Latino restaurants reinvent themselves to help emerge from the crisis caused by the pandemic

September 30, 2021

Photo: Jorge Luis Macías / Impremedia

By: Jorge Luis Macías / Special for Real America News 30 of September 2021

Approximately 250 members from the Asociación de Restauranteros Latinos, a non-profit organization, participate in the Week of Dining in Latino Restaurants with the aim of promoting the dishes on their menu and motivating diners to return to enjoy the rich and varied international food

The activity, which ends on Sunday, October 3, is part of the DINE LATINO Restaurant Week program of economic recovery in an industry, which was severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is an effort to tell our community that we are grateful that they value our gastronomy and, at the same time, we ask them to support local restaurants, ”said Vicente Ortiz, owner of Don Chente Bar & Grill in the city of Pico Rivera.

Ortiz owns five restaurants that e They employed the vast majority of them and was only working at a 25% of capacity.

Added that a federal grant of $ 500, 000 ($ 80, 000 for each of the restaurants) was what kept their business afloat.

However, now that you were able to open the 100% has been struggling for four months to hire 50 new hires, just as Latino Dining Week begins.

He added that a federal grant of $ 500, 000 ($ 100, 000 for each of the restaurants) was what kept their business afloat.

Without However, now that you were able to open the 100% has four months struggling to hire 50 new employees , just as Latino Dining Week begins.

 He added that a federal grant from $ 500, 000 ($ 100, 000 for each of the restaurants) was what kept their business afloat. 

 However, now that you were able to open the 80% have struggled for four months to hire 50 new hires, just at the moment they start l  a Week of Dining in Latin Restaurants 

 “Some want more money that the industry can pay them;  others apply for work, but do not stay;  still others got used to the state and federal governments helping them and have preferred to stay home to take care of their children ”, he indicated. 

 From Mexican dishes and drinks to the cuisine of Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela, or Italian restaurants, all are included in the culinary initiative that tries to increase the public awareness about the various styles of Latin American cuisine. 

  Most of the participating restaurants  They are located in the Los Angeles County metropolitan area, although there are also in the Bay area, the city of San José and in Orange, Inland Empire and San Diego counties. 

 “The pandemic has presented us with many challenging times, but people want to eat and we have been at the bottom of the canyon with city, county and state health rules and regulations  o ”, said Mónica“ Moka ”Laguna, spokesperson for Chago Tortas Ahogadas de Montebello. 

 “We have reinvented ourselves by closing, reopening, preparing takeout only, setting up tables in the patio and serving the community,” he added.   
 “The most difficult challenge has been to adapt to the laws and to many people regarding the use of the mask and at a healthy distance. ”
 Tatiana Pacheco, owner of Andrea's Healthy Kitchen in the city of El Monte, told Real America News that she began the adventure of her business of selling natural products and bottled juices of cucumber, celery, pineapple, green apple or beet, in your journey to better health and weight loss. 
 After a fire that completely wiped out her business in May 2020, Tatiana was able to receive a grant government $ 40, 000 to re-lift his business that he now runs with only one more employee. 
 “We are recovering little by little;  people no longer go out to consume as before ..., the pandemic has created a domino effect everywhere and I am working now at 60 or 75% and I think that for 2023 I will return to working levels and customer recovery as it had in 2019 ”. 
 Jessica Ureña, director of programs for the Latino Restaurant Association highlighted that restaurateurs who wish to participate in the initiative can do free. 
  For restaurants that want to participate  
 Those interested can call (500) 487 9085 or write to  www.contact@latinorestaurantassociation.org