Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published January 9, 2025 5:30 PM
Residents displaced from Camellia Gardens Care Center take shelter in a ballroom of the Pasadena Civic Center ballroom one day after being evacuated there due to the Eaton Fire.
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Aaron Schrank
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LAist
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Topline:
Over the past two days, emergency crews have evacuated about 1,400 residents from dozens of Pasadena-area nursing homes and assisted living facilities as the Eaton Fire threatened the region. By Thursday afternoon, more than 35 facilities had been evacuated, according to state officials.
Coordination challenges: The mass evacuation of residential facilities created immediate health risks and stretched public health officials' coordination capabilities to their limits. Medical professionals assisting hundreds of evacuees at Pasadena Civic Center cited a lack of basic supplies and unclear planning.
Read on... for more on the full list of nursing home and assisted living facility evacuations confirmed by state officials.
Over the past two days, emergency crews evacuated at least 1,400 residents from dozens of Pasadena-area nursing homes and assisted living facilities as the Eaton Fire threatened the region, according to state officials.
The mass evacuation of care-dependent residents, mostly over age 65, created immediate health risks for this fragile population and stretched public health officials' coordination capabilities to their limits.
As flames closed in Tuesday night, TV news crews captured residents in wheelchairs and gurneys staging in a 7-Eleven parking lot and being hurried into ambulances outside two senior centers in Pasadena. And medical staff at the Pasadena Civic Center reported a chaotic scene with basic supplies like gloves and hand sanitizer unavailable, cot shortages and nursing home residents transported without basics like socks and incontinence products.
The dramatic scenes expose a critical challenge for nursing homes: Evacuating residents means not just getting them to safety without medical complications, but ensuring their 24-hour medical care and supervision continues wherever they land.
By Thursday afternoon, more than 35 facilities had been evacuated, according to the California Department of Public Health and the California Department of Social Services. While some evacuees found placement in nearby care facilities and hotels, hundreds were transported to public evacuation shelters.
On Tuesday: Medical staff report supply issues and cot shortage
When nursing home evacuees began arriving at Pasadena Civic Center Tuesday evening, medical professionals assisting them told LAist there was a shortage of essential supplies including gloves, respirators, and incontinence products such as absorbent pads.
"We didn't have any PPE, so there were people with catheters, you know, diapers that need changing," said Dr. Laura Mosqueda, a professor at USC's Keck School of Medicine and local expert on geriatric care who was working at the site. "Their bags were getting full of urine, and they didn't have a way to empty it."
Many evacuees were still wearing ash-covered hospital gowns and some had no shoes or socks, she said. Mosqueda said there was a shortage of cots — which were initially given to evacuees on a first-come-first-served basis, rather than based on need.
Laura Mosqueda, professor at USC Keck School of Medicine, tends to an evacuated nursing home resident arriving by gurney at the Pasadena Civic Center. The man had serious health needs, including a gastrostomy tube.
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Aaron Schrank
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LAist
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Rachel Tate, a vice president of ombudsman services at the nonprofit Wise & Healthy Aging, showed up at the Pasadena Civic Center Tuesday night to assist and told LAist she saw similar problems.
“You had nursing home residents at risk for developing pressure ulcers because they were left sitting upright,” said Tate, who oversees the ombudsman program for long-term care facilities across all of L.A. County.
As the night wore on, rows of gurneys poured in. Tate said some residents at risk for falls were dropped off by ambulances and left in hallways unattended.
Pasadena officials operating the evacuation center at the Pasadena Civic Center told LAist the site is not equipped to provide care to the evacuees from nursing homes and assisted living facilities, but a lack of available beds in long-term care facilities throughout L.A. County left the city no choice.
“It was never intended to be a medical shelter, where we provide medical care to those that are being evacuated, but some unique conditions arose which required us to pivot,” said Manuel Carmona, acting director for the Pasadena Public Health Department. “And unfortunately, at that point in time, there were no resources available to provide the medical care that these individuals needed.”
Northwest Pasadena is home to a high concentration of long-term care facilities, which contributed to the logistical challenges, Carmona said.
On Wednesday: Coordination challenges
By Wednesday afternoon, more resources and staff had arrived at the Pasadena Civic Center and many residents had been transferred elsewhere. But a visit by an LAist reporter found scores of seniors still facing uncoordinated care.
We saw private EMTs continue to drop off displaced residents on gurneys, often without facility representatives accompanying them. Many required specialized medical attention, using wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, IVs, or gastrostomy tubes. Nurses from Pasadena's Public Health Department and volunteers stepped in to assess various health needs, triage resources and attempt to coordinate care or relocation.
Carmona said the city’s public health nurses went above and beyond to provide support to a population that, under normal circumstances, should never have been taken to a public evacuation shelter.
"We cared for them as best as possible with the resources available,” Carmona said.
Private ambulances lined up outside of Pasadena Civic Center, delivering displaced residents from nursing homes and assisted living facilities on Jan. 8, 2025.
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Aaron Schrank
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LAist
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The medical staff assigned to the evacuation center are equipped to address public health issues, but not to provide the intensive physical or mental care, he said.
Mosqueda and Tate praised the work of Pasadena’s public health team, but at the same time questioned if agencies could have better coordinated care for vulnerable seniors.
“We’re grateful that Pasadena Public Health stepped in to provide whatever public assistance they could,” Mosqueda said.
L.A. County’s Emergency Medical Services Agency is responsible for coordinating the evacuations of most nursing homes and assisted living facilities for fires across L.A. County, with support from local health officials and the California Department of Public Health — the state agency responsible for licensing nursing homes.
On Thursday: Nursing home evacuees transferred to medical facilities
As of Thursday morning, all evacuees from nursing homes in the Pasadena area had been transferred to appropriate medical facilities.
L.A. County's Department of Social Services was working to transfer remaining assisted living facility residents, according to Pasadena’s Department of Public Health.
What evacuation plans were in place?
State and federal laws require all residential facilities for older adults to have written plans for evacuation.
Carmona said those laws require nursing homes to identify facilities where they would transport their patients in the event of an evacuation.
“With limited bed availability throughout the region, they were not able to transfer to the designated facilities, which required them to redirect to the Pasadena evacuation shelter,” he said.
Advocates for nursing home residents said the disordered evacuation process shows the need for more system-wide emergency planning among L.A. County’s long-term care facilities.
“For years, advocates have been screaming from the rooftops that most of the facilities’ emergency plans are ‘We’re just going to call 911 and 911 is going to take care of it,’” said Tate with Wise and Healthy Aging. “We’ve raised the alarm with the county for years that there needs to be a more robust plan.”
The aftermath of an evacuation at a convenience store across from two Pasadena nursing homes.
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Sharon McNary
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LAist
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Full list of nursing homes evacuated by Eaton Fire
Media reports and eyewitnesses confirmed at least three nursing homes in Pasadena appear to have been destroyed by the fire: Pasadena Park Healthcare and Wellness Center, The Terraces at Park Marino, and Two Palms Care Center.
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities evacuated (as of 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9):
NURSING HOMES:
Brighton Care Center (1836 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 84 residents evacuated
Camellia Gardens Care Center (1920 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 67 residents evacuated to Golden Legacy
Chester House (1115 N Chester Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104): Four residents evacuated to Brown House sister facility
Golden Rose Care Center (1899 N Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 71 residents evacuated to Golden Legacy
Monte Nido Residential Care Center (514 Live Oak Cir Dr., Calabasas, CA 91302): 5 residents evacuated to Monte Nido Vista
Montrose Springs SNF and Wellness Center (2635 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020): 138 residents evacuated to various facilities
Pasadena Care Center (1640 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 60 residents evacuated to Greenfield Care Center
Pasadena Grove Health Center (1470 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 58 residents evacuated to multiple facilities
Pasadena Park Healthcare and Wellness Center (2585 E Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107): 94 residents evacuated to multiple facilities
Pinnacle Health Colman (672 Colman St., Altadena, CA 91001): Four residents evacuated to Pinnacle Health Maydee
Pinnacle Health Santa Anita (2135 Santa Anita Ave., Altadena CA. 91001): Three residents evacuated to Pinnacle Health Maydee
Stahl House (443 North Craig, Pasadena, CA 91107): Five residents evacuated to Wynn House
St. Vincent Healthcare (1810 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103): 70 residents evacuated to multiple locations
Two Palms Care Center (2637 E Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107): 45 residents evacuated
Villa Esperanza Wynn House (2116 E Villa St., Pasadena, CA 91107): Three residents evacuated to Brown House sister facility
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES:
Ace Senior Care Manor (940 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena 91104): Five residents evacuated to Pasadena Civic Center
Alexander’s House Incorporated (1791 Navarro Ave., Pasadena 91103): Five residents evacuated to private residence
Bella Vista (1760 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena 91103): 70 residents evacuated to Pasadena Civic Center
Bonnie’s Guest House (135 N Bonnie Ave., Pasadena, 91106): 14 residents evacuated to Glendora Motel
Chelle’s Home (3234 Alameda St., Pasadena, 91107: Four residents evacuated to private residence
Easter Seals Southern California Eastlyn Residence (1299 Eastlyn Pl., Pasadena, 91104): Four residents evacuated to private residence
Easter Seals Southern California Orange Grove (1657 E Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, 91104): Four residents evacuated to private residence
El Molino Rose Villa (1144 N. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, 91104): Six residents evacuated to Sheraton Fairplex Suites & Conference Center in Pomona
Evolve Care, Inc (1708 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena, 91103): Four residents evacuated to Hilton San Gabriel
Fair Oaks Manor (1753 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, 91103): 15 residents evacuated to Abria Del Cielo assisted living facility in San Bernardino
JML Board & Care (191 East Washington Blvd., Pasadena, 91103): Four residents evacuated to private residence
The Kensington Sierra Madre (245 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, 91024): 100 residents evacuated to Sheraton Hotel Ontario
Lundy Family Care Home (964 N Summit Ave., Pasadena, 91103): Four residents evacuated to Worldmark Indio
Mentone House (1980 Mentone, Pasadena, 91103): Six residents evacuated to Bancroft House
New Beginnings Atchinson (403 Atchison St., Pasadena, 91104): Six residents evacuated to Fairfield Inn Buena Park
Pasadena Adult Living Center (1415 N Garfield Ave., Pasadena, 91104): 130 residents evacuated to Pasadena Convention Center
Pasadena Highlands (1575 E Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104): 240 residents evacuated to Pasadena Civic Center and other locations
Pasadena Villa Senior Living (1811 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91103): 90 residents evacuated to Cedars Assisted Living Northridge
Royal Oaks (1763 Royal Oaks Dr., Duarte, 91010): 45 residents evacuated to Westminster Gardens retirement community in Duarte
Santa Barbara Guest Home (735 Santa Barbara, Pasadena, 91101): Six residents evacuated to Providence Christian College
The Terraces at Park Marino: (2587 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107): 95 residents evacuated
Do you have a question about the wildfires or fire recovery?
Check out LAist.com/FireFAQs to see if your question has already been answered. If not, submit your questions here, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published April 22, 2026 5:00 AM
A pizzaiolo finishing a Neapolitan-style pie at last year's Pizza City Fest. The fourth annual event returns to L.A. LIVE April 25-26.
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Susana Capra
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Courtesy Pizza City Fest
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Topline:
Pizza City Fest returns to L.A. LIVE this weekend with 40 SoCal pizzerias, including 11 first-timers, and a lineup that doubles as a snapshot of where Southern California pizza stands right now.
Why it matters: The fest is one of the few events that brings the full geographic and stylistic range of SoCal's pizza scene under one roof — making the case that L.A. isn't just a pizza city, it's a pizza region. Expect Detroit, NY, Neapolitan, tavern-style, grandma pie and more. No dominant identity, and that's kind of the point.
Why now: The event runs April 25–26, and the scene it's showcasing is as strong as it's ever been — more artisan bakers, more diverse styles, and more pizzerias pushing past city limits into the IE, OC, and beyond.
The backstory: Founded in 2022 by food reporter and James Beard Award winner Steve Dolinsky, Pizza City Fest has grown into a three-city operation. The L.A. edition is now in its fourth year and continues to expand its footprint both geographically and stylistically.
What's next: Tickets are still available at lalive.com/pizzacityfest. GA is $99/day, VIP is $199.
For anyone who doesn't think Los Angeles is serious about pizza, they've never been to Pizza City Fest.
Now in its fourth year, the festival returns to L.A. LIVE's Event Deck this weekend — from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — showcasing the full range of styles that define SoCal's pizza scene. The event was founded by three-time Emmy and 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter Steve Dolinsky, who has built Pizza City Fest into a three-city operation spanning Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles. This year, 40 pizzerias will be offering unlimited tastings — general admission runs $99 a day, VIP $199. (Drinks, both alcoholic and NA, are also included in the price).
Who's going to be there?
SoCal pizza isn't specific to L.A. What's most exciting about this year's lineup is how far it stretches — from Orange County and the Inland Empire to the San Fernando Valley and Santa Barbara. It’s a testament to the fact that good pizza is everywhere in the region; you just need to know where to find it.
As Dolinsky puts it: "You don't have to get in your car and drive all over Southern California to try all these great pizzas because they're all going to be made fresh, right there in one place."
Eleven out of the 40 pizzerias are making their Pizza City Fest debuts this year (marked with an asterisk).
Saturday
Angel City Pizza (Venice)
Anna Pizza (Valley Village)*
Bianca Sicilian Trattoria (mobile truck — Arts District)*
Bub & Grandma's Pizza (Highland Park)*
Colossus (Long Beach, San Pedro)*
Emmy Squared (DTLA)
Esco's New York Style Pizza (Mid-City)
Fat Lip Pizza & Beer (Corona)
Fat Nattys (Los Angeles)*
Joe's Pizza (Southern California)
Mievè (Miracle Mile)*
Mike's Firestone Pizza (Fullerton)*
Old Gold Tomato Pies (Los Feliz)*
Riip Beer & Pizzeria (Huntington Beach)
Slice House by Tony Gemignani (Southern California)
Thunderbolt Pizza (Long Beach)*
Tribute Pizza (San Diego)
Triple Beam Pizza (Southern California)
Truly Pizza (Dana Point)
Woodstock Farina (mobile truck — Oxnard)
Dessert: Lei'd Cookies (Culver City) and Uli's Gelato (Los Angeles)
Esteban "ESCO" Gutierrez grew up in his father's Manhattan pizza shop. Now he's bringing that New York tradition to Mid-City L.A. — and to Pizza City Fest this weekend at L.A. LIVE.
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Susana Capra
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Courtesy Pizza City Fest
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Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of Pizza City Fest is the sheer range of styles on offer. Detroit, NY, Neapolitan, tavern-style, grandma pie — all under one roof. No dominant identity, and that's kind of the point. Unlike New York or Chicago, where pizza culture rallies around a single style, SoCal's scene is pluralist by nature. You've got Ozzy's Apizza repping New Haven-style, Esco's flying the New York flag, Detroit Pizza Depot doing what it says on the tin, and Bub & Grandma's doing their own artisan thing that defies easy categorization.
Keep an eye on Colossus, based in Long Beach and San Pedro, who earned a glowing review from the LA Times and is bringing a 100% sourdough crust to the fest — the kind of artisan approach Dolinsky says has defined the scene's evolution over the past four years.
And then there's PiiZaa — a mobile operation out of the Torrance Farmers Market whose name is apparently how the Vietnamese community pronounces the word. They'll be making a bánh xèo-inspired dish (a traditional stuffed crepe in pizza form) with turmeric, shrimp and pork.
As Dolinsky puts it, "That to me is very LA. Vietnamese culture meets Neapolitan pizza. That doesn't happen really anywhere else in the country." The fest isn't an argument for one style over another — it's an argument that SoCal can do all of them and do them well.
Slice House by Tony Gemignani will be serving at Pizza City Fest at L.A. LIVE this weekend.
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Susana Capra
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Courtesy Pizza City Fest
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Beyond the slices
When you get tired — or full — of stuffing your face with delicious slices, Pizza City Fest has you covered there too.
Saturday's programming kicks off with "The Dough Whisperers" at 2 p.m., featuring Nancy Silverton and Aaron Lindell of Quarter Sheets in conversation about the craft of dough, followed at 3 p.m. by a home baker's masterclass demo from Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow of SF's Flour + Water — plus a Silverton book signing after.
Sunday brings a backyard pizza oven demo at 2 p.m. from Daniele Uditi of Pizzana. At 3 p.m., Esteban Gutierrez, Sean Lango, and Vito DeCandia make the case that great New York-style pizza doesn't require a New York zip code — moderated by Noah Galuten.
The details
Pizza City Fest runs Saturday and Sunday at the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles, 1–5 p.m. both days.
General admission is $99 per day; VIP tickets are $199 and include one-hour early entry, access to an exclusive lounge, preferred panel seating and a swag bag.
All tickets include unlimited pizza tastings, beverages, desserts and admission to all panels and demos — yes, that means drinks, both alcoholic and NA.
First-timer? Dolinsky's advice: "Go to the places that are furthest from your home ... go to the places from Corona, the IE and Covina. Who knows when you'll go there?"
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is prepping for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published April 22, 2026 5:00 AM
The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit after a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2026.
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Federal K. Brown
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Re-sale policies for past Olympic Games and the coming World Cup's eye-popping price tags could provide hints as to what's coming for the L.A. Olympics ticket re-sale market.
What we know: Officials with Olympics organizing committee LA28 have been tight-lipped about how the official resale market will work, saying only that it will launch in 2027 and have an "official marketplace" by AXS and Eventim and other platforms including Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
How has it worked in the past? The International Olympic Committee told LAist that host committees and host country's laws dictate rules around ticket re-sale — and in the U.S., major hikes in ticket prices on secondary markets are the norm.
Read on...for more on how secondary ticket markets worked in Paris in 2024, and what it all could mean for L.A. in 2028.
In the flurry of ticket-buying that engulfed Los Angeles when Olympics sales started earlier this month, questions about the coming re-sale market loomed large.
As locals balked at ticket prices that averaged in the hundreds and went as high as $5,500, some wondered if re-sale would push costs for prospective fans even higher. Others wanted to know if they'd be able to easily recoup their money for the tickets they had splurged on. And then there was that 24% service fee — would that be charged on the resale market, too?
Officials with Olympics organizing committee LA28 have been tight-lipped about how the official resale market will work, saying only that it will launch in 2027 and have an "official marketplace" by AXS and Eventim and other platforms, including Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets.
But re-sale policies for past Olympic Games and the coming World Cup's eye-popping price tags could provide hints as to what's coming for the L.A. Olympics ticket market.
If these touchstones are any indication, fans could see even higher prices when the L.A. Olympics re-sale market opens next year. And fees — both ubiquitous and loathed across live music and sports events — will likely keep popping up every time a ticket sells or re-sells.
How have Olympics tickets been re-sold in the past?
The International Olympic Committee told LAist that host committees and host country's laws dictate rules around ticket re-sale — and in the U.S., major hikes in ticket prices on secondary markets are the norm.
The two most recent Olympic Games did not allow tickets to be re-sold for a profit on official platforms, in compliance with Italian and French local laws, according to the I.O.C. Instead, Olympics organizers in Milano Cortina in 2026 and Paris in 2024 provided a re-sale market where fans could put up their tickets at face value.
In Paris and Milan, ticket re-sellers came out in the red after being charged a 5% service fee to re-sell the ticket. LAist reviewed one person's receipt from the Paris Games who re-sold two 100 euro tickets to an archery event for €200, and got back €190. A number of fans struggled to re-sell their tickets, according to news reports.
"A lack of demand in the secondary market has left many holding tickets they cannot sell, while organisers have continued to release more tickets," the Financial Times reported just before the 2024 Olympics began.
Tickets that were re-sold included a fee for 10% of the ticket value for the new purchaser.
Olympics tickets have been re-sold for higher prices when the host country allows it, though.
At the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canadians could re-sell their tickets at any price, according to the New York Times. An article from the time declared, "Olympic Ticket Business Gets a Taste of Internet Capitalism." The Vancouver organizing committee also charged a fee on each transaction.
The L.A. Games seem poised to look more like Vancouver than Paris, since the L.A. lacks the ticket regulations of recent European hosts. In all recent cases, organizers charged fees on resold tickets, indicating the 24% service fee on 2028 tickets could be on secondary markets, too.
At a Los Angeles City Council meeting last week, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said he didn't know how much of that fee would be going back to LA28. Hoover has repeatedly pointed out to critics that LA28 needs to deliver the Olympic Games under budget, otherwise taxpayers in L.A. and California will end up paying for cost overruns.
Will LA28 go the way of the World Cup?
Ticket sales for this summer's World Cup provide another window into where Olympics ticket prices could go.
FIFA decided not to cap re-sale prices in the U.S. and Canada for 2026 — a change in policy compared to past World Cup tournaments, according to The Athletic. (In Mexico, ticket re-sales are limited at their face value). That led tickets to be listed for way higher than their original price on the resale market, with FIFA making 30% in fees on each ticket that was re-sold.
The price tag for tickets to this summer's tournament has stoked indignation in fans and local officials alike. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani even launched an effort during his campaign asking FIFA to cap resale prices.
FIFA has also caught flak for increasing ticket prices using dynamic pricing, adjusting ticket prices based on demand. A Congressional coalition led by L.A. Democrat Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove wrote FIFA President Gianni Infantino a letter in March asking him to change course on ticket prices.
"The extreme high demand for World Cup tickets should not be a green light for price gouging at the expense of the people who make the World Cup the most-watched sporting event in the world," the coalition asserted.
Infantino has defended the prices, calling the U.S. market "very special."
Ticket prices under scrutiny
The spotlight on Olympics tickets comes as ticket sales and the companies that control them in the U.S. face growing scrutiny.
Just this month, a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010, overcharged customers and acted as a monopoly. California was one of dozens of states that sued the company.
" What we've seen is the public reaching their own breaking point," said Morgan Harper, with the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive group that has pushed to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation. "The prices were getting so high that people were like, 'Wait a second. Is it now also gonna be unaffordable to even go to a concert?'"
In California, lawmakers are considering legislation to limit ticket prices, including one bill to cap re-sale at just 10% above face value. Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-SF) introduced the bill, which is aimed at preventing price gouging. In an interesting twist, Live Nation has backed the bill, and critics say it will ratchet up prices by limiting competition.
Even if that bill passes, it won't apply to L.A. in 2028. The legislation specifically excludes sports and the Olympic Games.
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Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published April 21, 2026 5:31 PM
The iconic King Taco sign at the original Cypress Park location, which opened in 1974 and is now being considered for Historic-Cultural Monument designation.
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Suzanne Levy
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LAist
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Topline:
The original King Taco restaurant in Cypress Park will become a Historic-Cultural Monument after the L.A. City Council voted 10-0 on Tuesday. Raul Martinez launched the business in 1974, when it started out as a food truck.
Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city's understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. It's now one of the few designated restaurant landmarks recognizing Latino culinary contributions.
The backstory: Founder Raul Martinez launched King Taco from a converted ice cream truck in 1974, eventually opening the Cypress Park brick-and-mortar location that became the chain's flagship. The business grew to 24 locations across Southern California.
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez
is an arts and general assignment reporter on LAist's Explore LA team.
Published April 21, 2026 4:49 PM
One of the many "personal delivery devices" bots in cities across the U.S.
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Courtesy Serve Robotics
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Topline:
They may be cute, but cities are now deciding how to regulate them — and charge them for their use of public infrastructure. Glendale and Long Beach are in the process of creating new rules and fees for personal delivery devices, as they're called, while L.A. is looking at overhauling existing regulations to increase city revenue.
Why it matters: There’s significant growth projected for companies that create and run delivery bots. City officials see that as a source of revenue and are thinking about how to increase it as the bots become more prevalent, potentially charging a fee per trip rather than a flat fee as is current practice.
Why now: Delivery bots perform an essential service delivering products from Domino’s pizza to Walmart purchases. Companies that create the bots say their tech cuts down on the number of car trips making such deliveries.
What's next: Officials in the cities of L.A., Long Beach and Glendale say staff will submit their recommendations for delivery bot regulations in the next several months.
Companies that create and manufacture personal delivery devices, those cute bots you see on public sidewalks, have been working on growth plans for years.
Cities, on whose public sidewalks the delivery bots travel, are only now catching up to regulating them and charging the companies fees.
That's what's happening in Glendale, where, City Councilman Dan Brotman says, “[The delivery bots] just appeared out of nowhere. The company that operates [them] never reached out and talked to us."
He and other council members, he said, want to know if the delivery devices make it harder for Glendale residents using wheelchairs to use public sidewalks.
“I also am curious who is getting the financial benefit from these,” he said.
Glendale’s City Council asked city staff last month to draft two proposals, one with regulations and fees and the other pausing the operation of delivery bots while the council studies their impact. Brotman said staff may deliver those proposals to him and his colleagues in the months to come.
The two largest cities in LA County, at two different stages
The City of Los Angeles approved rules for personal delivery devices a few years ago, including flat permit fees. The City Council has since asked staff in the Department of Transportation to revaluate those rules and make suggestions.
One idea being considered — charging companies for every bot trip instead of the flat fee.
A delivery robot sits next to the bike path by the beach
“[The companies are] starting to put movie ads or show ads, and if they're generating revenue off that, we want to know what that looks like but also be able to have a fee for them,” Hernandez said.
That report should be presented to the City Council later this year, she said.
She’s also keen to hear from the public about their views on delivery bots.
Tell city officials what you think about delivery bots
L.A. residents can give the city their opinion at this link.
Glendale residents can email: CityCouncil@GlendaleCA.gov
Companies that make the devices argue they’re providing an essential delivery service to residents while cutting down on the number of vehicles on the road making the deliveries.
“We currently pay fees in Los Angeles, Chicago and West Hollywood as part of their permit programs and are open to similar models in other cities,” said Vignesh Ram, vice president of policy at Serve Robotics, by email.
Starship Technologies' delivery robot exits the elevator in the company's office.
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Meg Kelly
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NPR
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The company is now operating in Long Beach; Ram says it notified the city before beginning to operate there.
A City of Long Beach spokesperson told LAist its business licensing, planning and public works teams are currently working on recommendations for regulations. Those should be presented to the City Council early this summer.
