These fresh waters in South Los Angeles have become so viral on social media that many drive more than an hour to taste them for the first time, the creator behind this success is Micaela Solano, owner of the stall, Qué Sabor.
By car, on foot and even by bus, Solano customers arrive to refresh their day with one of the 16 fresh waters of different flavors that it sells. That Thursday, the entrepreneur originally from Jalisco, Mexico, arrived at her stand on Compton and Gage avenues to celebrate her Forty-eight years of life the only way she would, serving her customers, serving them her waters and sharing smiles with them.
“People come from all over: Unique York, Chicago, Texas; they saw us on TikTok and when they come to visit, they make their stop here,” says Solano, as he dispatches a customer who got off the bus at the stop next to his stand.
Solano says that, although they have been at that location for the last 9 years, she and her husband, Jaime Bahena, have been Mexican snack entrepreneurs in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. Before opening their stand, they said they sold esquites, shaved ice, and sweet potatoes with honey at the La Alameda Swapmeet.
After stopping selling at the swapmeet, Solano said they decided to try selling waters, starting with only 4 flavors, a stark contrast to what they offer today.
“Little by little we grew in the type of flavors we prepared,” Solano said while blending a jug of water with mixed berries and banana. “Now sometimes we add more; we have reached between 20 and 24 flavors.”
At their stand there is a rainbow of flavors, such as mango with passion fruit, strawberries with cream, fruit salad and cucumber with chia, and they can even prepare a delicious tejuino. Tejuino is a traditional fermented Mexican drink that is drunk cold and prepared with corn dough and piloncillo. It is very current in Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit.
Each bucket of fresh water has a touch of chopped fruit and a glass costs $10.
In reality, the portion is enough for two people, since they are large glasses, but there are still customers who stop and take up to four or more different drinks, as happened when La Opinión visited the business
“There are people who have taken up to 15 glasses of water,” says Solano. “They go to buy their food and come here for their drinks, and sometimes they order for their parties.”
She says that everything changed for them when she started uploading videos to TikTok. She says that her husband was the one who encouraged her to upload videos, since he has seen how social networks have helped other businesses.
“I was like no, I’m too busy to be recording,” says Solano.
“I told him: that’s what people want to see, they want to see your process, and that’s when he started uploading videos,” her husband added. “Then came the TikToker Teddy Grubs and uploaded a video of us and everything changed; we went viral.”
The couple says that the fact that the business became popular on social media provided them with the support they so desperately needed at that time. The support came to them last year in August, a few months after the immigration raids began in Los Angeles. Which, until today, have harmed the local economy. In the case of Solano and her husband, their area was one of the most affected.
“They just arrived here. At Carl’s Jr. they also took a laundry worker,” Bahena recalls. “They took people from the supermarket 3 times, so it was empty here; it affected us all.”
Solano says that as street vendors they are exposed to many things. Before the raids, he said that sometimes they had to deal with people who bothered them in any way possible.
“Here the waters have thrown me, they have tried to hit me and I have had to defend myself,” Solano commented. “But we have to get out, there is no other way.”
After they went viral, she says the work doesn’t stop, which she’s grateful for. He says that the weekend is his busiest day, when the long lines form along the sidewalk. She says that she is already prepared for those long days when so many people arrive that she has to send for more water because they run out. “But there is always enough for everyone,” Solano said.
“We give everyone a taste so they know the flavors, and so they are happy with what they get after trying them or waiting in line,” says Solano. “We make sure that the water is as fresh as possible, because what’s the point of going viral if, when they come to try it, it doesn’t taste good?”
You can find Solano and her husband every day of the week, except Tuesdays, in South Los Angeles, selling their waters, esquites and fruits in glasses, and sweet potatoes in honey. Solano added that maintaining his business has not been easy, but that he is working to have his own location one day. Saying that all the effort is worth it.
“Being an entrepreneur is not easy, it is a lot of work, but when I get here and see my clients, it is the best; it even takes away my fatigue.”
Note produced under the California Native News Fellowship program at the University of Berkeley.
What a flavor
6213 Compton Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90001
