A crusty birote sandwich of carnitas pork drowned in spicy chile-de-arbol-and-tomato salsa. Guadalajara's signature, brought to LA by the western Mexican diaspora.
Tortas ahogadas were born in Guadalajara in the early 20th century, when a street vendor's dropped sandwich landed in a pot of salsa and the customer asked for the same again. The dish travelled north with Jalisciense migrants and now anchors a cluster of LA tortas-ahogadas specialists, of which Tortas Ahogadas Ameca on South Atlantic Boulevard in East LA, founded in 1996 by a family from the Jalisco town of Ameca, is the canonical Eastside reference.
1 editor pick for Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich) in Los Angeles, ranked by editorial score. All Los Angeles signature dishes · Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich) across every city.