A Family Legacy

Since 1993, Tacos Villa Corona has faithfully served the Atwater Village community. The unassuming storefront has spent more than 30 years cooking up delicious breakfast and lunch burritos and serving as the backdrop to countless joyous memories. 

For David Flores, the second-generation owner of Tacos Villa Corona, this business is the legacy of his parents: Maria Arechiga and Jose Felix Flores Moreno. As well as a reflection of their work ethic and the values instilled in him and his siblings. 

It’s a history best told in a story—one that begins in Cypress Park.  

“My dad moved to Cypress Park from Tarzana. He used to be the maintenance man for an apartment complex, and his boss lent him [money] for a down payment to buy a house in Cypress Park.” 

The family already had relatives in the neighborhood and quickly settled into their new home. But after three years of living in Cypress Park, David’s dad, Jose, lost his job when the apartment complex was sold to new management and he was laid off. 

“They gave him a severance package, and with that he opened El Torito Meat Market in Cypress Park on Thorpe Street.”

In Mexico, Jose had been mentored as a carnicero by his mom’s cousin, who taught him everything about the meat business and butchery skills he picked up quickly. When he lost his job, opening a market that specialized in meats was a natural next step. El Torito grew to become an important neighborhood fixture, attracting locals and customers from other communities. 

“In the early eighties my dad was one the only guys selling birria in Northeast LA. He was pretty well known—he even did commercials on KWKW [radio station] and he had people coming from El Monte and different cities to Cypress Park to buy on the weekends.” 

Known affectionately as El Bigoton or El Torito, he maintained strong relationships with his neighbors and customers. The market, along with Pepe’s Tires, was one of the only businesses that sponsored the ex-gang members’ softball team, covering the cost of uniforms and equipment for the players. For David, growing up in the shadow of the market had its perks as well. 

“With my parents owning that market, it had its advantages later on growing up. You’d be going to a party and they’d let you in because they knew me from the shop. You just got to know a lot of people.” 

In 1992, his parents decided to sell El Torito and move the family permanently to his father’s hometown of Villa Corona, Jalisco—a move David was not looking forward to. He would have to leave behind his friends and the neighborhood where he’d grown up. 

After a year in Mexico, David’s mother and father decided to move the family back to Los Angeles, hoping for another chance at an opportunity to leave behind a legacy for their children.

“When we came back, my dad was struggling, and my dad got in contact with this guy named Mike from Atwater Village and started doing work with him, opening up stores. My dad had experience with meat, so he opened up a meat market with Mike.” 

On the corner of Glendale and Glenfeliz Boulevards stood Beaches Market, a neighborhood grocery store complete with a butcher shop. From this partnership with Mike grew another business opportunity—one that still stands today. 

“Mike had [another] location. My dad saw it and he didn’t like it. My dad said it was too small. He called my mom up and she said, “I love it.” 

She loved it, so that’s how we got Tacos Villa Corona.” 

Named after his father’s hometown, this taco shop stood as a testament to the unity and collaboration that his parents exemplified. In the early days of the business, his dad would give his mom meat, cheese, and anything else she might need to operate the stand. 

There she began serving traditional Mexican foods such as tortas, sopes, tacos, tostadas, and burritos. It would be the burritos—specifically the papas and cheese or the chilaquiles burrito—that would put Tacos Villa Corona on the map, drawing the attention of individuals such as the late Anthony Bourdain and comedian Bill Burr. David remembers serving customers who would come all the way from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Texas, and Tennessee to try his mom’s food and recipes. 

David continued to help out at Tacos Villa Corona until he decided to move with his family to Mexico in 2015. One fateful day, he received a call from his mom asking if he could come back to help out around the business. She was starting to get sick and wasn’t feeling well. Within a week, David was back at the shop helping his sister and mother run the business. 

In 2019, the matriarch of the Flores family, Maria, passed away, leaving behind a restaurant that has become an institution and a testament to her love for her family and passion for homemade food. 

After years of seeing his parents work diligently, whether at the market, the taco shop, or as a maintenance worker, this passion and obligation to family became instilled in David. 

“I didn’t expect to take over. My sister Felicia, she was the one that used to help my mom, but she went back to school. It just happened that way. God wanted it that way. I took on the challenge. It was hard because I took on the responsibilities that she had. I was just the worker. I just helped. I didn’t know what she went through.” 

Maria’s passing was a devastating blow to the family and the business, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, it seemed that Tacos Villa Corona wouldn’t be able to catch a break. But in the years since taking over operations, David has learned a great deal about what it means to run a business—and more importantly, a business that is so loved and cherished by the community. 

Driven by the strong work ethic his parents taught him, David, along with the help of his wife Lizette, has been able to continue and expand upon his mother’s legacy and recipes. They’ve recently opened a second location in Eagle Rock, still serving up the delicious homemade food and affordable prices that made them so cherished. 

It’s been a learning curve for David, but it’s one he’s glad to have undertaken. He just has to wake up a little earlier than usual. 

“I go downtown at 2:30 in the morning to go shopping for some stuff. I go to Atwater, start cooking over there and start prepping the meats, the chiles, getting everything ready. I leave at 5:30 and get over here [Eagle Rock] and start prepping for this place.” 

And in the middle of the craziness that is running two restaurants, he and his wife Lizette, still find time to share a moment just between the two of them. 

“We used to have our dates—we had a date in the morning and a date at night. We try to do that, but we’ll sit outside here and maybe share a burrito.”

Felix David Flores is the second-generation owner of Tacos Villa Corona, an Atwater Village neighborhood gem and legacy restaurant. Opened in 1993 by his late mother Maria Arechiga, this family business is a reflection of the foods and smells from her childhood growing up in Culver City. Known for their breakfast and lunch burritos, especially their papas and chilaquiles burrito, at Tacos Villa Corona you’ll taste the love and pride that’s transmitted into every dish on the menu. You can visit them at their original Atwater Village location, or at their recently opened second location in Eagle Rock.