As a third-generation native of Echo Park, academic and author Natalia Molina doesn’t remember a time without Burrito King. She was a self-proclaimed “latchkey kid,” walking back from school alone while her mom was at work. She often made a pit stop at the Sunset Boulevard walk-up stand on her journey home.
“The workers knew your name,” said Molina, who is the author of a book about her family’s now-closed restaurant in Echo Park. “They asked how your day was, they looked out for you — it just made it feel like a transition between school and home.”
For Molina and other Echo Park natives, Burrito King was an essential part of the Los Angeles landscape, just as much as Dodger Stadium or the lotus flowers floating in Echo Park Lake. But now, like several other mom-and-pop shops that once fed the neighborhood, it’s a fading memory.
Burrito King permanently closed its doors in late June after 58 years of service. The late-night Mexican food spot was one of the first burrito stands in Los Angeles, but for the Echo Park community, it was a cultural icon that represented a version of their neighborhood that is rapidly shifting.
Julian E. Montoya, an immigrant from Colombia, opened the restaurant in 1968, when Echo Park was attracting an influx of immigrants from Mexico and Central America. At its height in the ’80s, Burrito King grew to 20 outposts, with locations in Anaheim, Houston and Bogotá, but by the early 2000s, it had shrunk to just two: the original ketchup-and-mustard-painted building in Echo Park and a bungalow in Silver Lake off Hyperion and Rowena avenues that closed in 2011.
In addition to big chains like Chipotle and Pitfire Pizza, a host of Mexican food options ranging from late-night taco trucks to sit-down restaurants now line Sunset Boulevard. It’s unclear when Montoya turned over ownership or who took over Burrito King, but the Eastsider newsletter reported that the space was listed for sale in 2021 by Urbanlime Real Estate. Urbanlime declined requests for comment on the listing.
In its prime, Burrito King opened for breakfast and didn’t close until after midnight, making it the perfect last stop after a night out. A neighboring liquor store and smoke shop have been around long enough to see the burrito shop’s evolution.
Tony Gonzalez, owner of Brazil Discount Tobacco, worked next door to Burrito King for almost two decades. He’s seen different owners pass though the stand as its fate has remained in limbo the last few years. As new real estate projects break ground, he’s watched the local cuisine change along with his neighborhood.
“With the new community here, they don’t like the Mexican food,” he said. “It definitely is a new environment.”
Two stores down from the old Burrito King space, Heavy Manners Library recently reopened after moving from a smaller location in Echo Park. Matthew James-Wilson founded the independent library in 2021 and has lived in Echo Park for the last eight years.
Before Heavy Manners moved in, the space had been vacant for six months as the initial rental price was “unrealistic,” James-Wilson said. He was eventually able to negotiate to a more affordable rate, but rising rental prices continue to impact everyone in the area, he said. When it closed, the Burrito King space was listed for rent at $6,000 a month.
“That is an absolutely ridiculous price for the amount of space that is,” James-Wilson said. When he first moved to the neighborhood, he paid $600 to live in his apartment — an amount he says is unheard of today.
Despite rising costs, James-Wilson wanted to keep his business in Echo Park to increase foot traffic. He was especially motivated after the closure of Taix, a historic French restaurant that attracted major controversy when it shut its doors in March to make room for a six-story residential development.
“I think that there’s a lot of housing being built without consideration,” he said. “What is it worth to destroy historic landmarks, important parts of the neighborhood and the character of the city?”
In recent decades, nightlife venues like Spaceland and the Echoplex drew young people to the area. Burrito King offered an accessible spot to eat and connect with friends before cellphones and social media.
“It never really claimed to be the best Mexican food in town, but everyone had a soft spot for it, especially with those little stools that they had outside that made it like sitting at a diner,” said Pat Saperstein, a local journalist who previously founded EatingLA.com, which she describes as the city’s first food blog.
For Molina, it was Burrito King’s crowd-pleasing approach to Mexican food that appealed. She reveled in being able to order a gigantic chile relleno burrito that was nothing like what her Mexican family would make.
“[I remember] that huge tortilla, bigger than your face — you never bought tortillas like that at home,” she recalled. “The fried chile relleno that had a perfect ratio of melted, gooey American cheese, which also we didn’t buy at home. Everything about it felt foreign, but in a familiar way.”
James-Wilson loved the breakfast burrito. Gonzalez, who is originally from Mexico, said he enjoyed eating Mexican food for lunch everyday. Now he gets a burger from Habit, a fast-casual restaurant chain right across the street.
The post After 58 years, Echo Park loses an iconic neighborhood burrito stand appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
