Eateries in the ‘Wilderness’ Bring Squatters a Taste of Home Cooking

ENCINITAS —  The morning sun had not yet peeked over La Costa, where residents of the upscale community were nestled in their comfortable homes.

But across the road from the quiet neighborhood, cooking fires were already crackling in the misty darkness. The smell of burning wood wafting over the rugged foothills mixed with the odor of morning meals being cooked in the “restaurantes en el monte.”

It was 5:30 a.m.--30 minutes before the open-air “restaurants in the wilderness” were scheduled to open--and Juan Hernandez and his wife, Maria, were stooped over a smoky fire, cooking for the men who were already lining up to eat. Juan warmed corn tortillas over a blackened piece of flat metal, while Maria stirred the refried beans, rice and chicken that were simmering over flames fed by twigs from dry brush.

The couple’s Restaurante Valle Verde, or Green Valley Restaurant, serves Valle Verde, a squatters’ camp of about 200 workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries that sits hidden in the hills. The camp dates from more than a decade ago, when workers set up the first huts on the ridgeline between the then far-off communities of Encinitas and La Costa. A recent building boom has brought the two communities to the doorstep of the camp.

Beyond the Hernandezes’ eatery, about 300 yards down a worn footpath, Guadalupe Mojica Elizondo and her common-law husband, Ruben Pina, were preparing to open their Restaurante Los Pollos, or the Chickens Restaurant. Their breakfast menu offered a little more variety. In addition to the refried beans and rice, Elizondo was also offering steak and eggs this morning. Coffee was not on either menu, but both restaurants included all the tortillas one could eat with the price of the meal.

Feed 100 a Day

By the owners’ accounts, the two restaurants feed up to half of the camp’s inhabitants each day. And at the price, why not?

For $2.50 per meal, customers at the Hernandezes’ eatery can enjoy a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal of rice, beans and meat, chicken or fish. Soda pop is 50 cents a can, beer $1 a can. Pina and Elizondo’s menu offers a broader range of choices, including pork and breaded steak. Of course, the better variety means higher prices. They charge $3 per meal, $3.60 with a soda. Beer is also $1 a can.

Hidden under spreading shade trees in areas cleared of brush, the restaurants--unique among the dozens of migrant worker encampments throughout the affluent north San Diego County area--are busy from early morning until late at night. Their customers come entirely from the community living in the hills, most of whom rely on homeowners or contractors for occasional jobs. While other camps are served by catering trucks that offer packaged food like sandwiches, candy and potato chips, the two restaurants offer hot, traditional meals, served on paper plates, with plastic forks, knives and spoons on rough-hewn tables.

“Last November, we were the first ones to open a restaurant,” Elizondo said. “I’ve lived in Valle Verde since 1984 and have seen the camp’s population grow in the last two years. My husband and I saw the need for a restaurant and decided to open one. When the men go to work, they get home late in the afternoon, too tired to cook. So, it’s convenient for them to come here and eat. We’re open until 10 p.m., but we don’t blow out the candles until our last customer has eaten and the pots and pans have been washed.”

Owned Restaurant Before

Elizondo, who is from Guadalajara, owned a restaurant in Mexico before coming to the United States. She estimated that about 40 men eat at the Restaurante Los Pollos each day.

The Hernandezes opened their restaurant in March and estimate that they feed up to 60 workers daily. Both restaurants extend credit to their customers.

The Border Patrol and city officials know about the restaurants and have visited on occasion. The Encinitas Fire Department has instructed members of the squatters’ camp about fire safety and city officials made a video to show a community group the conditions in the camp.

Because there is no electricity or refrigeration at the camp, the restaurant owners are forced to make at least three trips a day by bicycle to a nearby Vons supermarket in La Costa. Each owner spends up to $200 daily for groceries, beer and soda.

Because the nearby market cannot provide them with all the tortillas they need, Restaurante Valle Verde and Restaurante Los Pollos are on the regular route of a corn tortilla salesman who drives down from Los Angeles County three days a week.