Central American Storytelling in LA: Pico Union & La Adelita Restaurant
- Heidi Lepe
- Aug 7
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
On family histories & legacy + my first short film!
Buckling us up in the backseat of a ‘98 Toyota 4Runner, my parents would prepare my sisters and I for a half hour commute into Pico Union most weekends in my childhood. If we were on the hunt for a good bouillon spice or yucca, we’d stop by Liborio Markets. When it came to doing our annual back to school shopping or furniture updates for my mamas latest living room feng shui, we’d visit the Curacao. This was long before my parents would find out they were not very pro-Latino through credit lines scamming families like mine with high interest rates. I can still hear Curacao’s commercial in my head to this day through a grey mini cube of a television singing…
¡La Curacao es un poco de su país!
For decades the neighborhood of Pico Union has been a special hub for my mama and the Central American diaspora in Los Angeles to shop, eat, live, and do business in. During the late 1970s through the 1980s, as many Central Americans were forced to flee their home countries due to civil wars, political instability, and in pursuit of economic opportunity in the North, the multicultural landscape of LA made way for refugees and families. The Los Angeles Conservancy recognizes Pico Union as a vital neighborhood that provided an entry point for Central Americans during this turbulent time of migration.
“Once home to primarily European and Mexican-American populations, Pico Union is now home to immigrants from Central America, Mexico, Cuba, and Korea, who add new layers to the neighborhood’s unique character.” —the Los Angeles Conservancy
As Central Americans began moving into LA’s central quadrant, one small family business started building its legacy in the corner of Pico and Union: La Adelita Restaurant. Coming here was ritual for my family. Following our errand runs in Pico Union and Sunday service after church, we’d delight in a menu selection of Mexican and Central American cuisine ranging from tamales to sopes, platano con frijol, queso, y crema to fritanga, and pupusas and tacos. After finishing our food, we’d head over to the panaderia on the other side where our tongues would taste the sweet flavors of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Guatemala baked to perfection.
“Don Jorge and Doña Alba Aguel, who immigrated from Nicaragua in the 1970s, opened La Adelita Restaurant (panadería) in 1976 in the Pico-Union neighborhood to serve a community that was still finding its footing in Los Angeles. Nearly 50 years later, recent coverage of Los Angeles bakeries that draw on many Latin American traditions has singled La Adelita out as a beloved neighborhood destination, not to mention a legacy business.” —Central American Historical and Ancestral Society (CAHAAS)
Truthfully since my younger days, it’s been a minute since we’ve visited La Adelita. Through changes in restaurant ownership and urban landscape, and following the 2012 Liborio Markets’ closure nearby, my parents found reasons to stop visiting. Simply put, the vibe and food just didn’t hit the same. Yet this doesn’t negate what a legacy business once was and represents—especially for the Central American diaspora in Los Angeles.
Through the changes, I don’t want to forget. Especially while my elders and kin are still living to help me preserve memory and place.
Twenty years later, I step back into La Adelita Restaurant on a sunny and quiet Friday afternoon. It’s still standing alongside its iconic bakery. I enter a time portal smelling the freshly mopped tiled floors and seeing the vibrant orange hues of Kola Champagne near the dark bottles of Coca Cola that are my tia Nene’s version of crack. I am once again ten at this beloved Pico Union restaurant. Chowing down my plate of gallo pinto and chicken, I’m anxious to hear my parents signal for us to head over to the panaderia. On their cue, my sisters and I run up and grab large tin platters and metal tongs for our favorite part of the visit. As a family, together we float into a sweet fragrant cloud inside the bakery next door. I hear a woman placing her own pedido for a frosty and spongey cake in another line. She could be making the request on behalf of a birthday party, church anniversary, or quinceñera, who knows but the stakes are high as a whole community is waiting on her, chanting…
“¡Ya queremos pastel! ¡Ya queremos pastel! ¡Aunque sea un pedacito, ya queremos pastel!”
The Nicaraguan owner comes out from the kitchen to say hi to my dad who never left a person short of acknowledgement and respect. Mi pa, a Mexican man, learned about La Adelita Restaurant through my Honduran mom, who heard about it from a Nicaraguan sister in the church. My parents are simply glad to be here and making it in LA with every immigrant in the city.
A space may change but it will always hold a trace of what it once was in a corner, a scent, a smile, and laughter.
This is landmark.
This is legacy.
This is history worth telling.
A special thank you to Sandy Saravia as photographer and Andrew Regis as filmmaker for your contributions, gifts, and time towards this story and vision. Much gratitude to both of you, my talented friends.
This story is also featured in CAHAAS, The Central American Historical and Ancestral Society. It’s cultural mapping project, Central American Heritage Markers-Los Angeles (CAHM-LA), is dedicated to uncovering and documenting the lesser-known histories of the Central American diaspora in the city.
For more information visit cahaas.org.
This article was originally published on Substack - la neta. The original article can be found here.
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