meal) but it didn’t matter lol my meal was still bomb !
The tacos are average sized and the carne asada is delicious. I got an enchilada, a taco, and a taquito with rice and beans for just $ 7.95, that is not bad at all ! It’s a small, humble, little place on Olvera st. but you can’t miss it cos it’s the most crowded little restaurant with good reason.
Sure they aren’t organized with seating people but the amazing food totally makes up for it. You have to stop by this place while you’re on Olvera st. and break away from the chipotle B.S.
TL; DR? This is REAL Mexican food. Dump chipotle and try it !

Rode into LA with my family today on the train and after a quick Unilocal check we decided to try this place out because of the great reviews. Needless to say that we left there pretty disappointed. For one this place is so tiny it only has about four tables to sit at, not only that but when you did get to sit at a table you ended up touching backs with the person right behind you. That really didn’t bother me as long as the food was good. The prices seemed reasonable up until we got our food.
As you can see on most of the pictures and what we learned quickly when we got our food is that they barely put any meat in their items. My children had two tacos each for about $ 2 with barely any meat on them. It was like I have gone to a little Taqueria and paid $.89 for the mini tacos, that is how much meat that they had on the $ 2 full size tortilla tacos. Not only that, the tortillas for the tacos were not handmade. Again for two dollars I expect plenty of meat and maybe handmade tortillas but this place offered none of the two. My wife ordered a horache and it also came with little meat. I ended up ordering a tamale hoping that it tasted good since from what I saw with my family’s order, a big portion is not to be expected. Alas I was disappointed again, my tamale was served with some type of red chile sauce on top. The meat and the mass of the tamale was pretty bland, the only thing that saved it from being horrible was that red sauce. The salsa on the table were actually pretty bland but after I added some salt they were very good. The staff was nice and attentive and they did offer something that almost nobody does and that is free refills on all drinks, including horchata and jicama. Also on a good note the meat tastes pretty damn good they just put too little of it.
Carne Asada score ⁴⁄₅ stars
Lengua score ⁵⁄₅ stars
Al pastor score ⁴⁄₅ stars
In closing small changes can make this place really good.

Excellent service and the food is amazing!!! Worth the drive and loved sitting outside reminds me of Mexico!

Friendly, fast service and delicious food. This is a great stop before getting on the shuttle to Dodger Stadium or waiting for a train/​bus at Union Station. It is in the heart of Placita Olvera so there are plenty of shops and historic buildings to visit.

First time I tried this place. I ordered the combo plate with Taquito, Tamalie combo plate w/​rice and beans. It was very tasty and good. The place is very very small. They will try to sit you with someone else also. Only reason I didn’t give them 5 stars, is that you have to sit down and have someone take your order.

I don’t know if it was because I was really hungry or the food was just THAT good, but needless to say our entire experience was a great one– delicious too! My husband ordered carne asada tacos and I ordered the carne asada sopes. The sopes were so delicious; they had beans, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes and green guacamole sauce. Very mouthwatering lol we will definitely be coming back! And my husband enjoyed his taco combo too!

This place reminds me so much of the cenaduría in México! I got nostalgic! Small but quaint and very clean. I ordered the taco, tamal, taquito plate. El taco de carnitas, the tamal de queso y rajas, and agua de jamica. The four salsas with tostadas was tasty.
The food was served quickly and tasted delicious! The only complaint I have is that there soft tacos are Americanized and I’m not a fan of cheese and tomatoes on my tacos so if you aren’t either make sure to tell them before. The waiter and cook were very attentive. I WILL return next time I’m in Plazita Olvera.

I’m always surprised when these little awesome «hole in the walls» get less than three stars. To each is own, I suppose. Nonetheless, I love this place! Before I stopped eating red meat, I always felt strong that their Taquitos are the best of all the other restaurants here at La Placita Olvera.
But so are their tacos, sopes, huaraches, whole hard shell corn tortillas (fried of course) you crumble apart & dip into the guacamole that accompanies it. (Sure it’s a small shot glass sized metal container, but you will sop it up, let me tell ya!!) :) They also serve Breakfast, which tells me they probably open early, have pan dulce & churros, horchata, Jimaica (Jamaica), list goes on. I also believe they have those hard core specialty type tacos (tripa, lengua, cabeza & chicharron) that my drunken uncles ate after a long night of partying back in the old days… LOL Good times, good times!
One thing to point out, it’s extremely small, if you sit in the booths, you end up touching backs & butts, if you sit on the stools, it’s like diner style at Denny’s where the old folks sit alone drinking coffee and conversing w/​the waiters/​cooks and finally, there is one (maybe two, I don’t remember) tiny table w/​little wooden benches right up at the front (which is where I sat today). But that’s it. So I suggest getting there early (for Lunch on any given day) and plan on waiting or if your like me, do take out if you work nearby.
If you have a large group or family… Good Luck, I think you’d have to wait for two or three bench/​booths to clear out, again it’s seriously a hole in the wall, w/​just enough sitting for a few folks to eat at. So worth it though :)

Ordered the taquitto combo plate. It was okay, but not really filling. I couldn’t help but notice while seated at the table a pile of pre-​made items near the grill. Don’t know if they get super busy to the point that they have to use this method and flash heat them when needed, but for whatever reason seeing them just sit there while waiting for my meal and not being used even after i ate my meal grossed me out.
Service was good, but I’m gonna stick to my sister-in-law’s taquitto’s the next time I’m in the mood for them.

Simple, hearty and genuine. Tuve la Chilaquiles y estaban caliente y desperté. no para el turista medio. el café de Ola era como un abrazo de una antigua novia!

The great thing about this market is that it’s open in the morning. It’s so great that we were able to grab some burritos before our morning birthday breakfast celebration for our coworker. We all pitched in some money the prior day before to host a breakfast in honor of our coworkers 40ish birthday.
We ordered the chorizo burrito the Jamon burrito and the Machaca burrito. All were amazing. We ended up cutting them so we could have a little of each and it came with the guacamole sauce, the red sauce, and salsa. All their sauces were amazing! Their red sauce was really spicy and I really enjoyed it!
I work nearby so I would definitely be coming back again.

If you like your carnitas tacos la plancha then go here.
If you like mexican soups then go here.
If you like when the waiter is always making sure everything is perfect then go here.
It’s not fancy but it is quality.
Walk up, squeeze in and enjoy.

Traditional Mexican food at it’s best. My family all agreed that this is the best rice and beans that we have ever had in a restaurant. The enchiladas were simple, tasty and had bright flavors.
We were treated well and the service was excellent. This is more of a take out counter with approximately 7 tables for customers. There are many great places to sit down and enjoy the food in the plaza if it is full. The manager took care of us and asked if we can wait a few minutes then we have a table. His words proved true and we are looking forward to our next visit.
The tables have four amazing salsas to add to your food. We were addicted to the smoky salsa.

When you come to Olvera St, forget about the touristy places with long lines like: El Paseo & Casa La Golondrina. Hit this whole in the wall, and for $ 8 w/​a drink you won’t be disappointed!
We ordered #3: Two tacos, rice and bean for $ 6.25, and #6: 3 Taquitos w/​the same sides at the same price. Large drinks are $ 1.45, and we both had jamaica. In addition, you receive fresh, fried tortillas and homemade salsas.
The food was outstanding for the price! The tacos had plenty of meat, were garnished w/​radishes, and came in corn tortillas. In addition, beans & rice were just enough to accent the meal, and not overfill you. The salsas are made fresh, and the red one had a nice kick. Lastly, the fried tortillas were a nice authentic Mexican touch: 5 Stars.
This place is truly a hole in the wall. There are a few counter seats on Olvera, and 5 tables inside. You can see your food being made: 5 Stars. The service was excellent. Jose took really good care of us. In addition, we didn’t wait long on the Sat before Cinco de Mayo, and the food came out quickly: 5 Stars.
Although they don’t serve alcohol, save your money and eat here before you go drinking. You will be very happy!!!

Horchata, buena. Servicio, perfecto. Tacos, rápidos y sabrosas. ¿Qué más necesitas? O, yo sé… la salsa de avocado, ¡por supuesto!
Cada dos semanas, mis amigos de trabajo y yo visitamos La Noche Buena en Calle Olvera, y cada vez, los cocineros nos trataron con amabilidad. Siempre bromean, «¿Lo de siempre?» como si somos tan previsibles (de verdad, somos). No puedo esperar regresar. ¡Hasta pronto, LNB!