[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he city of Cudahy in southeast Los Angeles has long thrived with life and community hustle. Despite making headlines for the infamous Delta Jet fuel dump last year and unlawful police shootings, street food vendors along Patata Street have recently made the neighborhood an attraction with an open-air street food gathering. With heavy-hitting vendors like Los Sabrosos al Horno and Perro 110 setting up shop weekly, Patata Street gives Ave 26’s street vendor meetup in Lincoln Heights a run for its tacos.
Patata Street is a dirt road directly adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad Line in Cudahy. What started as just three vendors has ballooned into over two dozen working food vendors. Among them is ‘La Gordita Feliz,’ providing fresh-made pupusas, aguas frescas, and more. Tacos El Pumchis is another vendor serving up classic street tacos.
At any given moment, a visit to the popular food strip would supply you with anything from street dogs, suckling roasted pig, Chinese Food, birria tacos, green juices, mini pancake desserts, Tijuana-style tacos, Mexican candy, churros, mariscos, tejuino, kettle corn, and more. The experience was reminiscent of a tiangüis in Mexico, with dozens of people walking past oil vats frying up crispy churros and grilled meats. There are plastic stools set up sporadically alongside vendors for people to enjoy their street delicacies.
Unfortunately, after a year of success, the Union Pacific Railroad Police shut down the street food fair. On the afternoon of June 18th, vendors began arriving at their usual locations and were met by railroad police that threatened them with $500 fines if they continued to set up. Vendors like “Birria el Kora’ had just invested hundreds of dollars in food to sell for the weekend and were devastated. On a “Patata Street Food Vendor” chat on Instagram, community vendors scrambled to brainstorm on possible alternative locations and shared information about different vending opportunities with each other.