With Albondigas and Tortillas Hecha a Mano, East L.A.’s ‘La Que Si Llena’ Restaurant Hopes to Stay Open For Another 30 Years

“You did good, mijo,” is a common echo in the life of Armando Guerrero, the proud co-owner of La Que Si Llena Restaurante Familiar . He hears it all the time from the grandmother who inspired him.

This small, family-owned business, whose name means “that which fills you up,” has served the Hazard neighborhood in East L.A. for over 30 years. Guerrero and his wife, Ana Lia Ochoa, purchased La Que Si Llena in April of 2023 from the previous owner, Graciela, who wanted to sell for “personal reasons,” after founding it with her husband in 1991.

“She was having a really hard time selling it to anybody who just wanted to shove money in her face and take over the franchise,” Guerrero told L.A. TACO.

For the co-owners, their goal for this restaurant is not to earn Michelin stars, but rather, to provide a refreshing and cozy reminder of what it’s like to sit at your kitchen table surrounded by loved ones.

Traditional homestyle dishes like menudo, cocido (beef stew), and caldo de pollo (chicken stew) are what make customers return to this restaurant. Customer favorites include pozole on the weekends and weekday favorites like quesabirria, mole, and chile relleno. They recently began serving coffee with fan favorites like a horchata latte balancing a milky, cinnamon flavor with hints of espresso.

“It’s not five-star dishes… it’s your grandmother's house,” Guerrero says. “It’s your aunt’s house. It’s your family’s house… these are authentic dishes.”

“Breakfast is served all day, and menudo and pozole are served every weekend,” adds Ochoa. “Corn tortillas are made by hand, and everything is made in-house, down to the salsas.”

For Guerrero, buying La Que Si Llena (unrelated to a nearby taco truck of the same name) was more than a business transaction. Acquiring the establishment symbolized everything he respects about his family history and culture.

Not wanting to give her legacy away in vain, Graciela was very particular about the type of owner she was willing to transfer ownership to. The business was the only one she’d known since moving to this country.

She met with several others interested in buying but nothing ever clicked for her. It was super important for her to find somebody who knows how to cook. Guerrero’s altruistic intentions became a safe haven for her own concerns, making her amenable to the transfer of ownership last year.

The couple prides themselves on doing everything possible to maintain the traditions of the restaurant as it was run by Graciela while creating higher-quality food and a more refined feel (a taco truck idling down the block has the same name, but they are unrelated).

In this way, the couple has been lucky to maintain the restaurant’s loyal clientele since taking over, even if they occasionally struggle with concerns over their location and rising prices for rent, necessities, labor, and ingredients.

“People don’t know the restaurant is here. It’s kind of hidden,” Guerrero said. “We’ve been trying to get a new sign, but it’s $9,000.”

Que Si Llena is tucked away in a corner, right off Cesar Chavez Boulevard, next to a Superior grocery store. The owners are trying to get a new sign to market themselves better since customers sometimes tell them that the restaurant isn’t apparent and doesn’t always populate on Yelp or other food review sites. They could invest in Yelp or Facebook marketing, but their prices have also risen.

Nevertheless, the couple still hopes to bring new business in to offset the rising costs of owning a small business and to continue providing hours for their staff, who are mostly locals. Community is at the forefront of their mission, and always will be. Nonetheless, they unfortunately had to cut hours recently in an effort to cut costs, but they don’t want to have to do that.

“A lot of things we do are DIY,” Ochoa said, “When business goes down, we don’t have a lot of money to invest in the business.”

“We don’t see our customers as numbers.”

Armando Guerrero

Recently, the couple gathered their resources to paint the outside of their restaurant themselves, as outside artists quoted them over $3,000 to make the desired changes.

Like restaurants the world over, the couple have been dealing with rising costs across the board.

“We’re always trying to keep a balance,” Ochoa said. “There’s inflation, gas goes up, everything goes up. Even Facebook ads have increased [in price]. The cost of the food has been rising every week. One trip to Restaurant Depot is almost double what it used to be.”

“We try to keep our prices as low as possible,” she continued. “We’ve only updated the prices twice in the past year. We were thinking of doing it again, but then people won’t have money to come, because that’s another reason people come. It’s pretty affordable.”

“We don’t see our customers as numbers,” explained her husband.

Ochoa is from Ecuador and moved to the I.E. in her late teens. She always knew she wanted to be her boss and was always attracted to the food industry.

Guerrero was born in San Diego but lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, before relocating to L.A. as a teenager. He formerly worked in the film industry before seeking a lifestyle change and more control of his hours.

A first-generation immigrant, Guerrero comes from a long line of cooks and chefs. Both Ochoa and Guerrero had always been interested in becoming restaurant owners. Still, it was not until the opportunity fell into their laps that these two East L.A. residents could try to envision a shared life of culinary entrepreneurship.

“This place kind of just presented itself in the correct light… we just hit it off,” Guerrero explained. “The stars kind of just aligned.”

He and his wife are present daily, committed to continuing the legacy and community connection the previous team had worked so hard to cultivate and maintain.

“These recipes are a hundred years old,” explained Guerrero, who learned much of what he knows in the kitchen from his grandmother and other family he grew up with.

“Everything we make is made in-house. Everything is my grandmother’s recipes.”

Guerrero’s grandmother would cook five meals at a time while he watched and learned, filled with respect and reverence for the woman who meant so much to him and his family.

His abuela’s influence on him is profound and nothing short of life-changing. He carries it with him wherever he goes, but mainly when he’s working inside of this warm, colorful restaurant.

“The final approval goes to my nana… she can be very cutthroat at her ripe age of 87,” laughed Guerrero. “It was very important for me to get my grandmother’s approval.”

Growing up, the phrase, ‘You did good, mijo,’ was a term he revered hearing from her.

Although most of Guerrero's members still live in Mexico, they visit the restaurant as often as possible. At the same time, Ochoa’s Ecuadorian family makes it a point to stop by and eat at least once a week.

Of course, the couple are here daily, committed to continuing the legacy that so many before them had worked hard to cultivate and maintain.

“I’m in it for the long run,” he said. “I want to be here forever. For as long as I can. Hopefully, we can be here for another 30, 40, 50 years, then pass it along to the family.”

La Que Si Llena Restaurante Familiar ~ 3630 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90063