L.A.’s beloved Afro-Mexican restaurant nearly closed for good. This weekend, it’s back
LA TimesTamales wrapped in corn husks and banana leaves are back on the menu at Tamales Elena y Antojitos, an Afro-Mexican restaurant in Bell Gardens that was set to permanently close but reopens today. In mid-May, after nearly one year of questioning their restaurant’s future, the Irras family announced they would close Tamales Elena, a restaurant that expanded upon their decades-old generational tamale truck in Watts and celebrated the Afro-Mexican traditions of the southern state of Guerrero. As soon as my sisters decided, ‘OK, we cannot do it anymore,’ my dad was like, ‘Yes, we can make it happen somehow,’” said Teresa Irra Lorenzo, one of Maria Elena Lorenzo and Juan Irra’s five daughters who help run the family business. Customers came here to the truck to look for us; since we were closed over there, a lot of customers made it to Watts.” Both Maria Elena Lorenzo and Juan Irra planned to retire next year but they’re putting those plans on hold to see Tamales Elena y Antojitos return and thrive.
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