L.A.’s Most effective Solution Ecuadorian Cafe Opens Weekends Only at This Wilshire Blvd. Cafe ~ L.A. TACO

Cafe Fresco is a cozy, relatives-operate cafe on Wilshire Boulevard that serves American breakfast and lunch specifications like avocado toast, rooster pesto paninis, and breakfast burritos. On weekends, on the other hand, it transforms into just one of the rare destinations in the metropolis to uncover fried eggs with chicharrones, seco de chivo, llapingachao, guatita, and other regional Ecuadorian eats.
The cafe is owned and operated by Aracelli Aguirre and her mom, Ruth Rodriguez, with support from Aracelli’s two brothers. Having migrated from Quito, Ecuador almost 26 yrs in the past, the spouse and children are devoted to bringing the flavors of home to Los Angeles. Aracelli’s father, Jorge Lopez, functions is the head chef overseeing the weekends-only Ecuadorian menu to fulfill their mission.
The household initially displayed their enthusiasm for Ecuadorian foodstuff back again in 2020, when they began QuitoinLA, a dwelling-centered restaurant in the San Fernando Valley exclusively selling Ecuadorian cooking all through the pandemic.
Since the subsequent opening of Cafe Fresco, they have remained accurate to their roots as they continue to develop their business, delivering excellent, practical food stuff for the neighborhood for the duration of the 7 days, and indulging in their passion for Ecuadorian recipes on weekends.
“Our strategy from the beginning, since we had a brick-and-mortar, was to ultimately prepare dinner Ecuadorian food stuff in a cafe for the reason that, during COVID, we were accomplishing that from house,” Aguirre tells L.A. TACO.

While the family began off providing Ecuadorian foodstuff on the cafe’s every day menu, the neighborhood demand from customers for this cuisine was not plenty of for them to run as a only Ecuadorian cafe. By marketing Ecuadorian food stuff on the weekends, they have a lot more adaptability with their menu, as they more explore how to introduce Ecuadorian cuisine to the mainstream L.A. food scene.
“We even now have the means to try unique matters, to change our menu,” Aracelli suggests. “This is significant for the reason that individuals are nevertheless seeking our Ecuadorian food. Individuals seriously never occur out to Los Angeles for Ecuadorian food.”
Owing to a lack of brick-and-mortar Ecuadorian eating places in Los Angeles, residence-primarily based eating places are the key resource of the cuisine in the city. Drawing in a group for their Ecuadorian menu has established to be a obstacle.
While the family members promotes their Ecuadorian menu on social media platforms and instantly to customers of the Ecuadorian neighborhood in Los Angeles, they would like to reach a wider audience with their cooking.


The family’s Quiteño roots are at the Ecuadorian menu’s coronary heart at Cafe Fresco, although you will also uncover influences from the country’s coast. Quito, Ecuador’s cash city, is situated in the mountainous location of the nation, or “la sierra“, as its patrons proudly refer to it.
The Andes are seriously included in agriculture manufacturing, that means the region’s cooking is considerable with proteins and grains, often found in stews and other dishes. The menu at Cafe Fresco reflects the vibrant and hearty foods a single enjoys there.
For breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays, shoppers get Bolones, mashed inexperienced plantain balls stuffed with cheese, and chicharrón fried until crispy then served with fried eggs, refreshing fruit, and coffee or juice.
The most preferred dish on their lunch menu is seco de chivo (a stewed goat meat dish generally served with rice, fried plantains, and avocado), followed by guatita (a standard dish of beef tripe stew with potatoes cooked in a delectable peanut sauce). An additional well known dish on their menu is llapingacho, a lunch plate of fried potato patties stuffed with cheese and served with fried egg, meat, and avocado.
Other items on the menu include things like ceviche de camaron, empanadas, and salchipapas (South American-model french fries). Each and every plate is priced concerning $18 and $19.
Cafe Fresco is gearing up for fall by including two seasonal merchandise to their Ecuador menu to commemorate Dia de los Difuntos. This holiday getaway is celebrated in Ecuador by planning colada morada (a purple corn consume) and guaguas de pan (sweet pieces of bread formed like babies).
Aracelli notes the degree of commitment that goes into cooking these dishes as 1 of the most important takeaways from their knowledge cooking Ecuadorian meals, both equally at property and in their brick-and-mortar. As in most Latin American international locations, traditional Ecuadorian meals demand a labor-intensive process that can acquire hrs to prepare. To market 1 of these dishes on Saturday and Sunday, they have to start out sourcing and prepping ingredients for the duration of the 7 days.

“Ecuadorian foods is extremely unique,” Aguirre states. “With American food items, you can make it (almost) to everyone’s liking. With Ecuadorian foods, it’s form of tough to do that. If you consider off a person issue, it would not flavor the very same.”
Accomplishing the right sazón is vital to cooking and providing Ecuadorian food items for Aracelli and her relatives. Having said that, there have been some problems in remaining genuine to these recipes.
“That’s also one particular of the challenges when generating Ecuadorian food items simply because none of the items make it out in this article to Los Angeles,” she claims. “I’ve read from people in New York that they can get [certain Ecuadorian] frozen fruits or veggies in suppliers. My father has been fantastic at discovering substitutes because we just cannot find the precise exact same detail.”
By means of their tale, Aracelli and her relatives embrace what it implies to be Ecuadorian. Loved ones and food stuff are the backbone of Ecuadorian identification in Los Angeles. Ultimately, their purpose is to carry the local community nearer alongside one another and introduce these classic dishes to people outdoors of the group.
“If we are an example of nearly anything, it is how foodstuff can carry persons jointly simply because that is what it’s accomplished for my spouse and children,” Aracelli says. “We all have various items that we like to do. We are all terrific at distinct points, but at the conclusion of the day, the restaurant and the food hold us shut.”
Follow Cafe Fresco on Instagram right here.
Observe their weekend-only Ecuadorian pop-up inside the cafe here.
6254 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048