Latest news with #ElizabethTorres
Time Out
11-08-2025
- Time Out
Smacking Burger was named one of the best gas station restaurants in America
Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon that the same gas station that would fill up your tank could also fill up your belly. As car manufacturing ramped up in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s, a budding travel industry formed around it that spoke to the freedom of the all-American road trip. And so, family-owned gas stations became a part of the journey, feeding weary travelers on the way to their final destination (and even served as a means of survival). Nowadays, many of these small-town operations have all been phased out in lieu of massive corporations that merely hawk spinning hot dogs and scorching hot (but barely palatable) coffee. Yet several roadside gems remain, serving burgers, tacos and even full pans of paella, becoming a stop-worthy destination in their own right. And one of the best in the country resides right here in New York City. RECOMMENDED: Why my Texas road trips always include a detour to Buc-ee's Yelp curated a selection of the best gas station restaurants across America, from lobster taquitos found at a reststop in Yosemite National Park to Loco Moco, Katsu curry and other Hawaiian eats at a gas station in Silverdale, Washington. Only one New York restaurant made the list (not to be confused with Brooklyn New York Pizza & Wings in Mesa, Arizona, which also made the ranking), a notable stop for its smash burgers hidden inside the last operating gas station under 14th Street. Of course, we are talking about the viral hit that is Smacking Burger. Run by Elizabeth Torres and Tommy Hondros, the burger restaurant commands just a small corner inside Mobil Mart, the last gas station to exist in lower Manhattan. With such quaint digs, the couple opted to keep things simple but fun, grilling up seven smashed burgers that sport caramelized onions and truffle mayo next to perfectly crispy fries. Maybe it was the location or maybe it's because they serve a good burger, but the counter-service shop caused a bit of a frenzy on social media when they turned on the grill in 2024. But more than just a flash in the pan, Smacking Burger has proven they have this staying power, as Yelp ranked the corner stop for its 'very affordable' burgers, including The Big Smack ($10.99), a two-patty smash burger with 'caramelized onions, Butter Crunch pickles, American cheese, and top-secret 'Smack Sauce' on a Martin's Sesame Potato Roll.' Nodding to Torres's culinary know-how, including making 'all the sauces from scratch,' the user generated ranking website also called out new menu items such as the milkshakes and even a pup burger for your four-legged friend. So, should you add this gas station dine to your must-try list of restaurants? Check out our take below and plan your road trip (or really, trip on the train) to this gas station hot spot. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out New York (@timeoutnewyork)
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How the Mexican flag became the symbol of the LA protests
When protestors took to the streets of Los Angeles to oppose the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, many did so with a Mexican flag in their hands. Demonstrations erupted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles last week. Ever since, demonstrators have taken to the streets in Los Angeles, Compton and Paramount to protest the raids. Millions of residents in Los Angeles have Mexican ancestry. The city is also home to upwards of 900,000 undocumented people. As a result, residents there have felt compelled to challenge policies that they believe are harming their community. On Sunday morning, Elizabeth Torres, 36, stood outside a detention center in downtown Los Angeles and protested Trump's actions. She, too, had the green, white and red flag with her. 'I am a very proud American,' she told The New York Times. 'But I have to show support also for our Mexican brothers and sisters.' The strong show of support and anti-ICE sentiment has angered those within the Trump administration. In a social media post on Sunday afternoon, White House adviser Stephen Miller said the demonstrators were 'foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders.' Over the weekend, President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles to quash the protests, further angering demonstrators. In response, Newsom wrote on X: 'I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to my didn't have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed. Rescind the order. Return control to California." Almost 60 people have been arrested in the protests so far, according to NBC News. 'They're the children and grandchildren of immigrants,' Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the newspaper about the protestors. 'They have no doubt in their own citizenship or their own belonging here, but they understand the racial undertones of the attacks on immigrants. 'So you're getting this reaction of 'We're not going to let you make us be ashamed of where our parents and grandparents came from,' he said. Eric Torres, 30, echoed his remarks. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' he said while waving a Mexican flag in front of sheriff's deputies in riot gear on Sunday. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' he told the newspaper. 'My parents are immigrants. Most of the people right here have immigrant parents, so I'm here to support, show them our love.'
The Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
How the Mexican flag became the symbol of the LA protests
When protestors took to the streets of Los Angeles to oppose the policies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, many did so with a Mexican flag in their hands. Demonstrations erupted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they had arrested 118 immigrants during operations in Los Angeles last week. Ever since, demonstrators have taken to the streets in Los Angeles, Compton and Paramount to protest the raids. Millions of residents in Los Angeles have Mexican ancestry. The city is also home to upwards of 900,000 undocumented people. As a result, residents there have felt compelled to challenge policies that they believe are harming their community. On Sunday morning, Elizabeth Torres, 36, stood outside a detention center in downtown Los Angeles and protested Trump's actions. She, too, had the green, white and red flag with her. 'I am a very proud American,' she told The New York Times. 'But I have to show support also for our Mexican brothers and sisters.' The strong show of support and anti-ICE sentiment has angered those within the Trump administration. In a social media post on Sunday afternoon, White House adviser Stephen Miller said the demonstrators were 'foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders.' Over the weekend, President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 members of the National Guard to Los Angeles to quash the protests, further angering demonstrators. In response, Newsom wrote on X: 'I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to my didn't have a problem until Trump got involved. This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed. Rescind the order. Return control to California." Almost 60 people have been arrested in the protests so far, according to NBC News. 'They're the children and grandchildren of immigrants,' Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the newspaper about the protestors. 'They have no doubt in their own citizenship or their own belonging here, but they understand the racial undertones of the attacks on immigrants. 'So you're getting this reaction of 'We're not going to let you make us be ashamed of where our parents and grandparents came from,' he said. Eric Torres, 30, echoed his remarks. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' he said while waving a Mexican flag in front of sheriff's deputies in riot gear on Sunday. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' he told the newspaper. 'My parents are immigrants. Most of the people right here have immigrant parents, so I'm here to support, show them our love.'
New York Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Some L.A. Protesters Are Marching for Neighbors and Family Members
Some of the people demonstrating in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday said they were first- or second-generation immigrants showing solidarity with their neighbors or family members, and a few expressed anger that their neighbors had received deportation orders. 'This is a real threat, this is not just talk,' said Zander Calderon, 36, a protester from northeast Los Angeles. He said he knew several people who had received such orders, as well as one neighbor who had self deported. 'He didn't want to live in fear,' Mr. Calderon, who wore a poncho with an image of the Virgin Mary and the colors of the Mexican flag, said of the neighbor. Others said that although they were not regular protesters, the federal government's recent immigration raids had motivated them to take action. 'This morning I couldn't stay home anymore,' said Elizabeth Torres, 36, who was carrying a Mexican flag outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning, as a crowd of protesters began to swell. 'If the people that are detained can see me through the windows, just know that you're not alone.' Martín Hoecker-Martinez, a physics professor who was waving an American and a Colombian flag, said that he had traveled about an hour and a half to join the protests because he could not stay home in good conscience. 'I'm an American citizen, and I think that one of the greatest points of pride of the United States is that we are a country of immigrants,' said Professor Hoecker-Martinez, whose mother came from Colombia. 'I bristle when people deride the U.S. government as the embodiment of our collective will.' Nicole Garcia, 35, attended the protest with her teenage son. She said that while she worried about the safety risks of bringing him along, she wanted him to understand 'what it looks like when community comes together.' Ms. Garcia, who described herself as Mexican American, was veiled and wore a floral wreath and face paint symbolizing the Mexican Day of the Dead. Brianna Vargas, 24, who was standing on an overpass above the U.S. 101 highway with a megaphone in her hand, said she was protesting for her parents, who had emigrated from Mexico and El Salvador, and for others who were too afraid to leave their homes. Reposting messages of solidarity with victims of immigration enforcement raids on social media is one thing, she said. 'It's different when you're actually here.'
New York Times
08-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
The Mexican Flag Has Become a Potent Protest Symbol
Elizabeth Torres, 36, held a Mexican flag outside the detention center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning. 'I am a very proud American,' said Ms. Torres, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States. 'But I have to show support also for our Mexican brothers and sisters.' Throughout this weekend's protests, Mexican and other Latin American flags have emerged as protest emblems, which has angered the Trump administration's officials and supporters. Trump officials have cast flag wavers as insurrectionists and seemed to assume that they are not U.S. citizens. Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser, called out ' foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders' in a social media post on Sunday afternoon. But for many protesters who are American citizens, the flag signifies pride in their roots, as well as solidarity with immigrants who are being targeted for deportation. 'They're the children and grandchildren of immigrants,' said Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied the immigrants rights movement in California. 'They have no doubt in their own citizenship or their own belonging here, but they understand the racial undertones of the attacks on immigrants,' he said. 'So you're getting this reaction of 'We're not going to let you make us be ashamed of where our parents and grandparents came from,'' Mr. Zepeda-Millán added. On Saturday afternoon in Paramount, Eric Torres, 30 and no relation to Elizabeth Torres, waved a Mexican flag in front of sheriff's deputies in riot gear. Mr. Torres wore an oversized white T-shirt and baggy jeans, typical attire for many Chicanos in Los Angeles. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' Mr. Torres said. 'My parents are immigrants. Most of the people right here have immigrant parents, so I'm here to support, show them our love.' The appearance of foreign flags at immigration protests is not new, nor is the outrage by those who deem it un-American. But American flags have been flown by protesters in Los Angeles, too, as they have in past protests against immigration crackdowns. And in Los Angeles this week, fusions of the American flag with that of another country, such as Mexico or Guatemala, have regularly been seen waving among the demonstrators. Some immigrant coalitions in the past have discouraged the waving of foreign flags, lest it feed anti-immigrant backlash. But Alfonso Gonzales Toribio, an ethnic studies professor at the University of California, Riverside, who has written about Latino immigrant rights movements, said that right now, immigrants 'feel attacked.' He added, 'I don't think we are going to be able to dissuade people' from flying the flag of their homeland. 'It gives people a sense of pride.'
