Redondo Beach Restaurant Guide

The story of El Tarasco starts with an elopement back in the early 1960's in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Despite the wishes of her family, a young woman named Celia saw something special in the poor but industrious Moises Palomo and married him. He worked hard picking strawberries, avocados, or whatever needed to be harvested, until he was able to send for his wife. Celia arrived and began working in a factory while Moises worked a number of jobs.

Moises and his wife had saved up enough money over time to buy a little house, but decided to buy a restaurant, despite everyone telling them it would be a bad idea. They stayed in their one bedroom apartment and invested their money in the small restaurant (nothing more than a grill and a counter). This all happened in 1969, and the location of that first restaurant is the very same El Tarasco that is there today on Rosecrans in the city of Manhattan Beach.

Little by little, Celia (who did the cooking) added dinners and other items to the menu. The success of the little restaurant was in large part due to location, location, location. El Tarasco provided a place where people could go and get filled up for a reasonable price. The second El Tarasco opened up 8 years later in El Segundo, and there are now 12 locations with 1 in far away Michoacan and 11 in Southern California, including Redondo Beach and Lomita.

The item which first distinguished El Tarasco from other restaurants and really made a name for them, is the Jr. super deluxe burrito. This burrito was created by Moises' daughter around 1970. She walked into the kitchen one day with the intention of creating her own burrito. When she finished her father asked her for a bite. He said, "You know what, you;ve got something there, let's put that on the menu." It took off from there and is today the most popular plate. Moises and Celia had five children.