How does Los Cinco Puntos survive the holiday rush? With help from an 81-year-old woman

The week before Christmas at Los Cinco Puntos is unlike any other during the year. 

Staff is stretched thin, working long hours as the iconic eatery on the border of Boyle Heights and East L.A. is temporarily open seven days a week. Multiple pallets of 50-pound bags of white corn are wheeled in daily to meet the increased demand for masa used for homemade tamales and champurrado for the holidays. Double the amount of tortilla chips are bagged for fiestas, posadas and potlucks.

Security guards are brought on board to manage the cramped parking lot and separate lines of people that snake the building located at a five-way intersection from which it takes its name.

Owner Stephen Sotelo, whose parents founded the store known for its tender carnitas, tamales and made-in-house masa, attributes its success to their customer service and traditional values. And when the holidays creep closer, Sotelo says, “It’s all hands on deck.” 

“It takes me two months to prep for a 10-day period,” Sotelo, 56, said. “We have to pack more chiles and pinole. I have to get pineapple because people make sweet tamales. I have extra chocolate because they make champurrado. There’s a lot of extra work to be done.”

One employee brings his daughters to help during the holiday rush. Sotelo’s wife and sister come to take orders of masa, 5, 10 or 20 pounds at a time, while his son puts in extra hours taking orders and preparing food for hungry customers. 

Tucked away in a quiet corner of the store, an 81-year-old woman has been honing a skill for about as long as Sotelo has been alive. 

Marina Guzman wears an apron over two hooded sweatshirts to keep warm by her tamal-making station. A hairnet holds her mostly white hair back while a gold bracelet helps to keep her sleeves rolled up so she can work. The wrinkles in her hands tell a story of how she’s used them to apply the masa to tamal corn husks and to flatten tortillas for decades. Sotelo says her contribution to the business is critical this time of year, as she can easily crank out 500 to 600 tamales daily. 

Marina Guzman prepares tamales in a corner station inside Los Cinco Puntos. Photos by Andrew Lopez.

In 1969, Guzman immigrated to Los Angeles from Michoacan, Mexico, and was offered a job by Sotelo’s parents at Los Cinco Puntos just two years after its opening. Since then, Guzman has seen the community around her change but stayed a constant in one of the Eastside’s most famed eateries. 

“I began working here making tortillas by hand and then I transferred to making tortillas and tamales,” Guzman said. When asked what keeps her coming to work, she smiled and said, “I love it. I love working and passing my time here.”

On a recent Wednesday morning, as a line began forming inside, Felipe Sanchez, a Boyle Heights resident, chatted with Guzman through an open window that faces the sidewalk on Lorena Street. He said he regularly sees Guzman and has noticed her long commitment to preparing food for the community.

“She has made tamales for the barrio for a long time. Even for Miklo from “Blood In Blood Out,” ” Sanchez said laughing, referencing the connection between the Eastside restaurant and the Chicano crime-drama that was partly filmed outside the eatery. 

Employees of Los Cinco Puntos work the assembly line to make hundreds of tamales daily. Photos by Andrew Lopez.

A nearly 20-year employee of Los Cinco Puntos who asked to stay anonymous said that Guzman’s drive and commitment to serving the community has held steady since she began working there. 

“It’s just amazing what she does at her age at this time. Even when she first started, in 1968, until now, she’s still the same person,” he said. “Still on time, hard-working, and she’s here sometimes nine to 10 hours a day.”

When asked when she thinks she’ll retire, Guzman had a short answer: she already was. Without children to spend the holidays with, Guzman said she enjoys coming to Los Cinco Puntos because of the work available and the opportunity to connect and serve the clientele that has been coming to the restaurant for years.

“My bosses here have treated me well. That’s why I enjoy coming here,” Guzman said. “I’ve been here all my life, and I’ve lived here so it was easy to work here. They are good people.”