Ardaya's Restaurant

Ardaya's Restaurant is a small restaurant on West Phillips Boulevard in Pomona, California, where Bolivian-born owner Virginia Ardaya serves Texcoco-style lamb barbacoa seasoned with a Bolivian spice blend.

History

Ardaya's Restaurant is located at 1076 West Phillips Boulevard in Pomona. L.A. TACO's Memo Torres profiled it in March 2023. Owner Virginia Ardaya came to the United States from Bolivia and is a single mother of four. She learned to make barbacoa in the style of Texcoco, in the State of Mexico, from her former husband while working at an earlier restaurant. After their separation she opened her own business in a local market, beginning with standard Mexican dishes.

Food

The draw is barbacoa de borrego, lamb barbacoa, which Ardaya seasons with a Bolivian blend of garlic, cumin and ginger ground in a traditional mortar. It is served as tacos and in tortas. L.A. TACO described the result as a Bolivian-Mexican hybrid found only in Pomona, and also included the restaurant in its 2023 roundup of the city's best tacos. Ardaya told the publication she hoped to learn her mother's lechón relleno and eventually open a bakery.

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de barbacoa

References

1. "Only in Pomona: A Delicious Bolivian-Mexican Lamb Barbacoa Hidden Gem". L.A. TACO. Retrieved 2026-10-10.