Cooking in the Chaos
From an Instagram DM to one of LA's most recognizable rebel kitchens, Evil Cooks proves that great food and heavy aesthetics were always meant to share the same table.
Long before Evil Cooks became one of Los Angeles' most talked-about restaurants, it began as a t-shirt brand with a devilish attitude and no plans to serve food. Then a message on Instagram changed everything. Alex "Pobre Diablo" Garcia and Elvia "La Bruja" Huerta connected over food, creativity, and a shared refusal to follow convention, eventually turning that unlikely meeting into a culinary movement. We caught up with Alex to talk about breaking tradition, building an identity that goes far beyond gimmicks, and why they prefer letting the wind decide what's next.
The brand started as t-shirts years before there was any food. When did you know it had to become a restaurant?
It was never meant to be food at all, but I knew that it was time when old customers started asking to cater their events—that’s when I said 'let’s kill some appetite.'
There are plenty of restaurants with great food. Very few pair it with an identity this distinctive. It’s also backed by decades of experience and James Beard recognition. How does all of that come together?
To be honest this is more than just a concept. We just live our normal lives and it happened that we learned how to cook, so we saw that music and good food is always common ground for people to bond.
You’ve said it’s not really authentic Mexican food, but somehow it is anyway. What do you mean by that?
I’m Mexican. I love to eat and explore. I don’t like to think square. I love to break the mold of the classic traditionalist that claims that grandma was the best cook ever. Mine sucked and whatever she ever made she did it her way. I grew up in Mexico and LA. I found so many cultures around me and I learned so many cuisines that I incorporated that to my way of eating and cooking, so that’s what we do: break the rules of the “traditions” to make our own and create new dishes that represent Los Angeles Cuisine.
People don’t always expect a restaurant that looks like Evil Cooks to be backed by chefs with decades of experience and James Beard recognition. Have you always enjoyed challenging those expectations, or did that happen naturally?
I love to change minds. I love to see people that walk in the restaurant and look at us weird, then they try the dishes and somehow it touches their memory and they feel that they had tried some of those things somewhere else and they turn and smirk and they start enjoying the food. That’s why we stared to let the world know that chaos can be well-paired in food and metal.
Pobre Diablo (Poor Devil) and La Bruja (The Witch)—where did those names come from?
Diablo has been my nickname since I was a kid. Maybe because I was a kid who liked to have fun 😂 and eventually I used it as an IG handle and it’s being there for years.
La Bruja: Elvia loves it because of a show that she used to watch as kid “La Bruja Del 71,” so it was the perfect take for her just adding a random number at the end to make it hers.
How has having a permanent home in El Sereno shaped Evil Cooks?
It’s fun. It’s our little house we get to experiment and have fun. That’s the most important part—it’s where La Bruja was born and raised so it’s home. It feels good to be home.
Looking back, what’s surprised you most about where Evil Cooks has taken you?
We never expected it to take off. We were doing it without expectations. We just wanted to do what we love and be able to pay the bills and I think that’s what this is about: to do what you love, that way you don’t work a day in your life. When you expect nothing and you get everything, that’s destiny.
What’s next for Evil Cooks?
What’s next for Evil Cooks…..
We don’t know. We ride the wave and we are like pirates. We let the wind take us to new lands. We don’t like to overthink anymore, we don’t force anything, we just keep having fun and killing appetite.
Keep up with Evil Cooks on Instagram: @evil_cooks
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