Armbay and Dotee Zakaria were operating a Nawal illegally and had to shut down after a complaint. However, the brothers tried to get a permit in order to operate, but came to find out that Los Angeles county does not allow MEHKO operations.

Nawal was operating from their backyard near Historic Solano Canyon, serving the community for nine months. They created a window through the fence for people to order from and as well had sittings for customers to dine-in. However, Nawal was reported to the city by a neighbor that didn’t exist.

In Los Angeles, there are a variety of hidden eateries located in residents' backyards or home kitchens. These creators offer the community a chance to try food from their cultures, including birria tacos, Syrian Fatteh, hamburgers and many more dishes. According to the County of Los Angeles Public Health website, there are currently 682 Cottage A businesses and 332 Cottage B businesses in Los Angeles. However, Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO) isn't authorized to operate in Los Angeles, but some continue to operate illegally.

How home eateries came to be

In 2013, the California Homemade Food Act, also known as Cottage Food Law, made it possible for Angelenos to make and sell food from their homes. According to the California Department of Public Health, since March of 2022, there are at least 4,781 cottage food businesses and 144 MEHKO operations in California.

There are two types of permits for cooking and selling food from home: Class A cottage food operators and Class B cottage food operators. Class A allows selling home prepared food directly to the public. Class B allows selling home prepared food directly to the public or indirectly through restaurants and food markets.

In January 2019,the MEHKO law was passed in California, meaning residents are able to legally sell prepared meals, including those containing meat, but only in certain counties. With this bill, there are limitations.

California’s AB 626 bill restrictions include same-day food prep, more than 60 meals per week, no indirect sales and a $50K sales limit. This law is a guideline for a city or county if they allow these food establishments in their area as stated in the bill.

However, in 2024, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will discuss and vote for AB 626, in order to legalize MEHKOs operations in the County of Los Angeles.

Birria from a cuchitril

Local laws didn’t stop some locals from starting a business at home during a time of economic crisis, particularly amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also didn't prevent Angeleos from showing support to these home food operations.

Many food vendors pivoted and started selling from their homes without a permit in 2022. Birria Pa La Cruda, in El Serano, was one of the vendors who sold food from home after vendoring in the street. Carlos Jaquez, chef and owner of Birria Pa La Cruda, used a Mexican term to describe where he was selling at home: cuchitril, which means a hole in a wall or cubby hole.

Jaquez said it was a fight or flight decision in the beginning of the pandemic. “It was never coordinated, like, ‘Oh, we’re going to start selling from home and we want to go get our cottage license to do this.’ I’ve never had any selling license because there were many complications to that.”

“...I’ve never had any selling license because there were many complications to that.”

— Carlos Jaquez

With city departments shut down, getting a permit to sell food legally and properly was tough. However, even though Jaquez was selling without a permit at the time, he continued to follow protocol and keep things clean, safe and healthy for the customers.

“We were very open with everybody and told everybody that the move was to be healthy,” said Jaquez. Jaquez didn't know what covid was at the time, so he wanted to keep people safe and be sanitary.

Even without a permit, the birria tacos were a hit during the beginning of 2020, Jaquez felt like he had to continue to sell during the pandemic, “I sort felt a responsibility to the community oy be feeding them because I created this thing.”

However, after operating for 6 months from their home, Jacquez tried to sell from a food truck. “It was like six months at the house in our little last budget and then six months in the food truck after. And then we went back to street vending,” said Jacquez.

Jacquez said even though he went back to street vending, he sometimes still sells from his home as pop ups some Sundays, “I’ve been becoming more comfortable with this because I think it puts me in a vulnerable place selling to the community and wanting to sell from this business.”

Backyard Syrian street food restaurant

In 2022, A syrian street food backyard restaurant became very popular for its authentic dishes and aesthetic looks. Armbay and Dotee name the restaurant after their mom, Nawal which translates to “gift” in Arabic.

Armbay said they based the name on their mom because the dishes come from her, “we named the business after her because they’re all her recipes and they’re basically like Syrian flash mobs versions of Egyptian originals.”

Dotee was the one who wanted to use his mothers recipes in some way and that was when they started selling out of the house. “We did it for nine months, but then we stopped because we had a neighbor complaint.

The brothers didn’t expect any of the neighbors to file a complaint to the city, but what shocked them more was that the complaint came from a made-up neighbor named Jackie Cairo.

“The person who complained doesn’t even exist. So basically, we got a complaint and management sent us a letter by certified mail and said that the complaints that came in were that our customers were trashing the neighborhood, which wasn't true,” Armbay said.

Armbay said he contacted management to make an appeal and asked them if they had any photo or video evidence and management said they didn’t. He then asked if they would allow them to continue selling with terms. “They read my email and got in contact with the owners. And the owners and the management company were all on board.” According to Armbay one of their terms was to get all tenants around them to sign off, including Jackie.

“We’ve been here for 12 years, so we know the neighborhood well. All the neighbors I contacted informed me that they don't know who Jackie Cairo is,” said Armbay. He contacted management to get Cairo’s phone number or address. Management told Armbay that she was from the Solano Canyon Neighborhood Association.

Armbay said he came to find out that Jackie Cairo didn't exist in the neighborhood and There is no such thing as the Solano County Neighborhood Association. The email address and telephone number was fake as well.

After the whole situation, Armbay tried to get the right permits to operate from his backyard, but found out that Los Angeles County doesn’t allow MEHKO operation and the backyard restaurant came to an end in March 2023.

Nawal has received many negative comments on Instagram such as a video post Time Out Los Angeles had posted where people were commenting things such as, “Do they have a permit? Looks illegal and unsanitary. I only see white hipsters there” and “I would report you if I lived in that neighborhood” and even one person asked for the address to report them to the Health Department.

Even with the negative comments Armbay said he ignores them and continues doing what he loves. “There’s always going to be people that have something to say, whether positive or negative.”

Burgers from two college student’s backyard

In June, two college students, Isaac Huerta and Chirs Villaseñor, began selling burgers in Villaseñors’ backyard in Whittier to pay for their tuition.

They named the business Smashed-Up Burgers because of another business they had selling mini pancakes called Caked-Up. Huerta and Villaseñor said the reason they chose to sell smash burgers it’s because they are very popular right now in LA street culture and they wanted to join in on the trend.

Smashed-Up Burgers best selling items from their menu are the loaded tater tots, milkshakes and Cali burger. Huerta said that the most they have ever sold was maybe around 400 burgers. “We definitely do bring in more money then we’re spending and it's just interesting learning more about managing a business and profit.”

During the first 6 months, the pair sold their burgers through Instagram, giving out the address to a certain number of people according to the quantity of food they had for the night.

Smashed-Up Burgers became so popular that, as of November 2023, it has stopped operating from the backyard. Huerta said it started to become hectic to operate,“it’s really hard to have large amounts of people come into your home,” he said.Huerta said that at one point they had up to 500 people in line in the front yard and felt very hectic.

Even though neighbors never complained, Huerta and Villaseñor said they shut down out of respect for the neighborhood. Villaseñor said, “ We didn’t want to have 300 people lining up on someone’s lawn, that's why we’re moving towards pop ups to be more respectful.”

Huerta and Villaseñor experienced a lot when it came to operating from a backyard, including serving consumers, dealing with finances and becoming popular through social media. So they decided, together, to do pop-ups for now, and save money to buy a location.

Huerta said he never thought the business would grow and would have to operate away from the backyard. “It’s a different feeling to pop ups. We get to explore new communities and serve new faces and we have a chance to interact with others as well while we build connections to improve our social networking skills,” Huerta said.

Food safety in home operations

When it comes to health inspections, there are procedures and steps for people to start a business, which begins by having their home inspected.

According to the Executive Director of COOK Alliance, Roya Bagheri, said that when trying to get a permit to operate from a home kitchen, an annual inspection has to be made in order to make sure that the proper sanitation tools are in place. She also said that the same people that inspect the operation one is cooking from, will be the one approving receiving a permit and will be allowed to sell their food.

Another reason a health inspector would do a home kitchen inspection is due to anonymous complaints. While selling food from his house without a permit, Jaquez said he was afraid of a health inspector showing up. “I used to get really nervous, I still get nervous about it…you see these videos of the city coming to shut down taco stands and stuff,” he said.

Even though some might be operating illegally and are afraid of being shut down, there are people and organizations that will help them get started and give them the proper information to do so such as Bagheri.

In California, The COOK Alliance has been supporting the home cooking industry since 2017. The nonprofit advocates for legitimizing existing businesses, and to legalize the country’s Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations.

Bagheri said that it's been a privilege and honor to be able to eat some of these home foods made by people who are part of the community. “At the end of the day, this is all a real community level work,” she said. Bagheri said she finds it amazing seeing the community arounf it and sharing of food and cultutre.

There are a few counties who permit MEHKO operations, such as San Diego and Riverside. COOK Alliance website provides a map and list of the businesses that currently have MEHKO permits. The nonprofit hopes to help other communities have the same opportunities.

Bagheri believes that every home cooking entrepreneur should have the opportunity to sell dishes that represent their culture and to those who worry about safety or cleanliness don’t have to participate. Bagheri said, “they don't have to be consumers, you don't have to order from a home restaurant, but let others have the opportunity to order from a MEHKO that they believe in and has so far been proven to be very safe.”