Black eyed pea falafel (left) and roasted cauliflower (right) tacos. (Sara Tiano/Design courtesy of A Beautiful Mess)

When people talk about the food scene in South L.A., it’s often not in a good way. The neighborhood gets a lot of criticism for its concentration of unhealthy chain restaurants and has even been subject to a ban on new fast-food joints that did essentially nothing to improve access to healthy food.After years of talking about how to tackle this problem, a spark of action has finally come in the form of a North African taqueria called Revolutionario.

“I hate to say it, but I feel like a lot of activism is all talk. Like, we know what the problem is, what are you going to do about it?” asked Susan Park, who, with husband Chef Farid Zadi, opened Revolutionario in an effort to take food accessibility into their own hands.

The idea at Revolutionario is that you can get healthy, delicious food — the kind you can eat every day — at fast-food prices. Good-sized street tacos start at $1.65; bean and rice based burritos and bowls start at $6.56. Kids meals are all less than $3.40. Zadi also features Japanese Peruvian ceviches and North African pastries for longtime fans who expect gourmet from the French-trained chef.

Revolutionary offers whole, balanced meals at fast-food prices. (Sara Tiano/Design courtesy of A Beautiful Mess)

“Our core customers live to eat,” Park said of the gourmand clientele that has followed Zadi throughout his career in Los Angeles. “Here we’re dealing with customers who need to eat to live. So we address that huge range, which is pretty big.”

The option of trying any of Zadi’s meat or vegetable fillings in a number of formats allows customers to take either a sustenance or sampling route, depending on their hunger. The burritos and bowls offer full, balanced meals for cheap, while the tacos allow curious eaters to taste several versions of Zadi’s artistry.

The North African flavors Zadi layers are familiar to the people in the largely African American community of the surrounding area, and also to the Latino community, who’ve seen Moorish influences on Spanish food, according to Park. And, of course, the taco format couldn’t be more representative of L.A.

Unusually for a taco shop, though, vegetarian items often make up as much as 75 percent of the restaurant’s sales, according to Park. She points this out as evidence that people in low-income communities will chose healthier options when they’re available, and as a sign that the Revolutionario’s low-cost, high-quality model is working.

READ MORE: Top 5 Unusual Tacos In L.A.

“We do get a lot of low-income customers. They know they need to eat better,” she said, explaining how popular nutrition ideology has spread through TV and the Internet. “So, here’s affordable food. You can get a vegetable dish for $1.75. And it’s fresh, and it’s tasty, and it’s delicious. Eat your vegetables. And people do.”

In an attempt to care for as much of the community as possible, Revolutionario encourages customers to donate to their Sunday Supper fund, which they use to offer free food to homeless people who come by the restaurant. They also have a donation jar in place of a tip jar, to collect money for the fund and to support a teaching garden the couple’s 16-year-old daughter, Kamilah Zadi, is building on the restaurant’s patio.

Revolutionario is located at 1436 West Jefferson Blvd. (Sara Tiano/Neon Tommy)