By Génesis Miranda Miramontes, NBC
Taco stands in downtown Los Angeles can be found on pretty much every street, but how often do you come across a pink taco truck, and with pink handmade tortillas?
With a goal to empower and inspire others, a Latina business owner found a way to combine her love for fashion, her culture, food and the color pink.
Pink and Boujee in the Los Angeles Fashion District is definitely one of a kind, bringing together the culture and food of Los Angeles.
Owner and founder Yesenia Castro is behind this unique, “not your average taqueria.”
Oh and that’s not food dye in those gluten free corn tortillas, Castro says the pink color comes from dragonfruit and beets, along with premium quality meats, to make that perfect LA style taco.
You can smell the delicious scent of authentic Mexican tacos as you approach the pink truck.
Latino owned and operated, Pink and Boujee is a family run business, giving customers a comforting sense of community along with their order of pink tacos and aguas frescas.
Castro says it all started with pop up events and farmers markets in 2019, but she officially launched her business with the pink truck in August of 2021.
Castro counts on the support of her family, as well as friends like Maria Viera, who manages their social media content.
Viera, a Latina foodie blogger in the LA area, first posted a video of Pink and Boujee on March 31 which has now garnered over 10.7 million views.
“Partnering up with Yesenia has been truly a blessing,” Viera said. “It’s fate that we just happened to collide and now here we are.”
The pair met just three weeks ago and are already not just partners in business but close friends as well.
“In the end I’m just really grateful,” Viera said. “She’s inspiring, she’s like my role model”
Castro says about 90% of her clientele come to her from TikTok.
The pink taco truck located on 948 Crocker St. definitely stands out.
The pink truck, pink tortillas, pink tables and pink boxes where your food is neatly packed all make for such a great photo op.
“I’m a girly girl at heart and I love good vibes, good food, and to dress cute,” Castro said. “I wanted to a create a place where you can feel all that”
Raised in the Boyle Heights area, Castro came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was just nine months old.
“Being a DACA business owner is extremely tough but not impossible. I think we are called dreamers for a reason and I’m here to show your dreams are impossible despite the circumstances,” Castro said.
She says she wants to empower and inspire others, especially young Latinas who would one day want to do what they see her doing.
“I’m sharing behind the scenes of what it’s like starting from the bottom and my personal journey. I am someone another young girl can relate to,” Castro said. “Representation matters to me and that is what I think makes my business so special.”
In the future, Castro says she thinks about getting a bigger food truck or finding an investor and opening up a restaurant.
But she says for now she wants to live in the moment and focus on what she’s doing now.
“It takes a team to be able to push a business forward,” Castro said. “I definitely think that when Latinas come together, women in general, there’s so much that could be done.”
Click here to read the full article on NBC.
