When the COVID-19 pandemic first shut down Southern California restaurants in March, Joe Bautista had an epiphany that all of us should have.. On his social media accounts, the warehouse worker for a shipping company chronicled cooking and dining adventures almost indistinguishable from those of fellow foodies. Glamorous photos of grub. Selfies. A slew of hashtags.But the financial devastation to small businesses wrought by the pandemic took Bautista back to 2009.
Bautista wasn’t there to take freebies. He was there to preach to those who wanted to listen. He was embodying the spirit of the prophet behind his surname, John the Baptist: Repent of big chains, and prepare the way for small businesses to survive. “He’s just everywhere,” said Lalo Bustamante, who was there to deliver a virgin michelada that Bautista had ordered. “I don’t know how he does it, or even why, but he does it.”“He always tells us the good spots, to give them a chance,” said 24-year-old Juan Aguirre. “It’s a small community, but it’s a good community.”, a 38-year-old La Puente institution that has seen profits drop by 50% this year.