Cochinita pibil trailblazer and the first ever TACO MADNESS champion—back in 2009—Socorro "Mama Yuca's" Herrera has passed away after fighting a "short illness," according to the restaurant's Instagram and Facebook pages. She died on December 23, just two months before becoming a nonagenerian.
"We love you forever Mama Yuca's," wrote her surviving daughters on Yuca's Instagram account.
An outpouring of support from fans of the James Beard Award-winning Yucatecan restaurant in Los Feliz have already started to pour in. "Bless her beautiful heart i am so sorry to hear. She was a pillar of the community and always kind and warm to me even in the early 80’s when i was an unrespectable street rat," commented Flea, one of the founding members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"Our deepest condolences to Margarita, Dora, and Jaime," Gilberto Cetina Jr. tells L.A. TACO on behalf of his family's restaurants, Holbox and Chichen Itza. "Doña Soco, feliz reencuentro con nuestro amigo inolvidable Jaime "Papa Yuca's" Herrera. (Happy reunion with our unforgettable friend, Jaime "Papa Yuca's" Herrera)."