All year long, LAist food editor Gab Chabran travels across SoCal looking for tasty food to share with readers. Here are his favorites for 2024.
Where did he go? It was more like, where didn’t he go? From smash burgers in Newport Beach to a Thai-influenced izakaya dinner in Virgil Village and the backyard paella in Long Beach that took him back to his youth, he never went hungry.
Any only-in-L.A. moments? Yup. How about Michelin-starred sandwiches that can be ordered from DoorDash, a burger that comes with a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce, and a historic lunch-in-a-cone at Disneyland?
What a year for food and drink in SoCal! I encountered so much excellence that narrowing it all down into one list was tough.
I ranged widely across the region, from Newport Beach to Bell Gardens, and Virgil Village to Chinatown. I had upmarket dishes, old school treats, European classics, and Asian comfort food. It was all tasty and all part of the L.A. mosaic.
In the end, I was able to distill it all into one list of my favorite eats, broken down by month. It may inspire you to make your own.
January: Paella at The Paella Concept
A plate from The Paella Concept, served backyard style.
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Mother-and-daughter team Natalie and Maria Curie of The Paella Concept
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I have been privileged to eat paella since I was a child. My parents often prepared it for dinner parties, and when we moved to Madrid in 1999, we ordered it regularly from local restaurants. It meant I developed a special relationship with the dish that I still carry today.
In January, I got to sample The Paella Concept, a pop-up/catering operation from El Coraloense in Bell Gardens. The mouthwatering mix of the seafood, chicken and chorizo, cooked into sticky mounds of yellow, saffron-flavored rice, took me right back to those days in Madrid. It was a perfection concoction, and satisfied the cravings that often creep up on me.
February: Handwich at Disneyland
The chili cone queso features beef chili, cheddar cheese, and corn chips
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I first heard of the handwich and its cult following after watching a YouTube documentary. The Cliff Notes version of the story is that in the late 80s, a concession stand food was introduced at Disney theme parks called the Handwich, a cone-shaped sandwich with a filling. It was seen as the future of theme park food. Enjoy a variety of fillings and still walk around the park!
It lasted until the mid-90s, when it was discontinued for being a commercial failure. In 2012, a revised version was introduced, renamed “Conewich” at California Adventure Park Cars Land's Cozy Cone Motel food stand.
So, on my family’s trip to Disney in February, I made it a point to stop by the Cozy Cone and pay my respects to the temple of the handwich…I mean conewich….whatever.
My family and I shared the chili cone queso, which includes beef chili, cheddar cheese, and corn chips served in a cone bun. Let me tell you: a cone-shaped bun turns out to be a perfect delivery system for getting food into your mouth. It isn’t messy at all and is pretty fun to eat.
As to why it initially failed to capture the hearts and minds of theme park goers, I suspect it was just a little too ahead of its time. I highly recommend it.
March: Smashburger at Mario’s Butcher Shop
The smashburger with added bacon at Mario's Butcher Shop in Newport Beach
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For a while now, my friends living in Orange County have told me about an amazing, no-nonsense smash burger in Newport Beach. So, in March, I finally ventured out to try it.
The perfectly smashed patty maintained its shape, meaning it is not entirely flat, which was a nice touch. The burger’s juiciness paired well with melted American cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles, and diced onions on a soft bun.
I decided to add bacon to my burger, as I have a general rule of thumb: always add bacon whenever it's an option. I'm rarely disappointed by this decision; that day was no exception. The melted cheese enhanced the dialed-in flavors of the patty's seasoning, and the smokiness of the bacon worked exceptionally well. I would easily go out of my way to try this again any day of the week.
April: BBQ Pork Arancini from Shins Pizza
BBQ Pork Arancini from Shins Pizza
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In April, I had the pleasure of attending the second annual L.A. Pizza City Fest, which took place in the parking lot of L.A. Live in downtown L.A.. It was packed with virtually every pizza maker in the city under one tent for two days.
While I had a lot of great pie that day, my favorite thing I ate wasn’t pizza (apologies to all the stand-out pizza makers). Instead, it was the BBQ Pork Arancini from Chef Melissa Lopéz, who cooks at Shins Pizza, and Barra Santos, located next door to each other in Cypress Park.
It’s a fried rice ball stuffed with slow-cooked barbecue pork and seasoned with furikake, a Japanese seasoning. While it's a small bite, the flavors meld beautifully together, making it something memorable. Next time you stop by for a slice at Shins, where it’s on the regular menu, add one to your order. You won’t be sorry.
May: Dinner at Saffy’s
Roasted celery root made with burnt apple harissa, sauerkraut, allium cream, rose petals, curry leaves and cilantro
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Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's restaurants have followed me through adulthood. Initially, Bestia was an all-out party that served as a last hurrah to my twenties. Then came Bavel, which felt like the next stage, a little more grown up and mature. It was my wife and I's last meal together before we discovered we would have our daughter and decided to move to Long Beach.
Earlier this year, it came full circle when we visited Saffy’s in East Hollywood with our now 6-year-old daughter and another couple with their son, who’s around the same age.
Since Saffy’s is named after Menashe and Gergis's daughter, it felt like the perfect opportunity to bring a few little kids. While they mostly consumed rice and bread, we adults dined on the roasted celery root dish made with a burnt apple harrisa, sauerkraut, topped with rose petals, curry leaves, and cilantro.
The dish was a merry wallop of fresh flavors. containing sweet, tart, and floral notes, highlighted by an earthy creaminess.
We also had the wood-fired shawarma plate, made with lamb and wagyu beef served with tomatoes and cooked onions seasoned with sumac and drizzled with tahini. The harmonious dish danced across your palette with each bite. It was all truly delicious, marking yet another phase in my life.
June: Sandwiches at The Pie Room
Confit duck leg ragu sandwich from The Pie Room in Beverly Hills
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There’s something to be said about a great sandwich, and the offerings at The Pie Room in Beverly Hills are just that. They're typical deli sandwiches, but small and thin, with great care having been taken over their assembly and contents.
You can choose from confit duck ragu pancetta with fennel pollen, arugula, tarragon and parmesan gremolata, or braised beef and mushroom, or slow-cooked chicken.
My favorite was the confit duck, containing decadent and savory flavors with a hint of sweetness. The fresh herbs cut through some of the richness of sandwich, making it extremely well-balanced.
My favorite part about these sandwiches, however, is that you can order them online for delivery. We’d be hard-pressed to think of anywhere else in L.A. where you can get a sandwich from a Michelin-starred restaurant delivered to your door. What are you waiting for?
July: Seiro Soba at Otafuku
Seiro soba and udon noodles with a side of grated Japanese mountain potato and fried shrimp egg rolls
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I received an invite from my friend Luca Servodio, who hosts the LA Food Podcast and the social media account, the LA Countdown, where he documents his food adventures with Herculean challenges, such as eating one hundred noodle dishes, as he did this year.
We met for lunch in Gardena for his number 56 entry on his noodle crawl, where we visited Otafuku, a family-owned Japanese noodle shop known for its fresh homestyle soba and udon. We had their signature Seiro soba, a traditional cold buckwheat noodle dish cooked to a perfect level of al-dente with just the right amount of chew, something I’m always searching for when it comes to noodles.
You also get a side if you order the combo, so we opted for grated Japanese mountain potatoes, known as tororo in Japan, a type of yam. It makes for a starch-on-starch affair as you dip your soba noodles into the grated potato seasoned with soy sauce and shredded seaweed.
The flavor was exceptionally subtle, with the slightest hints of earthiness and umami. However, this was one of the few times on my list where the flavor took a backseat. Instead it became all about the texture: a lush creaminess paired with the slight pliability of the noodles. It was fascinating, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it all this year.
August: Taco Hell Burger at Terrible Burger
The Taco Hell burger from Terrible Burger, a Long Beach pop-up.
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Oh, the friends you make along the way. During LAist's Tournament of Cheeseburgers this year, I learned about the Long Beach pop-up operation Terrible Burger, run by husband-and-wife team Ryan and Nicole Ramirez.
The pair started their burger pop-up during the Hollywood strikes in 2023, which left them both out of work (Nicole works as a caterer on film sets, Ryan is a teamster). Their burgers feature fun, pop culture-inspired takes, like recreating the Big Kahuna burger from Pulp Fiction, not to mention their ongoing series “Will It Burger?” where Ryan takes various odd-ball ingredients such as Slim Jims and Popeye’s Fried Chicken to both horrifying and hilarious results.
All party tricks aside, Terrible Burger makes a great burger. I tried their Taco Hell burger with a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce. It’s made with double patties seasoned with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, lettuce, sliced tomato, and Mexican crema. The spicy, creamy burger delivered just the right amount of Taco Bell aura while still maintaining a well-made burger's character. The quality of the burgers at Terrible Burger superseded my expectations, making them worth the drive the next time they pop up in Long Beach.
September: Dinner at Olive & Rose
Aged rib cap with frites & au poivre from Olive & Rose in Long Beach
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I wrote about Heritage, located in Long Beach, earlier this year. The small restaurant won big at the Michelin Awards for California in 2023, earning both a star for its excellent food and a green star for its sustainable business practices and zero-waste cooking style.
Still, the pre-fixe of $150 without the wine pairing can feel a bit steep. So in September, Chef Phil Pretty and his sister and business partner Lauren opened Olive & Rose inside City Center Motel in downtown Long Beach. It has an a la carte menu perfect for when you don’t want to drop big bucks on a meal.
I enjoyed the Iberico pork presa plate, a beautiful mosaic of thin slices of cured Spanish ham, and the aged ribeye cap with fries served in an au poivre sauce . That, with their burnt marshmallow ice cream served with honeycomb, would make for a damn near perfect meal next time I'm there.
October: Lil Tony sandwich at LaSorted’s
The Lil Tony only available at the LaSorted's in Chinatown is city of L.A. in sandwich form.
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Somehow, owner Tommy Brockert timed the opening of his second location of Dodger-themed pizzeria LaSorted’s in Chinatown perfectly as the boys in blue were crushing their way through the post-season.
I was lucky enough to snag a table the night we beat the New York Mets 10-5. That night, there was magic in the air across Los Angeles, as well as inside the restaurant, where every table was packed and every inch of the wall covered in the team’s memorabilia.
While the pizza at LaSorted’s always hits, one new item stole my heart that night: the Lil Tony sandwich. Currently only available in Chinatown, the sandwich features a sesame seed bun piled high with fried mortadella, drizzled with hot mustard from Philippe’s, located just down the street.
The name itself is a double entendre worthy of a Kendrick Lamar lyric. The name Lil Tony references Anthony Bourdain's favorite sandwich, as noted in his 2016 cookbook, Appetites. But it’s also an homage to Little Joe’s, the Italian American restaurant built in 1897 in Chinatown that was a hangout for Hollywood stars and Dodgers fans before a baseball game. This is L.A. food history at its finest.
November: Korean Army Stew at Yuk Dae Jang
LAist Food editor Gab Chabrán enjoys his bounty at Yuk Dae Jang in Koreatown
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When that slight chill hit the air in L.A. last month, it could only mean one thing: soup season. That’s why I decided to visit Yuk Dae Jang's Koreatown location for some Korean Army Stew, in my view one of the best in the game.
First, there was the large helping of soup, and yes, it could feed an army, a spicy broth packed with Spam, tofu, instant noodles, rice cake, and their signature sausage, served with various banchan dishes. Then there was the bossam, a thinly sliced pork shoulder dish, which you're encouraged to pile high with tofu topped with sesame seeds, purple rice, a variety of kimchis and other assorted accoutrements. It all made for a wonderful mouthful of greatness.
December: Dinner at Budonoki
Naem, made with thai pork sausage, crispy rice, and herby slaw
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I can’t say exactly what my expectations were when I visited this Virgil Village neighborhood restaurant. I try to enter a new place without knowing too much about it, for the same reason I don’t like watching film previews — sometimes it can give too much away.
Pretty much all I knew was that it was an izakaya restaurant, a Japanese word meaning “stay-drink-place.” Izakayas usually serve bar snacks that can be enjoyed with beer and cocktails.
That’s precisely what Budonoki does, through a lens that leans more Thai. It's a nod to chef Dan Rabilwongse's upbringing, who grew up in nearby Echo Park in a Thai immigrant household.
Snacks included the DIY spicy tuna rolls over crispy rice with freshly toasted nori to wrap it up in, richly textured agedashi tofu and naem, a Thai pork sausage, served with crispy rice balls, and herby slaw.
The food was excellent, thoughtfully creative, fun, and interactive — I love using my hands in a dining experience. But beyond that, it’s a great hang, with good service and a well-curated playlist. Everything was on point. I hope to be back soon.
Hiring remained anemic in December, closing out the weakest year for job growth since the beginning of the pandemic.
About December: 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.
Worst year since 2020: 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.
Read on... for more about the report.
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.
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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
The Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 16,000 homes and businesses. For many musicians in Altadena, not only did they lose their homes, but also a large chunk of their livelihoods.
Richard Mouser: 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. "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."
Adron McCann: 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.
Read on... for more stories of musicians recovering and the support they've received.
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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Adrienne McCann
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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
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Published January 9, 2026 12:22 PM
The El Super in Inglewood is near a Home Depot. A worker there said there's been fear in the store about ICE agents in the area.
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Libby Rainey
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Topline:
Workers at seven unionized El Super locations in Southern California are asking their employer to implement more protocols to protect them and shoppers at their stores from federal agents.
What's happening: 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.
What is the company saying? Chedraui USA declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing negotiations, but said in a statement that they were committed to the bargaining process.
What exactly are the workers asking for? An organizing director with the union said 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.
Read on... for what other grocery stores are doing and how workers are responding.
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."
Camping tents at a campground in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, California.
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Juan Camilo Bernal
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Getty Images
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Topline:
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.
What happened to the site: In October, the ReserveCalifornia website, which California State Parks uses to help visitors book campsites and other park amenities, underwent a system upgrade. An email about the changes was sent to ReserveCalifornia account holders in advance of the switchover, 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.
Read on... to find out how to reactivate your account.
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.
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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George Rose
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Getty Images
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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?
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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Paul Chinn
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The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
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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.
