This Pioneering Mexican Restaurant Was One of the First in L.A. to Reject ‘Combination Plates’ In 1985. Now, They Are Struggling to Stay Open

Jose and Aurora Rodriguez founded La Serenata in 1985 in Boyle Heights. That was a pivotal era in L.A.’s Mexican food community, and Jose Rodriguez's culinary pursuits led him to become a pioneer in rejecting the “combination plate” standard laden with soggy tacos and burritos.

Now, his restaurant's legacy is in danger of ending.

La Serenata’s journey was never easy, and the current owners, who received the restaurant through family members passing it down, are still fighting to keep the place afloat, similar to how the original owner and executive chef, Jose Rodriguez, did when the restaurant first opened its doors in Boyle Heights.

Although the quality and taste of the food itself eventually took the forefront of driving customers in, Jose’s son, Marco Rodriguez, described that many would flock to the restaurant on 1st Street to relish in Jose’s good spirits and kind, humorous demeanor, paired with his intense passion for producing good food to the community. Aitana Lugo Rodriguez echoed this sentiment. She’s his cousin, and she helps La Serenata continue its traditions of providing great food to the community via social media.

“His persona just brought people in—people came to see him, and he would make his rounds at the restaurant," explained Aitana.

Marco has been involved in the restaurant since childhood and used to work as a pastry chef before taking over his father's restaurant. Jose, the eldest nine children, passed away in 2010 at 76. He worked and cooked at La Serenata until the end of his life.

Marco recalls that although the Boyle Heights location was quaint and sometimes chaotic, it lent itself to becoming a place where Jose’s uniquely modern sazón became the focal point of it all. Customers happily made reservations to try their sweet potato flautas and homemade corn tortillas served with mole. Their fluffy “frijoles chinos” are still a customer favorite.

Jonathan Gold once wrote , “For years, it was the only Boyle Heights restaurant anybody on the Westside ever visited—those complex sauces blew everybody’s minds.” In 2010, in a follow-up restaurant review in L.A. Times written by S. Irene Virbila, “It was love at first bite.”

“A lot of people here like the pork medallions. The camarones. You can’t go wrong,” explains Marco. The shrimp Marco is talking about are served in enchilada form and smothered in fresh cilantro salsa.

“Mexican food used to be stigmatized as a combo plate or a burrito,” Marco explained his philosophy of cultivating a more nuanced menu at a Mexican restaurant.

“We have so much more to offer,” explained Aitana about the future of La Serenata, which she hopes will sustain itself with more customers and business. However, a quick look at their menu on Postmates today reveals the inclusion of combination plates, which they've added to the menu due to customer demand and hard times. They also offer weekend-only grill specials, like smoked ribs and brisket. Whatever it takes to stay open is the new name of the game if you're a family-owned restaurant in Los Angeles.

Just as his father, who had previously worked in fine dining, imagined. Jose dreamed that his restaurant could be where Mexican food received the praise it deserved, with a less traditional lens and an emphasis on modern interpretations. Jose, was from from Torreón, Coahuila.

“All my father really cared about was that your plate was hot and that the sauce was on point.”

Marco Rodriguez

“His brothers always wanted him to open a restaurant—he loved to cook, and it was one of his strong suits,” Marco says about his late father. “They always mentioned him opening a restaurant, and he wanted to. So, by the time he was 52, he opened a restaurant,” explained Marco. “It was a hole in the wall. It was a dump,” laughed Marco, reminiscing about his earliest memories of the first location. “I remember going there and walking inside. And thinking, this place is a dump! He’ll never make it,” laughed Marco.

At times, Jose and Aurora were still determining whether they could maintain their establishment. Marco’s father was unsure if the establishment could remain afloat. But he had one mantra that allowed him to stay open for many years: “All my father really cared about was that your plate was hot and that the sauce was on point."

He never wanted to open a second or third restaurant,” explained Marco.

Jose wasn’t in love with the management side of the business; he just wanted to cook great food for the community. Aurora wasn’t bought into the management idea either, and the couple struggled with issues related to maintaining the three businesses they eventually had: Boyle Heights, West L.A., and Santa Monica. Today, only the West L.A. storefront continues to stay open.

Soon enough into its beginnings, their flagship restaurant fell almost immediately onto hard times. The business just wasn’t enough until one day, things all changed: “He was 11 months behind on rent—the landlord was a little old man, who always told him, ‘Don’t worry about it, don’t worry about it” and one day, he got that first review in the L.A. Times that changed the restaurant forever”

That same review, which pegged La Serenata as the “neighborhood Mexican place of your dreams,” continues to hang on the wall.

“My dad was old-school. His thing was the food. He didn’t even want to get a liquor license,” explained Marco, explaining his father’s culinary traditions and desires. “He got the review, and boom, people are suddenly coming from everywhere.”

Although the restaurant has been through many changes, the owner’s mission remains the same: Marco wants to continue to carry on his father’s legacy, especially since he is his only son. Marco’s son has also followed in the family’s culinary footsteps and has become a chef, owning a Mexican brunch spot, Caile.LA .

“Our [restaurants] went from being way overstaffed to now, where we only have two cooks in the kitchens,” explained Marco on rising costs and declining sales. Like many other restaurant owners struggling in Los Angeles right now, they need to increase in order to push forward.

Although the restaurant has suffered from hard times, increasing rent prices, and a smaller clientele than it needs to attract, the owners and supportive family members hope to remain optimistic as they continue to push forward.

Now, Marco and his wife hope to use the power of his father’s game-changing recipes to continue the legacy of La Serenata, sustaining themselves, their family, their livelihood, and, most importantly, the legacy of a father they loved and admired so dearly.

10924 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064