Sometimes nostalgia gets a bad rap. Like it's some kind of purely reactionary force that keeps people stuck in their ways, resistant to change.
But nostalgia can also be a way of sharing memories and forming community.
"What we're going for more than anything, we want nostalgia to hit when you eat here,” says Marlo Tornel, who runs Cactus Taquería with his family. “We want you to be like, alright, this is an L.A. taco like I grew up eating.”
Cactus Taquería has been dishing out tacos and burritos on Vine Street in Hollywood since 1992. Their original location up the street, where Marlo's parents, Mario and Martha, rented an apartment with their kids, was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake while Marlo was still in diapers.
“I took my first steps in that kitchen,” he says.