Grand Central Market, an embodiment of immigrant L.A., confronts new climate of fear

Los Angeles Times

16 hours ago

Most weekdays the foot traffic and the din of business are constant in Grand Central Market, a food hall and staple of downtown's historic core since 1917. In a way, the market, with its oldest stalls ranging from Mexican to Chinese to Salvadoran cuisines, is an embodiment of the immigrant experience in Los Angeles.
But this week, even at what are typically its peak hours, tables sat empty. The legendary market, like so many other restaurants and businesses across downtown, is losing business due to Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the neighborhood's anti-ICE protests.
On Thursday afternoon, Martha Luna stood helping scant guests from beneath the iconic red neon signage at China Cafe, where she's been a server for more than 40 years. Founded in 1959, it is one of the oldest legacy vendors in Grand Central Market.
'The last few days, it's been crazy,' she said from behind the red counter. 'Everybody's afraid, you know? When they come, they're just talking about [how] they're afraid to go out. Even if they go to the market or eat, they're so afraid, even my boss.'
Throughout the last week, she said, she's seen one to three of her regulars each day, with only one or two guests seated at the counter at any given time.
In the daytime, downtown office workers line the squat wraparound counter. In the evenings, Luna said, the clientele are mostly tourists. Since 1959, they've come for Chinese American classics such as sweet and sour chicken, barbecued pork chow mein, egg rolls, chop suey and shrimp fried rice.
Some of the newer, flashier vendors also noted a dramatic drop in business.
'We are typically one of the vendors that stays very, very busy throughout the entire week and day,' said Amy Recinos at Villa's Tacos. It's not uncommon to see lines of customers stretching the length of the counter as they wait for charred meats on a layer of crispy cheese and fresh blue corn tortillas.
Typically the taqueria — one of the L.A. Times' 101 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles — sees a 'huge' lunch rush at the market from noon to 2 p.m. But this week Villa's is closing early due to lack of business.
Recinos spoke with some of the restaurant's regulars, most of whom work in the neighborhood and told her they're working from home 'to avoid the riots and to avoid the protests.'
On Sunday, the stand found most of its customers to be protesters, and Recinos expects that to be the case this weekend.
'To all of my Hispanic immigrants: I'm here for you, we see you,' she said. 'I'm very lucky and blessed to be born here, but we support you, and hopefully this does calm down because it's not easy to know or predict what's gonna happen for families and kids. Just stay safe out there, and we're here for you if you guys need a meal.'
Bella Aguirre sat on a stool at Sticky Rice's counter, finishing her meal of pad kra pow. The aspiring costume designer came to the market with an out-of-town friend despite her father's warning against the neighborhood's dangers given the protests.
She said that on Thursday afternoon, she found it to be 'pretty peaceful' — and that she's looking forward to returning this weekend.
'I think it's within our rights to protest,' she said. 'And I'm looking forward to going to the Saturday protests because I think it's going to be a bigger outpouring of people. I think I feel safe going.'
Grand Central Market, she said, seemed slow in comparison with her previous visits.
Nearby, at the stall of lauded smashburger spot For the Win, a yellow, hand-written sign read, 'Due to current events, we will be closing early.'
Sitting on the patio with a laptop and a cup of green juice, Sonya Mendoza noted the dearth of customers she regularly sees at the market. From noon to 3 p.m., she said, there's always a lunch rush. On Thursday, only a handful of customers passed by or filled the nearby tables.
Mendoza's work centers her in downtown and Echo Park on weekdays, and she lives less than one mile from the landmark food hall. She's found the desolation isn't limited to Grand Central Market.
'There's not a street vendor in sight,' Mendoza said. 'I haven't seen any street vendors in the past three days, which is mind boggling to me because I live in Echo Park and they're everywhere there usually.'
In a corner seat at Lucky Bird's counter, Froi Cruz sat enjoying his break from managing the fried chicken stall. He's worked at the restaurant for five years and said that business is depleted now.
Customers have gradually decreased throughout the week. Due to the curfew and the slowing of business, Lucky Bird has been closing around 5 p.m., two hours earlier than unusal on weekdays. This weekend it might not make it to its usual hours of 9 p.m., either.
Much of Lucky Bird's clientele are office workers who place orders for fried chicken sandwiches, tenders, wings and sides like cheddar jalapeño biscuits. That business trickled to a fraction of its former volume this week.
'I feel like people are just scared to come out,' Cruz said.
Across the aisle, Jose Marroquin at Shiku echoed these sentiments. 'It's very slow,' he said. 'No people, nothing.'
At the end of the block, a decadelong vendor of Grand Central Market found its own brick-and-mortar location and is, like its former food-hall brethren, greatly affected by the week's loss of business.
DTLA Cheese Superette relies heavily on nearby offices for lunch orders of sandwiches, salads and charcuterie boards. Co-owner and cheesemonger Lydia Clarke said that all of their catering orders were canceled this week, which is difficult to offset. On Sunday, Clarke and her partner, chef Reed Herrick, served a number of protesters. On Monday, they noted 'an immediate halt' to business.
She called the lack of customers 'brutal' and wondered how DTLA Cheese Superette or its adjacent bar, Kippered, will weather the curfews and the neighborhood's remote work due to the anti-ICE protests.
As a longtime resident of downtown herself, Clarke sees aiding protesters as serving her community — and hopes to continue to do so as long as she can.
'We feed a lot of people that have been walking the pavement, and it's great to hear the story and feel supported in that way: to serve a nourishing meal of support [for] our community and the causes,' Clarke said, tearing up. 'With this cause it just feels so personal to so many [in the] industry, of our food sources, of our workforce. I don't have the fear of being taken, so I feel heartbroken for these families. It is an honor to be able to still stand here and have our doors open and have a place for people to come.'
Times staff writers Lauren Ng and Karla Marie Sanford contributed to this report.