Azucanela provides fresh churros made-to-order
After being closed for a month due to the on-going pandemic, the churro shop Azucanela is back open with some adjustments to their business model.
First, what does Azucanela mean? One of the three co-owners, Edward Leiva, said it's a word they made up.
"In Spanish, azucar means sugar and canela means cinnamon," Leiva said.
Azucanela has only been open since November 2019, but Edward said the most popular item at the churreria is, of course, their churros.
"Almost all of our churros are handmade," Leiva said. "We make them in-house. The dough is made here. Everything's fresh."
"It brings the Mexican culture to life," said Azucanela customer Carolyne Cervantes. "It resonates with me because it reminds me of my grandmother. The café de olla is something that I typically always, you know, that I'll get."
The owners of the Hawthorne, CA shop said it was difficult at the start of the pandemic. They were closed for about one month. But, after making some adjustments, they're back operating again.
"Our revenue went down a lot," said co-owner Jose Gabriel Ulloa. "We're talking 60 percent, but then customers started pouring in on social media."
"We started hearing about takeout only," Leiva said. "And we decided that we strategize and restructure some of the operations."
They decided to stop letting customers come into the building, started taking online and phone orders, and installed plexiglass as a barrier between the register and customers.
They said despite everything happening in the world, they feel the support of their community.
"Little kids have brought little banners, 'Support your local small business,'" Gabriel Ulloa said. "We are really grateful that they like us."
"I think this is when we really need to gather our community and really be there for our small business owners," Cervantes said.
424.297.0215
13307 Inglewood Ave.
Hawthorne, CA 90250
