Hometown Pride: San Pedro is a blue-collar town on the edge of the world
San Pedro, or Pedro as locals call it, is a swashbuckling, hard-working small town in the big city, on the edge of the world.
Ocean bluffs, natural beauty, next to the infinite Port of Los Angeles.
Pedro is a beach community with a healthy mix of cultures from Italy, Mexico, Croatia, the Far East and more. And no matter where you’re from, in the mornings, it’s time for breakfast.
At a diner on Gaffey Street called The Omelette and Waffle Stop.
Like the town, it’s a mix of all the best cultures—and tried and true.
Co-owner Mona took over the space with her partner back in the ’90s.
The restaurateur and activist are serving up far more than breakfast in San Pedro.
“We just started, Nov. 1, our 30th year. Proud to say that we made it,” Mona said. “We love our town. We love what we’ve created here with the restaurant, but further than moving forward, we want things to be better and really awesome in San Pedro. We want San Pedro to really rise and be the crown jewel of the coastline of this end of Los Angeles.”
San Pedro, and the Port of L.A., even looking at it, it’s hard to understand how huge it is—7500 acres, 43 miles of waterfront. Some estimates say 20% of all cargo into the U.S. passes through the Port of LA.
America’s furniture, clothes and TVs—your next car might already be waiting for you here.
Since the 1800s, the port and its longshoremen have defined the region. To this day, Pedro is proudly a working-class city.
But something else is coming in over the water.
San Pedro Fish Market—family-owned and operated—it’s so ‘Pedro,’ it’s in the name.
Under the capable hands of Mike Ungaro, people are lining up to get stuffed to the gills, with gills! Generous trays of mountains of fish, shrimp, lobster, all of it. Dig in with your hands, with your friends.
Mike Ungaro, the owner of the fish market, says the city is blue-collar and family-oriented in ways other parts of Los Angeles aren’t. That’s reflected at the fish market.
“Celebrating food and family. You’ll notice all of our tables aren’t four-seaters; they’re long tables where you can have two/three generations of families come here, sit down, enjoy high-quality seafood, and build memories,” Ungaro said.
Ungaro said Pedro is unique in that many don’t consider themselves part of LA; they are their own town, populated by people who make a living and support their families through hard work.
Here’s some small-town San Pedro for you: during a haircut, you could run into Planning Commissioner John Bagakis.
He’s also a restaurateur and vice president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.
John was instrumental in helping create a Little Italy for the 20,000 Italian-Americans who live in San Pedro.
Coincidentally, next to the barbershop, the Chamber of Commerce was having a get-together at a new brewery called Port Town.
It was started by the guy behind the San Pedro Brewing Company.
And so many people from the business community were there to proudly support the place they dig, which, to be fair, isn’t hard when there’s frosty beer involved.
It’s those kinds of events that make a place feel alive.
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