> At a Glance
> – Good Neighbor Bar turned its patio into a pop-up marketplace after the Eaton Fire
> – Brisa Lopez sells tacos there every Tuesday while rebuilding her destroyed catering company, Tacos Casa
> – Non-profits and neighbors provide equipment and space so she can keep cooking
> – Why it matters: Local businesses and residents are creating their own recovery network, proving community support can outpace official aid
When the Eaton Fire swept through Altadena, it leveled homes and storefronts. In the ashes, neighbors turned a neighborhood watering hole into a makeshift economic engine for vendors who lost everything.
From Flames to Food Truck
Brisa Lopez stood in what remained of Tacos Casa: a collapsed roof, scorched pans, and the memory of 10 years spent chasing a dream she’d ditched corporate marketing to pursue.
> “We lost everything inside. I lost all my equipment, and the roof collapsed,” Lopez said. “But it’s OK. We are here. My stepdaughter is here. My husband is here. That’s what’s important.”
She now preps in a borrowed commercial kitchen and parks her folding table on the Good Neighbor Bar patio every Tuesday, selling the same tacos that once fueled weddings and corporate events.
Community-Powered Recovery
Local businesses and non-profits stepped in where insurance adjusters and city agencies lagged:
- World Central Kitchen found Lopez a licensed kitchen
- Good Neighbor Bar offers patio space daily to rotating vendors
- Regular customers return weekly, turning taco night into a morale boost
> “The support, seeing people come by every week, that’s what keeps me going,” Lopez said, even as she admits rebuilding is “very hard, very tiring, very difficult.”
Vendor Schedule
| Day | Vendor | Cuisine |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Tacos Casa | Mexican |
| Wednesday | Rotating pop-up | Varies |
| Thursday | Rotating pop-up | Varies |
| Friday | Rotating pop-up | Varies |
| Weekend | Rotating pop-up | Varies |
Key Takeaways
- Lopez swapped a stable marketing career for Tacos Casa a decade ago to “make someone else’s life a little bit better”
- The Eaton Fire destroyed her home and catering kitchen in a single night
- A neighborhood bar patio now doubles as an economic lifeline for multiple small vendors
- Community support, not formal relief programs, is funding the first phase of recovery
Every Tuesday, the smell of grilled meat drifts across the Altadena bar patio, signaling that at least one dream survived the flames-and that neighbors, not agencies, are writing the first chapter of the town’s comeback.
