The Brief

There’s no question people in L.A. County consume a lot of pot — nearly a million pounds of cannabis each year according to official reports. While the demand is clearly there, legal cannabis businesses in the city of Los Angeles say they are struggling just to stay open.

Cannabis business owners told LAist they struggle to pay high taxes and fees while they watch illegal operations go unchecked. They say when they’ve tried to talk to city officials, they’ve been stonewalled and shut out.

Some licensed cannabis business owners have had to close. Others say they are months — if not weeks — from having to shut their doors, leading to lawsuits and a rowdy, confetti-filled confrontation at a public meeting.

Many of these business owners are part of L.A.’s Social Equity Program, which was supposed to provide a boost to Black and Brown communities disproportionately targeted by previous criminalization of pot. Instead of a leg up, the business owners told LAist the program has led to a cycle of stress, debts and broken promises.

They’re not the only ones with debts to pay.

One state audit found that grant funds meant to help cannabis businesses may not have been spent as intended. The L.A. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) estimated the city may need to return up to $10 million they received from that grant to the state.

An audit of another grant found that $1.8 million meant to go directly to social equity businesses was also not used according to grant agreements, according to email correspondence LAist acquired through a public records request.

In emailed responses to LAist questions, Jennifer Marroquin, a spokesperson for DCR, said a resolution was made with the state on the $1.8 million figure and that the department has returned nearly $48,000 in grant money that was not spent during the grant term. Marroquin said the state recently granted another $3.5 million to support L.A.’s Social Equity Program.

Marroquin said the program provides “free and low cost legal assistance” to applicants and business owners. The department is a permitting agency, Marroquin said, and “does not get involved in private business disputes, business decisions, collect taxes or engage law enforcement for unremitted taxes.” LAist has reached out to Mayor Karen Bass, who did not respond prior to publication.

Whitney Beatty told LAist that she was promised grants, technical assistance and legal services through the Social Equity Program to help run her dispensary, Josephine & Billie’s in Exposition Park. She’s one of about 240 current cannabis business owners licensed through the program — among about 700 total legal shops in the city.

“ I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars just to stay licensed and compliant, in a system that charges my customers over 40% in taxes while they can walk across the street to an unlicensed shop and buy untaxed, untested product for half the price,” Beatty said at a Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on July 2.

“This isn't just bad policy, it's a betrayal of the equity promise.”

The high price of cannabis business

Los Angeles created the Social Equity Program in 2019 “to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry, with the purpose of decreasing disparities in life outcomes for marginalized communities directly impacted by the War on Drugs,” according to the city’s website.

Since then, the program has provided about $13 million in grants directly to business owners, according to an LAist analysis of DCR data. In all, the 271 applicants who got grant funding received an average of around $48,000.

Even some business owners who received the maximum total grant amount — about $93,000 — told LAist that the money didn’t go far to cover taxes, fees and other costs they say were imposed on them by DCR.

Business owners have to pay a variety of fees, costing tens of thousands a year.

Taxes on cannabis products in the city of L.A. are significantly higher than those on other products.

In addition to the standard 9.75% city sales tax, cannabis businesses pay another 10% in business tax, and a state cannabis excise tax of 19%. That brings the total tax rate on legal cannabis in L.A. to a staggering 39.75%, according to an L.A. City Council motion presented by Councilmember Imelda Padilla in July.

Padilla’s motion called for an analysis of the potential effects of lowering the city’s cannabis tax in an effort to make L.A.’s shops more competitive — both with unlicensed shops and with neighboring cities that have lower base tax rates like Long Beach (8%) and Pasadena (4%).

Many L.A. business owners like Brandon Brinson say they simply can’t afford to pay all of their taxes in the current market. While Padilla’s motion is still making its way through committees at the City Hall, he and others say they’re running out of time.

Brinson and his wife, Evelyn, opened their business in 2022. Just three years later, Brinson is closing up The Green Paradise shop in Mid-Wilshire. He said the high taxes, fees and rent are to blame.

Brinson spoke with LAist at his cannabis dispensary storefront on July 25, the day before he had to turn over his keys to his landlord. His shop’s shelves were bare.

Brinson said his experience with the social equity program has been frustrating from the start and has “ led to nothing but complete debt and devastation.”

He first applied for the social equity program in 2019, and it took a lawsuit for him to be able to apply for a license.

The lawsuit, filed by social equity applicants against the city in 2020, claimed that some were given an unfair advantage by being allowed to access the application portal before it officially opened. Every second was crucial, they said, in a race that only gave the first 100 applicants an opportunity to open a licensed business. As a result of the lawsuit, the city issued additional licenses to entrepreneurs including Brinson.

“ They just painted this grand opportunity to rebuild the Black community . . .  to help rebuild or restore the harm done from the War on Drugs,” he said. “ So we jumped in. It was a no-brainer at that time.”

Three years after opening, he said social equity applicants like himself received “crumbs” compared to what they were promised in support from the city.

Instead, Brinson said he found himself paying high taxes, fees and rent that pushed him out of business.

To make matters worse, he said he had to compete with an unlicensed shop right next door.

LAist has confirmed that the shop next door is not licensed with the city and sells cannabis.

LAPD Captain Ahmad Zarekani, who heads the department’s Gang and Narcotics Division, told city officials at a committee meeting in February that enforcing cannabis laws is “not the priority” for his department after legalization.

Zarekani said that proactively policing illegal cannabis businesses takes resources away from other priorities. Even when his division makes arrests and shuts down a business, Zarekani said there are rarely consequences for those cases.

“The people basically just move, move to another location, open the business, and they're back making money,” Zarekani told members of the Government Operations Committee, adding that he believes licensed businesses are “victimized” by illegal cannabis shops.

Brinson said that even though he is licensed and the shop next door is not, he is the one who has to deal with law enforcement.

“ The police have come and raided me,” Brinson recounted to LAist before sharing videos of California Highway Patrol officers pulling up to his store and moving his employees away from the cash register.

Kika Keith, owner of the dispensary Gorilla RX in South L.A., said she has had similar experiences with law enforcement.

She told LAist in May that officers had come to her store four times in eight months to collect taxes for the state.

“They come with 20 officers,” Keith said. “They disarmed the security guard.  I mean, you would think that there was an armed killer inside of my store with the level of force and presence that they show, yet they don't go right down the street and shut down those [illicit] stores.”

Kika Keith poses for a photo at her dispensary, Gorilla RX, in South L.A. on May 1, 2025.

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Jordan Rynning

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LAist

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Brinson and Keith both emphasized that as licensed businesses, they sell tested and regulated products. They say there is no way to know what is in the products at the unlicensed shops.

Other licensed cannabis distributors have decided they will no longer pay the city’s taxes.

“Until we get services, Catalyst Cannabis Co. and a bunch of others . . . are withholding our tax money from the city of L.A.,” Elliot Lewis of Catalyst Cannabis Co. announced at a City Council meeting in April.

Councilmember Padilla, who chairs the city’s Government Operations Committee, said at a June meeting that 700 cannabis businesses had fallen behind on their taxes.

An LAist analysis found there are currently only about 700 cannabis businesses with active licenses. And business owners told LAist their mounting tax bills don’t just go away when they’re forced to close.

Cancelled committee hearings

Kika Keith told LAist that the Cannabis Regulation Commission has for months denied cannabis business owners the opportunity to discuss the effect state and local taxes have had on their businesses.

Thryeris Mason, president of the commission, set aside time ahead of their March meeting for that discussion. Then it was removed from the agenda without explanation.

“At the Feb. 6, 2025, meeting, I did request that taxation be on this agenda,” Mason said at a commission meeting on March 20. “For reasons unknown to me and other members of this commission, that did not happen, so I am going to again request that taxation be placed on a future agenda within the next 30 days.”

Mason added that, as president of the commission, she is responsible for setting the agenda, according to the commission rules and operating procedures.

A discussion of taxation was on the agenda released ahead of a May 15 commission meeting, but was placed last, after eight other items. Business owners told LAist they had been promised a special meeting on the topic, and were concerned there would be too little time to address their concerns.

Keith told LAist that she and other business owners believed control of the commission had been “subverted” by department administrators.

Business owners spoke during the public comments portion of the May meeting. Brinson called the commission a “circus” before showering the podium with confetti.

Brandon Brinson shoots confetti into the air while giving public comments at a Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on May 15, 2025.

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Jordan Rynning

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LAist

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When it was clear to the business owners that the commission was not going to discuss tax issues, some in the crowd began yelling at the commission members who then called the meeting to a close.

The crowd was guided into an adjacent room.

Soon, more than a dozen officers began pouring out of elevator doors to see a raucous crowd.

Someone in the crowd yelled out, “Hey, bring it in!”

Another called, “Kika, we need you in the group photo!”

One of the cannabis business owners counted down and snapped pictures on a cell phone, before they turned their attention to the police officers.

“I didn’t know you all responded this fast!” A business owner yelled to the officers, “It takes an hour and a half to get to my South L.A. store!”

The next two scheduled meetings were cancelled after the disruption.

Cannabis business owners disrupt the Cannabis Regulation Commission meeting on May 15, 2025, after discussions on tax rates were removed from the agenda.

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Jordan Rynning

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LAist

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“We’re being abused”

The Social Equity Program is managed by the Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR), a full cost-recovery department that is primarily funded through fees on licensed cannabis businesses. Unlike most other departments, it does not receive money from the city’s general fund. Cannabis business owners like Madison Shockley say they believe this incentivizes the department to charge businesses more in fees, and then waive some of those fees using grant funds from the state, which the department can then keep to pay for department expenses.

“ So they say this fee would've cost $9,000,” Shockley told LAist, “but look, we waived it for you, so we saved you some money. But that was money they were supposed to give to me to spend on what I needed to spend.”

Update: Hours after dispensary owner talked to LAist, state seizes over $10,000 in back taxes from his legal cannabis business

From 2019 through last year, the Department of Cannabis Regulation has received more than $44 million from the state as part of two grants according to agreement records — about $22 million meant to help social equity program applicants and an additional $22 million for the city from transition provisional cannabis licenses to annual licenses.

Business owners aren’t the only ones with questions about where that money went. State officials also say some of those funds were not properly distributed by the city.

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz, conducted an audit of the Department of Cannabis Regulation’s grant spending and found issues with how some funds were spent.

In emails obtained by LAist through a public records request, officials for GO-Biz called for $1.8 million of the funds meant for social equity applicants to be returned to the state.

LA’s social equity program director Imani Brown told GO-Biz that, instead of going directly to equity business owners the money in question was used by the city to waive licensing fees of social equity applicants and pay contracted vendors.

The city argued that this use of the funds was approved by the state. William Koch, a deputy director at GO-Biz disagreed, replying that the city department failed to show that the funds were used in line with grant agreements.

What's next

Jason Killeen, an assistant executive director in the department who spoke at a City Council budget hearing on May 2, said the state could make L.A. return up to $10 million of the funds provided from the two grants.

Shockley told LAist that he thinks the department is charging business owners like him more than city policy requires.

He filed a lawsuit against the city last month, claiming DCR is requiring him to pay more than $15,000 in fees for an annual licensing process he says he never applied for.

Shockley said that paying the additional fees, about half of which were set to be due on July 31, would put him out of business. On the other hand, he said, not paying the fees after DCR started the process on his behalf would mean he would become ineligible for a license in 2026, also putting him out of business.

Unable to find a lawyer in time for the hearing, Shockley represented himself in a hearing before Judge Theresa M. Traber on July 25.

Shockley called the hearing a “Hail Mary effort” to keep his business alive.

When Judge Traber considered issuing a temporary restraining order on the city, deputy city attorney Patrick Hagan said the city would agree to put a hold on Shockley’s fees until further hearings could be held.

Shockley said this victory in court saved his business, but that similar situations have forced other business owners to close their doors.

While cannabis businesses struggle, the Department of Cannabis Regulation has been growing.

A report presented to the City Council in April on proposed fee increases found that the department’s staff had grown 73 percent and salary rates had increased 18 percent since fiscal year 2021, when the fees were last updated.

The report recommended that fees be increased to cover the additional costs, but Shockley says business owners haven’t received any noticeable increase in services from the larger department staff.

 ”We've been at every commission meeting, every council meeting,” Shockley told LAist, adding that he has met with the Mayor Karen Bass four times in the past month.

“At the last [Cannabis regulation] Commission meeting, I told the commissioners that we are being retaliated against,” he said, “we're being abused by the leadership of this department . . . and you guys aren't doing a thing about it.”

Caption for lead image: Brandon Brinson poses for a photo in late July next to cleared shelves at his shuttered L.A. cannabis dispensary. Brinson started the business with his wife, Evelyn, as part of the city's Social Equity Program.

Spectators in L.A. this summer for the World Cup could pay up to $209,000 for a private suite for just one match, but union workers at SoFi Stadium are worried they'll miss out on the action.

Bartenders, cooks, dishwashers and servers represented by Unite Here Local 11 have staffed the events held at the stadium since it opened, from the 2022 Super Bowl and NFL games every fall to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts. That includes positions in suites, where fans can pay top dollar for private rooms, food and drink.

But FIFA has brought in another entity entirely to run its luxury program for World Cup fans. The company, called On Location, is FIFA's official "hospitality partner," offering those that can afford it exclusive seating, special gifts and meals. Their packages can cost tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Luxury suites for fans attending the World Cup at SoFi Stadium cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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FIFA

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https://fifaworldcup26.suites.fifa.com/

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Workers at SoFi say they're worried that FIFA's relationship with On Location means jobs that would typically go to union workers — and the wages and tips that go with them — will instead go to subcontractors without union protections. It's one reason they're threatening to strike when the World Cup comes to town.

 "We have so many wonderful workers who've been here season after season," said Kay Blake, a bartender from Inglewood who works at SoFi Stadium. "I don't see why they would partner with someone else to bring an experience that we can bring ourselves."

Workers also want to be paid a higher rate that reflects the sky-high ticket prices for the eight World Cup matches at SoFi Stadium. They're asking for double pay for major events including the tournament — an arrangement that the food service workers at Dodger Stadium have for the World Series, according to Unite Here.

"We're trying to ensure that there is no disparity between the profits of the company as opposed to our labor," Blake said. "We don't want to be exploited."

How does the World Cup affect labor negotiations?

Unite Here Local 11 represents around 2,000 workers at SoFi, and they're currently negotiating a new contract with Legends Global, the company that runs the stadium's bars and food services. Their old contract expired last year.

The union is leveraging its role in the coming World Cup to push for higher wages, especially at mega-events. Its workers also want protections from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, after the agency's head said that ICE will play a key role in security for the tournament. Unite Here filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, saying ICE's planned presence at the World Cup threatened the union's ability to collectively bargain.

But the battle over subcontracting could also lead workers to the picket line. The union says the use of subcontractors will determine who will benefit from the riches that FIFA brings to Inglewood.

"Subcontracting is supposed to be rare," Unite Here Local 11 co-president Kurt Petersen told LAist. "So in this contract, we're saying no more. It needs to end and especially needs to end at the World Cup because we want those jobs to be good jobs."

How common is subcontracting?

Petersen said the World Cup isn't the only event where jobs have been threatened. He said that union members lost out on more than 100,000 hours of work in 2025 that was instead given to subcontracted workers.

Kay Blake, the bartender, offered LAist an example: an external company paying to operate a suite or two for an event at SoFi.

"If you bring in a subcontractor, they're going to want to bring in their people," she said. "Let's say that this subcontractor usually buys one to two suites… We have a group of people called suite attendants, and so now there's one to two suites less from their workload."

Blake said that she and her co-workers are scheduled by seniority, and fewer suites could mean people work fewer hours. She also said more short-term workers at the stadium for the World Cup could dilute tips for the workers who are at SoFi year-round.

A spokesperson for Legends Global declined to comment on ongoing negotiations with Unite Here Local 11. A representative for Hollywood Park, the site of SoFi Stadium owned by Stanley Kroenke, deferred to Legends Global. FIFA also did not respond to emails requesting comment on the ongoing negotiations.

Luxury packages are the new normal

The dispute between SoFi workers and their employer comes as high ticket prices for the World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games face scrutiny and mega-event organizers emphasize luxury experiences for the very wealthy.

On Location is also the hospitality partner for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The company supplied the same service in Paris in 2024 — the first time the Olympics had such an official luxury service, according to the New York Times.

"The higher end can run well into the tens of thousands of euros: bespoke multiday all-inclusive packages that might include stays in five-star hotels, meals cooked by Michelin-starred chefs, seamless car service between venues and the best seats at the most in-demand events," a Times reporter described in the summer of 2024.

LAist reached out to On Location via email, requesting an interview on the services they provide and their workforce. The company didn't respond.

Isaac Martinez, a cook at SoFi Stadium who lives in Inglewood, said he's still waiting to learn what his schedule will be for the World Cup and he's worried about his hours.

Martinez told LAist that since World Cup prices are so high, he and his co-workers should get a slice of the pie.

"The people that are able to afford those tickets and those suites, they're not people like us," Martinez said through an interpreter. "They're not the people that are gonna make the food or make the experience."

The World Cup kicks off in Los Angeles on June 12 with the first U.S. men's match against Paraguay. If there's no resolution to negotiations, attendees could arrive to a picket line.

State regulators voted Thursday to stop Southern California Gas Co. from charging customers to help pay for planning miles of pipelines that would bring hydrogen gas to the L.A. Basin.

The company says the project would reduce the region’s reliance on methane gas.

Southern California Gas estimates it would cost about $266 million to study and plan the project — called Angeles Link — and asked the state Public Utilities Commission to allow it to recover those costs through customer rates. The company had proposed a monthly increase of $0.35 on the average residential customer bill over the course of three years.

The commission unanimously rejected the request, saying the company had not proved any direct benefit to customers. The decision effectively halts the project for now, and comes amid a stall in federal funding for hydrogen projects under the Trump administration.

Local environmental groups involved in the community advisory process had also grown frustrated by negotiations that they said, in a letter to state regulators, “does not prioritize genuine community engagement.”

As global pollution levels continue to climb, the commission’s decision also highlights the growing challenge of transitioning to a cleaner energy supply amid rising utility bills and open questions about the safety and true environmental cost of largely untested technology.

Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen is a colorless gas that is considered "clean" because it doesn’t involve carbon, which — when burned to create energy — becomes carbon dioxide, a major planet-heating gas.

But it takes energy to produce hydrogen, and most hydrogen these days is created by burning fossil fuels. “Green” hydrogen is created by using clean energy sources like solar and wind to split water into oxygen and hydrogen.

SoCal Gas said the Angeles Link project would prioritize green hydrogen.

Most experts see green hydrogen as an important clean-burning fuel for hard-to-electrify industries, such as long-haul trucking and gas-fired power generation. The city of Los Angeles, for example, wants to retrofit its Scattergood Power Plant near El Segundo to burn hydrogen instead of methane gas to generate electricity.

There are many open questions about how safe the highly-combustible gas is for proposed uses and how much water it will require to make. At the same time, extracting and burning fossil fuels for electricity and fuel also takes water — a growing problem as climate change drives longer and hotter droughts.

Experts say, if done right, hydrogen can reduce that water intake and not have a major impact on water supplies.

Also, burning hydrogen could actually worsen local, lung-damaging nitrogen-oxide air pollution, at least with the technology as it currently stands, according to energy researchers.

Reactions to the decision

SoCal Gas will now have to turn to shareholders or other sources of funding if the company wants to proceed. The company did not directly answer LAist’s questions about whether it would.

“We continue to believe that hydrogen—including clean renewable hydrogen—can help advance California’s energy and climate goals while supporting the long‑term affordability, security and reliability of energy service for customers,” SoCal Gas spokesperson Brian Haas wrote in an email to LAist.

Environmental groups celebrated the vote, while emphasizing they see green hydrogen playing a role in the state’s future.

“Residential customers should not subsidize speculative infrastructure for large industrial users,” said Michael Colvin, director of the California Energy Program at Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement.

“We look forward to working with regulators, utilities and large customers to build a credible, cost-effective strategy to cut climate pollution from sectors that are hardest to electrify,” the statement read.

Global events like the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics are sure to draw thousands of new visitors wanting to get to know Los Angeles.

L.A. has a lot to offer, including its vast and varied portfolio of public art. It’s even been referred to as the mural capital of the world. So if you want to explore some of the city’s art, here are a few murals you won’t want to miss.

Sports 

“LA Rising” at the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo celebrates the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, depicting him in his two roles — hitter and pitcher.
- Where to find it: 328 First St., Los Angeles

“Blue Heaven on Earth” is a love letter to the Dodgers, depicting both Shohei Ohtani and the late Fernando Venezuela.
- Where to find it: 1647 Blake Ave., Los Angeles

A mural honoring Winter Olympics Gold Medalist Alysa Liu in Gardena.

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Jay L Clendenin

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Getty Images

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California native and Olympian Alysa Liu captured the world’s attention with her figure skating in the Winter Olympics. This mural in Gardena celebrates her win.
- Where to find it: 15532 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena

A mural of L.A. Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna can be found outside Hardcore Fitness L.A.

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Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

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Los Angeles Times

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“City of Angels!” pays tribute to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi.
- Where to find it: 400 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles

Music

Whitney Houston, Rihanna, Aaliyah, Amy Winehouse and Selena are memorialized on this Hollywood mural.
- Where to find it: 7677 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles 

“Jazz on the field” is an ode to Wrigley Field and the Dunbar Hotel in South L.A. and depicts jazz icons Louis Armstrong and Etta James, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.
- Where to find it: 43rd St. and Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When Kendrick Lamar featured Tam’s Burgers in his “Not Like Us” music video, the burger spot in Compton commissioned a mural highlighting the rapper’s unforgettable single.
- Where to find it: 1201 Rosecrans Ave, Compton

Historic to LA

A section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural, designed by muralist Judy Baca, that showcases pivotal moments in Los Angeles History.

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Ashley Balderrama

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LAist

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“The Great Wall of Los Angeles” is one of the largest murals in the world, and it’s supposed to get bigger. The half-mile art piece depicts California’s rich history.
- Where to find it: Along the L.A. River in the San Fernando Valley, on Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street. 

“The Blessing of the Animals” at La Placita Olvera depicts the Catholic tradition of blessing one’s animals.
- Where to find it: 115 Paseo De La Plaza, Los Angeles

“El Grito” depicts a scene that sparked Mexican independence from Spanish rule.
- Where to find it: Placita de Dolores at 831 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles

When you take a bite of the lomo saltado burrito from Merka Saltao, a fast-casual Peruvian restaurant in Culver City, one of the first things you'll notice is the sauce.

The wok-fried chunks of steak, dressed in a soy-and-oyster sauce reduction spiked with vinegar, saturate the rice inside the tortilla, highlighting the sweet heat of ají amarillo mixed with the velvety texture of pinto beans.

It's a beautiful confluence of flavors. It is also, depending on who you ask, either a creative act of evolution or a betrayal of Peruvian culinary heritage.

Standing on business

The lomo saltado burrito at Merka Saltao wasn't exactly a calculated move. Lifelong friends Alonso Franco and Ignacio Barrios — who met in high school in Lima — came to Los Angeles to bring Peruvian food to the masses, first through a ghost kitchen concept they ran from 2021 to 2023. The burrito happened almost by accident: a member of their kitchen team brought in a tortilla one day, someone suggested wrapping the lomo saltado in it, they ate it, and within three days, it was on the menu.

Merka Saltao co-founders Ignacio Barrios, left, and Alonso Franco, right, inside their Culver City restaurant. The two lifelong friends from Lima opened the fast-casual brick-and-mortar location for their Peruvian concept in August 2025.

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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The data from the ghost kitchen made the case for keeping it there. Franco and Barrios had launched with around 140 dishes — lomo saltado, ceviche, chicken dishes, the works. But the numbers kept pointing to the same thing: wherever lomo saltado appeared on the menu, in whatever form, burrito, bowl, salad, it was the winner.

(Ceviche, for all its cultural cachet, is raw fish with raw onion — a harder sell for a weekday lunch. Lomo saltado, Franco noted, is steak and fries — basically a hamburger.)

The backlash

The two friends made the leap to brick-and-mortar in August 2025, opening Merka Saltao in downtown Culver City. It's one of the more competitive dining corridors in L.A., the kind of block that can support a $16 wellness bowl and a craft beer bar in the same stretch, populated by Amazon employees on lunch breaks, families on weekend outings, and food-literate regulars who will absolutely have opinions about what goes in a burrito.

Those opinions arrived faster than Franco expected. Within the first week of opening, an influencer came in and posted about the restaurant — but instead of showing the full menu, the bowls, the chicha morada, the flexibility of the concept, they showed the burrito. Just the burrito.

Franco working the wok at Merka Saltao. The high-heat wok technique at the heart of lomo saltado traces its roots to Chinese immigrants in Peru

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Christopher Mortenson

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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The comments turned quickly. "No! Peruvians don't eat burritos. ¿Qué car—o es eso?" — roughly, "what the hell is this?" — wrote one commenter. Another said "Burritos? We don't eat burritos in 🇵🇪”. Franco describes sitting at his computer reading the pile-on, feeling something between anger and devastation. "There was a moment where I probably even cried," he said, "thinking, I've made a mistake." But then he looked at the numbers. 30,000 had seen the post…. And half the comments were in his defense.

He took the conversation to Reddit, posting to r/FoodLosAngeles asking the community directly: am I wrong for this? The response was overwhelming — hundreds of comments, almost entirely in his favor, and a surge of new customers walking through the door shortly after.

Fusion by default

This is Los Angeles, where many of the dishes that define the Southern California diet were born precisely from cultures colliding. Roy Choi built an empire on Korean tacos. Al pastor traces its technique to Lebanese immigrants who brought the vertical spit. The California roll, invented by Japanese chefs in Los Angeles in the 1960s, introduced an entire country to sushi. None of these dishes destroyed the traditions they borrowed from. If anything, they expanded their audience. And the lomo saltado burrito isn't exactly a novel concept in Southern California to begin with — everyone from Pablitos Tacos in North Hollywood to Le Hut in Santa Ana, run by 2025 James Beard Award-nominated chef Daniel Castillo, has featured their own version. Even Disney's California Adventure got in on it, serving a lomo saltado burrito out of the Studio Catering Co. food truck as recently as last year.

The lomo saltado bowl and burrito at Merka Saltao in Culver City — two versions of the same dish that sparked an unlikely online debate about Peruvian culinary identity.

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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Franco would also point out that lomo saltado itself — the dish the purists are so eager to protect — is a product of Chinese immigrants bringing the wok and soy sauce to Peru roughly 300 years ago. "Peruvian is by default fusion," he told me. "So we have all the right to wrap it up in a burrito." What the online critics were really doing, whether they knew it or not, was defending a dish that was itself once considered inauthentic — and doing so in the name of authenticity.

Where things stand

Since the backlash, Franco says business has been mostly steady — breaking even, which for a concept that requires high volume at a low price point, he considers a good sign. The controversy changed things in ways he didn't expect: people started coming in specifically because of the story, not just the food. He began putting himself front and center in the brand, regularly making videos on social media about what it's like to run the business, occasionally poking fun at himself and the whole debate. When we visited during the weekday lunch rush, there was a steady line of people waiting to order, many stopping to talk with Franco directly.

In a way, he's answered the authenticity question not with an argument but with a presence — showing up, telling the story, letting the food speak. "Honoring my food, if that requires pairing lomo saltado with a salad or wrapping it in a tortilla, I have no problem," he said. "I'm not being less authentic. We are evolving in Peru anytime. I have to be authentic on the individual flavor and then be flexible to reach more people to discover our flavors."

The burrito, it turns out, was never the point. It was just the door.