El Ruso

El Ruso is a Sonoran-style taco business run by taquero Walter Soto, known for hand-stretched flour tortillas and mesquite-grilled carne asada, which grew from a Boyle Heights trailer to a permanent taquería in Studio City.

History

Walter Soto, born in Tijuana, began training as a taquero in 1998 at age 17 in Culiacán, Sinaloa. He started El Ruso in an industrial corner of Boyle Heights; L.A. TACO dates the operation to 2018, while Time Out gives 2017 and Hoodline 2016. In 2020 he opened a second Boyle Heights trailer focused on Sinaloan specialties, and Food & Wine named El Ruso a Best New Restaurant that year. In June 2021 a larger custom trailer opened on Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, and Time Out later listed a stop on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz. Hoodline reported in July 2026 that El Ruso had opened its first permanent restaurant, on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, pausing the truck.

El Ruso was featured on Netflix's Taco Chronicles, according to Hoodline.

Menu

The flour tortillas, stretched by hand by Soto's partner Julia Silva, are the signature. Fillings include asada, chile colorado, al pastor, ribeye and shrimp, and the menu includes the sobaquera, an oversized Sonoran burrito. The Sinaloan trailer added chorreadas, vampiros and adobada.

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de carne asada
• Flour tortilla
• Vampiros

References

1. "Sobaquera Summer: Boyle Heights' Carne Asada Star El Ruso Opens Today In Silver Lake". L.A. TACO. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "El Ruso to Bring the Crispiest Tripitas This Side of the L.A. River and Sinaloa-Style Handmade Corn Tortillas to His Second Location in Boyle Heights". L.A. TACO. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Studio City Scores Taco Coup As El Ruso Parks First Permanent Taquería". Hoodline. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "El Ruso". The Infatuation. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
5. "33 Best Tacos in Los Angeles To Try Right Now". Time Out Los Angeles. Retrieved 2026-10-10.