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San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
The most exciting street food in the Bay Area is on this one block
Over the past three years, I've witnessed a single stretch of Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood transform into a bustling street food hub unlike any other in the Bay Area. In 2021, the options here on Foothill Boulevard were slim, with only a pair of Guatemalan stands. Now, depending on the day and time, there are between 10 and 20 different stalls selling Mexican huaraches, Guatemalan sandwiches, Salvadoran hen soup and Honduran baleadas, a folded-over flour tortilla stuffed with beans and more. The layout is like a corridor, with stands starting at Fruitvale Avenue and extending to 35th Avenue. It doesn't have an official name but many refer to the area as 'Walgreens' — alluding to the pharmacy where most stands congregate. These vendors effectively function as informal sidewalk restaurants — their rapid growth a reflection of a recent wave of immigrants seeking community, sustenance and sanctuary in an increasingly hostile new land. Foothill Boulevard stirs to life early. In the brisk morning, day laborers keep warm with cups of atole, a thick beverage made with corn masa or rice flour, while lining their bellies with tamales steamed in banana leaves. By lunch time, the options double. Savory aromas beckon noses and the hum of woodwind music spills out of speakers. A stand's most effective marketing tactic? Cooking in front of its clientele. Even a brief stroll down the corridor is met with a visual parade of comforts: wood-brown fried chicken zig-zagged with condiments, fluffy pupupas oozing with cheese and hand-stretched flour tortillas the size of a shield. During the evening, especially on weekends, the street teems with hungry denizens. Blue collar workers find sustenance in juicy steak plates. Families snack on cups of roasted corn, fruit-filled crepes and Guatemalan-style tostadas topped with beets or chow mein (a legacy of Chinese immigrants in Guatemala). A handful of taquerias advertise spinning al pastor trompos, quesabirria tacos and huaraches. In the last decade, Fruitvale has seen an increase of Central Americans immigrants; Oakland is home to roughly 18,500 foreign-born Central Americans, or about 4% of the city's population, according to the 2023 American Community Survey — an increase of more than 60% over a decade prior. These changes are palpable on Foothill Boulevard. Street food is the pulse of the neighborhood. The format thrives on this sense of immediacy, so much so that certain businesses have found more success on the sidewalk than with formalized food trucks. 'It's a place to socialize,' said Henry Sales, a community leader and translator for the neighborhood's Mam people, an indigenous group from Guatemala. He compares the corridor to La Terminal in Guatemala, a popular market in the capital city. Fatima Nuñez, the chef behind the exceptional Pupuseria Fatima, said the scene reminds her of her home in El Salvador. 'Where we're from, we're accustomed to seeing stands,' she told me in Spanish. The model, she argues, makes 'you feel like family.' What I see in Frutivale's street food scene is raw talent — a preview of future Bay Area restaurants. But I've often worried about the future of this corridor. While many of these vendors operate out of necessity, they do so outside the law. During the height of the pandemic, this part of Oakland developed a reputation for lax enforcement by local officials, but some stands have been shut down in the past. 'Our need (to work) is much greater than the risk,' said Nuñez. Last year, her business was shut down by health officials; undeterred, she returned a few weeks later. And then there is the Trump administration's animosity toward immigrants. 'I'm scared they're going to deport me and ruin my children's future,' Nuñez said. 'People's fears are definitely heightened,' said Andrew Park, executive director of Trybe, a nonprofit organization that provides food and various programs for the community. Those moments of anxiety, like false rumors of ICE raids in Oakland, can negatively impact business. 'Sales go down for a bit,' said Cynthia Solorsano of Shucos Magi, a Guatemalan stand that's been on the strip since 2021. 'But, thankfully, after a few days, fear starts to go down, and we continue to sell.' Despite their vulnerable position, Fruitvale's street vendors are out in the open, confronting peril head-on. 'We want people to see that we're just fighting to survive too,' said Darwin Fuentes Lara, who runs Honduran stand El Sazon K-Tracho. But these businesses aren't just surviving. Of the now thriving corridor, these three vendors stand out as the strongest talents, providing a thrilling window into Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Shucos Magi When the Solorsanso family began their Guatemalan stand Shucos Magi in 2021, it was one of two vendors on the Walgreens circuit. Searching for opportunity, the Solorsanos left Guatemala a decade ago and landed in Houston. They moved to Oakland in 2017 and launched Shucos Magi as a food truck two years later. During the pandemic, they relocated the lonchera to Fruitvale, where they encountered parking issues as the vendor count ballooned, so they moved to the sidewalk. With their food out in the open, sales boomed. 'People seek what they can see,' said Cynthia Solorsano. The most common sight at Shucos Magi is brawny churasco ($15), a fixed plate of juicy, grilled beef splashed with chimichurri; and longaniza, a pale, house-made sausage mottled with fresh mint. Charred green onions, smooth black beans, creamy pasta salad and thick Guatemalan tortillas round out the meal. Chapines (as Guatemalans are nicknamed) regard churasco as a symbol of festivity; for those untethered from home, the dish provides a semblance of familiarity. Cynthia sees a restaurant in the Shucos Magi's future, but she wants to stay nearby, because now, it's a Guatemalan hangout. What's the secret to the masterful pupusas at Pupuseria Fatima, run by wife-and-husband team Fatima Nuñez and Francisco Catacho? 'I think the flavor is in the hands,' said Nuñez. Those appendages are quick, seasoned tools that she uses to conjure up pupusas in seconds. Francisco swears his wife is the fastest pupusa-maker this side of El Salvador. The key difference in Fatima's pupusas is the beans, specifically pinto beans, instead of traditional red beans, that are whipped smooth. In the revuelta, the frijoles become a creamy binder for chicharron and cheese. Tear it open and behold a glorious sheen of savory richness. The pupuseria adapts to its clientele, evidenced by its green salsa, a spicy variant of the traditional, mild tomato salsa. Nuñez noticed her patron's penchant for spice, so she made a condiment that blends Mexican and Salvi flavor. 'A Salvadoran doesn't eat much chile, but I try to find what my clients like,' she told me. The couple moved to Oakland in 2019, after escaping the threat of gang violence in El Salvador. After Nuñez worked at her sister's pupusa cart, she knew Fruitvale would be a prime location for a stand of her own. She has diabetes, so she has difficulty keeping employment, but operating her own business, as she has since 2022, gives her more control. Pupuseria Fatima has been shut down as recently as last year. However, Nuñez has a backup plan in place: a mobile cart that she hopes to get permitted. For now, she's grown indifferent to the risk. 'This is how we live. We have to pay rent too, we have to take care of our kids,' she said. She has three. The middle child — Saul Catacho — can be spotted at the stand, doing homework, staring at his phone. I asked him: Who makes the best food here? He chuckled, as if there could be any other answer: 'My mom,' he said. El Sazon K-Tracho Honduran Baleadas have become a hot commodity in Fruitvale, with four separate stands offering the quesadilla-like dish. But no one makes it better than El Sazon K-Tracho, one of the newer additions to the line-up. El Sazon K-Tracho has already become a hit with the neighborhood's Catrachos, the colloquial term for Honduran people. 'There are a lot of Hondurans here,' said Darwin Fuetes Lara, who founded the stand with his wife and chef Carolina Vasquez. Much of El Sazon K-Tracho's success has to do with the excellence of Vasquez's tortillas, which are made a la minute. The recipe, which includes a bit of baking powder, and the hand-stretching gives her tortillas a pleasant chewiness. Vasquez can turn a wad of wheat into a 12-inch vinyl. With dough between her hands, she begins stretching it with a clap, which whips the flowy ends across her wrists. She gauges thickness and tugs at the ends as necessary. This dexterity brings vigor to her tortillas, which can so often-be lifeless when mass produced. For the sencilla, or plain, baleada ($6), she smears the tortilla with refried red beans, a handful of crumbled stinky cheese and a squirt of sour cream. For a more filling meal, add scrambled eggs ($7), chorizo ($9) or shredded chicken ($9). There are two approaches to eating a baleada: you can tear off pieces or gnaw on it like a caterpillar does a delicious leaf. Folding is also acceptable, but remember: 'It's not eaten with a fork,' said Vasquez. Before opening El Sazon K-Tracho in summer 2024, Lara had trouble finding a job. Today, the stand has become the couple's main source of income. He acknowledges the current temperature surrounding immigrants, but it does not deter him, he told me. 'In truth, we don't pay much attention,' he said, surrounded on all sides by industrious immigrants like him, 'because we're in a state where there's more opportunity to live here.'
Straits Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Nicaragua legislature votes to end dual citizenship
MEXICO CITY - Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment on Friday to eliminate dual citizenship in a move that would impact thousands of people, including government opponents. The reform of articles 23 and 25 of the constitution must be approved again in 2026 to take effect, as constitutional amendments require approval by two legislatures. The reform passed with all 91 of the votes in the legislature, which is dominated by the ruling Sandinista Front. Under the reform, Nicaraguans acquiring another nationality would lose their Nicaraguan citizenship. Foreigners seeking Nicaraguan citizenship would need to renounce their original nationality, except for Central Americans who can retain it, the legislature's President Gustavo Porras said. Many Nicaraguans hold dual citizenship, often with the United States. The Ortega government has stripped Nicaraguan citizenship from over 400 individuals, according to opposition group Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, including 222 political and social leaders who Ortega deported to the U.S. in February 2023. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nicaragua legislature votes to end dual citizenship
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment on Friday to eliminate dual citizenship in a move that would impact thousands of people, including government opponents. The reform of articles 23 and 25 of the constitution must be approved again in 2026 to take effect, as constitutional amendments require approval by two legislatures. The reform passed with all 91 of the votes in the legislature, which is dominated by the ruling Sandinista Front. Under the reform, Nicaraguans acquiring another nationality would lose their Nicaraguan citizenship. Foreigners seeking Nicaraguan citizenship would need to renounce their original nationality, except for Central Americans who can retain it, the legislature's President Gustavo Porras said. Many Nicaraguans hold dual citizenship, often with the United States. The Ortega government has stripped Nicaraguan citizenship from over 400 individuals, according to opposition group Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, including 222 political and social leaders who Ortega deported to the U.S. in February 2023.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
A gang controlled this Honduran barrio. Then a small NGO fought back.
We know all too much about the rich and powerful. What they think, eat, wear, even what their bathrooms look like. Five celebrities buy an amusement ride to the boundary of space for 10 minutes and we're privy to their every scream in real time. Which is unfortunate, because their experiences are far less interesting and no more important than so many of the faceless billions who eke out lives in the slums and villages that stretch across this planet. It's not only that our eyes catch the bright colors of the famous more readily but that they're much easier to access. Want to talk to Oprah? Call her PR flack. The thousands living and dying in Mumbai? Dominican drug dealers on the streets of New York City? Central Americans dodging gangs, long before their journeys north? Such people don't have representatives and their communities are far more insular, not to mention difficult to reach and sometimes violent.
Los Angeles Times
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Mauricio Pochettino and U.S. suffer big setback in Nations League loss to Panama
Mauricio Pochettino's first major test as coach of the men's national team ended in disaster Thursday when Cecilio Waterman scored deep into stoppage time to give Panama a 1-0 victory in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals before a tiny crowd at SoFi Stadium, where the Americans will play two of their three group-play matches in next year's 2026 World Cup. The game marked the second time in seven games under Pochettino that the U.S. was held scoreless and the second time in less than a year that Panama has beaten the U.S. in a tournament. The Central Americans beat the U.S. 2-1 in last summer's Copa América, a result that hastened former coach Gregg Berhalter's firing. Panama will play the winner of Thursday's second semifinal between Mexico and Canada for the Nations League title on Sunday. The U.S., winner of the three previous Nations League tournaments, will play for third place against the loser. Panama took a defensive posture from the start, playing with a five-man back line and crowding the midfield with four more, generating what little offense it produced on the counterattack. And while that well-organized defense frustrated the U.S. for long stretches, the Americans still managed three dangerous chances in the first half, with Josh Sargent striking Panamanian defender Edgardo Fariña with a right-footed shot that caromed off the post in the 19th minute; Weston McKennie sending a header into the midsection of goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera a minute later; and Sargent losing a goal on a shot from the center of the box that beat Mosquera in the 24th minute because Tim Weah was well offside. The game opened up a bit early in the second half with the best chance by either team coming in the 82nd minute when second-half substitute Patrick Agyemang beat the defense into the box with only Mosquera to beat. But the keeper came up big, pushing the right-footed shot away for his third save of the afternoon. Four minutes later Agyemang was back, played into the box by Christian Pulisic. But the Charlotte FC striker got his feet tangled trying to get off a shot and chipped his try onto the top of the net. That set the stage for Waterman's game-winner deep into stoppage time. The winger, who plays club soccer in Chile, took a pass from Adalberto Carrasquilla in the box on the right wing and set a low well-paced shot across the front of the goal and in at the far post. The shot was Panama's first on target in the game and U.S. keeper Matt Turner didn't get a hand on it. Thursday's semifinal doubleheader was as much a test for the temporary grass carpet laid over SoFi's synthetic Matrix Turf field as it was for the four national teams. FIFA requires World Cup games to be played on natural surfaces and eight of the 16 stadiums that will be used in next year's tournament have artificial fields. Those venues will have to install grass for the World Cup. SoFi's 70 x 110-meter field, grown at a sod farm in Washington state, was laid down in strips earlier this month and was used for the first time Thursday. The ersatz surface will remain in place for Sunday's Nations League final and the third-place game as well as for a women's friendly between the U.S. and Brazil next month. Otto Benedict, the stadium's senior vice-president for facility and campus operations and the person overseeing the project, will study the field's performance with help from FIFA to ensure the surface will be able to hold up under the strain of eight World Cup games in 28 days. 'We are taking readings almost every single hour, if not more than that. We have systems in here that are looking at the ambient temperatures, the ambient moisture,' Benedict said of the multi-million-dollar process. 'It's a learning opportunity. We want to put on the best possible event with the best possible pitch.' SoFi is the 10th different venue the USMNT has played at in L.A. County, from a 1958 World Cup qualifier against Mexico at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach to a 2023 friendly against Serbia at BMO Stadium. The U.S. played at four venues in Orange County, including Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, the site of eight matches.
