Playa del Carmen Fundraiser

We are partying in Pasadena to raise funds to cover 3.5 months of Mario’s rental debt, helping him fight this eviction and keep his only source of income. We’ll also be calling rent-gouging landlords, writing letters to tenants who may be victims of rent gouging, enjoying delicious food from Playa del Carmen and drinks, and continuing our fight against immoral landlords in Los Angeles in the wake of the January 2025 Fires. 

If you can’t make it, please consider donating directly to Playa del Carmen’s GoFundMe:

Fundraiser by Citlalli Velasquez : Help Mario Save His Beloved Restaurant 

In his daughter Citlalli’s own words, “My dad is 62 years old, he immigrated from Mexico City to Los Angeles when he was 16 in 1979. In 1986 he volunteered with The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection working on controlled fires in the Shasta mountains. Now almost 40 years later his fish tacos were featured in the 101 best tacos in Los Angeles! 

The commercial landlord for his restaurant served him an eviction letter during the Eaton fires on January 9th, 2025. My dad opened this restaurant in Dec of 2019 with the hopes that after decades of working in the service industry as a server, bar back, and cook, he could eventually retire with his life's savings by opening his own restaurant. As an immigrant, he faced many barriers to opening up a brick and mortar, yet he persevered. Not only did my dad invest his whole life's savings to open this restaurant that has been his whole livelihood, he also put his own savings into bringing the restaurant up to code because the landlord refused to do any work to the space. He fell behind on rent during the pandemic at the restaurant but also with his residential landlord and lost his eviction in Dec of 2023. This will be the 3rd eviction my dad will be fighting, the first when he lost our family home in 2017.”

Host or Publisher The Rent Brigade