The Brief

It’s rare when the fútbol powers that be regale the masses with serious competitions in the USA —which is why stateside lovers of the beautiful game should rejoice!

For just the second time in its 100+ year history, the Copa América will return to the U.S., with South America’s finest teams competing against each other across 12 American cities.

Messi and Argentina, Vinicius and Brazil, Darwin and Uruguay, etc. will also face the U.S. and Mexico, and other rivals from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Thankfully, Los Angeles is one of the host cities. Tens of thousands of lucky soccer fans will swarm SoFi Stadium for one or two of the games: Brazil vs Costa Rica on June 24 and Venezuela vs Mexico on June 26.

If you don’t have a ticket, you can still join in the festivity. There will be plenty of places for fans to watch, cry and celebrate all the drama a soccer tournament brings with it.

The following list include a few recommendations for each participating nation*. Wherever you go and whomever you root for, may the fútbol gods be in your favor.

*Unfortunately, we could not find any events or restaurants in L.A. that specialize solely in the cuisines of Canada, Costa Rica, Paraguay or Uruguay. We hope this state of affairs is fixed by 2026 when the FIFA World Cup comes to town!

ARGENTINA

Mercado Buenos Aires

The first thing one notices when entering either of the Mercado Buenos Aires locations are the jerseys framed on the walls and scarves from Argentinian teams hung aloft. The jerseys of many legends of Argentine balompie are lined up in a football version of the Catholic stations of the cross.

The second thing one notices is the large mural depicting both Diego Armando Maradona, the deceased legend sometimes referred to as D10s, and his sporting heir Lionel Messi, global superstar and current captain of La Albiceleste.

While fans won’t be able to watch Messi & Co. live in Los Angeles, they will able to do so beside his mural while imbibing on the best of Argentine cuisine. Dine in and hit up the small grocery store inside to take some pastries, wines and sauces home.

Malbec Argentina

Malbec is the spot if you want to get fancy with it. The skirt steaks are amazing, and there aren’t enough adjectives to convey the mouth-watering wonders of their seafood menu. The Eagle Rock location includes a small market where you can purchase wines and other goodies; the Pasadena location has the TVs to watch Argentina attempt to retain its title as champion. The latter also features live music and tango on occasion.

BOLIVIA

Pao’s Pastries & Cafe

Options for Bolivian food are limited in L.A. Simply put, it’s one of the South American diasporas and gastronomy least represented in these parts. Thankfully, Pao’s Pastries & Cafe has held it down as the only Bolivian food restaurant in the county since 2019. The family-run business serves up numerous staples of Bolivian cuisine. You want silpancho? You GOT silpancho! You want cuñapes? You GOT cuñapes! And so forth.

The place is small, but if you get there in time, you’ll be able to enjoy a meal and the games. We recommend ordering a big batch of salteñas (Bolivian empanadas) for your watch party.

BRAZIL

Café Brasil

Cruise down Washington Blvd. in Culver City and you’ll eventually come upon a pair of brightly colored, tropical vibing buildings. One of those buildings is Cafe Brasil, home to a variety of Brazilian cuisine, all day breakfast, tropical juices, and delicious coffee. It’s like a mini version of Rio de Janeiro!

The building next door is a Brazilian-themed motel. We’ll let you explore that one on your own.

H&H Brazilian Steakhouse 

Do you love meat, barbecue, Brazil and restaurants with hundred dollar steaks? Have we got the spot for you! Celebrate a win by Brazil by bringing your group of friends to H&H for the churrasco experience! It may not have the futbol samba vibe you’ll want during a game, but you’ll eat real good!

Locations and hours:

CHILE

Rincón Chileno

This unassuming spot on Melrose near LACC has been a hidden gem for decades. Once inside Rincón Chileno, you’ll be warped into a cafe in Santiago and treated to your choice of Chilean delicacies. A single widescreen TV in the main room won’t distract from the taste of your tilapia or milanesa. Don’t forget to grab some empanadas, baked with fresh dough in-house, and wine to go from the attached delicatessen next door.

COLOMBIA

El Paisa

El Paisa in Long Beach (not to be confused with the various eateries throughout L.A. county of the same/similar name that serve Mexican cuisine) feels like a nonstop party no matter the time of day. Don’t be surprised if you walk in during the middle of someone’s amazing karaoke number. If you’re truly lucky, the karaoke will also include a band playing the song live instead of the karaoke machine. Take that energy and multiply by infinity when Colombia plays during the tournament!

La Fonda Antioqueña

La Fonda may not have live music or karaoke serenades, but it still offers great food and a wonderful atmosphere. You may even find yourself rooting on Colombia next to a celebrity, Colombian or otherwise, as many have been known to stop by (as evidenced by all the photographs on one wall).

ECUADOR

La Casita de Cancún Olé

L.A. was once home to a few amazing Ecuadorian food restaurants. Unfortunately, many of them have closed down in recent years. Thankfully, one of the best still stands strong: Cancún Olé. The owners shut down their brick & mortar location (minus the occasional holiday event) and moved everything into their home, hence the new name of La Casita de Cancún Olé.

During the 2022 World Cup, the owners set up a few TVs inside the living room and others outside in the front patio along with a DJ, a sound system, a karaoke machine and LOTS of food that seemed to float endlessly out of the kitchen. We expect this same setup this summer and also expect to cheer, laugh, sing and dance together with Ecuador’s diaspora, just like we did two years ago.

JAMAICA

Wah Gwaan Jamaican Kitchen and Bar

The motto that the fine folks at Wah Gwaan live by is “Good food. Good vibes.” If they weren’t so humble, they would probably switch it up to “Great food. Great vibes” because that would be more accurate. The jerk chicken is well-known as some of the best you can get off the island, and someone out there has surely written an epic poem as an ode to their curry shrimp.

The staff at Wah Gwaan recently celebrated their two-year anniversary with an outdoor party in the parking lot complete with music, good food and good vibes. There’ll be plenty of food and positive vibes here each time Jamaica plays during the tournament. They also do catering if you want to host the food and vibes at your watch party.

MÉXICO

There are literally too many events and restaurants for the Mexican national team to list here. You can go out and cheer/jeer with total strangers at dozens of locations or keep it chill at home with the kids and grandparents. Our take? Read on!

El Pescador 

The Ortiz family opened its first El Pescador location in 1983 in Bell Gardens. 40 years later, they’ve expanded to 15 locations in four counties. The Carson location is one of the latest to open up and features a large lounge and bar area in the front (aka Cantina #11) that’s great for watching live games.

There are multiple screens on every wall, a firme sound system, a DJ area and, if time schedules coincide, a live mariachi for serenatas.

Don Chente Bar & Grill

This restaurant is nestled on one side of Plaza La Alameda where Huntington Park meets Walnut Park meets Florence-Graham. There’s a huge statue of Chente outside for all your influencer needs, and this particular location also sells pulque once in a blue agave moon.

There are other locations spread throughout L.A. if you’re not up for the drive…but you also won’t have bronze Chente by your side!

Estrella Jalisco will also host watch parties for specific games in the plaza with a stage, music and a massive screen. They have not announced which games yet as of this publication.

PANAMA

Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA

The pride of Panama is on Wilshire Blvd. between Detroit and Cloverdale: Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA. You can’t miss it: it’s the brightest spot on the block! Here you’ll find husband-and-wife duo Chef RJ and Mercedes serving up dishes from Panama plus some Jamaican delicacies tossed in for good measure (chef is Panamanian with a Jamaican grandfather).

They’re still working out the logistics for two of the three games scheduled so far, as they fall on days they are typically closed. Call ahead to see if they’ll open for the games or if they’ll be catering a watch party somewhere.

Si-Mon

Upscale, swanky and laidback! Head down to Venice for the post-game vibes (no TVs here) at this newly opened spot S¡!-Mon and celebrate/mourn with the amazing seafood options and a delicious cocktail. Definitely make a reservation though!

PERU

El Agachadito

El Agachadito is a classic and timeless success story. The family-owned and operated business began in the family garage where the owners, the in-laws and the kids all helped cook and serve Peruvian dishes. The family eventually opened a stand in Van Nuys until graduating to a physical location in Panorama City...which opened just last month! Celebrate with the family by catching a game with a fistful of anticuchos.

Casa Chaskis

Casa Chaskis is where you go if you want to relive your trip to Cusco...or just say that you did without anyone knowing that you didn’t! You’ll have the added benefit of not suffering from altitude sickness (IYKYK). The space boasts a large patio, lots of beautiful art related to Peru and the Andes and loads of Peruvian gastronomy staples from the appetizers to the main dishes (white meat, dark meat AND seafood) to desserts. And if you’re still on the fence about it, I have two words for you: maracuya cheesecake!

UNITED STATES

This is the host nation’s second time playing the Copa América tournament. The Stars & Bars reached the semifinal in 2016, falling to Messi and Argentina, and will no doubt be looking to take it all this time as the new generation of U.S. players continues to leave its imprint on its way to hosting the next World Cup.

Here are a few options:

33 Taps DTLA 

33 Taps in downtown L.A. is the official home of the American Outlaws, a fan group dedicated to supporting the US national team. Wear your favorite U.S. jersey (bonus points for the ‘94 kit!) and join in the chants if you “believe that we will win!” There are also locations in Silver Lake and Culver City if you want to chant “YOU-ESS-AYE” in a different zip code. Plus they have plenty of non-alcoholic options for the designated driver in your group.

Tom’s Watch Bar, LA Live (and other locations)

The home of “All The Sports. All The Time.” And they’re not kidding! Tom’s promises to host every single match during the Copa América, which they’ll do alongside every other sport in season thanks to eleventy billion screens providing wall-to-wall coverage. Get lost in Christian Pulisic’s eyes and Ricardo Pepi’s ears in surround 4k HD!

VENEZUELA

Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine

If heaven were nothing but arepas and empanadas, it would probably look like Chamo. This spot off Colorado has grown since its opening in 2017 and currently features more than a dozen arepas and a half-dozen empanadas. There are also rotating seasonal specials and Venezuelan chicha (different from its Peruvian and Colombian cousins).

Cariaco Venezuelan Food

It’s a shame that Cariaco is to-go because there’s lots of great food here that deserves to be savored on the spot. That doesn’t knock it down any pegs on our scale though. The arepas are large enough to feed your watch party with one order (slight exaggeration!). Order early and order ahead along with some goods from the market inside.

Several fires are burning across Southern California, with some destroying structures, threatening homes and charring pristine landscapes.

Warm weather and Santa Ana wind conditions have hampered firefighting efforts and are expected to continue through Wednesday this week. The National Weather Service forecasts cooler weather and "May gray" through the weekend.

Here's a roundup of some of the fires burning now.

(All dates refer to today, Tuesday, May 19, unless otherwise noted)

Santa Rosa Island Fire (Santa Barbara County)

• CalFire incident page
• Channel Islands National Park on social media
• Acreage: About 17,000 as of 5 p.m.
• Containment: 0% as of 5 p.m.
• Cause: KTLA and other outlets have reported a man whose boat shipwrecked fired a rescue flare that sparked the fire.

The fire is burning in Channel Island National Park territory. Firefighters traveled by boat with their equipment to get to the island, according to news reports. The island is home to rare and endangered plants and animals.

Sandy Fire (Ventura County)

• CalFire incident page
• Ventura County emergency website (includes evacuation information)
• Acreage: About 1,700 as of 5 p.m.
• Containment: 5% as of 5 p.m.
• Cause: Under investigation

CalFire reported about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday that lessening winds allowed "firefighters to take full advantage of improved weather to strengthen containment lines and continue aggressive suppression efforts. Crews remain actively engaged both on the ground and in the air to gain additional containment and keep the fire within its current perimeter."

The fire started Monday in the southern part of Simi Valley. It eventually spread eastward toward L.A. County communities in the San Fernando Valley, but overnight conditions were favorable to firefighters, CalFire said. Several communities were under evacuation orders and warnings, and schools in the area were closed.

Bain Fire (Riverside County)

• CalFire incident page (includes evacuation information)
• Social media updates
• Acreage: About 700 as of 5 p.m.
• Containment: 0% as of 5 p.m.
• Cause: Under investigation

The fire was first reported around noon Tuesday, according to CalFire, near Jurupa Valley (east of the 15 Freeway and south of the 60). CBS News Los Angeles reported that four people have been injured.

Verona Fire (Riverside County)

• CalFire incident page (includes evacuation information)
• Social media updates
• Acreage: About 200 as of 5 p.m.
• Containment: 0% as of 5 p.m.
• Cause: Under investigation

Burro Fire (Angeles National Forest)

• CalFire incident page
• Social media updates
• Acreage: 30
• Containment: 70% as of about 5 p.m.
• Cause: Under investigation

The fire started Monday in a mountainous area north of the San Gabriel Reservoir.

Listen to our Big Burn podcast

Fire resources and tips

Check out LAist's wildfire recovery guide.

Prepare for the next disaster:

• Fire season is here. Make sure you're signed up for these alerts
• Every day is now fire season. Let's get you ready for the next wildfire
• Yes, wildfires are getting worse. The history that got us to this moment

If you have to evacuate:

• Why fire officials don't want you to stay and defend your home
• How to get packed up
• How to leave your house
• What evacuation terms mean and how to sign up for alerts

Navigating fire conditions:

• How to drive in high winds and fire danger
• How to prep for power outages
• How to navigate poor air quality

How to help yourself and others:

• Resources for fire victims, evacuees and first responders
• If you want to help fire victims, resist the urge to volunteer
• How to help find lost pets

How to start the recovery process:

• What to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire
• How to make an insurance claim
• How to safely clean up wildfire ash

What to do for your kids:

• How to talk to children about wildfires and losing a home
• What parents should know about wildfire air quality

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California’s community colleges have been battling fraudulent students for years, trying to prevent scammers from stealing financial aid money.

Recent data shows the colleges’ efforts finally may be working.

Last spring, CalMatters reported that colleges were seeing unprecedented reports of fraud, with scammers stealing millions more dollars of student aid than in any previous period, according to reports submitted by colleges to California’s Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Now fewer scammers are bypassing colleges’ vetting systems, according to monthly reports, and school administrators say they’re better, though still not perfect, at detecting and preventing fraud.

After CalMatters reported on the rise in fraud last year, Republican U.S. Congress members called for a federal investigation, a Democratic state legislator launched a state audit and later, California’s Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office approved a new ID verification policy for students. Colleges now are more vigilant about policing fraud, said Jory Hadsell, an executive in technology initiatives for the chancellor’s office, who pointed to better filtering practices and new software to detect fraud.

Between January and March 2025, scammers stole nearly $5.6 million in federal student aid and over $900,000 in state aid. By comparison, this spring colleges have reported losing just under $1.5 million in federal student aid and about $330,000 in state aid to fraudsters.

Last spring was “really the peak,” Hadsell said. He said he anticipates the end-of-year total in 2026 to be “significantly lower” than last year.

Even in the worst months, such as last spring, the money distributed to scammers is less than 1% of the total financial aid distributed to community college students in California. Students use the money to help pay for tuition, books and the cost of daily living expenses, such as rent, transportation and food.

But any fraud, however small, is unacceptable, said Chris Ferguson, executive vice chancellor of finance and strategic initiatives. “The ultimate goal for our system is zero.”

Some anti-fraud policies have been slow to take effect. The California Community Colleges Board of Governors voted nearly a year ago to require ID verification for all students, but only about 50% of college students are doing it as of this month. Hadsell said the delays arose in part because of complications verifying information of students under 18 years old, who represent a growing demographic for the community colleges. He said ID verification, which is currently optional, will become mandatory on July 1.

The board also voted to “explore” the option of charging students an application fee of no more than $10, but with the rates of fraud declining and other solutions that seem to work, the chancellor’s office is no longer pursuing that option, Ferguson said.

After blaming California officials, the U.S. Department of Education, which shares responsibility for administering federal aid and detecting fraud, said it would implement a “screening process” for applicants. It was supposed to take effect last fall but didn’t launch until last month, according to press releases from the department and statements from the California Student Aid Commission. CalMatters reached out to the U.S. Education Department five times over the last 12 months, seeking clarification, but the department has refused to respond to questions about delays with the screening process.

When more than a third of college applicants are fake

After classes suddenly moved online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office saw an increase in financial aid fraud on their application portal, CCCApply, which is used by nearly every student as the first step in applying to community college.

In 2021, the chancellor’s office suspected roughly 20% of applicants were fraudulent.

The estimate was higher in January 2024, around 25%. Last spring, it was 34%, though some schools saw much higher rates.

After they apply through CCCApply, students get filtered locally at their college of choice. In the Los Rios Community College District, which represents Sacramento, college officials suspected 64% of local applications from January to March 2025 were fraudulent. And that was after the state already vetted them through its portal, said Gabe Ross, a spokesperson for the district. The San Diego and Los Angeles community college districts also reported spikes in the number of fraudulent applications around the same time.

CalMatters reached out to the five largest community college districts for an interview. The Rancho Santiago Community College District, which includes parts of Orange County, did not provide sufficient data to draw conclusions about trends in fraud. The State Center Community College District, which represents schools in Fresno and Madera counties, did not respond to CalMatters’ questions.

Monthly data reports to the chancellor’s office show that once detected, most scammers who applied to community colleges were then caught and kicked out before they could apply for financial aid, but some succeeded.

This year, both Sacramento and San Diego community colleges say they’re seeing fewer attempts at fraud and are getting better at stopping those who try. The San Diego Community College District is now manually screening for fraudulent applications twice a week and is finalizing a contract with a company to help improve its detection software.

CCCApply has improved its filtering process, which helped reduce fraud attempts at Sacramento area colleges, said Ross. “When we talked about such a complex dynamic challenge, it's always hard to identify what's the one thing that sort of moved the needle. The truth is that we needed support from the feds, we needed support from the (chancellor’s) office, and we needed to invest in tools locally.”

This spring, he said the district flagged about 12% of college applications as suspect.

Using AI to detect AI 

Measuring fraud is, by definition, imprecise. If a scammer is truly successful, colleges have no way to identify that fraud.

For a long time, administrators assumed bots enrolling in online classes were responsible for most fraudulent attempts. Yet teachers, students and financial aid administrators say some of the scams are more sophisticated now and are coming from real people impersonating students. Many fraudulent applications to Los Angeles’ community colleges have real names, dates of birth, and addresses that are likely “leaked or stolen,” said Nicole Albo-Lopez, the deputy chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District.

In San Diego, Victor DeVore, dean of student services, said the college district only requires ID verification for students flagged as fraudulent. At that point they must prove their identity, either in person or through Zoom. Once, a potentially fraudulent student appeared on Zoom and presented a valid-looking ID that matched their face, but DeVore’s team noticed that the student’s IP address was odd. “One minute they’re logging in from Nairobi, the next minute they'll be logging in from Virginia,” he said, adding that the use of AI, virtual private networks (VPNs) or other technology has made fraud harder to detect.

Students’ personal data is supposed to be private, but school districts and education technology companies are frequently hacked. Last week, Canvas — one of the go-to learning platforms for California’s community colleges, University of California and California State University campuses — went offline temporarily due to a major hack. Its parent company, Instructure, said last week that it reached an agreement with the hackers to relinquish students’ data.

The state has turned to AI to fight fraud. Last summer, the state chancellor’s office negotiated a multimillion dollar contract with N2N Services Inc., enabling any college in the state to access the company’s software at a discounted rate. The software uses AI to detect potentially fraudulent applicants. Colleges are not required to use it, and so far, only about two-thirds do. Some districts, such as the Los Angeles Community College District, use a different fraud detection software, known as Socure.

Colleges and the state chancellor’s office continue to face political pressure and scrutiny of their approach to fraud. Last month, the U.S. Education Department said it had prevented more than $171 million in fraud in California after implementing a new policy regarding ID verification. Hadsell, with the state chancellor’s office, said the federal policy had no impact on California’s colleges. “They issued some interim guidance last year that basically said you should at least have a Zoom call with students and have them show an ID when you're approving their aid. And those were things that were already happening. It was not, you know, some new thing at least for most of our colleges.”

Kiran Kodithala, the CEO of N2N, which collects its own data on fraud at community colleges, said the education department’s claim makes no sense.

“I don’t see how $171 million in fraud in California can occur,” he said. “There’s no basis for those numbers. We’re not seeing anything remotely close.” Kodithala estimates that N2N has prevented over $34 million in fraud since last summer, though his platform is not yet in use by all of California's 116 community colleges.

Collecting more precise data may take months or years. U.S. Representative Young Kim, who represents parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, launched the effort for a federal investigation last spring, but her office could not provide any updates or confirm that an investigation was in fact underway. At the state level, the Legislature last year approved conducting an audit of how California’s community colleges handled fraud but the findings won’t be released until this summer.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Landlords in Los Angeles County will soon be allowed to raise rents by more than 10% from their baseline before the January 2025 fires.

A vote by the county’s Board of Supervisors that could have extended a ban on post-fire price gouging for another month failed on Tuesday. Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis voted in favor, but Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell abstained.

As a result, the long-standing countywide prohibition on rent gouging will expire May 29. The milestone comes more than 16 months after the L.A. County fires destroyed thousands of homes and plunged families into a hectic rental market.

Arguments for and against keeping post-fire rent limits

In her motion to keep the rules in place through June 27, Horvath argued the ban should be preserved because about two-thirds of fire survivors are still in temporary housing.

Horvath wrote that many families “have run out of financial displacement coverage from their insurance companies, which reinforces the need to continue price gouging restrictions, to protect these homeowners from drastic price increases.”

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Horvath said she was "deeply disappointed" that most of her colleagues abstained from the vote.

"We continue hearing from residents who are struggling to recover financially and stay housed as they rebuild," she said.

Landlord groups have been pushing county leaders for months to end the rent gouging ban. During public comment in Tuesday’s meeting, Jesus Rojas with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles said the rules have long outlived the post-fire emergency.

“They are wrongfully being used to harm thousands of rental housing providers throughout the entire county,” Rojas said. “This must stop, and it must stop now.”

How the rules have worked so far 

In March, the county ended post-fire price gouging restrictions on hotels, because survey data found that few displaced families were still staying in temporary motel rooms. Horvath argued the rent-gouging ban should be continued until the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs could deliver further data on resident displacement and the rental market.

The rules have banned landlords from raising rents by more than 10% from advertised pre-fire levels. They also prohibited rents exceeding 200% of fair market value, as established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on previously unlisted properties.

Tenant advocates found thousands of likely violations

Following the 2025 Palisades and Eaton Fires, prosecutors filed a handful of misdemeanor charges against landlords and real estate agents accused of violating the price gouging rules.

In the days after the fires, LAist spoke with one agent who encouraged her client to raise the rent on a Bel Air home nearly 86% from a previous 2024 listing.

The agent, Fiora Aston with Compass, said at the time, “I've never seen anything like this. People are desperate. There’s so many families without a house.”

The listing was later taken down. But tenant advocates with a group called The Rent Brigade started compiling data on other listings that appeared to violate price-gouging laws. By January 2026, the group reported finding 18,360 listings featuring likely violations.