The Brief

Empanadas have firmly earned their place in Los Angeles’ vibrant food community as a beloved savory — and in some cases, sweet — quick bite.

From traditional Argentine recipes to Venezuelan and Colombian flavors, these handheld pastries have won over food lovers across the city.

Here are five standout empanada spots we highly recommend checking out, each offering their own unique take on the South American staple.

Nonna’s Empanadas

Tomato, beef and veggie empanadas from Nonna’s Empanadas.

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Courtesy Nonna's Empanadas

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With more than 30 flavors to choose from, Nonna’s Empanadas offers something for every palate — from savory fillings like beef, chicken, and spinach to sweet ones like Nutella and apple. What I love about them the most is that they’re perfectly stuffed and oven-baked, just like the empanadas I ate as a child in Buenos Aires.

“I grew up with empanadas being a staple,” said Eduardo Ekmekgian, owner of Nonna’s Empanadas and son of its founder. “People like my family have one day a week where they have empanadas.”

The late Mario Ekmekgian, a lifelong entrepreneur, teamed up in 2010 with his business partner and longtime friend from Argentina, Graciella Boltiansky, to open Nonna’s first location at West 3rd Street and Holt Avenue in West Hollywood. Before that, Ekmekgian had been selling empanadas at farmers’ markets across Los Angeles.

“There were definitely growing pains in the beginning,” Ekmekgian said. “We only had about nine empanada flavors, and we were experimenting with tablecloths, ceramic plates, premium desserts, even choripans, Argentinian pizza and milanesas. We were just trying things to see what worked. But our foundation was always the empanadas, and as we added more flavors, we kept fine-tuning the brand and the business model.”

Ekmekgian and his family are of Armenian ancestry and lived in Argentina before moving to the U.S. in 1987. The name for Nonna’s was inspired by Ekmegian’s grandmother, but also the idea that “everybody has a nonna” that cooks for them or in his case made him empanadas.

“We started with classics like beef, which has hard-boiled egg and olive, chicken, spinach, and corn,” he said. “From there, we experimented a lot — Korean-inspired empanadas, Philly cheesesteak, and Latin flavors like carnitas. Empanadas are very versatile, you can take flavors from anywhere and put them in a dough pocket. That’s the fun of it.”

Ekmekgian said their savory empanadas remain the most popular, but they’re still experimenting with sweet varieties and planning to introduce new flavors.

“Beef has always been number one,” he said. “We’re working on new sweet flavors, like strawberry cheesecake and pineapple cream. Sweet ones don’t usually outsell the savory, because people eat multiples of the savory flavors, then maybe add a few sweets.”

Looking ahead, Ekmekgian said he’s often asked about franchising, but he wants to take his time before making that decision.

“There’s a process to growing the brand,” he said. “I want to fine-tune the model so every location is consistent and the quality and experience stay the same. My hope is that everyone tries empanadas for the first time and thinks, ‘Wow, I want this every week with my family or friends.’”

Rincon Chileno

Rincón Chileno's spinach empanadas (left) and beef empanadas, also known as empanada de pino.

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Marina Peña

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LAist

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The classic Chilean empanada de pino (or de carne) is thick, hearty and generously filled. Unlike many other South American empanadas, which tend to be smaller, the Chilean empanada is large and immediately stands out. Juicy and substantial, it can easily serve as a complete meal all on its own.

Ricardo Flores, owner of Rincon Chileno on Melrose since 1973, immigrated to Los Angeles from Santiago, Chile, in 1972 and opened the restaurant with the goal of introducing L.A. to the empanada as much as to tacos or pupusas.

“I think the empanada competes with the best taco or the best pupusa, so I would love for it to become just as popular, for everyone to know of this food that comes from all over South America,” he said.

The restaurant is known for their empanadas de pino, which are filled with beef, onion, salt and pepper, oregano, a touch of cumin and garlic. The dough is made from flour, milk, eggs, butter and a mix of seasonings.

Flores credits the empanadas’ juiciness to the fat in the meat and the generous amount of onions in the filling. Adding even more richness is the pebre, a traditional Chilean sauce poured over the filling. Flores shared that their version includes jalapeños, cilantro, green bell peppers, salt, garlic, olive oil and onions.

“An empanada de pino with pebre and red wine is the perfect combination for lunch,” Flores said. “A single empanada will satisfy you.”

Sabor Colombiano

Chicken empanadas from Sabor Colombiano in Westlake.

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Marina Peña

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LAist

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What happens when you take traditional fried Colombian empanadas and add a touch of L.A.’s Mexican influence? If you ask Dario Garcia, owner of the Colombian restaurant Sabor Colombiano, the result might just be the ideal empanada.

“The perfect Colombian combination is a chicken empanada with chili, rice on the side, and an iced coffee,” Garcia said. “And thanks to the Mexican-American influence here, our chili is spicier than you might expect.”

Garcia explained that their famous empanadas de carne are made with cornmeal dough and a filling of shredded beef and potatoes. They’re fried for four to five minutes, resulting in a crunchy texture similar to the empanadas you’d find in Cali, in the Valle del Cauca region of western Colombia.

“In el Valle del Cauca, restaurants offer a range of chili sauces, varying in heat, and we do the same,” Garcia said. “An empanada isn’t an empanada without chili.”

Another popular addition is the salsa rosada, a pink sauce from Bogotá made with mayonnaise and ketchup.

Garcia adds that part of what makes Colombian empanadas special is the way local people eat them — a tradition he encourages others to try.

“A Colombian takes a bite from the bottom tip of the empanada, then adds chili as they go,” Garcia said. “In Colombia, we say true love isn’t shown with a kiss or marriage, but by giving your loved one the bottom tip of your empanada.”

Fuegos

Fuegos’s ham and cheese, vegan beef and mushroom and spinach empanadas.

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Courtesy Fuegos LA

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At Fuegos, empanadas take center stage. The menu features eight oven-baked varieties, including ham and cheese, chicken, hand-cut beef, cheese and onion, caprese, vegan beef, spinach and mushroom and humita corn. The beef empanada, with its rich filling of onions, red bell peppers, and spices, delivers a smoky warmth that recalls the flavors of Buenos Aires.

“What differentiates us from other Argentinian restaurants in L.A. is our attention to detail, the quality of our ingredients, and our service,” said Federico Laboreau, the co-owner of Fuegos. “The ingredients are simple, but we make sure they’re high quality.”

Whether you enjoy them fresh at the restaurant, take them to go, or bake one of their frozen 12-packs at home, their empanadas won’t disappoint.

After more than a decade as a production designer in Hollywood, Federico Laboreau and his partner Maximilian Pizzi took a bold turn in April 2024 and opened their own Argentinian restaurant in South L.A. The shift came after work dried up for them following the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes.

“After the strikes, we took a trip to Japan for my birthday, expecting Hollywood to be back in full swing by the time we returned and that we’d be busy with work," Laboreau said. "When that didn’t happen, we asked ourselves, ‘What do we do to get our economy going again?’ So we started making empanadas. We started making them at home, and from there, all our Argentine friends started buying from us.”

Whether you enjoy them fresh at the restaurant, take them to go, or bake one of their frozen 12-packs at home, their empanadas won’t disappoint.

Pao’s Pastries & Cafe

The salteñas at Pao’s Pastries & Cafe, the Bolivian café in Van Nuys.

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Marina Peña

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LAist

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The first thing to know about the empanadas at Pao's Pastries & Cafe — one of the only Bolivian places that shows up in the L.A. area on Google Maps — is that while they may look like empanadas you’ve had in other countries, in Bolivia they aren’t actually called empanadas at all — they’re salteñas. Salteñas are a uniquely Bolivian baked pastry with a rich interior that almost resembles a portable stew when you bite into it.

The name “salteña” comes from the city of Salta in Argentina and is tied to Juana Manuela Gorriti, an Argentinian writer who was Bolivia’s first lady between 1848 and 1855. She helped popularize the dish in her adopted country, and over time the name shifted from meaning “the woman from Salta” to referring to the pastry itself.

Salteñas are known for their distinctive repulgue, the finely crimped seam that runs across the top of the pastry like a little crown, sealing in all the juicy goodness. They’re typically bigger than Argentinian empanadas, smaller than Chilean empanadas but just as generously stuffed — and with Pao’s you’ll definitely feel full after just one.

At Pao’s, which opened in 2015, the salteñas are filled with a savory blend of tender meat (often chicken or beef) and vegetables. They carry a juicy broth inside the filling, giving them a soupy texture in the center.

The salteñas take about three to four days to make, compared to maybe a couple of hours for Argentinian empanadas. The meat and vegetables are cooked and then refrigerated before adding them to the dough so the pastry holds its shape and structure. The filling typically includes meat, potato, peas, and carrots — all seasoned to balance savory richness with a hint of sweetness.

Beyond salteñas, Pao’s also serves other Bolivian favorites like silpancho, (a breaded and fried beef steak) hearty soups, cheese empanadas, and sweet treats like alfajores (sandwich cookies)— making it one of the few spots in Los Angeles where you can savor the range of Bolivian cuisine without hopping on a flight.

Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent to curb homelessness, the number of people without a home in Long Beach rose for the second year in a row — with a larger spike for people who are “chronically homeless” and typically most difficult to keep in permanent housing, officials announced Monday.

It’s a reversal of fortune for a city that two years ago declared it had “turned the tide” on homelessness. Since then, Long Beach has seen at least 10% more people living on the streets, and homelessness has increased in six of the last seven years — even with successes in expanding its shelter system and moving people into permanent housing.

Monday’s report relies on a “Point in Time” measurement, a local census of people in shelters and living outside, and those reporting chronic problems in finding shelter.

Conducted by hundreds of volunteers during three days in January, the count found 3,729 people were living in interim housing, a car, van, RV, tent or makeshift shelter in Long Beach — a 3.7% bump compared with 3,595 people counted the previous year and more than double the number of those reported in 2019.

Public health officials and academic experts say the increase reflects a sharp rise in rents, the conclusion of some pandemic-era programs and the abrupt end or delay of millions in health department funding.

But efforts to house people, which include hundreds of millions of dollars spent on shelter, permanent housing and outreach, have failed to stem the number of street encampments, as reflected in the report and interviews with outreach workers and shelter operators.

There are some bright spots: More unhoused people are living in shelters or interim housing than last year, about 30.6% versus last year’s 27.5%. That comes as Long Beach has increased the beds in its shelter system by 12%, bringing it to a total 1,521 shelter beds locally. The city also reported that 1,702 people were moved into permanent housing.

But the proportion of people newly homeless within the past year also rose slightly, to 12.4% from 10.9%, while the share of people self-reporting as chronically homelessness, meaning long-term or repeated bouts of homelessness tied with mental illness or substance use, rose by double digits to 58% from 46.7%.

At the Multi-Service Center, which recently reopened after renovations, staffers say they are taking in an enormous amount of newly homeless people — more than twice the amount observed in the Point in Time count.

Last year alone, the facility saw more than 3,000 new people — at least 20 to 30 new people on a daily basis.

Meanwhile the situation outside Long Beach has grown more favorable, or at least stayed flat. Pasadena’s homeless population dropped by four people this year while Orange County saw just over 1,000 fewer people this year than in 2024 — a 13.7% drop in their biennial report.

While it has yet to report this year’s count, Los Angeles County last year saw a 4% drop in its homeless population — the second decline in a row.

In struggling to explain the continued growth of homelessness in Long Beach, public health officials acknowledged that the reasons are not fully known, but pointed to the growing body of evidence that housing costs are an underlying cause.

Homeless respondents have consistently reported that a high cost of living, followed by familial strife and mental illness, is the primary reason they’re living on the streets. Forty percent said financial and employment were their top reason, followed by family disruption and mental health.

There is also a massive demand in Long Beach for rental subsidies. In the three months of a new rental aid program — which officials say will only be able to help 250 households a year — the city has already received more than 3,500 applications. Of those, about 50 households have been enrolled.

City officials also pointed the finger at federal cuts to the Emergency Housing Voucher program. The program, launched in 2021, provides housing for 582 households locally — particularly for those considered chronically homeless or at risk of falling back into homelessness.

But funding for the program is set to run out, far faster than expected, as rising rent costs have coincided with a Republican-led Congress unwilling to renew it.

Local housing officials say they can only transition 125 households to a different voucher program, leaving 375 households without help once the EHV program’s funding runs dry in October. EHV recipients will be given at least 60 days’ notice before their rental assistance runs out, officials added.

Federal housing aid reaches only about one in four eligible households in Long Beach. About 8,000 households in Long Beach rely on federal housing choice vouchers.

There’s also an increasing shift, officials say, of unhoused people who come from outside of Long Beach.

More than half of the people surveyed, 50.9%, said they had lost stable housing somewhere other than Long Beach, a finding city officials said reinforced the sense that homelessness in Southern California does not respect municipal boundaries.

It’s a trend seen elsewhere in the city. Jeff Levine, who runs the Long Beach Rescue Mission, said many people entering his shelters come from Orange County and downtown Los Angeles, saying the former lacks amenities and the latter is too dangerous.

The mission’s four shelters, which combine for 227 beds, routinely turn away 5 to 6 single people and 10 to 12 families a day. They most commonly see single parents with kids, which are hardest to place in the city.

“There’s nothing for them,” Levine said. “Our referral is going to be downtown Skid Road to the shelters out there… And the dads that show up with kids, nobody really is talking about that.”

The mission’s outreach team, which scours encampments the first Tuesday of each month, say they are noticing an uptick in tents, lean-tos and tarps along freeways, under overpasses and flanking the train tracks that run through West and North Long Beach.

It’s the kind of sequestered places far from a highway, where people have died from overdoses while waiting for paramedics, even after using Narcan multiple times. “They’re out there in the middle of nowhere,” Levine said.

He and some others argue that permissive policies around encampments are worsening the crisis.

The mission runs a strict, one-year recidivism program, that forces participants to wake up early, take classes, work around the facility and do their best to stay clean. Of those who finished — less than 40% — about 87% are financially stable and housed a year later. Levine says that accountability forces many to fix their situation.

On Friday, friends, family and shelter attendees celebrated the most recent graduates — eight people who spent the past year at the facility. They range in age, height, background and story.

One came to the city after 10 years in Memphis. Another drove in with a bag of clothes from Las Vegas. One worked at a mission in Orange, and one came without any surviving family.

One graduate, Akeem Cain, will turn 40 this month. He came to the mission a year ago, homeless, 105 pounds and less than a year into the unexpected death of his mother.

Cain, had already completed the program once in 2017 and thought he had repaired his life. Then the devil came around, he said, “and it tore me apart.”

“I had it — a job, everything,” Cain said. “It didn’t work out right. Years go by. I thought I was going to make it. Lost everything, relationship, family, lost my job. I lost it all.”

With six months or so left until he must move into his own place, Cain is terrified of going back out on his own. He has a job, but it’s not an ideal commute — 90 minutes on the train to downtown LA. He and his girlfriend are estranged, his daughter recently turned 11, and he still is grieving his mother.

“I’m scared, you know, I’m scared,” Cain said. “I don’t know what’s my first step to get out there in the world when I leave this this place. I know they will still be here, and they will have my back, but am I gonna have my own back when I’m out there? That’s the question.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Chad Merrill said he wasn’t a soccer fan before the FIFA World Cup, but he enjoyed learning about the game from the local and international fans who came to the city for the tournament.

“To host it here was actually awesome and it was great,” said Merrill, manager at Inglewood’s 3rd and Out Sports Bar on Market Street. “We had people from everywhere, and the vibe was outstanding!”  

On top of that, Merrill estimated the bar made 25-30% more than what they’d normally make on game days. 

“We understood that we’re blocks away from SoFi Stadium, and there was nothing but positivity from the World Cup,” Merrill said.  

The sports bar’s boost in business wasn’t a one-off, either. With so much hype around the World Cup, local businesses across L.A. expected to get an economic boost from fans coming out to watch matches. The tournament was projected to generate nearly $892 million in economic impact across L.A. County, with more than $515 million in direct visitor spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment, according to L.A.’s World Cup website.

So now that the tournament is over, how well did the businesses do?   

Restaurants and bars near SoFi Stadium said they saw packed houses during the World Cup. 

Bars and restaurants in other parts of L.A. also saw some of their busiest days of the year during key games. For a Koreatown hotel operator, though, business was actually slower than normal. Taken together, businesses said the World Cup offered a valuable preview of the opportunities — and the problems the city still must solve — as the 2028 Olympics approach.

Foot traffic from SoFi helped Inglewood businesses

The Nile Restaurant and Bar in Inglewood on July 7, 2026.

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Bella Buccino

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The LA Local

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The influx of soccer fans transformed portions of downtown Inglewood into lively gathering spots, like the Wood Cup events held on Market Street.  

Businesses along Market Street, like Merrill’s sports bar, benefited from visitors looking for food, drinks and entertainment before and after matches at nearby SoFi Stadium.

Every World Cup match felt like a cultural celebration for Saizana Evans, manager at The Nile Restaurant and Bar on Market Street.

“We tried to play music that catered to certain countries,” Evans said. “If we had Spain’s fans in here, we would play some Spanish music.” 

Evans said they partnered with sponsors like Casamigos, Don Julio and Bud Light, and estimated that sales were up 30-35% during the international soccer tournament.

“It was great. It did bring in a lot of foot traffic,” said Evans. “The World Cup was just another example of how big it can get with different countries coming over to support their team.”

Restaurants did well in Koreatown and Pico Union; hotels not so much

H Hotel manager Nojan Haddadi stands inside the Koreatown hotel on June 16, 2026.

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Hanna Kang

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The LA Local

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For restaurants in Koreatown and Pico Union, the World Cup brought a much-needed economic boost to their businesses. 

Local pupuseria Pulgarcito Family Restaurant in Pico Union saw an increase in customers and hours for workers. 

“They were waiting for this for a long time; it was a big help for us,” employee Elizabeth Aguirre said. 

Erik Avila, owner of Baja Cantina Sports Grill in Koreatown, said the World Cup helped many customers discover his business as a sports restaurant, and it was the busiest they’ve been since starting seven years ago.

“It’s the most attention we’ve ever gotten; people kept calling,” said Avila.

While soccer fans may have visited restaurants in the area, Nojan Haddadi, operations manager of the H Hotel, said he thought the World Cup would bring in more visitors. But business was slower than he expected.

“We were definitely expecting a lot more of an outcome for the World Cup being here,” Haddadi said. “But we’ve been super slow through the World Cup, and it’s been unfortunate.”

Haddadi told The LA Local he thinks the issues at MacArthur Park, which is a little over a mile away, may have deterred people from booking rooms at the H Hotel. 

“It affiliates us to that area,” said Haddadi, who also serves on the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council. “If you just take a walk around the area, you can see there’s trash everywhere. The unhoused problems are tough here. It’s like a ripple effect.” 

To keep rooms filled, the 49-room boutique hotel lowered its nightly rates, which Haddadi said has significantly reduced monthly revenue.

“That could be a $30,000 to $40,000 difference at the end of the month, which is huge,” Haddadi said.

Businesses in Boyle Heights thrived during the games

Guillermo Piñon, co-owner of Distrito Catorce in Boyle Heights, said the World Cup saved his business and brought in a 200% increase in sales.

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Laura Anaya-Morga

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Guillermo Piñon, co-owner of Distrito Catorce on East 1st Street, told The LA Local the World Cup saved his business and brought in a 200% increase in sales. 

It was the best month of business the restaurant has seen since Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids picked up last June, which decreased foot traffic exponentially, Piñon said. 

The raids caused him to close the business during lunch service. But throughout the World Cup, doors were open one hour before the starting game of the day and didn’t close until the last game was over. 

“That’s more important than the financial stuff,” Piñon said. “We need the money to keep surviving, but we need each other more to grow and to just, you know, be better for each other.”

Thousands of people showed up on June 18 for the Mexico-Korea game on 1st Street, and dozens of people watched the games in their soccer jerseys, cheering loudly every time the national team scored a spectacular goal, or a “golazo.” 

Now, the smells of rotting food that sometimes waft over from the Lineage warehouse have at times deterred business. 

Still, Piñon is hopeful that the hype around soccer events and Distrito’s hospitality will keep customers coming back, especially for upcoming LAFC games.

“We really focused on giving people the best experience that we possibly could because we knew that if we did that as best as we could, we were going to have those people come back,” Piñon said.

Looking forward to 2028

With L.A. preparing to host the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympic Games — both of which will be in or have a presence around Inglewood —  some businesses believe the World Cup served as a rehearsal for the upcoming global events. 

Business owners along Inglewood’s Market Street say they are already making plans to expand operations, improve customer service and capitalize on what they expect will be another influx of international visitors when the Olympics arrive.

“I’d like to see a lot more businesses here on Market Street,” said Evans, who said The Nile Bar is a member of the Downtown Inglewood Association and the Inglewood Chamber of Commerce. 

“We need to see things happening, businesses improving before 2028.”

Southern California air quality officials have given Lineage LLC a deadline of Tuesday to present a plan to mitigate the odors of decomposing food at the company’s Boyle Heights warehouse. The move comes after residents filed more than 900 complaints of “rotten, sour, garbage-type smells” last week.

The rotting food is a result of last month’s fire at the Lineage cold-storage warehouse, which burned for a week and spewed acrid smoke around L.A., inundating Boyle Heights and surrounding neighborhoods.

The deadline, which marked an escalation in enforcement tactics, was in a demand letter from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency tasked with maintaining air quality in Southern California. In a statement issued Friday, the agency said it has worked with Lineage for weeks to recommend ways for the company to lessen the spread of odors, but “the company has not yet incorporated several key actions.”

South Coast AQMD outlined more than 20 steps for Lineage to take to comply with state law on public nuisances, such as requiring them to apply odor neutralizer to food waste and trucks containing it, requiring coverings for parked trucks loaded with food waste, and notifying the community of any activities that may increase odors.

For its part, Lineage reports that it has been attempting to mitigate the rancid smells coming from its warehouse as it hauls away dozens of truckloads of waste.

“We are using a variety of approaches to minimize the effects, including: physical barriers (StormWrapper), applying a bleach solution in and around the building, running mist deodorizing systems around the site, and applying deodorizers directly to the debris to reduce odors as much as possible during that period,” Lineage’s website reads. “It will get better as the cleanup progresses.”

The demand letter sent to Lineage also notified the company that South Coast AQMD planned to start a process that could lead to the company being fined or sued.

LAist has reached out to Lineage and South Coast AQMD to determine if Lineage has presented the agency with its plan to put the additional odor controls in place but had not received a response before publication.

About South Coast AQMD’s notices

South Coast AQMD has issued notices of violation to Lineage for at least seven consecutive days, starting July 12, for “discharging such quantities of air contaminants to cause injury, detriment, nuisance or annoyance to a considerable number of persons.”

Though South Coast AQMD has not announced if it has levied any fines on Lineage yet, it has a formal process in place to resolve the notices of violations it has issued. Any fines would then be collected by the state.

According to the South Coast AQMD, violators of state air quality regulations face a sliding scale of penalties depending on the severity. The base civil penalties range from $5,000 per day for a simple violation to $75,000 daily if a person “willfully and intentionally emits an air contaminant” in violation of state law. Those penalties could be $100,000 or more if the contaminants are found to have harmed anyone.

South Coast AQMD has not yet announced litigation against Lineage, though it mentioned the possibility of a civil suit in statements released last week.

UCLA environmental health professor Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne said that criminal cases against companies responsible for air contamination are more difficult to bring to trial compared to other forms of accountability.

Prosecutors “have to show that they intentionally were doing something bad, and that they knew that they were doing this, and they still kept doing it,” Ornelas Van Horne said. “So most of the time, the legal pathway is through these penalties and civil lawsuits — if at all — to bring them into compliance.”

Another ongoing question is whether the warehouse continues to be a source of air pollutants. A tracker on Lineage’s website shows that on July 15 and 17, the most recently reported days, the air quality was within EPA guidelines for all contaminants measured, including carbon monoxide and ammonia. (You can see AQMD’s measurements here.)

Smoke from the Boyle Heights warehouse fire could be seen for miles in June. This image was captured June 20 on the 110/105 Freeway interchange.

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Kim Orr

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For LAist

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Ornelas Van Horne, who studies the impact of pollutants on marginalized communities, said that Lineage was using benchmarks that were meant for acute exposure to contaminants, which the EPA defines as under 14 days. Since it’s now been over a month since the warehouse caught fire, she said it’s important to reevaluate how appropriate the guidelines for acute exposure are in this situation.

“What they're measuring is in concentrations of what we'd call PPM,” parts per million, Ornelas Van Horne said. “But as we move toward … longer time periods, those levels actually go down to PPB [parts per billion], and so that's super important to emphasize.”

Other local agencies’ oversight

Though South Coast AQMD has taken the lead on penalties and enforcement so far, other agencies can also step in — though they are limited by law and jurisdiction in terms of what and when they can do it.

On July 1, the L.A. Department of Building and Safety ordered Lineage to remove all of the estimated 85 million pounds of spoiling food waste from the warehouse within 45 days.

If Lineage is found not to be in compliance by the deadline, the Department of Building and Safety can then hire contractors to remove waste and harmful materials and even demolish the building, among other actions, according to a June 29 executive order from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

The cost of these services, plus a 40% surcharge, would then be “placed as a lien on the property upon which the nuisances exist.”

In the same executive order, Mayor Bass committed to recovering the costs of its firefighting efforts, remediation, administrative overhead costs and community recovery centers from “all responsible parties.”

But city leaders have indicated they’re not happy with that timeline. Bass said in an interview with LAist media partner CBS LA that despite her original 45-day deadline, “these odors are so severe they need to move faster than that.”

The L.A. County Department of Public Health told LAist it has looked into issues involving flies and other potential health issues in and near the warehouse, including “increased fly activity, decaying organic waste odors, and sanitation concerns.”

Public health officials have issued their own notice to abate these issues on July 15, after an investigation that found violations of Los Angeles County code related to fly breeding.

The Department of Public Health also said that the city of Los Angeles and Lineage had been directed to develop a pest control plan after reports of rats, flies and other insects. Bass' office said L.A.'s sanitation department placed and is monitoring "about 250 rodent control stations around the facility and in the neighborhood." It also said the city has hired a pest control company.

LAist has reached out to Lineage for further comment on their vermin control plans.

“Removing [the food waste] safely takes time and requires specialized contractors,” Lineage’s website reads. “We are required to follow strict environmental and safety protocols set by the City of Los Angeles and [South Coast Air Quality Management District]. We have cleanup crews working around the clock, and we are pushing to move faster wherever we safely can.”

Still, the company will indeed have to pick up the pace in order to meet the city’s mid-August deadline. An estimated 3.5% of the total food waste — 1,506 tons — has been cleared out to date. Between July 15 and July 20, Lineage cleared out 695 tons of spoiled food, an average of 139 tons per day, according to data released by the company. At that pace, the company will have removed about 10.1% of the estimated 85 million pounds of food waste by Aug. 15. LAist has asked Lineage about the pace of cleanup and will update this article when the company responds.

Lineage Chief Operations Officer Jeff Rivera said at a July 9 community meeting that he was confident Lineage was on track to remove all waste by the city’s deadline.

“The mayor put an aggressive 45-day schedule, and we’re going to beat that,” Rivera said.

“We’re doing everything in our power to beat that.”

The waste is being hauled away by trucks that can hold 20 tons at once. And Ornelas Van Horne of UCLA said beyond the smells of the material they’re holding, these trucks may pose health concerns of their own, similar to those near warehouses across L.A. County and the Inland Empire.

“Obviously the cleanup is necessary, right? But with the cleanup comes things like additional diesel trucks coming into the community,” Ornelas Van Horne said. “We have a lot of documented evidence that diesel particulate matter is harmful to health, and so I think that particularly is an additional concern.”

The 2026 World Cup has ended — after almost six weeks, 104 matches and games spread across three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Spain is the World Cup champion again, defeating the defending champion Argentina to claim its second title. With the win, Spain holds World Cup titles for both the men's and women's national teams — a first.

Here are the moments that stood out to NPR's team of journalists who covered the tournament:

All the drama before the tournament, and just pure enjoyment once underway

For the most part, the 2026 World Cup was a smooth, fun and safe one.

Sure, the mandatory hydration breaks added for all games (including those in domed stadiums with air conditioning) and a first-ever halftime show in the final were maddening for the soccer purists. But, still, the U.S., Mexico and Canada put on a great show for the world — with record viewership and attendance.

And, wow, were people treated to some remarkable soccer games. Let's not forget the hand-wringing when the announcement was made about expanding the number of countries from 32 to 48. "The quality of play will be poor! There will be blowouts! It just won't be as fun!" And then we all saw what actually happened.
Those World Cup debutants — or those that hadn't been in decades — were just delightful. Scotland (and their wonderful fans), anyone? People from other countries enjoying and exploring the U.S. and posting the absolute best social media videos about it. And what about African countries powering into the knockout rounds? Soccer at its best.
— Russell Lewis

During the World Cup round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina, fans of the U.S. roared and cheered throughout in Santa Clara, Calif. The Americans won 2-0 on July 1 to advance to the round of 16 against Belgium.

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The enthusiasm for the U.S. team is hopefully the start of something

I've been to a lot of sporting events, but I'm not sure I've heard a crowd pop like in Seattle when forward Folarin Balogun forced an own goal when the U.S. faced Australia, or like in Santa Clara, Calif., when midfielder Malik Tillman hit the free kick to put the U.S. up 2-0 despite being shorthanded after the Balogun red card.

It's been a joy to see children all over the country, from L.A. to Kansas City to Atlanta to New York, wearing the team's red-and-white striped jerseys. I had friends and family who never normally watch the sport text me during the U.S. games.

Look, I'm not naive. The U.S. still has a long way to go to match the passion of, say, Argentina when it comes to our national soccer teams. But compared to the tiny crowds at other friendlies I've attended, or getting outnumbered by Mexico fans in the Gold Cup final in Houston, this was a great start.

And I'm hopeful that come the next CONCACAF Nations League, which begins this fall, or even the possible Copa América that might be on deck here in the States in 2028, the passion will linger long enough that this story might change.
— Becky Sullivan

The Cape Verde-Argentina game

Cape Verde was an exciting team to watch in this tournament. The narrative was that they came out of nowhere, which is not quite true: yes, this was their first time qualifying for a World Cup, but in African tournaments, Cape Verde has been playing amazing soccer for years.
As someone who follows soccer closely, I think African soccer is having a moment, and we may see it come to full bloom in the 2030 World Cup (hosted in part by Morocco). Vozinha, Cape Verde's extraordinary goalie, was one of the breakout stars of this cup at age 40.

On the other hand, Argentina is a relentless team; they were the defending champions. They have Lionel Messi, a living legend. The game, played in Miami, was a nail-biter: until the last moment, no one knew how it would end.

The fans were wild (there was a moment in the press box when the stadium was shaking so hard, a local journalist turned to me and said, "It never shakes like this." I will never forget that game.
— Jasmine Garsd

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi reacts during the 2026 World Cup final loss against Spain. This is likely Messi's final World Cup game.

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Patricia de Melo Moreira

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The Argentina team working to decrease cardiac health globally

As someone who has followed the Argentina team for decades, this is nothing new: It is a team notorious for being slow starters, as if they needed to be up against the wall to find their motivation.

They started off the last World Cup, in 2022, with a shocking loss to Saudi Arabia, and then, just as everyone had discounted them, they went on to win the entire tournament.

The matches in this year's World Cup followed a similar pattern: Like against Cape Verde, Argentina seeming to be on standby during the first half, then coming to life in the second.

Another example was Argentina-England, and yet another heart attack special. Argentina seemed to be getting its bearings in the first half of the game. It wasn't until after the 55th minute, when England scored a goal, that Argentina began to awaken and put up a fight. They equalized in the 85th minute, and then scored again in stoppage time to win and advance to the final.

Argentina played the same way in the final, but unlike the previous games, could not find a way to bounce back.

— Jasmine Garsd

Unfortunately, the high ticket prices were justified

From the moment FIFA released the first tickets, our eyes collectively popped at the price of the tickets — what a cash grab! Hundreds of dollars for the seemingly low-demand group stage games, $1,000 or more for each U.S. game, and thousands for Sunday's final.

But the fears of half-empty stadiums, of empty hotels, or visitors turned off by the high prices, never quite came to fruition. I'm sad to report it turns out FIFA was onto something. It turns out the World Cup is very fun and very cool, and many people are willing to pay those prices, whether diehard fans traveling from overseas or curious locals who wanted the experience.

Soccer has long hung its hat on being the most accessible sport to play — all you need is a ball! — but a $10,000 entry price to the final, and hundreds for the cheapest games, are the latest proof that's changing.

— Becky Sullivan

France's forward Kylian Mbappé celebrates scoring a goal against Sweden in a round of 32 match. Mbappé finished the tournament as the Golden Boot winner with 10 goals, increasing his overall World Cup total to 22, the most all-time.

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Angela Weiss

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Kylian Mbappé's unbelievable speed

It's one thing to watch him play on TV, but when you see him in person, you really understand just how fast French captain Kylian Mbappé is.

I did a little digging after the France-Morocco game near Boston, and found that Mbappé's fastest recorded sprint on a pitch was faster than Jamaican Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt's average set in his 100m World Record in 2009.

Mbappé's speed was 23.6 miles per hour, recorded in a 2019 match between Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco. And that speed helped him win yet another Golden Boot award. His 10 goals were the most in the tournament, increasing his overall World Cup total to 22, the most all-time.

— Jasmine Garsd

The much-hated VAR

VAR, or video assistant referee, was first introduced at the World Cup in 2018. At the time, fans and teams appreciated it as a way to correct the occasional referee error or missed call. Fast-forward to 2026, and VAR is ubiquitous in almost every game.
At times, the decisions have been accused of being ludicrous: a Colombian goal against Portugal annulled because a toenail was found offside by the VAR.
An Iranian goal against Belgium was wiped away because the striker's butt was offside. There have also been controversial VAR calls, like the questionable foul that led to an Egyptian goal against Argentina being annulled. Argentina won that game and Egypt got knocked out.

Fans also say it's slowing down the game and putting a damper on goal celebrations, lest the great VAR take the moment away.

— Jasmine Garsd

The continued politicizing of the Cup

It's nothing new: The 2018 Russia World Cup was rife with accusations of sportswashing of human rights abuses and FIFA corruption. The 2022 Qatar World Cup faced similar criticism.

During this World Cup, there were critiques of the U.S. government's immigration policy as tens of thousands of foreign tourists tried to enter the country. The U.S.-led war against Iran trickled onto the soccer field, too.

Iran's soccer team had planned to base its training camp in Arizona. But it moved to Tijuana, Mexico, amid security fears and other worries. Then, the U.S. government only allowed Iran's team to enter the country a single day (and, later, two days) before each game, and the team had to depart immediately afterward.

And, of course, the prohibitive cost of tickets, and President Trump's involvement in the tournament. He only attended one game, the final between Argentina and Spain, and was booed. There were also conversations about various teams and their colonial histories.

— Jasmine Garsd

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (L) and President Donald Trump arrive for the final ceremony after the 2026 World Cup final won by Spain over Argentina in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 19, 2026.

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Odd Andersen

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Trump's call to Infantino was an uncomfortable new frontier

The White House's involvement with the red card given to Balogun, the U.S. striker, was an uncomfortable new frontier for U.S. national teams.

It wasn't a surprise, exactly — President Trump has often used sports as a way to score political points. But it was extraordinary for Trump to personally call FIFA president Gianni Infantino to ask for the red card to be reviewed.

Whether his call made a difference in FIFA's decision to allow Balogun to play — FIFA insists it did not — the optics were terrible, and for many fans, it dimmed a summer's worth of enthusiasm for the team.
For days after Trump confirmed reports of his call to Infantino, U.S. Soccer remained silent on the president's involvement. That silence left some fans feeling as though the organization welcomed the White House's intervention.

Then, when asked about it last week — after plenty of time had passed to issue a statement — the head of U.S. Soccer essentially shrugged.

"The president is able to do what the president wants to do. The president is the president of the United States," U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson said. "Obviously we're incredibly grateful for all the support for all of our fans all across the country, wherever they are. And we're excited about that, and we know that that'll pay dividends going forward."

— Becky Sullivan

Fans react at a bar in New York as the USA scores to make it 4-1 against Paraguay in a World Cup group match.

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The World Cup that sparkled and thrilled 

This is the fourth World Cup that I've covered for NPR, and, unlike at the Olympics, the pride in one's country at the World Cup is always so striking.

Fans — young and old — attend the games or show up in the host cities to be around others to cheer on their team. The passion, the fervor and just the sheer love of home.

Seeing tens of thousands of fans in a stadium, a bar, or a watch party and watching them will their country forward believing that anything is possible on the pitch. And sometimes the fans aren't even from any of the countries playing that day.

Soccer is a global sport and a global love. It truly is a treat to see in person.
— Russell Lewis

Want more fútbol in the United States? Major League Soccer has just resumed its season, and is working to capitalize on World Cup fever in the U.S.

NWSL, the National Women's Soccer League and USL Championship are also underway. And the number-two-ranked U.S. Women's National Team is back in action this fall with a pair of tune-up matches against No. 1 Spain — ahead of next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil.
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