The Stand Natural Foods set to bid farewell after 48 years in Laguna
Longtime residents of Laguna Beach often cite a small-town feel they had grown accustomed to in the community, rich in charm and local flavor.
For its niche customer base, the Stand Natural Foods possessed those qualities, enabling the vegan eatery to have a lifespan that covered parts of six decades.
The last chance to order from the Stand’s extensive menu may be in the coming days, as the walk-up restaurant is set to close on Sept. 5, following Labor Day weekend.
Alizabeth Arciniaga, the owner of the Stand, got emotional in discussing the decision to shutter the hangout, which Edward Brancard opened for business in 1975.
Financial factors have made it difficult for Arciniaga to keep the Stand, which is located in a barn-like property at 238 Thalia Street. Her hopes for a long-term lease went unanswered, and the rising cost of organic food contributed to the challenges of making ends meet.
Since buying the business from Brancard in 2015, Arciniaga had also picked up work in the mortgage industry to help navigate through the light foot-traffic winters of a beach town. The timing of the decision comes in advance of another upcoming off season.
“I’ve worked for various mortgage companies because I had to because the Stand cannot cover the expenses in the winter,” Arciniaga said. “You go into debt in the winter. … Laguna, it’s a tourist town, and for a business like us, we depend on the tourists and the locals.”
As the end nears, Arciniaga has thought back to how it all began. As a freshman at Laguna Beach High, she wanted to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance and needed some money to pay for the outing. Alfredo Arciniaga, her father and a plein air painter who exhibited at the Festival of Arts and the Sawdust Festival, suggested she see if the Stand was hiring to make her dream come true.
Arciniaga, 1982 graduate of Laguna Beach High, got a job after demonstrating to Brancard’s then-girlfriend, Cindy Constantine, that she could cut carrots.
“Whenever I was in Laguna Beach, I would always come to the Stand,” Arciniaga said. “I feel like that’s what everybody does. If you’re anywhere near Laguna and you’ve eaten here before, something just draws you back. Even when you walk up, you smell the smells of the Stand. … We get people all the time that are like, ‘I came here 10 years ago,’ … ‘I came here 30 years ago.’ It’s just that kind of place.”
And what did people come back for? Arciniaga suspects it’s the romanticized model of making their offerings from scratch, an old-school style she likened to “the way your grandma used to” get things done in the kitchen. That has included fresh-squeezed apple and orange juices and nut milk made in house. The soft-serve was made exclusively from fruit. Arciniaga condensed the menu, but added acai bowls during her time in charge.
The Stand provided a first job to many community teenagers, including Arciniaga and Leslie Lance, a former manager of the eatery. The interior of the Stand almost demanded that its team members form close bonds, the intimate kitchen and narrow hallway leading back to the refrigerator affording little chance to take a break from each other throughout the shift.
A 1983 graduate of Laguna Beach High, Lance worked weekends at the Stand with Arciniaga when she was in school, before returning later under the latter’s leadership.
“It was a great experience for me,” said Lance, who added that the Stand was a place where its workers learned necessary life skills. “Those girls took me under their wing when I was that young and just nurtured me.”
Looking back, Lance recalled Laguna Beach as a place that was home to artists, hippies and surfers. The Stand became a local landmark to a loyal base.
“I want to say that the hippies really kind of were the stronghold for the base,” Lance said. “Obviously, you need a strong base of your community for any restaurant or business to grow and continue flourishing. I know that over the years, back in the 1990s, that’s when the tapestry kind of changed here in Laguna.”
Arciniaga has left a goodbye message for fans of the Stand on its Instagram page. It includes a video of her with Brancard after she bought the business.
“Thank you to everyone that has supported us during the last 48 years,” the post said. “It has been a groovy and amazing time! As heartbreaking as saying goodbye is, we are so grateful for all of the wonderful memories.”
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