A Palisades Taquero on the Healing Power of Food

For years, Rodolfo Barrientos’ food truck Gracias Señor was more than just a place to grab a meal in Pacific Palisades—it was a community staple. Locals knew his name, and he knew theirs. His tacos, made with hand-pressed tortillas, weren’t just food; they were a connection.

Thomas J. Story

But despite his popularity, Rodolfo found himself in the crosshairs of a powerful adversary: the Ralphs grocery store on Sunset Boulevard, which sued him and other food trucks and even sought a restraining order against them. Despite the challenges, Rodolfo remained steadfast. The attempt was ultimately denied and Rodolfo prevailed. “I didn’t pick the Palisades. The Palisades picked me,” he says.

A decade ago, when he first started vending in the area, food trucks were not yet fully embraced by the community. Loncheras were seen as something for workers, not locals. But Rodolfo was determined to change that perception. “The Palisades is a tight-knit community,” he says. “It’s hard to penetrate the trust of the community, but when they begin to trust you, they become loyal customers.”

Thomas J. Story

Then the fires hit. “We got into the Palisades at 9:40. We literally saw the fires start,” he recalls. When he got home, he saw the news, and his first thought was, “People are going to need help.” Rodolfo reached out to World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit that provides food in disaster zones. “I wrote about my relationship with the community and how I wanted to help,” he says. By the next day, they asked if he could be on-site. He spent the following days feeding first responders— National Guard members, law enforcement, firefighters covered in soot, exhausted from battling the flames. “The most grateful individuals I’ve ever had the  pleasure of serving,” he says. Running on little sleep, he returned home, where his mother had made him caldo de res—beef soup.

The moment he tasted it, something shifted. “It hit me. It gave me the energy to go to work,” he says. The next day, he made the same meal for first responders. “I felt so comforted by my mom’s meal I knew other people would too,” he says. “That’s the beauty of food. No matter who you are, food connects with every human on a primal, spiritual, and intellectual level.” Through it all—the lawsuit, the opposition, the long days and nights—Rodolfo never stopped giving back. No legal battle or fires could take away what he had built. The Palisades picked him, and he never let them down.

Rodolfo Barrientos’ Salsa Verde

Thomas J. Story

Rodolfo’s secret to a perfect taco is to keep it simple. Season the meat, make tortillas with good masa, serve it “con todo,” as in with onions and cilantro. But the real secret is the salsa. Here, he shares his recipe for the salsa verde that fed the Palisades, from residents to first responders.