Houstonian brings taste of Texas to Los Angeles with breakfast tacos
LOS ANGELES, California (KTRK) -- Last week, ABC13 morning anchor Rita Garcia hit up SoFi Stadium ahead of the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams pre-season game. To her surprise, she found a few ties to Houston.
HomeState restaurant is a Texas kitchen in Southern California. Rita went to try their breakfast tacos and meet the owner who is a Houstonian.
Briana Valdez says she considers herself an ambassador for Texas and takes pride in not just representing her home state but also serving up some of her favorite breakfast tacos.
"I was born and raised all over Texas. Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Victoria. I moved out to L.A. in 2000. Quickly after I moved here, realized that there we no breakfast tacos. No flour tortillas, no queso, and it made me feel homesick. So, I set out on a mission to bring it to Los Angeles," Valdez said.
There are Texas references just about everywhere inside the restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard. Valdez explained how the tacos are all named after Texas rivers Neches, Comal, Frio, and Pecos. Plus, they serve warm Frito pies and chilled Topo Chico.
Valdez said it was also important to her to serve her tacos on a flour tortilla, since they are made daily and fresh for customers.
"Slowly but surely, people started to try and fall in love with the flour tortilla. They are made with butter, flour, water and salt. So simple and so good!" she said.
It's obvious Angelinos are loving the Texas flavor too, since HomeState now has five locations across the area.
"It's my goal to make HomeState feel welcome for everyone, not just Texans, but for Texans to know that they're in a place like home," Valdez said.
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