Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 2, No. 47 - November 19, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................2
Hawthorne............................3
Huber’s Hiccups..................3
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals.................................4,6
Neighborhood Therapist.....2
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
66˚/51˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
68˚/51˚
Sunday
Sunny
70˚/49˚
Lawndale Tribune
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Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
HEAL LA Foundation Brings
Cheer to Centinela Hospital
Thank you HEAL LA Foundation for the delicious meals from Yamashiro’s of Hollywood. It’s donations like these during challenging times we face that lifts our frontline spirits. Photo courtesy Centinela
Hospital Medical Center.
El Gringo Restaurant Treats the
South Bay Like Family
Story and Photos by Chase Maser
Over the past few months, restaurants
throughout El Segundo have had to make (and
are still adjusting to) numerous changes set up
by the city of Los Angeles to curb the spread
of COVID-19. Sprawling into the road are new
outdoor seating arrangements. Orange barriers
separate customers from ongoing traffic. New
partitions made out of fiberglass offer privacy
and protection for parties sitting 6ft apart. No
eatery has been able to escape the fray. However,
one venue looks oddly familiar despite
the changing landscape: El Gringo.
Located at 422 Main St., El Gringo is the
newest location of the Mexican restaurant
chain spread throughout the South Bay. They
have locations in Manhattan Beach, Redondo
Beach, and Hermosa, but the ES location is
only four years old, celebrating their recent
anniversary last Nov 2nd.
Something else that’s unique about the
ES location is its management team—sisters
Sadie and Whitney Fraker. Under the leadership
of El Gringo owner, Bill Graw, the Fraker sisters
have been working for El Gringo restaurants
over the past ten years, starting in their late
teens and rising through the ranks of the different
locations.
“We definitely started at the bottom,” says
Sadie, who is now the manager of the ES location.
“I worked my way up from a busser to a
window/takeout position, and over the years,
I’ve shifted to a server and then manager.”
For Whitney, it was a similar rise, and now,
she is the manager of the Manhattan location,
although every Thursday and Sunday, the sisters
get to work together in ES. Right away,
you would think that being so close with your
sibling 24/7 would get overwhelming, but the
Frakers love the time they get to spend with
each other—they also love the environment
they work in.
“It’s rare to be treated so well by an employer,”
says Whitney. “[Bill] is very attentive
and anticipates a lot of changes before they
happen. So working for El Gringo has always
been comfortable and fun. It’s to the point now
where Sadie and I love working together more,
and having Bill as a mentor makes us feel like
we could open up our own restaurant someday.”
Weathering the storm of COVID-19 has
really been a great example of El Gringo’s
resiliency. Looking at the ES location from
the outside, you would never guess that the
business has had to endure any drastic changes.
Their sidewalk remains unobstructed with tables
and chairs. There are no orange barricades or
wooden posts with makeshift decorations strewn
about. Even walking by on a regular weeknight,
you can look inside and see couples sitting in
their own booths, cozy and enjoying themselves
with a sense of normalcy—it’s all thanks to El
Gringo’s current layout and business model.
“I think one of the reasons why we’ve been
able to remain successful through the pandemic
is because we make takeout a priority,”
says Whitney. “Our Manhattan and Redondo
The front of El Gringo’s El Segundo Location at 422 Main St. See El Gringo, page 6