I took an LA Latin Spice Food Tasting Tour with two friends on April 6, 2013, conducted by the Melting Pot Food Tours. My friends and I took the Gold Line light rail line from Pasadena to the Chinatown Station (photo) to meet the tour group.

Metro art at the Chinatown Station: "The Wheels of Change," by Chusien Chang.

Close-up.

Chinatown. 2013, The Year of the Snake.

Benches and sculpture below the station.

Another view.

Our tour guide, Randall. Nine people on the tour: a couple from Cincinnati who were taking an on-their-own food tour of Los Angeles, two couples from LA, and my group of three.

We were wondering why we were meeting at the Chinatown Station for a Latin food tour, but our first stop was across the street at the Homegirl Cafe, part of the HomeBoy Enterprises, started by Father Greg Boyle, SJ, in 1992 to provide hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated men and women, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of society.

The Homegirl Cafe is only one of the now many Homeboy enterprises: cafes and bakeries among them. Many of their products are sold in local supermarkets.

Inside the Homegirl Cafe. Very modern and cheerful.

Some of the artwork on the walls.

Our breakfast--very good pastries and cakes. One of the Homegirls gave us a talk about how she went from drugs and a jail term to a straight life at Homegirls. Very interesting and also very sad.

A Vietnamese restaurant across the street in Chinatown: an Asian fusion.

On the side of the Chinatown Station: Capitol Milling, founded in 1883. There is a sign on the building with a number to call for filming, so maybe you have seen this building in a movie.

We got back on the Gold Line and took it to the Indiana Station in a section known as East Los Angeles.

No big bike lots at our Metro stations, but you can rent a bike locker for $50 a year plus a $25 deposit for the key.

Our next stop: Liliana's Tamales on 1st Street.

Signs on and near Liliana's. "Go Dodger Blue!" Bartenura, according to the sign, is the official moscato of the LA Dodgers!

Inside Liliana's Tamales.

Photos and descriptions of the many Mexican dishes that you could order were on a board above the counter.

Some of the items I have never seen on a menu at a Mexican restaurant, such as this one: divorced eggs.

Or this one: fried pork skin in green sauce.

Our meal here was part of a tamale--made with maso (dough usually made from corn bread) with meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and/or chili in them and wrapped for cooking in corn husks. Different sauces were provided to put on the tamales. We also had champurrado--a Mexican chocolate drink. Very good.

Our next stop was down the street--at the big El Mercado (the market).

We passed a store selling party goods.

Sign on the wall. Spanish first after the "Welcome," then English. Many signs in East LA were in this order, some were only in Spanish, and some only in English.

Businesses across the street.

Entering the mercado. My two friends are on the left.

We didn't go up to the third floor to hear the mariachis. I would have liked to hear them.

The market had Mexican restaurants, groceries, and merchandise. These breads were in front of a bakery.

A chicken with a sombrero on its head at one of the restaurants.

Dishes available.

Order here.

Mexican dolls.

Colorful gelatin at an ice cream/sorbert store.

These drinks look good, but we were at this store for sorbet. We were given three choices: guayava (guava), pepino con chile (cucumber with chile), and tamarindo (tamarind). I had the last one--tasty. Other people tried the other two and also found them good.

The grocery section. The way it was laid out reminded me of markets I've seen in Asia.

Close-up: rice in limes?

I'm pretty sure that this is Mexican candy.

Crisp tortillas with salmon in them.

The tortilleria--everything you need to make tortillas and other Mexican food.

Corn husks for wrapping tamales.

Close-up.

All kinds of mole--a Mexican sauce.

All kinds of cajetas, made from simmering goat's milk or other liquids.

Cayules, nances, etc.

Flavored dried mango.

Churros con chile.

Nuez con cascara--no hay proeba. So many new ingredients to see. Probably should take along a Spanish to English dictionary with you to shop here, unless your Spanish is good.

A botanica, which sells folk medicine, natural products, religious candles, etc.

Vitamins and minerals in English and in Spanish.

A mural on the wall of another restaurant.

Another mural.

Here we get into ethnic fusion: "ceja con hilo" means "eyebrow threading."

Of course, this is ethnic Indian (India Indian).

More ethnic fusion: acupuncture.

For sale: Day of the Dead dolls.

Mexican hats.

More hats.

Mexican boots.

And a place to buy saddles.

A large grocery and knick knack store.

The greeter.

Cactus and a bird on pillars. I was wary of what that sign said.

Does it mean that I can't take photos here? My two friends were able to get the grist of it--no big carry bags allowed in the store. But I was wondering that if I couldn't read the sign, did I have to pay attention to it?

Our next stop, up the street. La Gloria, the oldest tortilla factory in Los Angeles.

Plaque on the wall.

A million tortillas are made at La Gloria every day. It supplies restaurants and Whole Foods.

They make both flour and corn tortillas.

We were offered two kinds of tortilla chips: regular and salty with a salsa dip and sweet with sugar on them.

The tortilla factory.

Where they grind the corn.

All different-sized forms to make different sizes of tortillas.

Close-up.

The forms fit into the machines.

The factory also had some grocery items for sale. Here, corn husks.

Chile, these from New Mexico.

Not clear, are those prices for the whole jars?

Mexican rice pudding (which is delicous) and gelatin the colors of the Mexican flag.

We got back on the Metro and got off at the Mariachi Plaza. The station is underground like a subway station. The above-ground entrance is shaped like an Aztec bird. No mariachi singers today..

Entrance to the station.

Band stand in the plaza.

I haven't been able to find out who the statue is of.

An old building bordering Maraichi Plaza.

A Libros Schmibros (Lending Library) on the plaza.

The building next door to the lending library

You see the carts in many areas of LA, but not a sign for HIV screening.

Close-up of the fruit to make juices.

Our next stop: the Birrieria restaurant. Note the goat to the right of the name.

Inside the restaurant.

This restaurant only serves goat. Board showing goat dishes available.

The goat. Goat is available at some ethnic restaurants in LA but hasn't caught on at other ones yet.

I have never eaten goat before. I put some in a torilla and then added some hot sauce, onions, and cilantro. The meat was stringy and not too bad.

Our next stop: Un Solo Sol Kitchen.

A mural on the wall of the restaurant. It's a very small world--the mural was done by the same muralist who painted a mural on a sidewall at my house. I was really thrilled to see this work of his: Rafael Escamilla. Thie mural at the restaurant is a prototype for a larger mural to be located somewhere in LA.

Our group at Un Solo Sol Kitchen. One of my friends is the farthest one on the left. I failed to take a photo of my other friend.

Here we had pozoles, corn crust with cheese in it.

Then you put the cabbage mixture and some sauce on top of it. Tasty.

A diiner of pozoles consists of additional items.

Other restaurant dishes offered. I don't know how the Greek salad fits in--more ethnic fusion..

Store window seen on our walk. Eric Garcetti is running for mayor of Los Angeles.

Our last stop: the Primera Taza Coffee shop.

Inside the coffee shop.

We had pan dulce--Mexican sweet bread, which I forgot to take a photo of (Mexican pastry is not as sugary as American pastry is) and the All Chocolate Mocha Coffe Ice Coffee.

You ate this coffee with a fork and it was delicious--Does Starbucks offfer it? We got back on the Metro and my group of three took the Gold Line all the way back to Pasadena. A great food tour!