More than 500 celebrities, fans and well wishers gathered at the corner of Tujunga and Moorpark on Sunday afternoon to show support for Henry's Tacos, which may have to close by the end of the year.
Hobbit star Elijah Wood as well as Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul were among the headliners who came out to support the small business.
"I've been coming here since I was 8 or 9 years old," the 31-year-old Wood told Studio City Patch. Wood, who grew up in the area, added, "Every time I'm back in this area I come back. I love this place."
Wood said he tweeted out his concern after reading that Henry's was having problems, and said, "I'm following it online and reading about it and the more I find out about Henry's the more I think it's a local treasure that has to be saved." (See video of him above.)
Janis Hood, the owner of the family-owned taco stand, was overwhelmed, being hugged by Paul and after saying a few words said, "I need to get back to work to help feed you all." She is giving her staff the day off on Monday.
The landowner of the property has not allowed Hood to sell to one of three prospective buyers of the business and keep it going as a gringo taco stand.
Check back for many more fan photos, comments and additional video.
Also, more than 4,400 people have signed the petition to "Save Henry's" even though Hood herself is ready to retire from the business. See the petition CLICK HERE.
(If you have photos you care to share, please click ADD YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEO under the photo above.)
Also see:
* Exclusive: Henry’s Tacos Owner on Calling It Quits
* Henry's Tacos: A History in Photos and Video
* Henry's Tacos: What's Your Reaction?
* Celebrities Join Campaign to Save Henry's Tacos
How can you have the nerve to suggest that because people care about a local business they cannot possibly care about Newtown. Though I wasn't at Henry's myself yesterday, I will go out on a limb and speak for the folks who were, and tell you that everyone in line cares about kids more than they care about tacos, but that they are quite capable of caring about both.
1 - Janis has been open on Sundays ever since the word came out she was closing to accommodate customers 2 - As much of a horrific tragedy it was in Newtown, life must go on and we must not give into fear. In fact, 20 years ago we would not even be having this discussion. Newtown is like 4,000 miles away. It's only because of the internet and the 24 hour feed me news culture that we are even aware of something like this. If in fact this happened at a local school, it might be different and might not be a bad idea for Henry's to skip the event. There are bad things happening everywhere - are we just going to shut everything down? 3 - and again, it is certainly not on the same scale as what the families are going through in Newtown, but here we have a situation where several families are going to lose their livelihood, and one person, their life's work. I see nothing wrong with trying to help them.,
I fully agree with your observation.
of these people coming together for Henry's. For all of the people saying we/they should not because of the tragedy is ridiculous. Why aren't those same people going themselves to support in in CT. So judgmental. We all need a community to come together to make us feel better in this world with such terrible things happening.