"Before the fire, Lucy's Place would come alive in the morning. Gardeners and day laborers would come by for a morning pastry or breakfast burrito and coffee served up by owner Juan Orozco, who arrived at 5 a.m. to prepare. If he had to step out, his regulars would take over and serve coffee to customers, he said."
"Orozco, who estimates he's lost three-fourths of his business and is now thousands of dollars in debt, said that business had been slow that particular day. Only two potential customers had phoned in orders, and they never picked them up. But then members of the dining club began to trickle in, and the restaurant slowly came alive. "Thanks for having us!" Lohman-Janz told Orozco, who that night, and like the ones before, worked in the back, making food."
Lucy’s Place was a modest cafe run by Juan Orozco and his wife since 1997, serving breakfast and Mexican and American dishes to local gardeners, day laborers and nearby renters. Orozco opened at 5 a.m., and regulars sometimes helped serve coffee. The Eaton fire sharply reduced customer traffic and revenue, leaving the cafe a shell and Orozco facing heavy debt and the possibility of closing. Local residents formed the Altadena Dining Club to patronize surviving eateries. Club members gathered on the cafe patio to eat, socialize, and help revive business in the wake of the fire. Altadena sits in Los Angeles County foothills.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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