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Photo by Merrill Shindler<\/p>\n
Highland Park\u2014You can often see Victor Villa working at his Figueroa Street taquerias or a stand at the Grand Central Market.<\/p>\n
But today, the Highland Park taquero and owner of Villa’s Tacos<\/a>\u00a0made a guest appearance at the Super Bowl during the halftime show with superstar Bad Bunny, according to a post on the taqueria’s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Villa, standing behind his cart, accepts a Puerto Rican piragua (a shaved ice sweet) from Bad Bunny as the performer sings and makes his way through a stage designed to resemble a sugar cane field.<\/p>\n
That brief cameo brought nationwide exposure and recognition for a first-generation Mexican American who sold his first taco eight years ago from his grandmother’s front yard in Highland Park before eventually opening his first brick-and-mortar outlet. In 2023, Villas’ Tacos was added to the California Michelin Guide<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I couldn\u2019t have sold that 1st taco, if my parents didn\u2019t make the difficult decision to leave their homeland for a better life & immigrate to the U.S.” said Villa of his on Instagram<\/a>. “This one is for all the immigrants who paved the way before us to make this moment possible”<\/p>\n 399 Monthly Reader Sponsors and Counting!<\/p>\n Join the nearly 400 readers who make monthly contributions to The Eastsider..<\/p>\n Even a small monthly contribution will create a more stable source of revenue, giving us confidence to expand staff and provide you with more of the community news you can\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n \u2014Jes\u00fas Sanchez, Publisher<\/p>\n
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