Street vending is legal in L.A. Getting a permit may be the worst decision this taquero ever made
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 30. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- L.A. is the city of tacos. Making it as a vendor has never been harder.
- The Park fire became the state’s sixth-largest fire in recorded history.
- Two meteor showers peak this week: Here’s how to see them.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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The unwinnable economics of selling tacos on the street
Tacos, taco trucks and taco stands, or puestos, have defined the urban fabric of Los Angeles for the last 50 years. And while we celebrate and honor the tacos of Los Angeles — perhaps the most taco-diverse city anywhere — less rosy realities characterize the lives of the micro-entrepreneurs who make the tacos we love on the street, the taqueros.
It’s not an easy business.
The competition has gotten fierce.
The pandemic shutdowns pushed unknown figures of L.A. workers to try street vending to make a living. Which, sure, gave us more tacos. But also placed strain on existing or legacy vendors, not to mention the businesses and residents in areas where vendors and their customers began congregating in concentrated numbers. (Look at the case of the wildly popular but sometimes chaotic Avenue 26 Night Market, which was eventually split up and broken into at least two offshoots during the pandemic.)
Street taco work is replete with risk.
Vendors are often subjected to threats, robberies, fraud, vandalism, traffic accidents from motor vehicles and even gun violence. Edin Enamorado, the radical vigilante who used social media to dox people accused of harassing street vendors, brought us years of clear examples of taqueros enduring abuse on the streets. The cases he’d highlight would often get ignored by officials until crowds of Enamorado’s followers would protest in public.
Enamorado remains jailed in San Bernardino County for charges related to his activism — without his social media bullhorn. Had a cell phone camera and the follow-up not happened, would a vendor who fell victim to an attack ever have seen some form of justice?
Permitting has created headaches.
Legalizing street vendors, as the state did on Jan. 1, 2023, has left them in a legal gray area with local jurisdictions. In L.A., programs to encourage unlicensed vendors to go legit have so far not panned out as intended and progress for less restrictions on street vendors has been incremental. Some vendors in interviews described grueling pressures on the street to stay afloat.
Efrain Ayala, who is 69 years old, is one of those taqueros who has sort of had enough.
He operates a taco cart known as “Tacos del Tigre” on a stretch of North Figueroa Street in Highland Park near a grocery store, selling pre-cooked al pastor, carne asada and pollo tacos. He is a rare vendor who works with full permits.
As it turns out, getting permits may have been one of the worst business decisions he’s made, Ayala lamented on a recent morning at his commissary. “I wanted to do things right, but this just isn’t working,” he said.
Permit fees last year nearly hit $1,000, plus the $400 monthly commissary rental he pays to store his cart, Ayala said. Permits also mean that he is subject to regular inspections against an almost baroque array of rules and codes — down to a prescribed amount of feet and inches a vendor must be from a bus stop, a fire hydrant or a tree well.
Though the city just last month slashed the costs of its annual vendor fee, Ayala still faces a tangle of barriers that leave him at a disadvantage against the realpolitick of the public right of way: He is surrounded by unlicensed vendors.
Many of Ayala’s competitors cook raw meat over charcoal on the sidewalk. As a licensed vendor, he is only allowed to re-griddle pre-cooked refrigerated meats — those are the rules. “People, unfortunately, go where there is smoke,” Ayala said.
And since the pandemic boom in street vending, he has been drowning in competition. “I’ve got two pupuseros here, and two taqueros over here,” Ayala said of his strip on Figueroa. “All of them without permits.”
None of these vendors, he said, are subject to inspections.
Ayala is looking to sell his cart, but has to remain working until that happens. “It’s not a business.… Until then, what can I do? Help my neighbors.”
A serving of pride
Though he sells less these days, Ayala said his greatest satisfaction comes when a customer says they feel content after eating his food.
“The slogan of my business is: ‘Where everything is possible,’” Ayala said. “When someone says, ‘Thank you Tigre, your tacos were delicious,’ it feels good, feels good to give tacos to people. Fill stomachs.”
Read more from L.A. Times Food’s full guide to tacos in the region:
- These are the 101 best tacos in Los Angeles.
- Here are the 18 best vegetarian and vegan tacos in Los Angeles.
- These are restaurant critic Bill Addison’s favorite taco places
- These are the words you need to know to order tacos like a pro.
- Here’s how L.A. reached Peak Taco.
- Tell us what we missed: What’s your favorite taco in town?
And pre-order our upcoming 101 Best Tacos zine here.
Today’s top stories
Wildfires
- The Park fire surpassed 370,000 acres Monday, becoming the state’s sixth-largest fire in recorded history.
- A view of the Park fire from space is showing the explosive impact of the largest California brush fire of the year.
- Exposure to wildfire smoke increases the odds of being diagnosed with dementia.
- The American West’s last quarter-century ranks as the driest in 1,200 years, research shows
Olympics
- How the U.S. men’s gymnastics team won its first medal since 2008.
- Follow our live coverage from Paris.
- Canada’s rise in soccer suddenly looks suspicious amid Olympic spying scandal.
The ADU revolution
- L.A. is the epicenter of the ADU boom.
- Check out which L.A. County cities are building the most ADUs and which are building the least
Fallout from pro-Palestinian campus protests
- A judge ordered UCLA and Jewish students to draft a plan for equal campus access in the wake of protests.
- UC regents: Protests yes, encampments no.
Dodgers and the trade deadline
- Who are the Dodgers’ most logical trade partners as deadline nears?
- Dodgers acquire Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in three-team deal with Cardinals and White Sox.
- Dodgers acquire Amed Rosario from Tampa Bay.
More big stories
- COVID is surging in California, and nears two-year summer high.
- A Beverly Hills developer agrees to pay $10 million to acquire one of the largest portfolios of homeless housing in L.A.
- A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck the Mojave Desert sending shaking that was felt in L.A.
- Manhattan Beach EV maker Fisker went bankrupt. Here’s what buyers are doing about it.
- First mosquito-related West Nile virus death in years reported in the Bay Area.
- Kamala Harris mobilizes grassroots activists and sorority sisters. But not all Black women are on board.
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Commentary and opinions
- Anita Chabria: Tim Ryan lost a Senate seat to J.D. Vance, but learned this: Vance really is ‘weird’
- Harry Litman: With Supreme Court reform ideas, Biden is playing the long game.
- Michael Hiltzik: What FDR could advise Biden about reforming the Supreme Court — tread lightly
- Mary McNamara: The unflappable Pete Buttigieg is (still) the Democrats’ best political communicator.
- Jenn Harris: I want my tacos wet. The soggier the better.
Today’s great reads
They turned a junk-filled L.A. yard into a weird and wonderful habitat garden. Casa Apocalyptica is full of salamanders, birds, dragonflies and koi amid native plants and soothing water features.
Other great reads
- Betsabeé Romero turns car parts from California junkyards into potent art on immigration.
- Groundlings alumni look back at 50 years of laugh-out-loud history in sketch comedy.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
Going out
- ⛰️ 8 of the best L.A.-area hikes, according to our readers
- 🌠 Two meteor showers peak this week: Here’s how to see them.
- ☕ 9 Korean coffee shops reinventing the misugaru latte in L.A.
Staying in
- 🌠 Ever see a star explode? You’re about to get a chance very soon.
- 📺 Paris Olympics TV schedule: Tuesday’s listings.
- 🧑🍳 Here’s a recipe for Quesadillas Stuffed With Mushrooms And Goat Cheese
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
And finally ... a great photo
Show us your favorite place in California! We’re running low on submissions. Send us photos that scream California and we may feature them in an edition of Essential California.
Today’s great photo is from Allen J. Schaben of Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntingon Beach.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor and Saturday reporter
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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