Mitla Cafe (interior)

After this family-owned gem opened in 1937, it served as a center of local Latino community life and activism (with its patrons including Cesar Chavez ). In the 1950s, local hamburger stand owner Glen Bell was so awestruck by the Mitla's hard shell, ground beef tacos that he convinced the restaurant to teach him how to make them - inspiring him to found Taco Bell. In 2023, the National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded it a Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant.