The Brief

As you walk into Maydan Market in West Adams, your eyes immediately catch the giant copper-covered hearth at the center of the space. Those flames are the heart of L.A.’s newest food hall, providing the heat and smoky flavor for several of the restaurants housed within.

“ Here, the idea is anybody that wants to cook on the fire, can,” said Rose Previte, founder of Maydan Market. “It's sort of the equivalent of our well.”

Rose Previte, founder of Maydan Market, LA's newest food hall, which is also home two one of her two restaurants, here and in Washington, D.C., both named Maydan.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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Maydan Market has big ambitions. It hopes to reinvent the way L.A. restaurants do business, even as it pays homage to Previte's travels across the world — inspired by the souqs of the Middle East, the night markets of Mexico and Seoul. It also houses the second location of Previte’s flagship Washington, D.C., restaurant, Maydan.

“America just got sidetracked and like usual, did something a little off track and made the market a food court in a mall,” she told LAist. “I'm trying to bring us back to the OG way of doing this.”

Why Maydan matters

Restaurants provide a window onto the culture of a place. And in L.A., they've long served as a connector for the different communities who call the city home.

But, in recent years, this landscape has become fragmented.

The COVID-19 pandemic followed by the Hollywood strikes have led to the shut down of food institutions across the region — over 150 in the City of Angels alone. These shutdowns come as the result of consumers shifting to food deliveries and the high cost of running a restaurant — produce, rent, labor ... it’s all adding up.

Enter Maydan Market, where all the restaurants share resources.

Breads bake up on the walls of a common, circular oven located at the heart of the marketplace.

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Courtesy Ashley Randall

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Maydan Market

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“ We share labor, we share a lot of the things that break businesses, utilities in California are crazy expensive,” Previte said. “This way, possibly we all might be able to do just a little bit better by helping each other.”

In a city like Los Angeles, where you'd have to brave traffic to get to your destination and then drive some more looking for parking, Maydan Market offers a microcosm of the many cultures that call Los Angeles home — all in one place.

And the central fire plays into that notion.

Read more: Food fight — Here's why I think Orange County has a better food scene than Los Angeles

Inspired by Previte’s upbringing

Previte grew up in a small town of about 3,000 in Ohio. Neighbors, she said, would stop by unannounced with vegetables from their garden that would be quickly cooked into dinner. This, Previte said, was reminiscent of her later travels to Syrian villages on the Turkish-Syria border on a “kebab research trip.”

“ I went to multiple villages where there was a shared oven,” she said. “As Americans we take for granted that everyone just has large appliances to bake.”

By sharing resources, Previte said, she hopes Maydan Market will offer a different business model for running a restaurant, “ where it's not so competitive” — but there's still plenty of room for success.

Deau Arpapornnopparat is chef and owner at the Thai barbecue restaurant Yhing Yhang BBQ, located within Maydan Market.

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Yusra Farzan

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Deau Arpapornnopparat is chef and owner at the Thai barbecue restaurant Yhing Yhang BBQ, inside Maydan Market. Running a restaurant is hard work, he said, and often newcomers do not find the support they need to navigate challenges. Maydan Market is an “amazing” chance for restaurant owners to share the space, including the kitchens, the fire and even table, chairs and cutlery, he said.

 ”Everyone in L.A. should come and take a look and then experience for yourself,” Arpapornnopparat said.

Why it's L.A.'s newest 'central square'

“I didn’t think twice,” chef Alfonso “Poncho” Martinez of Lugya’h by Poncho’s Tlayudas, also located inside Maydan Market. Martinez ran the Oaxacan street food pop up in South Los Angeles for nearly 10 years known as Poncho’s Tlayudas, which has now evolved into a permanent fixture within Maydan Market.

“Without fire, you can’t live,” Martinez told me while standing by the hearth watching as staff carefully prepare giant, thin tortillas folding them atop the smoldering heat.

Alfonso “Poncho” Martinez of Lugya’h by Poncho’s Tlayudas, where the tortillas are fresh — and enormous.

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And that fire is the heart of the “maydan” or the center town square. Previte picked up the term from her travels to Ukraine but the word “maydan” also appears in the Arabic, Farsi and Hindi languages.

In Kyiv, the center square was known as Independence or Freedom Square, but everyone called it “maydan.”

“And it was so powerful there because people came there to mourn a national catastrophe. They came to celebrate something and they also came to rebel,” Previte said. “And I want all those feelings to exist in my restaurants all of the time.”

Inside Maydan Market, LA's newest food hall

Maydan Market, she said, is her “resistance” as immigration enforcement ramps up under the Trump administration.

“We're really proud of what L.A. is and all the communities that have made a home here and if we can do one little part in preserving that and protecting it, then we're doing our job,” Previte said. “Between my two cities, D.C. and LA, it's two of the hardest cities right now for the immigrant communities that support us and make us survive every day that open the doors of this restaurant every day.”

Here’s a closer look at the restaurant concepts you will find inside the marketplace — and a few of the things I ate on my recent visit there:

Maydan

The mushroom kebab dish of LAist Reporter Yusra Farzan's dreams alongside the grilled halloumi topped with dukkah.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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Possibly the best dish I have had all year was at the Middle Eastern restaurant here, Maydan. The oyster mushrooms kebab was coated in a spicy zhoug sauce and then cooked over the central flames, perfectly charred and served on a bed of Kurdish tahini (the sesame flavor nutty and really coming through) and shatta sauce. Halloumi is typically a cheese I tend to pass over — blame the copious amounts I ate as a child growing up in the Middle East — but I couldn’t pass up the chance to wrap a few bites topped with Egyptian peanut dukkah on tone flatbread (similar to laffa). It was a sweet, soft, spicy flavor bomb. These dishes were served as part of the tawle experience ($95 per person). Tawle meaning table in Arabic is a communal dining experience where dips, appetizers and a main are brought to the table in a set menu so conversation can flow and community can be built.

Lugya'h by Poncho's Tlayudas

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  The tlayuda is smoky, earthy comes and brimming with Oaxacan cheese.

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  Courtesy Kort Havens

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  Maydan Market

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Lugya’h by Poncho's Tlayudas specializes in Oaxacan cuisine. I had never had a tlayuda before and was pleasantly surprised by how large the tortillas were — almost the size of my face! As I picked up the tasajo version ($25) — thin flank steak served alongside a large tortilla with black beans and quesillo cheese — Martinez quickly stopped me. The dish has lard and seeing my headscarf, he rightfully guessed I don’t eat pork. Quickly, he whipped up a mushroom version sans the pork fat. Smoky, earthy and brimming with Oaxacan cheese, definitely a dish I will be going back for.

Yhing Yhang BBQ

Cooked until golden, with specks of dark brown, the chicken wings ($10) from Yhing Yhang BBQ, from chef Deau Arpapornnopparat of Holy Basil, appear unassuming. But after one bite I was transported to night markets in Asia. Seasoned with hints of lemongrass and cumin, the chicken wings come paired with a basil leaf hot sauce. The star, however, was the chef's take on a chili paste with an umami shrimp punch. Since this was a marketplace and a melding of cultures, I may have put that chili paste on every dish I had that evening (after I sampled them for the story of course!).

Maléna by Tamales Elena

Pozole ($27), a hearty Mexican stew, is the star of the show at this coastal Afro-Mexican restaurant. However, they all came with a pork base so my colleague Joshua Letona, who joined me on assignment, offered to do a taste test. After neatly piling the stew with jalapeno slices, crumbling cheese and squeezing lime, he dug in. “Pretty damn good,” he said. Enough said.

Club 104

This space will offer a rotating residency to different chefs from across Los Angeles. Currently, Chef Mel of Melnificent Wingz is serving wings and Southern food, such as buttermilk biscuits and macaroni and cheese.

Sook

Previte’s Middle Eastern market will offer grab and go lunch options such as a wrap or a salad. Patrons can also shop for products such as Lebanese olive oil, Palestinian za’atar, Kurdish tahini and even skin care products.

Compass Rose

Another of Previte’s offerings, Compass Rose is a coffee and cocktail bar serving Georgian Khachapuri or cheese bread, breakfast sandwiches and pastries.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.