In Transit
How This LA Institution of Oaxacan Cooking Is Surviving the Pandemic
Guelaguetza, a James Beard Classics Winner, is still in need of over $100K for its staff relief fund
Welcome to In Transit, a column from the writer Mayukh Sen focusing on how immigrant-owned restaurants across America are coping with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following the economic recession of the late aughts, Fernando Lopez Jr.’s father considered closing down his Los Angeles restaurant, Guelaguetza, for good. He wanted to retire to his native Oaxaca. His children wouldn’t let the restaurant die, though. At the end of 2012, Lopez Jr. and his sisters purchased Guelaguetza from their father, promising to keep it alive.
It was a difficult, lonely time. “When we took over, there were entire days when we had no customers walk in,” Lopez Jr. said. “I remember it was just cleaning over and over again.” He and his sisters wondered if their guests would return.
They did. Guelaguetza, which has been in operation for over a quarter-century, has held on to its position as an institution of…
