Author

Erika Thomas

Featured
in Must Visit

El Cholo: The Landmark Mexican Restaurant
That Harkens Back to 1920s-era Los Angeles — Turns 100Featured

Walk through the doors of El Cholo Spanish Café and you’ll find it’s much the same today as it was a century ago. The smell of scratch-made food fills the historic bungalow the Salisbury family has run for 97 years. Generations of photos and memorabilia of families, longtime staff and famous guests cover the walls, and the modest two-page menu features many of the same authentic dishes as it did the year the restaurant began. Opened in 1923 at the corner of Broadway and Santa Barbara Street in Downtown Los Angeles, founders Alejandro and Rosa Borquez called their new venture…

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in Destinations & Landmarks, Featured, People & Personalities

Camarillo Ranch House

The Home that Remains a Jewel in the Seaside City’s Crown for More than a Century Known for picturesque scenery that ranges from agricultural-rich land to Spanish architecture, Camarillo, California, is a lively mix of modern amenities, lush, century-old vegetation and plenty of early California charm; and a pristine, 18th century ranch house is its anchor. Juan Adolfo Camarillo first ventured to California in the early 1800s during the Hijar Padres Expedition There, he would purchase a 10,000-acre ranch. Camarillo’s land, which would become the site of his home, was one of the last remaining Rancho Calleguas (Mexican land grants)…

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The Original Farmers Market: People Have Been Meeting at Third & Fairfax for 80 Years
in Destinations & Landmarks

The Original Farmers Market: People Have Been Meeting at Third & Fairfax for 80 Years

Cheerful greetings of “Hi” and “Good to see you” in a sunny Irish dialect can be heard on any given afternoon from behind the counter at Magee’s House of Nuts at LA’s Original Farmers Market. The infectious salutations come from Doris Perez, who has been serving customers there for over 50 years. “I came here from Ireland in 1959 with the plan to stay for one year.” Perez (formerly Leach), who briefly worked as a nanny for an Encino family, says, “I liked it so much that I just never left.” Working first at the Market’s Desert Date Shop in…

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in SoCal Trends

Fields Market: One of LA’s Hottest Filming Locations

Today it serves as the backdrop for countless television shows and movies. But at one time, the small, local grocery store—a throwback to midcentury America—had almost seen its better days. “When we first took the place over in the early 1990s, the store was in pretty bad shape. It was like the worst house in the neighborhood type of thing; dirty, stinky, and the people who owned it were running it like a liquor store. It was in desperate need of a facelift,” says co-owner of Fields Market, Bill Rinck.

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