Hola, Steve! This is Gustavo Arellano, your sometimes KCRW Insider whenever regular Insider Connie Alvarez scoots over. Really, I only pop in when there’s something I want to plug. And have I got a thing to plug:

The seventh edition of KCRW and Gustavo’s Great #TortillaTournament!

Our annual celebration of tortilla culture in Southern California and beyond — where myself and three other judges match up 64 tortillas (32 corn, 32 flour) in a sports-style competition — is two months late and won’t have a live component this year, and it’s all on me: I got caught up in my day job as an L.A. Times columnist, between something called the presidential election and another thing called Kevin de León. But it’s here!

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a primer over on my Substack, the results of our #TortillaTournament San Diego Invitational, and all of our contestants this year along with the first-round results. Read those, and the following will make sense: our Suave 16 finalists! All of these are awesome tortillas perfect for your holiday pachangas, so go off and get some or more.

Here's the matchups:

CORN TORTILLAS

Evan Kleiman bracket

#8 La Luz del Día vs. #5 Casa De Bandini

The former is an Olvera Street classic (celebrating 65 years in 2024) with a limited menu anchored by their luscious white corn tortillas; the latter is a busy Carlsbad El Torito clone that sells big, thin yellow corn tortillas that are far better than you’d expect from, you know, Carlsbad.

#3 Chabelita’s vs. #7 Villa’s Tacos

Can the soft yellow corn tortillas of my favorite Mexican restaurant in the San Fernando Valley — a no-frills Pacoima corner spot that shares a parking lot with a car mechanic — triumph over the Highland Park social media sensation’s blue corn tortillas?

Connie Alvarez bracket

#9 Bandito Tacos vs. #4 Masienda

Pink tortillas from SanTana against the organic blue corn of Jorge Gaviria, who you may know from his Capital One commercials. What’s in his wallet? Great masa, obviously!

#3 Mitla Café vs. #7 Gloria’s Cocina Mexicana

The Inland Empire classic against the beloved Downey institution. Thank God I don’t have to decide this one!

FLOUR TORTILLAS

Gustavo Arellano bracket

#1 Heritage BBQ vs. #4 Super A Foods

Last year’s flour tortilla champion — which uses tallow as their flavoring to bind their masa — goes up against the L.A. County supermarket mini-chain, which uses an unlikely ingredient for their luscious flour tortillas: sugar!

#3 Sonoratown vs. #7 Perro Taco

The inaugural winner of our #TortillaTournament goes up against a small taquería located in …yes, Cerritos!

Mona Holmes bracket

#1 HomeState vs. #5 Casa De Bandini

The 2020 #TortillaTournament winner stacks up its Tex-Mex beauties against the Carlsbad restaurant, which is so good in its tortilla game that it’s only the second-ever tortilla maker to have both its corn and flour tortillas in the Suave 16.

#6 Burrito Exchange vs. #10 Fat Burrito

Handmade giants from two cities with underrated Mexican food scenes: Pico Rivera and Rancho Cucamonga, respectively.

You can find the winners of these matchups this Friday over on my substack, and I’ll announce our Fuerte Four (our four finalists) next week here on KCRW Insider. In the meantime, go check out all of these tortillas — happy eating! And gracias.

Gustavo Arellano

North Tustin Wants its Own Zip Code to Pay Fewer Taxes

If you know me at all — and hey, even though I’ve been contributing to KCRW for 20 years now, I never presume — it’s because of my long-running Orange County Line commentary I do with All Things Considered host Steve Chiotakis. This week, we dive into North Tustin, a wealthy unincorporated community in central Orange County that doesn’t want to share the same ZIP code with Santa Ana, the county seat. Part of it is because they’d rather be subject to unincorporated OC’s 7.75% sales tax instead of Santa Ana’s 9.25% rate, the highest in the county. But there’s another reason — and it’s a classic Orange County story of the haves vs. the have-nots.

Why Can’t Los Angeles Fix its Broken Sidewalks?

My L.A. Times colleague Steve Lopez dropped one of his regular civic bombs earlier this year on the outrage that is L.A.’s sidewalks, which seem more broken than the spirit of Angels fans this year as the Dodgers won the World Series. KCRW contributor Jack Ross tries to give City Hall the benefit of the doubt as to why it can’t fix them fast enough — and City Hall, like it too often does, plans to choke like the Yankees for the foreseeable future.

Handel’s ‘Messiah’ Raises Foundational Questions of Being Human

With a headline like that, how could you not want to listen, amirite? On Press Play, host Madeleine Brand talks to a professor who argues why this classic Christmas piece is so stirring, has never gone out of fashion, and what that means for us.

KCRW Survey Time!

Hey, hey! Wanna do us a favor? In just three to five minutes tops, you can help us help you by taking this little survey. Go on, it's easy-peasy, and thanks! 

KCRW Partner Screening: The Room Next Door

KCRW and Sony Pictures Classics invite you to a special advance screening of The Room Next Door followed by a conversation with cinematographer Edu Grau.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter. Eventually, they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.

A Complete Unknown Private Screening Sweeps!

Bob Dylan’s story and iconic music are coming to the silver screen — and you can laugh, cry, and sing along with 25 guests in a private screening! Donate now to win a VIP experience for A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. You and your guests will enjoy the whole theater AND a $25 concessions credit each! Support KCRW by midnight Saturday, 12/7 to be automatically entered to win!