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Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Honduran home cook sells internet-viral burritos for the workers of L.A.
On a Friday morning, Maria Sanchez stands next to a construction site. Steel beams are being hoisted into the dusty pink sky behind her. The trunk of her Hyundai Sonata is open. Inside is precious cargo — dozens of carne asada burritos, hand-wrapped in tinfoil. A construction manager approaches her. If he doesn't like the burritos, she has to leave, he jokes. After a satisfied bite, the manager buys 15 burritos for all of his workers. 'I sell out in 30 minutes — less than an hour, and I'm already gone,' she says. A recent Instagram post says: 'Crazy how I first started selling only 10 burritos a day to now selling up to 60 to 75 burritos a day.' 'Maria la de los Burritos' is a Honduran American home cook who's found social media fame selling burritos out of the trunk of her car. Growing up in a Honduran immigrant household, Sanchez always admired her mother's cooking. As a mother, Sanchez began cooking for her Mexican husband and their two sons. While battling a bout of depression, she got the idea — why not bring her cooking to the workers on the streets of L.A. and, as it turned out, to millions on TikTok? As ICE raids have gripped the city and sparked a culture of fear across multiple immigrant communities in Southern California, taqueros have vanished from the streets. The Home Depot parking lot, which was once bustling with day laborers, is empty, Sanchez notes. 'A lot of vendors that I usually see around that area weren't there either,' says Sanchez. In Inglewood, the Honduran immigrant community is struggling to stay afloat, with their businesses in peril. 'A lot of people are affected by it,' says Sanchez. 'My mom has a friend who has a business where she cuts hair. It's been so slow. Nobody wants to come out of their houses.' Sanchez's mother urges her to be cautious when selling food, as legal citizens have been targeted in ICE raids as well. During the ongoing raids, Sanchez was nervous about selling burritos but decided to after fervent encouragement on social media. In the morning, she arrived to a line of hungry construction workers. 'Sometimes, eight people are right there already waiting in line for me to come. I get nervous when I see a lot of people. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm doing all this on my own,'' she says. 'I always tell people: As Latinos, we make it happen.' Sanchez adds another element of appeal to her work — long eyelashes, French-tipped acrylic nails, maroon lips and curve-hugging denim. The aesthetic resembles a popular Mexican style of dress called buchona, characterized by flashy accessories and cinched waists. 'I've always liked dressing like that,' Sanchez says, laughing. At 3 a.m., before assembling burritos, Sanchez carefully applies her makeup, resembling the timeless beauty of Selena Quintanilla. She loves presentation, she explains. 'People will say, 'You get your makeup and hair done. You still manage to get ready and still do burritos. They'll always be in shock,' she says. Her immigrant parents encouraged her to dress modestly in her childhood. When she moved out, she began experimenting with fashion. 'I never got the chance to dress the way I wanted,' she says. 'I moved out of the house and moved in with my boyfriend. I started doing what I wanted to do and how I wanted to dress.' Sanchez's career as a beloved, now internet-famous burrito vendor began in the Inglewood Home Depot parking lot in October 2024. 'People tell me they never see people selling burritos. I see tamales and empanadas, never just a pure standard burrito. I got the idea — let me try selling burritos,' says Sanchez. Like most children of Los Angeles, Sanchez has had a lifelong romance with Mexican food. 'I do cook some of my culture's food, but I cook more Mexican food because my husband is Mexican,' Sanchez explains. Growing up in South-Central, she developed a deep affection for Mexican cuisine, visiting La Luz Del Día restaurant downtown most weekends. Her burritos were an immediate success. She sold out each time, sometimes in just an hour, with her no-frills, crowd-pleasing classics like carne asada, pollo and breakfast burritos, priced at $5 each. At Home Depot, selling burritos as an attractive 26-year-old woman came with hazards. Occasionally, Sanchez was subjected to men filming her, whistling and harassment. It can be vulnerable, she explains. 'I don't see young girls my age dressed up the way I am, selling food alone,' she explains. At the construction site, Sanchez has befriended many of the workers who eat her burritos, which deters harassment. 'I'm super talkative with all my customers,' she says. Weeks passed, and the mood shifted to uneasiness among the customers as threats of an ICE raid loomed, Sanchez noted. 'In that last week in Home Depot, I wasn't getting as much clientele because a lot of people are scared to go out,' she explains. In January, Home Depot management was forced to ask Sanchez to leave. Her burritos were becoming too popular and creating a traffic hazard. In the coming weeks, Sanchez began wandering Inglewood, scouting construction sites for potential customers. By then, Sanchez's business had already exploded. She began posting videos of her cooking on TikTok and Instagram, which, to Sanchez's surprise, went viral. She gained over 27,500 followers on Instagram with cooking videos that amassed millions of views. Sanchez was bewildered by her newfound fame: 'That's what motivates me to keep going because people are watching.' Sanchez's business has only swelled since leaving Home Depot. The workers were delighted with her home-cooked and affordable Mexican food, which was a delicious and cost-effective alternative to fast food. 'I've never had a single complaint to this day,' she says proudly. If Los Angeles is crowded with amazing Mexican food, what makes Sanchez's burrito rival the rest? Her breakfast burritos are filled with fluffy eggs and sausage — each hearty bite packs a punch of flavor, evenly distributed throughout the burrito. The carne asada is accompanied by tangy, vibrant homemade sauces that Sanchez makes by hand. For a construction worker, a burrito offers a generous, portable meal — a missile of nutrition. She starts cooking each day at 4 a.m. 'Nothing is made the night before, besides the beans, which take three to four hours to cook,' she says. 'I want everything freshly made in the morning. That's the point for me. ' Sanchez credits her business savvy to her mother. As a child, to instill independence in Sanchez, her mother would send her to downtown L.A. to sell gum on the sidewalks. 'She always put into my head: You can get what you want on your own. You can do it.,' Sanchez says. 'She's always by my side.' Sanchez hopes that her burrito business inspires other young women to start loncheras, or mobile food businesses. Occasionally, she creates tutorial videos about selling burritos and reassures women looking to start their own ventures. 'A lot of young girls tell me, 'I want to do this. I'm only 22 years old, but you're inspiring me to do it,' she says. 'I want to show girls that even though you're young, you could make it happen.' Sanchez dreams of one day owning a truck — a proper lonchera. 'I want to do it all pinked out,' she says, smiling. 'I'm trying to save as much money as I can for that.'
Otago Daily Times
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Poor handling of transgression
Well, first round for the Speight's Jug, as I've now found out, and Dunedin is the proud recipient of that. I apologise for saying last week it was for the Gallaway Trophy, but in my defence it has always been played lately for the ''round robin'' part of the season. Dunedin came out as though they were on steroids and were up 33 to zip after 20 minutes and things looked bleak for the Eels. They got an absolute serve from ''Yards'' Young at the break and nearly stole the game, going down by only three. Varsity and Harbour banged on 94 points in 80 minutes and Hawks led by one with seconds to go. Who'd be a coach as one of the Harbour boys indulged in a ''tip tackle'' in front of the posts and Varsity delivered a crucial win to remain in contention for the six. Southern posted 80+ on poor old AU to add to their season of misery. The Magpies end up third on the table on countback. Predictably, Kaik proved too strong for Zingers to comfortably sit in sixth spot. This comp is as tight as a drum with 8 points covering the top seven teams. I think nobody goes unbeaten in the next round. We got it wrong The Green Island vs Taieri game from two weeks ago is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — a citing and suspension. Social media as per usual has bubbled over. I've had a lot of comment from club coaches, officials, supporters (unsolicited) on the goings on. I'm not here to re-litigate the event, that's for judicials and appeals boards. I've seen the video on numerous occasions and we just got this wrong. The incident while not deliberate, was reckless and should have been sorted at the judicial hearing Wednesday week ago. It was a difficult one as the officials missed it thus there was no card. Green Island cited the Taieri player post game. Following the judicial meeting, the player was handed a one-week suspension. Green Island were rightly not happy and appealed to the NZRU. As I write this column (on Thursday afternoon) no decision has been forthcoming. If the Taieri player had received a sentence commensurate with the transgression, say a four-week suspension, the matter would have been done and dusted. Nobody has won out of this, justice for the injured player and our guilty player is being tried four times. Twice by the judiciary, once by media, and by social media. The judiciary system in Otago in my view works pretty well as a rule but we've let ourselves down here. Also the ''secret squirrel'' process used for judicial inquiries makes no real sense. We need to look at what happened and make sure it doesn't recur. The second round The only people who have trouble with the scoring system for the split round of the Prem Competition are the ODT sports reporters and a few supporters. So this is the last time I'll explain it, so read carefully. We've had the first round and every team had a bye which no points were awarded for. In the split round over five weeks, there is two pools, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 2, 4, 6, 8 based on where you finished the round robin. You play across pool, so the first pool will all have a bye and initially no points are allocated for that. At the end of the round 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points will be allocated to our first pool depending where they finish in the second round. The teams in pool 1 with top team first are Dunedin, Southern, Harbour, Varsity and AU. Simple really, and no correspondence please. Rugby, racing Sunday The last big meeting for the season for Otago Racing Club is on at Wingatui on Sunday starting at 11.30am. All sports clubs are invited to the event and to take part in the Punters Club and associated activities. Just get a hold of Noelle today, she is taking late entries on 022 035 8373 or gm@ There are great prizes and it's always a great day. I hear five rugby clubs are in, including Taieri, GI and West Taieri plus a few other sports clubs. Get involved I'll see you out there. Topp Cup on the farm It's that time of year again when the rugby comps in South and Central Otago are put on hold for the Mighty Topp Cup. This is where the best of South and Central Otago go to war in the annual tribal year it's being played in Alexandra at Molyneux Park. The Topp Cup is at 3pm with the Development game played as the curtain raiser at 1.15pm. There are kids' games late morning and a junior colts and women's development game thrown in. So if you're passing, drop in for a gander. There is no love lost between Central and South Otago when it comes to the Topp Cup. More fauna on the Taieri We all know there is fauna on the Taieri in the shape of Eels but there was another intruder behind the bar in the Taieri Club on Saturday afternoon. A few of the lads were having a beer during the game (shame on you!) when they noticed screaming from the bar and Fred the barman was wielding a softball bat with malice. As the fracas subsided, it came to light he was hunting a nefarious rat although he may have claimed it was just an extraordinarily large mouse. One question? How tough does it get out there on a Saturday night if he's got a softball bat behind the bar? The late mail I hear Southern's other stalwart lock Corban Agar plays his 50th game this weekend — good on ya mate. I also hear the DCC called off practice on council grounds last night because of rain. Calm down team, it hasn't rained for three months! I know it's wet at the Edgar Centre but the grounds are crying out for some of that! This weekend Destroyed Mayor Jules with a perfect 60 points (all games and margins) so he has had a forgettable year — bad luck mate. On to Otago Volts' best ,Thorn Parkes, who is starting out with a –10 differential, so he'll be an also ran come Monday. GI are at home to Varsity out at the Toolbox and chances are the track will be heavy. This game will be very tight as Varsity may have some ''NZU'' players back and GI will have a few Landers out. Green Island are the favourites but I'm smelling an upset as Varsity (12-) are their bogey team. Taieri (13+) are at home to Harbour for the second time in six weeks and the Eels are travelling well despite the narrow loss to the Sharks — they get up comfortably. Dunedin (13+) beat Zingers by 70 a few weeks ago, so go in as favourites. They've got a lot of experience out injured but should prevail. In the last game Kaik (13+) will be all over AU like a cheap suit. Down on the farm I suffered the worst loss of my career to Clark (Yam Fingers) Frew, so still struggling to sleep. Anyways, on to Ernie Muir, one of South Otago's favourite sons. Played rugby and cricket down there forever and was still reffing until recently — much to the horror of visiting teams! We go head to head on Topp Cup games, so I have my work cut out. In the big game I'll take Central (12-) at home in Alex but with no real conviction. In the Development game I'll also take Central (12-) but I'm positive they win. In the women's game, I'll take AU (13+) to beat Central because they need to win something!
GMA Network
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
SB19 collaborates with Japanese gaming company for new 'Dungka!' video
SB19 just collaborated with Japanese gaming company SNK Corporation for a music video featuring the P-Pop group's hit song "Dungka!" and SNK's latest fighting game, "Fatal Fury: City of Wolves." The MV, released on YouTube by SNK, is inspired by the game's key phrase, "Rev it up." The video showed clips of the members dancing and singing to "Dungka!" as well as some animated snippets from the video game. 'Thank you so much for having us for a big project - this comeback. We are very excited and thank you again. So we are hoping for the best. And do enjoy the game and our track 'Dungka!,'' SB19 said at the end of the video. 'Dungka!' is an upbeat rave track from SB19's latest EP 'Simula at Wakas.' The album also includes the comeback single, 'DAM.' Meanwhile, 'Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves' is the seventh main installment in the 'Fatal Fury' game series and the first in 26 years, since the release of 'Garou: Mark of the Wolves" in 1999. —Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA Integrated News
