I’ve lived in Boyle Heights, for most of my life. My family has lived here for three generations (on both sides). Uncles and aunts have been gang bangers, etc etc.

And i could totally see a comparison between Boyle Heights and Hollywood. Actually, i’m more afraid of Hollywood. The views are the same but the muggings are less here. I actually have a great view of the hollywood sign from here.

Maybe, it’s that i grew up here? or maybe it’s that i have a lot of family here, or maybe it’s that the gang-bangers know me, or that the bartenders raised me (the lady that used to run El Metropolitan Cafe [El Metro] would feed me growing up, miss her), but this neighborhood gets a bad wrap. I feel completely safe here.

Now back to my search.

And El Tepeyac is OK. I prefer a bunch of other places, like El Sol on 1st St.

And, yes, walking out in your PJs and getting fresh tamales from Tamale lady is pretty sweet.

El Tepeyac lives in a crappy neighborhood - but it’s all worth the stabbing if you can get a single taste of the Hollenbeck. Best burrito in LA for my money.

Nathan,
I\’m sorry to hear about your stab wound. I hope you are healing well. Glad to hear of your courageous act of culinary exploration into such a violent setting. How noble of you.

Sincerely,

Spanglish Gringo

P.S. all satire aside, there is nothing unfair nor inaccurate about how I described Boyle Heights. I actually (gasp) live here, so I know. Right now, there are 3 new model BMW\’s parked on my street. Turn the corner onto Sheridan, and palm trees line the street on both sides until you reach the freeway. White Memorial Hospital recently reopened after a $90 million remodel (read here), the screaming tamale lady really exists (she drives a brown van), and the founder of CASA 0101 really did write Real Woman have Curves (The play version is pretty good, too.)

As to not feeling welcome, I can\’t really interact with your subjective experience of this neighborhood, since you are entitled to interpret your experience as you desire. I must, though, question the objective basis by which you have drawn that interpretation. In saying \”there are places I am not welcome,\” do you mean places that actually turned away your business? Or somewhere you were denied entrance?

Or did you have an experience in which you felt uncomfortable? Were there actually gang-members there (& how were you able to assertain that)?

Or is it possible that there were other factors (& possibly cultural assumptions & maybe even possibly predjuces) that shaped your subjective experience of not feeling welcome?

Might it be that you are only confirming the point I made in this post, that a two-word summary like gang-ridden reflects more about the lense of the person giving that summary - that can only see the gangs in Boyle Heights (& don\’t get me wrong, there are many gangs here) - and fails to see the gross inadequacy of that summary, based on many other contributing factors that make Boyle Heights what it is?

Pardon my edginess on this topic. I just get tired of hearing all of the c@##p about Boyle Heights that fails to take into account the reality that people live happy, well-adjusted lives here, even with all of the gangs, and - as I\’ve experienced it - typically comes from people who\’ve never spent more time here than it takes to drive through on Cesar Chavez.

East LA can be a dangerous place for the wrong person. It might be changing, even rapidly, but there are places that I am not welcome.

That said; It’s also home to some great eats! I will brave the banditos locos for the amazing taste of the Hollenbeck burrito.