Since the start of the pandemic, more street vendors have sought micro-loans and other assistance from his group, Espinoza said. He’s hopeful that people realize how much work street vendors must do to prepare their food before they ever hit the streets and fire up their grills. He does not expect it to get any better anytime soon with the high costs of groceries, fuel and services. And that’s just not real,” Espinoza said. They may expect the food to just be affordable all the time. And they may sort of sneer if the price goes up from one week to the next. ' may see a street vendor, and they might assume that it’s affordable, or should be affordable. The group advocates on behalf of street vendors and also provides micro-loans and business coaching to would-be entrepreneurs. “I think that people don’t understand the true cost of food,” Rudy Espinoza, executive director with the nonprofit Inclusive Action for the City. Though some customers might complain about prices, some of the vendors’ allies understand there’s more at stake than just sticker price shock. Mexican street food has been part of California for over 140 years. Podcasts The Times podcast: Where carne asada is a crime I don’t want it to be more than if I went to a sit down restaurant.” “Almost like $12 for my quesadilla, it’s like way too much,” Perez said. On the other end of the parking lot, Karla Perez eats a quesadilla with chorizo and has an al pastor taco on the side. Even the hotdogs wrapped in bacon that you see outside the Staples Center are so expensive now. “We’re going to keep coming back,” Gao said. “They’re probably the best in town,” McCoy said. Kelsey McCoy and Sandra Gao often bring out-of-town visitors to Avenue 26 Tacos. Some play music from their cars, while others simply use their car hoods as table tops. The atmosphere in the parking lot has a communal vibe as people tailgate and eat their food. The vandalism of Whittier’s Tacos La Guera on Thursday and a competitor’s subsequent arrest highlight the challenges faced by L.A. I usually don’t ask.”įood Whittier taco truck operator arrested after allegedly vandalizing competitor’s stand “I don’t pay attention to the price of the taco,” Luis Contreras admits. They and their families eat at taco stands maybe once a week now, because of the price increase in groceries. The brothers work at a party supply store. “I know gas is expensive and almost $7 in places, but I still have to drive for work.” We have to feed our families,” Luis said. “But you work, you come home tired and you want to eat, so you come to get your food.” “Of course we’re aware of inflation,” Miguel said in Spanish. Miguel said they spent about $60 on food for about six people and another $20 on sodas. What was once a handful of small retailers along Avenue 26 in Lincoln Heights has boomed into a full-fledged night market.īrothers Miguel and Luis Contreras stood with their families in the shade of a school bus parked near the grill stands. They don’t realize that if we don’t raise our prices now and then, well, we might not be around.”Ĭalifornia An outdoor night market blossoms in Lincoln Heights as L.A. Prices are going up and we will continue to make our food the way customers have always liked. “You sometimes have customers argue over prices, but we have to tell them that it’s not our fault. “A lot of our customers are low-income people who enjoy our food and can’t always afford to pay more than $2 for a taco,” Cesar Reyes said. We’re not going to raise our prices yet, because we have to think of our customers,” Erasmo said. “We see that, but right now we have to wait and see. While food prices are skyrocketing, the Reyeses said they also have to consider their loyal patrons. And then they started to raise their prices, but we’ve always made sure that we’re the last ones to raise ours,” Cesar said. “When everyone saw that we were doing well on Avenue 26 they followed us and cooked food like ours.

But the Reyes family is always the last to increase prices whenever possible. Over the years, the family has raised the cost of their tacos from 50 cents to the current $1.75. When it became clear that their Lincoln Heights location was too crowded, he sought a new location to keep the family business alive. Cesar Reyes started working for his father when he was 14, perfecting the family recipes brought from Puebla, Mexico.

Taco stands