The Brief

Boyle Heights is one of the most culturally significant neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

Originally home to the Tongva people, the land was purchased by Andrew Boyle, an Irish immigrant who settled on the 22 acres in 1856.

Decades later, the area became known for years as the “Lower East Side of Los Angeles.” It contained the largest population of Jewish people outside of New York, with the first location of Canter’s Deli, on Brooklyn Avenue. It would also welcome many Japanese, Black, and Latino residents who all called the area home due in part to the integrated low-income community housing developments such as Estrada Courts.

The Boyle Heights of today is as vibrant as ever, with its bustling avenues and businesses still occupying many storefronts from the early 20th century, where music and art continue to flourish on every corner. Despite various changes the area has seen throughout the years, the neighborhood remains a community hub, with generations of businesses passed down to the subsequent cohorts, looking to make their mark in the neighborhood.

This is the Boyle Heights edition of Cheap Fast Eats, where I scout out the best meals you can get across Los Angeles for around $10.

Pioneer Chicken

The exterior of Pioneer Chicken in Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles favorite for fast, cheap eat.

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A piece of Los Angeles history stands on the corner of Soto Street and Whittier Boulevard. It’s one of the last two locations in L.A. belonging to the fried chicken fast-food chain Pioneer Chicken. (The other location can be found in the city of Bell Gardens.) At one point, Pioneer Chicken boasted 270 locations and was known for television commercials featuring O.J. Simpson.

These days, the fried chicken chain is pure nostalgia for those Angelenos looking to relive the heyday of the '70s and '80s. This is thanks to the hard work of the Aguirre family, who own the Boyle Heights location where brother and sister duo Ernesto and Val Aguirre are currently leading the daily operations. The Aguirre siblings have redone the interior with the orange, red, and yellow striped branding, along with a wall of black and white celebrity photographs and advertisements of yesteryear, exhibiting the cultural significance the chain once had for the city of Los Angeles.

For those who visited the chain back in the day, the recipe for fried chicken remains unchanged. The distinctive batter covers the entirety of the chicken, allowing for maximum flavor and locking in an exquisite amount of juiciness for each bite.

For the solo diner, the fried chicken basket ($7.99) comes with two pieces of chicken (legs and thighs) and your choice of side. Other options include a two-piece dinner ($11.99) with two sides, from a selection of mashed potatoes and gravy, spicy rice, crunchy coleslaw, and a fluffy biscuit. I recommend you use the condiment packet that comes with to add a squeeze of honey. Other options include the various buckets that range in size from eight, 12, or 20 pieces. The family pack ($28.99) is another great option for feeding a large group or the next picnic.

Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. 

The exterior of Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Company on Cesar Chavez Avenue.

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Head down to Cesar Chavez Avenue, where you’ll find another cool slice of history. Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. is a restaurant and bar known for serving wood-fired pies, wings, and other delicious sides. The name Brooklyn is an homage to the original name of the street, which dates back to the late 1800s and was seen as a way to entice New Yorkers interested in moving westward. The name was changed in 1994.

To pizza enthusiasts, the name has a double meaning since Pizza Co. serves Neapolitan-style wood-fired pies, the style that Italian immigrants popularized in New York in the early 1920s.

A trio of slices from Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. You can see how a single slice can easily make a meal.

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Elizabeth and Kevin Obando and their son Santiago dine recently at Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co.

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The restaurant itself is part of The Paramount, a live music venue with a history of hosting seemingly everyone over the years, including Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder to Sonny & Cher. It later morphed into a legacy punk rock venue called The Vex, where it hosted luminaries of the scene, such as Black Flag and The Plugz. The venue would later become a community space for quinceañeras and a performance space for the nearby schools.

These days, for anyone looking to grab a bite before taking in a show or just stopping by the neighborhood, Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. is a suitable destination. While full-sized pizzas are a great option, since this is Cheap Fast Eats, we’re focused on the slice game, with a choice of cheese, pepperoni, and a daily special ranging from around $5 each. The slices contain a crispy and chewy crust that serves as an excellent canvas for the different toppings, from melty cheese to pepperoni, that curls into little cups when cooked under the 800-degree heat of the wood fire oven.

The daily special rotates with options such as mole, topped with queso Oaxaca and curtido (pickled vegetables) and the Meat Lovers, which comes with house-made chorizo, pepperoni, and hatch chile. Wash it down with any of their various beverages, from their house-made agua frescas to anything from their full bar.

Mariscos Jalisco

You'll find the Mariscos Jalisco taco truck parked on Olympic Boulevard in Boyle Heights.

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When discussing the best tacos in Los Angeles, there’s a good chance the Mariscos Jalisco will come up. In 2002, Raul Ortega opened his nondescript-looking lonchera truck. He parked it in an industrial section of Olympic Boulevard across the street from Estrada Courts, where he served mariscos dishes from his hometown of San Juan de los Lagos in Jalisco, Mexico.

The menu at MJ is straightforward, consisting of tacos and ceviche. But for all its simplicity in its menu, it’s the care of each menu item that shines through, especially in dishes such as the tacos de camarón ($2.50 each).

This is not an Ensenada-style shrimp taco; it is something completely different. Ortega fills a corn tortilla with a minced shrimp-and-vegetables mixture and a few other secret ingredients. The tacos are then deep-fried and topped with a light red salsa de mariscos and a sliver of avocado. The end result is nothing short of taco magic.

The heavy crunch of the taco is a symbol of monumental things to come, as you reach the contents of the taco, with its soft and almost cream-like texture. There's also the rush of tanginess from the salsa roja that permeates the fried outer layer of the taco, and, with each bite, dribbles down the side of your hand.

Dive into a plate of tacos de camaron and oysters peinados from Mariscos Jalisco.

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If you want to ceviche-ify your life, you’ve also come to the right place. The Tostada Poseidon ($11) is a heavenly combination of shrimp ceviche, octopus, and spicy red agua chile that is destined to become part of your core memory. Most recently, we’ve been drawn to their delicious oyster peinados ($15 for half a dozen; $28 for a full dozen), which translates to "dressed up," meaning they're piled high with cooked shrimp and octopus. A fresh, simple slurp is the perfect send-off as you go about your day.

X'tiosu Kitchen

Located on the corner of Forest and Wabash avenues, directly across the humble-looking Malabar Library — one of the oldest libraries in Los Angeles — is where one finds X’tiosu Kitchen. If you’re searching on Google, the small walk-up window restaurant appears to be a Mediterranean restaurant; however, upon browsing the menu, you’ll realize it’s much more.

X'tiosu is located on the corner of Wabash and Forest avenues in Boyle Heights

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The chicken shawarma and falafel taco plate from X'tiosu mashes up Mexican and Middle Eastern fare.

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Sure, you’ll find the various kabobs and shawarma plates, but the tacos are the real draw at this Middle Eastern-meets-Oaxacan concept. The chicken shawarma taco ($2.25) oozes with spices along with the onions and cilantro garnish and topped with the bright brine of magenta-colored pickled turnips. The tacos are then drizzled with their “Arabesque salsa,” providing just the right amount of creaminess to help round out the taco’s profile. The equally great vegan options, including your choice of falafel or cauliflower (both $2.50), shouldn't be overlooked. The cauliflower taco contains equal amounts of cumin, coriander, and turmeric, achieving the proper level of spice. The falafel is crispy and blooms with notes of fresh herbs. The best option to consider is the taco plate ($12), which features your choice of two tacos and a simple side salad, hummus, and rice.

Santa Cecilia Restaurant

Head to Mariachi Plaza near the Metro station entrance, where you’ll find the cutest-looking walk-up taqueria window that is Santa Cecilia. The small white building with its hand-painted signage and air-brushed murals exudes a particular charm.

Santa Cecilia Restaurant in Mariachi Plaza.

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The tacos de tripas from Santa Cecilia Restaurant in Mariachi Plaza. Get them extra crispy.

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Santa Cecilia has been feeding the locals since the mid-90s with its small menu of tacos, burritos, and other daily specials consisting of chile rellenos and menudo served on weekends. However, one particular item that has taken hold of our hearts is the tripas taco ($3). For those unfamiliar, tripas are small intestines from either a cow or a pig that are boiled and then fried. Sure, it's an acquired taste for many, but once you get past the ick factor, there’s a good chance you’ll go goo goo for guts.

When you order tacos de tripas, they’ll ask if you want them “bien dorados,” which means well-browned or fried to the crispiest, which is the best way to go. What arrives is a jagged and slightly unctuous piece of meat that exists in a space between a well-seasoned chicharron and fried wonton. The taco comes in a handmade, soft corn tortilla containing a few shards of white onion and is drenched in lovely homemade green salsa.

Hiring remained anemic in December, closing out the weakest year for job growth since the beginning of the pandemic.

U.S. employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%, from 4.5% in November, while job gains for October and November were also revised down by a total of 76,000 jobs.

For all of 2025, employers added 584,000 jobs — compared to 2 million new jobs in 2024. That meant that last year was the worst for employment growth since 2020.

Health care and hospitality were among the few industries adding jobs in December. Health care employment is generally immune from ups and downs in the business cycle.

Manufacturing continues to lose workers, cutting 8,000 jobs in December. Factories have been in a slump for the last 10 months, according to an index of manufacturing activity compiled by the Institute for Supply Management. The sector has been hit hard by President Trump's tariffs, since many domestic manufacturers rely on some foreign components.

"Morale is very low across manufacturing in general," said an unnamed factory manager quoted in this week's ISM report. "The cost of living is very high, and component costs are increasing with folks citing tariffs and other price increases."

The federal government added 2,000 jobs in December, but is still down 277,000 jobs from the beginning of the year. The government recorded big job losses earlier in the fall, when workers who accepted buyouts officially dropped off the government's payroll.

While unemployment remains low by historical standards, workers are increasingly nervous about job security. A survey last month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found workers slightly more worried about losing their job in the coming year, and less confident about finding a new job if they are laid off.

The slowdown in hiring makes people who already have jobs reluctant to give them up. The resulting lack of turnover means fewer job openings for young people and others trying to get a foot in the door.

Concern about the weakening job market prompted the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate in December for the third time since September.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Producer and engineer Rich Mouser built his recording studio, The Mouse House, more than two decades ago — it was part of his home in the Altadena hills. The space featured 35-foot ceilings, soundproofed isolation rooms and a library of vintage recording gear that the 63-year-old musician had been collecting since he was a teenager. A year ago, the Mouse House burned to the ground in the Eaton fire.

"I went through and started making a list and adding it up. It's got to be close to half a million [dollars] in lost equipment," Mouser tells NPR. "In hindsight, if I had known the house was going to burn down like that, I would have gone to great more lengths to get stuff out."

The Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 16,000 homes and businesses. Mouser, who has worked with bands including Weezer, Dream Theater and Spock's Beard, is one of countless musicians doubly impacted by the natural disaster. He not only lost the house for which he'd finished paying off the mortgage and everything inside it; suddenly, a large chunk of his livelihood also vanished.

"Three days after the fire, I went to London to run sound for some live shows. A lot of people were like, 'Are you really going to go? You have to cancel,'" Mouser remembers. "I thought, 'This might be the only work I have for who knows how long, so I'm going to go do it.'"

Adron McCann, a singer-songwriter, visual artist and audio producer who performs as Adron, was facing a similar uncertainty. She'd been renting half of a duplex in Altadena with her partner, who is also a working musician, for two years when the Eaton fire tore through their home. Overnight, the couple lost virtually all their personal belongings — including McCann's three treasured aquariums — as well as their at-home studio setup. A lifetime's worth of gear, instruments, paintings, vinyl albums and a collection of vintage synthesizers disappeared.

"I'm still working on just the personal grief of it, the whole story," McCann says. "And so trying to put the pieces back together professionally — it's just really, really blended with our personal lives."

Starting to piece things back together

Immediately, friends and family for both Mouser and McCann sprung into action, setting up GoFundMe pages that raised tens of thousands of dollars. Mouser says he initially purchased core items needed to get back to work: a graphic equalizer, Neve microphone preamps, a portion of the same model of mixing board he lost in the fire. Fellow musicians loaned him studio spaces, equipment and helped him scour the internet for gear. Much of what he lost is irreplaceable, he says, or has significantly gone up in value since he bought it decades ago.

McCann says her community has majorly stepped up, too. Through the generosity of friends and strangers — including comedian Fred Armisen, who donated a couple of his guitars — McCann and her partner have been able to continue playing gigs. Artists share resources about grants and other rebuilding efforts, leaning on one another to find housing, work opportunities and instrument replacements. None of this, McCann says, would be possible without being plugged into their local music scene.

"I'm really aware of the trade-offs that we make as musicians," McCann says. "We trade off stability and security, but we gain friendship and community and the care and concern of people very far away who we don't even necessarily know in person, but they are moved by the art we make, and so they come to us when we're hurting."

Adrienne McCann in her original home studio before the fires.

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Both McCann and Mouser say they've received support from a wide patchwork of colleagues, mutual aid networks and official relief organizations, all working together to address the ongoing needs of wildfire survivors as time passes. That includes government agencies like FEMA and Los Angeles County, nonprofits like Guitar Center Music Foundation and MusiCares, and more grassroots collectives like Altadena Musicians, an instrument-giving network started by composer Brandon Jay.

Myka Miller, the executive director of Guitar Center Music Foundation, says that for the first six months of 2025, the organization fulfilled grants for over 700 people to replace lost or damaged equipment, in addition to supplying instruments to 15 affected schools and community organizations. Miller says it's the largest natural disaster relief effort the nonprofit has tackled in recent history. "What was surprising to me was that a lot of people were asking for studio gear overwhelmingly," Miller tells NPR. "Studio monitors and microphones were one of the top things — DJ equipment, that kind of stuff."

One of Guitar Center's partners has been MusiCares, the nonprofit founded by the Recording Academy to support the financial, mental and physical wellbeing of people in the music industry. The organization says that since the wildfires broke out last year, it's provided more than $15 million in assistance to over 3,200 music professionals. In December, the nonprofit hosted a health and wellness clinic in Altadena for industry professionals impacted by the fires. The event offered physical therapy, vision and hearing screenings and opportunities for survivors to connect with one another over the ongoing challenges of finding a new normal. Executive director Theresa Wolters says these kinds of spaces — and a focus on mental health specifically — will be a big part of the work going forward, along with ongoing financial help.

"It is not too late to access support. We are still here," Wolters tells NPR. "We know that so many people are just now starting to come up for air through this disaster. They're just now starting to figure out what they need and what kind of assistance they might benefit from."

Looking ahead

As the anniversary of the fires passes, Wolters emphasizes that recovery is a long and nonlinear process. While some artists have made significant progress, others are still operating on survival mode.

Today, Rich Mouser and his wife are renting a house with a converted garage that doubles as Mouser's temporary studio. He's been able to continue his work mixing albums, touring with bands and is getting used to the newer equipment.

He's also working with an architect and sound engineer on rebuilding plans for his permanent home and studio in Altadena. They'll be prioritizing concrete over wood in case of future fires, he says, and are planning on a few improvements, like building a separate entry for The Mouse House so musicians don't have to walk through his kitchen to enter the studio. Mouser hopes building can begin within several months so the project is completed by summer or fall of 2027.

Insurance and relief aid are currently covering his rent, but he's worried that won't last all the way until the new house and studio are ready. Finding and applying for grants, he half-jokes, is a full-time job of its own. "We need this place because it's got this back house where I can work," Mouser says. "If we didn't have this situation, we could move into a smaller apartment, but I'm able to work out here and generate income."

McCann and her partner, on the other hand, are still taking things day by day. They are no longer living in their dream neighborhood of Altadena, but they're settled into a new rental home for now. Due to federal funding cuts to public radio, she recently lost a significant portion of her income as a producer for WABE, leading to more fear and uncertainty. Songwriting, she says, has taken a backseat for now.

"We're still not done recovering in the immediate sense. We're still not done trying to figure out home and gear and recording and our basic building blocks of our life we're still working on," McCann says. "I'm just going to keep trying to get a more stable foundation under my feet. But as an artist, that's a surprisingly comfortable place for me."
Copyright 2026 NPR

Maria Silva works at the El Super off Century Boulevard in Inglewood, in the same sprawling parking lot as a Home Depot.

She's been on the job for 17 years. The work is hard, and her wages are low. But since summer, her role as a supervisor at the grocery store chain has included a new challenge: co-workers and customers are worried about ICE.

Her customers come in talking about recent sightings, or asking if federal agents have been in the area. After a regular stopped coming into the store, Silva said she heard through the grapevine that he'd been picked up by federal agents.

" It's somebody that I would interact with almost every single day, because he would come and get his coffee and bread," she said, holding back tears. "It upsets me. It makes me feel like I can't do anything about it."

Silva is among the workers at seven unionized El Super locations in Southern California, including the store in Inglewood, who are asking their employer to implement more protocols to protect them and shoppers at their stores from federal agents.

Around 700 workers are currently negotiating a new contract with the grocery store chain. Their union, United Food and Commercial Workers, says the supermarket's owner, Chedraui USA, which also owns Smart & Final, is refusing their demands, including substantial wage increases.

Chedraui USA declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing negotiations.

"We value our team members and the communities we serve, and remain committed to bargaining in good faith, following all labor laws, and creating a safe and respectful workplace for every associate while continuing to provide affordable food for our customers," the company said in a statement.

What are they asking for?

Maricruz Ceceña, the organizing director for UFCW local 770, said the El Super workers want the company to agree to establish certain safety protocols in the contract, such as not allowing federal agents into non-public areas without a signed judicial warrant and establishing private areas in stores.

She said they also want the employer to re-affirm compliance with certain laws, such as a requirement that federal officials give three-day notice before inspecting I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms.

According to UFCW, other major grocery chains, including Ralphs, Super A, Vons, Pavilions, Gelson's and Albertsons, have agreed to similar protections in contracts with workers represented by the union.

"That Chedraui or El Super is still refusing to put basic language in that would protect its customers and its workers when other companies have already done so?" Ceceña told LAist. "I think workers just find that baffling and insulting."

Why workers are pushing for this

The grocery store workers are part of a broader effort to win immigration protections through labor negotiations. Victor Narro, an expert on workplace rights for immigrant workers and a lecturer at UCLA Law School, said more and more unions have been adding the type of language El Super workers want to their contracts in recent years.

"Especially unions that have a large immigrant workforce as members," he said. "One of the misconceptions is that the unions are then trying to circumvent immigration laws in the union contract. But that's not the case. What they're trying to do is get the employer to do what they are able to do under the law."

The first push for these types of union protections dates back to the 90s, Narro said, in the wake of a Reagan-era immigration law that established penalties for employers who knowingly hired unauthorized workers.

Narro said contract language can help add a layer of protection for some workers, but pointed out that the vast majority of private-sector workers in the U.S. have no union representation. He said policy change is needed to keep all workers safe.

" So what unions have been doing for the majority of workers who are not unionized is doing the policy work," he said.

'Customers, they're scared'

El Super markets itself to a Spanish-speaking clientele. Its website states "El Super is at the heart of your cocina." The union says most customers and workers are Latino.

Araceli Ortiz has worked at a unionized El Super store in Pico Rivera for eight years. She said after immigration sweeps ramped up in June, her store was quieter than usual, and she saw customers buying groceries for multiple families who were too afraid to do their grocery shopping in person.

She had one customer burst into tears at the checkout counter, saying her husband had recently been detained by ICE.

" We get customers, they're scared," Ortiz said. "Mostly every day they mention ICE, immigration and their surroundings. And they ask us, 'Have they come around here?' And what can I say? They're everywhere."

Ortiz is on a team of El Super workers who are bargaining with their employer over the new contract. She said that the grocery chain has said verbally that it will follow the law.

" But you know, we want them to put it in the contract," she said. "Because if there's signs right there [saying] it's only for employees only, the employees are gonna feel a little bit safer."

An upgrade to the website used to make camping reservations within California State Parks may have you locked out of your account — just as highly-sought-after campsites are being released for the summer. 

The overhaul, which happened in late October of last year, requires anyone who had a ReserveCalifornia account before the change to reauthenticate their account before making any camping reservations.

That means if you’re planning on logging on at 8 a.m. to snag a campsite for a busy summer weekend, you may get caught in login troubles while other people are snapping up your top choice.

If you have a ReserveCalifornia account, keep reading for step-by-step instructions on what to do now — so you’ll be ready when summer reservations become available.

Jump straight to:

• What should people with existing ReserveCalifornia accounts do?
• What about those who never had an account?

What happened to the California State Parks reservation website?

On Oct. 29, 2025, the ReserveCalifornia website, which California State Parks uses to help visitors book campsites and other park amenities, underwent a system upgrade, said Adeline Yee, a spokesperson for the agency.

That upgrade helped improve the system’s operations and incorporated multi-factor authentication for users, requiring anyone trying to log into an account to provide a code sent to their email address to improve system security.

A public campground near Camp Richardson is shown on Aug. 4, 2013, in South Lake Tahoe, California. 

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An email about the changes was sent to ReserveCalifornia account holders in advance of the Oct. 29 switchover, Yee said — but the initial instructions it contained for reauthenticating accounts, encouraging users to use a “Forgot Password?” link, didn’t actually work on the version of the website that went live on that date.

The day after the update went live, Yee said, state parks added a banner alert to ReserveCalifornia with updated login directions – which now required even existing account-holders to hit “Create Account” to reauthenticate their details.

Yee said while the update affected all 1.2 million ReserveCalifornia accounts, only around 400,000 of those accounts have been active in the past two years. During the first five days after the update, the ReserveCalifornia customer service line saw a 30% increase in calls and emails, Yee said — around 300 more inquiries per day than normal.

“State Parks apologizes for the confusion and inconvenience and will work with ReserveCalifornia so future website updates and account enhancements go smoother,” Yee said.

I have a ReserveCalifornia account, and I want to reserve a state parks campsite soon. What should I do?

First, don’t panic. Your account is still active, and your reservation and account history haven’t been lost — so if you were signed up for the lottery of a must-have spot like the Steep Ravine Cabins, you’re still on the list.

But you will have to go through a couple of steps to log back in – and it may take a few minutes, so it’s best to do it before you’re racing others to get a prime camping spot this summer.

Campsites are filled at Half Moon Bay State Beach in Half Moon Bay, California, on June 29, 2010. How to reauthenticate and reactivate your ReserveCalifornia account:

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How to reauthenticate and reactivate your ReserveCalifornia account:

Go to “Log In/Sign Up” on the top right of ReserveCalifornia.com, and click the “Create an Account” link.

Then, use the same email address of your existing account, and re-set up your profile. You can use the password you previously used for your ReserveCalifornia account, or create a new one.

Once you do so, your new ReserveCalifornia account should be automatically linked to your old one, Yee said — and you’ll be immediately able to make campsite reservations once more.

If you got an email or searched the web and got different instructions, like those saying to hit the “Forgot Password” button — ignore those.

And if you’re still having trouble or are stuck in password reset purgatory, try refreshing the page and starting over — or call ReserveCalifornia between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST at 800-444-7275.

I’m new to ReserveCalifornia. What should I know?

New account users shouldn’t have any issues. Simply go to ReserveCalifornia.com, hit the “Sign Up” button in the top right corner and create a new account.

Make sure you know the reservation policies at state parks, as they’ve just changed this year — and make canceling campsites more costly in an effort to keep more reservations open.

And you should know that campsite and cabin reservations open up to six months in advance at 8 a.m., so if you have big summer plans to get out into the wilderness, you may want to check now for availability. Read our full guide on how to snag desirable California campsites for summer 2026.