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La Golondrina, a long-standing Mexican restaurant on Olvera Street, is engaged in a dispute with the city concerning plumbing problems, deferred rent, and eviction threats resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions around the restaurant’s future reopening persist, raising concerns among the current owners and the long-standing community who regard it in high esteem, according to LAist.
COVID-19 forced La Golondrina, founded in 1930, to shut its doors in March 2020. The Gomez family, who has deep roots on Olvera Street, took over the restaurant in 2021. Despite significant hindrances to reopening, including a $242,000 overdue rent bill issued by the city commission, the family matriarch Bertha Gomez remains hopeful, as reported to ABC7. Failure to settle the payment within a 30-day schedule threatens their lease agreement.
The restaurant, housed in an old 166-year-old building, is also dealing with complex plumbing complications—an ongoing crisis between the Gomez family and the City of Los Angeles. The question of who is ultimately responsible for the repairs is currently making its way through the legal system, as per ABC7 news. The delay in reopening, due to these unresolved matters, is starting to affect nearby businesses on Olvera Street, which are heavily dependent on the foot traffic the iconic restaurant brings.
After the Board of Commissioners of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument’s 30-day eviction notice, David Gomez indicated an intention to legally sue against the city, while also expressing hope for a resolution that would finally permit the reopening of the restaurant. Adjacent business owners, such as Mike Mariscal, assert the closure is not only hurting their businesses but also “silencing the street.”
