In California, a legendary waitress gets a COVID-19-safe memorial, with tacos to go

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - If ever there was a San Bernardino resident who deserved a fiesta for her funeral, it was Lucy Reyes.

She worked at Mitla Cafe, the oldest Mexican restaurant in the Inland Empire, for 68 of its 83 years, retiring in 2018. Her loyal customers included the mighty - politicians, athletes, Cesar Chavez - and multiple generations from hundreds of families in the city's West Side barrio.

There was also the young World War II veteran who showed up nearly every night in the early 1950s to eat Mitla's famous hard-shell tacos. That nice Glenn Bell, Reyes always cracked to the many food reporters who trekked to Mitla in recent years, sure had a hit with his Taco Bell.