The year is starting off with peace and prosperity for Benjamin Ramirez, known far and wide as “the elotero,” the corn and snacks vendor in Los Angeles whose cart was aggressively knocked over by a hostile pedestrian in July 2017.
You know who we’re talking about. Just Google the phrase “elotero cart knocked over” and you’ll get a long list of results; the media coverage made this local story reach a global audience. Now, almost six months later, Ramirez is focused on growing his business and going to the next level with his affordable snacks.
L.A. TACO caught up with Ramirez late last week in between his evening orders. He’d just recovered from being sick for a few days. For the holidays, his family made tamales — three different kinds, including rajas con queso — and they planned on eating some more to celebrate the New Year.
“I’m blessed, thank God,” Ramirez told me. “Everything has been calm. I’m just here working, as usual.”
He’s back on the same street corner where the incident took place — near N. El Centro Avenue and Romaine Street in Hollywood, not far from Santa Monica Boulevard — and still has a loyal clientele most afternoons between 3 and 6 pm. In the evenings, he stays home. On the day I visited, one woman remarked nearby that she knows of another elotero not too far away, but that she prefers the elotes Ramirez sells.