After a year and a half of waiting, brothers Tony and Kelvin Doan officially opened their second location of Saigon Brothers in Northridge on the corner of Nordhoff St. and Reseda Blvd, mere minutes away from their alma mater, Cal State Northridge. “We have the original location in Simi Valley, Bamboo Café. This Saigon Brothers is me and my brother,
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In the middle of the pandemic, friends John Erick Pabalan and Jason Lustina set out to create a Facebook community group called So Cal Filipinos. Their goal was simple: to connect Filipinos/Filipino Americans in (or have connections to) Southern California through shared experiences. From June 2020 to present, this online community now consists of 25,000 members and is still growing.
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When Trixie Calapatia started Bear and Belle’s Bakery, the desire for a healthier lifestyle for her and her family was the goal and the motivation. Her family includes two furry friends, Mozart and Lucille. “I started to realize the ingredients found in the processed foods I had at home truly lacked real nutrition, even more so in the treats and
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The Panorama City Rock Garden started in May 31, 2020 by Javier Mejia as a response to the piled up garbage in the area, a common issue in the Northeast Valley where some small spaces in neighborhoods are consistently used as dumping grounds. One day, Mr. Mejia decided to pick up the trash being dumped at this space and decided
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What do (818) locals Alexander Orozco (the Hood Foodie), Marie Salazar (owner of the 818 Pop Up Shop), Joel Gonzalez (Head Chef of Mariscos Corona), Nestor Aguilar (The 818 Insider) have in common? Apart from being from the San Fernando Valley, of course! Give up? Each of them own shoes specifically tailored to their brand. And the team behind the
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It all started in October 2017. Dustin Staats and his friend Rich went on a podcast adventure called Board Gaming with English. Both friends were teachers: Dustin with a strong background in English Language education and Rich as the resident history and international education experience guru. The podcast shifted gears and started including subjects apart from English, paving the way
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Ube, where? Ube-r there…(lip pointing optional). Maybe that was funnier in my head than in actual print. But, if you are a HUGE fan of UBE (sweet yam), then maybe it wasn’t too over the top? In mid-June, Café 86, a popular Filipino owned café known for its Ube treats and drinks, opene its new Northridge location just months after
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Meet Reggie and Abigail Cua, owners of Cafè Aficionado After having celebrated the third year anniversary of Cafe Aficionado, Meet the (818) chats with owners (and power couple) Reggie and Abigail Cua as they talk about their journey of turning their dream into the reality it is today. It’s a love story about dreams and uplifting the community.Stop by and enjoy
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Time sure flies! As Meet The (818) celebrates its second anniversary, I’d like to say thank you for your continued support for this little enterprise of mine. I am truly grateful for all the stories I got to tell and everyone I got to meet the past two years. Sharing your stories and seeing you all work so hard to
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In early February 2020, the last event I attended and covered was the bridal expo at Castaway in Burbank. I remember going around with my handy dandy camera, snapping away happily, talking with small business owners, and thinking that this was going to an amazing year. There were already some rumblings about the pandemic but it lacked any sense of
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MEET THE (818) 