Photo by Stephen Oduntan
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — On her daily drive home from work, Buffy Hopkins passes a taco stand that pops up near Dodger Stadium. The line is always long. The prices are always low. And the business, she says, always seems to out-earn hers.
“They don’t have our overhead, our labor costs, our health inspections,” said Hopkins, who has run a small restaurant near downtown for four years. “They set up outside and sell burritos for a few dollars. We’re charging $12 just to break even.”
Hopkins is among a growing number of Los Angeles restaurant owners raising concerns over the rise of mobile vendors. She says health standards aren’t applied evenly, and worries that street setups may bypass regulations she’s regularly held to inside her restaurant.
The debate isn’t new. In 2006, a Los Angeles Times article spotlighted public support for taco trucks, portraying vendors as cultural staples and survivors of unfair regulation. But in 2025, business owners say the pendulum has swung too far. They’re now the ones struggling to survive.
“We were closed during the pandemic,” Hopkins said. “They were outside operating the whole time. Our customers never came back.”
County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who represents South Los Angeles on the Board of Supervisors, said, “Our small businesses are the cornerstone of our communities, contributing to the social fabric and economic vitality of L.A. County.
“This is especially true for small businesses in Black communities and communities of color that are anchors in the neighborhoods they serve,” she added. “I’ve consistently put forward initiatives and funding to address longstanding inequities that far too many small business owners in South L.A. and across my district face.
“We will continue to do all we can to help ensure our small businesses can launch and keep their doors open and ensure mobile vendors are adhering to the regulations established to protect public health.”
County officials acknowledge the growing tension. But enforcement, they say, isn’t always in their hands.
In a written response, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said it enforces food safety laws under the California Retail Food Code but does not regulate where vendors operate or for how long. Those decisions fall under city or local ordinances.
“Public Health does not have the authority to regulate the proximity of mobile food vendors to brick-and-mortar businesses,” the department said.
Complaints about unpermitted vendors are common, the department added, and health inspectors do investigate violations. But Public Health said it also supports legal vending by offering subsidies to help sidewalk operators obtain permits and compliant carts.
For many business owners, that feels like more support than they receive.
One San Fernando Valley-based African cuisine operator, who asked to remain anonymous, said enforcement has never been equal.
“When Black people used to set up stands, the city shut them down fast,” he said. “Now I walk outside and see tents, meat hanging in the wind, no hot water, and nobody says anything. The health department is checking my sink temperature, and that guy is selling $2 tacos with no inspection.”
He believes the shift is about more than food.
“Most of the people in charge — inspectors, politicians, school administrators — are Latino. They look out for their own,” he said. “Black businesses don’t get the same breaks.”
In areas like Watts, Florence-Firestone and elsewhere across Los Angeles County, similar frustrations are mounting. William Taylor, a longtime South Los Angeles resident, said vending used to require permits and sanitation plans.
“Now anyone can set up on the corner,” Taylor said. “They don’t need hot water, they don’t need bathrooms, and no one enforces it. But you better believe the city is all over us for every little violation.”
Some local officials say enforcement depends on whether a vendor is located in a city or in unincorporated county areas, which are governed by different agencies. Others note that various departments are working to balance support for small vendors with fair protections for storefront businesses.
But many business owners say equity is exactly what’s missing.
“There’s no level playing field,” Hopkins said. “And there hasn’t been for a long time.”
Stephen Oduntan is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers.
