Community News

Los Angeles restaurants attempt to adapt to stay-at-home restrictions

Mom-and-pop cafes reinvent themselves amid struggles

Marlene Cordova, Community News Reporter

April 3, 2020

‘Stir it up’: Creativity is the sweetener mixed into Inglewood coffee shop

By Chidera Bosah

Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen was once a place for South Los Angeles residents to stir up creativity along with their coffee.

It was a performance space during its Wednesday open mic and jam sessions.

And it was a place to build community, somewhere “for people to connect with each other and themselves,” write the cafe’s owners, Ajay Relan and Yonnie Hagos, on its website.

Unfortunately, due to “stay at home” orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, those goals are on hold. Like so many of the small mom-and-pop shops that are part of South L.A.’s renaissance, Hilltop’s future is somewhat uncertain. That said, the coffee shop is still doing takeout and its hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to its website.

Frequent customers were disappointed at the news, especially because they enjoyed the creative vibe of the cafe — something you can’t get with to-go coffee.

“It fosters a space for creativity,” said frequent customer Brea Hammonds.

Hammonds and Taylor Kay co-founded FAMILIA(R), an event curation company, during their meetups at Hilltop.

Kay said the coffee shop was an important spot for “young adults in the community. It’s for us, by us.”

Camino Real, a family-owned Mexican restaurant that has been in La Puente for about 40 years, had almost fully recovered from the 2009 recession.

Who knows what will happen now that the coronavirus crisis has required restaurants to close their dine-in operations?

“Post-virus, it’s going to be a lot more different. It’ll be a rebirth of a new lifestyle and we are all going to have to adapt,” said Adriana Valdez, the daughter of Camino Real owners Jesus and Isabel Sanchez. “Our lease payment is due in about a week, and there hasn’t been the normal business that we’re used to. We’re going to probably make it, but we’re going to need a week’s extension.”

COVID-19 is clearly far more than a flu pandemic. It has brought forth a recession with wide economic implications around the world.

In California, the state’s stay-at-home policy — requiring non-essential business such as gyms and bars to close — was intended to slow the spread of coronavirus cases and some experts say it seems to be working.

At the same time, the measure has almost instantly changed the lives of small business owners and their employees. One day, restaurants were bustling with customers and within days, they had groceries spoiling in the back and fewer hours to go around for workers.

Amid economic uncertainties and doubts, restaurants like Caramelo Cafe are implementing new strategies to help keep the business running.

“One of the biggest things that have changed for us is that we started to offer delivery. We do Instagram orders, Facebook and text orders. We didn’t offer UberEats before because dining in has always been our main priority,” said Claudia Iniguez, the owner of the cafe, on Amar Road. For seven years up until the pandemic, the restaurant had been a popular sit-down breakfast joint.

With arches on either side of the restaurant and cushioned booth seating, Camino Real also was popular among dine-in customers. But like so many other restaurants in Southern California, it, too, is adapting.

“It’s beautiful to see how the community is being brought together. I have fellow business owners reaching out to support one another,” said Valdez, of Camino Real. “Instead of us being in competition, we uplift each other during these times. This ‘Stay at Home’ policy has almost forced us to make changes that will help the restaurant become more sustainable.”