There are already a few cars stopped when I pull into the Worldwide Tacos parking lot. It's mid-afternoon, and the leaning palm trees behind the leaning burnished cherry building cast long shadows on the street.
As I park and walk to the window facing the street, another customer follows me.
“Have you been here before?” she asks. There's a “Closed” sign in the window facing the parking lot, but outside there are easels with carefully handwritten menus, which I now know (it's my fourth visit) means they're open.
A fresh batch of tacos from Worldwide Taco, seasoned and ready to go.
Robb Peron places an order at the Worldwide counter. Peron said he knew the wait would take a while, but he was a happy customer once he took the first bite of his burrito.
I'll give you the rundown I wish someone had shared with me on visit one or two: After someone comes up to the window and takes your order, they'll get your phone number and call you when it's ready. You'll get an estimated wait time of at least 30 minutes and up to three hours. His eyebrows jump in surprise.
“They are worth it,” I assure him. Skeptical, she lines up behind me.
I think about telling him that he's lucky to have arrived at 3pm instead of noon like I did on my first visit. It was on my third attempt that I learned to trust the opening hours listed on the website (3-8 pm) rather than the information shared on Google.
After a moment more, he touches my shoulder.
“What should I get?”
Lamb, salmon, crab, and duck jump onto the menu, along with the usual taco fillings like chicken, shrimp, steak, and ground beef, plus an entire menu dedicated to vegan and plant-based options. There are columns of flavors listed under the meats: Jerk, Teriyaki, Curry, Lemon Pepper, Pina Colada, Blueberry Blue Cheese, Tequila, Chili, Lime, Raspberry Chipotle, Hawaiian. Customers can combine meats like lobster and filet for a surf and turf burrito, get freshly cut potato wedges topped with a spicy seasoning blend, or add a sweet potato stick for dessert.
“You can't go wrong,” I tell him.
Worldwide Tacos co-owner Frederick Sennie.
Co-owners Frederick Sennie and Jay Sin founded Worldwide Tacos on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Leimert Park in 2002. More than two decades later, it's still just the two of them most of the time, although Sennie's son Ahmiir , and his cousin Charles Osbourne helps out when he can.
Here tacos are dressed with tomatoes, shredded lettuce, yellow cheese, folded corn tortillas that are fried to order, and mild or spicy homemade salsa, in a style common among local black chefs.
Sennie, who grew up on soul food and trained in his home kitchen, draws inspiration from the chicken tacos his father made him as a child, as well as the family advertisements that defined his youth in Los Angeles, like Taco Mamas in Vernon. and Hooper Avenue, now operating as El Taco Mexicano No. 2.
“Everywhere I ate growing up, we have a version of something they make here, but with my twist,” Sennie says.
Sennie also draws inspiration from her Muslim family members, one of whom introduced her to halal lamb during Ramadan. “After that, I started buying mostly halal meat,” she says.
For beef tacos, available ground or chunky, Sennie opts for lean beef with just 10% fat. Cradled in fried tortillas with shredded cheese, the lower fat content keeps the taco from being too greasy.
Over time, the menu expanded to more than 300 flavor combinations.
Patient Worldwide Taco Customers Arilee Baptist, joe leo and James Paschall, after receiving their orders at the taco stand.
Frederick Sennie puts hot sauce on a grilled shrimp taco.
“I've always been creative,” Sennie tells me. “I just make things up, throw them at the wall and see if they stick.”
The neighborhood taco stand began living up to its name after appearing on producer and actor Issa Rae's HBO series “Insecure.” In the episode (“Fresh-like,” Season 3, Episode 4), Rae's character, Issa Dee, runs into Nathan Campbell, a rideshare passenger and eventual love interest played by Kendrick Sampson, at Worldwide Tacos. Issa is so surprised to see him that she quickly drops the cue from her.
Nathan asks for a replacement, and balks when Sennie, posing as himself, deadpans, “It's going to be at least an hour.”
The Scream was an Easter egg for South Los Angeles fans who knew secret flavors like the Thai shrimp taco Nathan orders, as well as the infamous takeout window wait times. As with other filming locations on the show, such as the Dunes apartment building in Inglewood, which is Known as the Black Hollywood Sign.Worldwide Tacos became a popular stop for black tourists in Los Angeles
Sennie started an Instagram for Worldwide Tacos shortly after she appeared on “Insecure” in 2018, but these days the account is mostly inactive. The store isn't on any delivery app, but if you come often enough, Sennie might eventually give you his number and invite you to place your order directly with him. He plans to relaunch the website soon with an updated menu, but for now, ordering at the drive-thru and waiting for a phone call is the way to go.
Porsha Scott cradles her daughter Amil Flowers, 2, while they wait for their order in the parking lot.
After the curious newbie behind me places her order, she heads out to run some errands. Another customer, Porsha Scott, spends time playing chase with her 2-year-old daughter in the parking lot. Scott, who lives in Corona, estimates that she goes shopping for tacos twice a month; Her favorite order is marinated shrimp.
Traffic begins to build up on the boulevard as the sun sinks below the horizon. A car honks its horn as it passes, and the driver leans out of the window to greet Sennie.
“The community has always been the biggest part of our support,” Sennie says. “People who grew up right here in the neighborhood.”
