La Abeja Restaurant

50-Year Mexican Mainstay La Abeja to Close in Highland Park This Year | Eater LA

"I've been told that the legendary Highland Park restaurant La Abeja is set to close soon, as owner Rogelio Fonseca plans to sell the 50-year-old restaurant and attached properties in the near future. Fonseca—whose parents moved to the U.S. in the 1950s and opened the restaurant in 1969—grew up cleaning the floors before school and eventually took ownership, keeping many staff for decades; now a month shy of his self-set retirement age of 65, he's already taking down trinkets and recalling memories after his wife's illness last year prompted him to formalize plans to sell. The corner spot on Figueroa, straddling Cypress Park, faces an uncertain future because its high-demand location makes it attractive to out-of-state buyers, but the restaurant's legacy remains: the city declared "La Abeja Day" through Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and there's still time to stop in for chilaquiles and other longtime fan favorites." - Farley Elliott