CaliFoodReviews.com exists because California’s food story is always being rewritten by someone who wasn’t there.
We built this platform to write it down—while it’s still hot.
This isn’t a foodie blog. It’s a flavor archive, a cultural journal, and a resistance to the soft erase of corporate menus and trend-chasing algorithms.
What This Site Is (and Isn’t)
We are:
- Locally embedded voices documenting food across L.A., Oakland, San Diego, and beyond
- Firsthand reviewers who eat, pay, and write with context
- Culturally literate writers with a background in identity, migration, and neighborhood dynamics
- Focused on flavor, story, and survival
We are not:
- Influencer-chasing
- PR-pressured
- Sponsored or “collab”-driven
- Trying to sell you avocado toast
Why We Exist
Because every week, California loses a piece of its edible history.
A birria stand gets evicted. A Cambodian donut shop gets replaced by a vape lounge. A third-generation deli quietly shutters. The reviews vanish with them.
We’re here to catch those stories before they go.
To understand the why—not just the what.
You can read more about the philosophy that drives this work on our Our Purpose page.
What We Actually Do
Every review is:
- Written after a real visit
- Paid for out-of-pocket—no comps, no pressure
- Rooted in cultural fidelity—we don’t strip origin or meaning from dishes
- Designed to record, not just rank
We ask:
What does this dish say about the neighborhood? The history? The struggle?
That’s the lens. That’s the difference.
What We’re Building
This site is evolving into a California flavor map—one that charts not just what’s hot, but what’s essential.
What’s coming:
- Regional timelines of how certain cuisines migrated and changed
- Photo essays of kitchens, carts, street food, and urban edges
- Best-of lists by neighborhood, origin, and emotion
- Interviews with chefs, aunties, and food activists keeping tradition alive
- Obituary-style tributes to closed restaurants that mattered
We don’t want to tell you where to eat.
We want to tell you what’s at stake if you don’t.
To see where it all began, visit our Our History page.
Who Writes This
I’m Jess R. Valez. Mexican-American. Born and raised in East L.A.
This site is the long-form response to every whitewashed “best tacos in California” list that forgot the families, the food trucks, and the generational fight behind each plate.
There’s no ghostwriter here.
No content schedule.
Just me, a notebook, and whatever gets served at the next corner I walk to.
If you’re looking for filtered vibes and aesthetic brunch recs, this isn’t your blog.
But if you’re trying to feel what California tastes like right now, in the alleyways, backyards, and basements where culture is still made—you’re home.
Welcome to the record.