WORLD FAMOUS
TABLESIDE GUACAMOLE
Our most beloved dish and the one that put us on the map – not only as the originator of tableside guacamole but throughout Los Angeles as the place for guacamole. Described by the slogans; “Take Time to Guac with the Family”, “Take a Guac on the Wild Side”, “Holy Guacamole”, and “Any Fresher, You’d be in the Tree.”
It has become so powerful that it has infiltrated nearly every aspect of daily life in the surrounding community. Gabrielle M. discovered this early one morning when she said, “The sound of guacamole, I hear it in my sleep.” Clearly, it was a perfect night of sleep.
The Guac nearly didn’t happen. It was a magical confluence during the opening summer of Los Gringos Locos in 1996 when Henri Mesclon (our original consulting chef) had the absolutely brilliant idea to make a tableside preparation of guacamole. What?! Tableside at a Mexican restaurant with TERRIBLE parking in a strip mall?
At the time, only the la-de-da-est of restaurants would make Caesar Salad or Bananas Foster tableside – why not us? We re-purposed an old cart that was being used for décor, had our artist quickly paint some designs on it and used some soups bowls, a couple soup spoons and a stone molcajete and started what has grown to be our “World Famous Tableside Guacamole.”
Worthy of a Vegas act, Denise C. called it “The “dancing spoons” guacamole floor show.”
These “dancing spoons” were made famous by our first guac maker, Edito Simental, who magically used the spoons to create and perform his many different “guac beats.” (The guacamole equivalent of beatboxing) and Nacho Sierra (still a familiar face at Gringos) continued the tradition with his friendly smile.
Christian Hansen (photo above) pioneered the guacamole preparation to laboratory specifications. Often dressed in protective goggles and lab coat he made sure each guac conformed to the high, fresh standards expected by all.
Christian encompassed the entirety of The Guacamole when he said, “A proper Guac is a magical combination of the freshest ingredients measured with lab-like precision, trained and refined mixing technique, and a musical mashing – without the exact proportions of these, it’s just not a proper Guac.”
Los Gringos Locos developed the world’s ONLY official guac spoon. After several years, it became apparent that the regular soup spoons were not the most efficient way to make the guac and, for some reason, sometimes these spoons resulted in a “soupy” consistency.
We studied the situation and designed and commissioned a specially designed and manufactured spoon to ensure the perfect guac – EVERY TIME. To this day each and every guac is made with these specially designed, Los Gringos Locos logoed, ergonomic spoons.
These spoons are a critical part of the recipe and alure of the guac. Alison W. may not have understood this aspect when she shared “Every time I tap the the “da ta ta da, da ta ta” of the spoons my husband knows to take me to Los Gringos.”
The original cart, soup spoons and molcajete were carefully transported from their original location down the street at 464 Foothill and are all on display at Los Gringos Locos.
Thank you for being a part of the “dancing spoons” guacamole floor show and supporting Los Gringos Locos and the World Famous Tableside Guacamole. You guac our world and keep us Gringoing!
