Owner Vivian Ku and her team speak about their efforts supporting fire victims

JOY is a casual Taiwanese eatery inspired by Taiwan’s street food culture. It stands on York Blvd. in Highland Park, Los Angeles and is loved by its neighborhood and surrounding communities. Shortly after the devastating Eaton Fire broke out on January 7, Vivian Ku, owner of JOY and its sister restaurant Pine & Crane, knew immediately that her restaurant could give back to the people who have supported her from the beginning.

Four days after the Eaton Fire started, a sign was displayed outside of JOY offering free meals to first responders and fire evacuees, not limiting them to any specific item off their menu. Ku wanted to make sure that the restaurant would always feel comforting throughout such a chaotic time – even if it was as simple as ordering what you want.

“We don’t want to put all these parameters about what people could get or could not get, just have whatever you feel like having,” said Ku.

She believes that JOY is a community restaurant. This means that everyone gets the same level of service and warmth regardless of who they are. With this mindset, Ku ensured that those who came in for a free meal during the fires would receive one, no questions asked. Ku reflected on her restaurant’s role in all of this.

“We depend on the community for us to survive and we are so grateful for them,” she said, “Things that are happening in the greater community inevitably become part of the restaurant’s business. In any scenario, it’s kind of like ‘What do we do?’ So I think it [free meals] just naturally became a part of things we thought about.” 

Many businesses, including JOY, were affected by the fires and became a source of support shortly after reopening.

According to Cal Fire, the Eaton Fire burned approximately 14,021 acres and destroyed over 9,400 structures. Questions of the government’s role in this and funding disbursements start to arise.

“We want the government to focus on people who really need it,” Ku said. “Sure it costs us to run this program, but it’s something as a business that I feel like we have the means to do. Being made whole for this is not at the top of our minds in any way. We have a restaurant to return to while there’s so many restaurants no longer existing.”

Serving up free meals didn’t make operations any more difficult either.

“That’s the reason why we chose to do this. Aside from the cost of ingredients and stuff like that, we know how to do this so let’s do what we’re good at,” said Ku.

JOY’s General Manager Matthew Veneracion agrees with Ku.

“Food is such a comforting thing and it’s something that we’re really good at and already do. So it’s kind of just a natural thing to feed people during hard times.” 

Dozens of affected families experienced JOY’s hospitality, some even expressing their gratitude on Yelp.

Kitchen Manager Ruth Laurent recalled a touching moment while helping a customer at the register.

“One lady, who I remembered was doing everything she could to hold back tears because she lost her home, wasn’t coming with the intention of being fed. She just was hungry and went to JOY for some sense of comfort. When she walked up to the register, I remember, I could visibly see her reading the sign and processing everything she was reading and she couldn’t believe it. She said, ‘Wait, I have my whole family!’ and I said, ‘Okay, we are going to feed you. Whole family, everyone. Everyone’s hungry? Let’s feed them.’”

She also reached out to friends who had families that lost their homes to the fire and gave them gift cards to allow for a free meal on their own time.

For Laurent, helping others should go beyond a disaster telling us to.

“I hope for us folks in L.A. and in America as a whole, we are able to see that sometimes you just got to focus on the little things that help us move along in life. It shows how, at the end of the day, we’re able to come together and help each other out and that we don’t need these hardships to happen to us in order for us to support each other as human beings,” she said.

Ku agrees.

“We all have the capacity to help and there’s a lot of small ways to make an impact that can be very direct,” she said.

JOY giving out free meals was that small but direct gesture for her, hoping that her and her team’s efforts continue to connect with guests regardless of the circumstances happening in the outside world. 

Click to see my video highlighting their efforts and delicious food below

Posted to my Instagram & TikTok

Take a look inside JOY