11 places connecting Angelenos to their Latinidad

Los Angeles Times

10-02-2025

Feb. 10, 2025 8:48 AM PT
Sometimes you just want to talk to people who understand you — at places that are inclusive and where you feel comfortable and accepted. Maybe you want to learn more about your culture and language, or want to see your community represented onstage in nuanced and uplifting ways.
There are plenty of places in Los Angeles to experience Latinidad. For LGBTQ+ into Latin music, theater lovers seeking stories about Latinos or gay vaqueros looking for a place to let loose, those spaces may not be easy to find.
From a community garden in East Los Angeles to a Mexican American museum and event space in downtown L.A. to a Brazilian capoeira and cultural center on the Westside, here are 11 ways to experience Latinidad in L.A. neighborhoods that have a little something for everyone.
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Downtown L.A. Cooking school
Check the calendar at L A Plaza de Cultura y Artes before visiting because there's always something going on at the museum, event space and cooking school. LA Plaza opened in 2011 thanks to the late L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina. Since then, it's hosted an ongoing exhibit about the history of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, an annual summer dance series, outdoor concerts, movie screenings and — with the opening of LA Cocina de Gloria Molina in 2022 — Latinx cooking classes in addition to food and wine tastings.LA Cocina also provides a free culinary program for young people looking to learn cooking skills in its chef's kitchen, earn a certificate and network with chefs and restaurant owners to hear about food industry careers and jobs. Route 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, California 90012
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East Los Angeles Gardens
When Miguel Ramos, 37, bought his East Los Angeles home in 2017, they had a vision for a community space that would create connection to the land and their ancestors. They transformed the outdoor space into a community garden by planting corn, tomatoes and squash along with California native plants and herbs. Ramos invited artists, storytellers, activists and urban farmers to use the space to teach free classes.Today, Ramos operates Casita with partner Ellie Guzman and their toddler. They have a community garden where they grow their own fruits and vegetables to share with neighbors. They host seasonal events that include learning how to make your own community garden and how to start composting.
To schedule a visit to Casita del Barrio or find out about upcoming events, visit Instagram .
Website www.instagram.com
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Avocado Heights Activist Group
There's no better way to get in touch with your Latinidad than to fight for your way of life. Since its creation in 2020, Avocado Heights Vaquer@s has worked on grassroots campaigns in Avocado Heights, South El Monte and Pellissier Village.
Through AHV and Union de Ranchos (co-founded with Nayellie Díaz), Samuel Brown-Vazquez and team have organized volunteers to protest the expansion of a battery recycling plant, stop the L.A. City Council from banning rodeos, and be a watchdog of development projects that displace families. 'Our community is primarily immigrant, working class,' Brown-Vazquez said. They're 'just as interested in rodeo as they are in having clean water, clean air.'
The group meets the second Saturday of every month in Whittier. To get involved or for more information, email [e-mail] .
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Nonprofit
Growing up in South L.A., Cynthia Gonzalez, 44, was one of a few Salvadoran kids, and her classmates weren't always kind. Over time, she grew proud of her heritage and realized that she needed to be the representation she had always wanted.
She started Salvies Who Lunch in 2018 as a hashtag after getting together with a group of friends who bonded over food and culture. She's now produced more than 40 events, including three annual ones — Pupusafest (which is now Púchica Fest to include all Central American countries) celebrates food; Joteria is an LGBTQ+ festival at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes; and Chévere is a visual arts festival.
You can also find SWL at Angel City FC' s home games, and kindergarten through fifth-grade students at participating schools can join the Bichitos & Bichitas Club , an after-school program that teaches and celebrities Central American culture.
Website www.salvieswholunch.com
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Party
Massiel Muñoz gets choked up when she talks about the people who come to the Puerto Rican and Dominican food and dance parties she throws with her cousin and business partner, chef Victor Ramos. Many of their guests came to L.A. by themselves to work in entertainment or other professions. The root of Capicúa , named after a term used in the Dominican Republic when a player wins a game of dominoes, is togetherness and food, she said.'We're fortunate enough to have our family here. For someone who doesn't, just knowing that they can come to these spaces and feel safe. A lot of people show up alone,' Muñoz said of their monthly event. 'We have this saying, people come alone, but you're going to leave with what we say 'primos,' cousins in Spanish.' Website www.instagram.com
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Los Feliz Party
'Let's go, lesbians!' That's the rallying cry of D.J. Leslie Ortiz — D.J. Les — the founder of Toxica Fridays, a weekly Latin dance party for lesbians. 'Toxica' is a play on the stereotype of lesbians having toxic relationships, but it's all good vibes and everyone is welcome at Mi Corazón restaurant in Silver Lake.'It's definitely open to anyone' who wants to have a good time, Jeremy Swan, who owns Mi Corazón with his wife Vanessa Swan, said.Every Friday, the party at Mi Corazón restaurant begins with dinner at 8 p.m. At 9, Ortiz and her crew begin their Latin music set and at 10, tables are pushed out of the way and the dancing gets going.
Ortiz hosts Toxica events, lesbian brunches, and private parties all over Southern California. To find out about her next event, check out her Instagram .
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Culver City Dance Studio
What started as a single-student capoeira class in the late 1980s has grown into a multicultural community of adults, teenagers, parents and children. Joselito 'Amen' Santo is a mestre de capoeira — the highest level in the Brazilian dance-like martial art — a master drummer, and the director of Ballet Folclórico do Brasil, one of the Music Center's performing artist groups.
He opened the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center to share his Afro-Brazilian culture, but it's evolved over the years. In addition to capoeira, adults and kids can take classes in parkour and jiu jitsu, or they can learn Portuguese, take part in vibrational healing or come to a social event. 'This space attracts people from all over the world,' he said. 'It's not just Brazilian or American. It's a melting pot.'
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Downtown L.A. Live Theater Group
2025 marks the 40th year that the Latino Theater Company has worked to tell stories from underrepresented communities. Since its founding by award-winning director José Luis Valenzuela, LTC has opened a five-theater complex in downtown L.A.'s Historic Core, started a Summer Youth Conservatory, continued to host a free vocational training program for L.A. teens and young adults, and created the National Latinx Theater Initiative that received a $9-million grant in 2023 to support Latino theaters across the country.
And it's a great place to see compelling original works by Latinxs for Latinxs plus works by non-Latinos. 'The plays are political because our lives are political,' LTC marketing director Xavi Moreno said. Thanks to the LTC's Impact Inititiative, Los Angeles and area community college students can enroll to get six tickets plus $10 guest passes. Regular tickets run from $10 for previews up to $45.
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Vermont Square Museum
Nestled in a house in South L.A., the Garifuna Museum of Los Angeles (GAMOLA) offers a place for people to revisit their language and culture or discover it for the first time. Descended from African people enslaved by the Spanish, Garifuna people can be found in Central American countries and right here in Southern California.GAMOLA leads tours by appointment and hosts poetry readings and educational programs while working to promote Garifuna culture.Cynthia Lewis is Garifuna and has been with the museum since its opening in 2011. She wants people to know that at GAMOLA, 'we're reaching out to the diaspora to let them know they have a place.'
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Hollywood Bar
They have it all at Club Tempo : drag shows, male dancers, mariachis, live music, DJs playing everything from reggaeton to pop. But what's really special about the club is that it welcomes queer vaqueros.For more than 30 years, the two-story bar in Hollywood has been a haven for gay Latinxs who identify with Latinx cowboy culture. Whether sporting Tejanas — cowboy hats — and boots and dancing to norteño music on one floor or chilling with friends at the bar, Club Tempo has something going on most nights.
Check out Instagram to find out who's performing, when they have happy hour and what time to go to avoid cover charges.
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Chinatown Cafe
No place in Los Angeles captures the city's resilient spirit better than Homeboy Industries. For more than 35 years, former gang members have found hope and a second chance thanks to Father Greg Boyle.
Boyle, a 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree, started the gang intervention, rehab, and job-training program out of Dolores Mission Church where he was pastor. Thousands of men and women have gone through the Homeboy program, and many work for the organization's food and retail businesses.
You'll find Homeboy chips, salsa and guacamole in grocery stores nationwide and freshly baked breads and pastries at Homeboy Farmers Markets . You can grab a coffee, pastry or sandwich at Homeboy Diner on the second story of City Hall or visit Homegirl Café in Chinatown for breakfast and lunch.
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