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Xavier Becerra, the Democratic frontrunner for California governor, is facing backlash after urging visitors to skip California’s Mexican restaurants in favor of street taco vendors.
Speaking last week at a conference of influential Latino leaders, Becerra said visitors should seek out “a real street taco.”
“All I know is there’s real food in California and there’s real street tacos and you don’t get them in some establishment that’s been around for a long time,” he said. “You get it from the street from the guy who’s been making it for a long time in his little cart.”
Becerra vowed to defend street vendors and “dreamers,” calling them hardworking people who deserve support.
But critics questioned why, in an apparent appeal to Latino voters, he appeared to dismiss longtime Mexican restaurants.
“The next Governor of CA just told everyone to avoid CA Mexican restaurants like Tito’s Tacos and Don Antonio’s and instead go to an illegal street vendor who doesn’t pay taxes nor follow any health codes,” former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt posted on social media.
“CA is so screwed,” he added.
Sun Joun, the manager of Hot Chile Mexican Food in Los Angeles’ Granada Hills, said the growing number of street vendors outside his restaurant has steadily cut into business, even forcing him to remove certain items from his menus.
There are five vendors who open about 11am and stay until 9pm each night.
Joun said the vendors rotate throughout the day.
“One sells hamburgers. Another has Middle Eastern food. Sometimes there’s a taco stand. Other times it’s Mexican food,” he said.
Joun said restaurants are held to a much higher standard than street vendors.
“The health inspector comes here and checks our refrigeration. If something is wrong, you have to fix it,” he said.
“Outside today it’s almost 100 degrees. They stay out there for eight hours, it affects the food but when I call the health department they say they can’t do anything.”
“Restaurants in California have to follow the rules, but there are thousands of street vendors.”
Joun said he’s reported the vendors repeatedly for six years, giving them the address, but ”the health department never comes out to check.”
Other Republicans blasted Becerra for supporting the same policies that have hurt the restaurant business as they compete against vendors.
“In the name of equity, and authentic street tacos, CA Dems’ are making restaurants pay for their own funerals—taking their tax money and redistributing it directly to the street vendor who set up shop on a corner yesterday,” said Lisa Cusack, chairwoman for Los Angeles County GOP’s 44th Assembly District.
Street vendors have long plagued California as local business leaders face barriers in trying to crack down on them.
In San Diego, for instance, a court ruling has tied officials’ hands on the issue. Now, organized groups of hot dog vendors are bringing along hazards like open fires, blocked walkways and the dumping of grease into storm drains.
Photos obtained by The Post in Los Angeles show that vendors are also a problem in that area. Unpermitted sellers were seen using the bushes to defecate and urinate before serving food under the Hollywood sign.
Outraged residents say they have spent years documenting vendors relieving themselves in the park, dumping wastewater into the street and leaving behind piles of trash while city officials have repeatedly failed to stop the growing operation.
“It’s disgusting,” longtime resident Cindy Cobb told The Post.
State Democrats, however, seem to be eager to promote street vendors. Los Angeles Democrats this year even rolled out a $2.8 million program to give away nearly 300 free street food carts.
That’s unfair, restaurant owners have said.
“There’s two different sets of rules,” restaurateur Andrew Gruel told The Post. “If I were, as a brick-and-mortar business, to do anything outside the regulatory framework of the city — zoning, health standards, wage laws — I’m going to get smashed left and right.”
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