{"id":683089,"date":"2026-01-17T01:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T01:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683089\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T01:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T01:27:23","slug":"los-angeles-rams-wide-receiver-puka-nacua-pepsi-celebrate-los-angeles-local-eats-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/683089\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua & Pepsi celebrate Los Angeles Local Eats & community"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Rams and Pepsi teamed up for a yearlong collaboration celebrating food, city pride, and culture through “Puka’s Picks,” a content series powered by Local Eats Deserve Pepsi. Rams Wide Receiver Puka Nacua<\/a>, joined by culinary creator Owen Han, explored Los Angeles to spotlight some of the city’s standout local restaurants, their signature dishes and the people behind them \u2013 ending each visit by dubbing their favorite menu item as their Pick. The food tour culminated in a special, community-wide free lunch event for fans, courtesy of Pepsi and the Rams.<\/p>\n

Puka kicked off the series at Ensenada\u2019s Surf N Turf Grill<\/a> in Hermosa Beach, where he stepped behind the counter and into the kitchen to man the grill and connect with the restaurant’s owners. The restaurant’s signature Baja tacos quickly became his favorite. “I didn’t know I was a fan of fish! You turned me,” Puka laughed, setting the tone for the series as he discovered new flavors. Pepsi<\/a> and the Rams picked up the tab for customers on September 21, giving locals a chance to try Puka’s and Owen’s Picks at no cost.<\/p>\n

The second stop brought Puka and Owen to El Tarasco<\/a> in Redondo Beach, a family-owned neighborhood staple known for its hearty Mexican comfort food. In the kitchen, Puka and Owen co-assembled a one-pound burrito before trying many family recipes passed down by the chef’s grandmother, including the restaurant’s torta. After testing his spice tolerance with a jalape\u00f1o, Puka made his official pick: the classic foot long burrito, a longtime favorite of customers. Pepsi and the Rams treated El Tarasco customers to free lunch on October 12.<\/p>\n

The series concluded with a vibrant neighborhood event on November 18 at East Los Tacos<\/a> in East LA, a restaurant that started as a food truck and eventually took over the historic Original Pantry Caf\u00e9 space. To celebrate the season and the success of Puka’s Picks, Pepsi and the Rams hosted a free lunch event featuring appearances from Puka Nacua<\/a>, Owen Han, the Mariachi Rams, and Rampage. Hundreds of fans gathered to enjoy Puka’s pick, the Asada Torta, alongside Owen’s favorite, the Al Pastor Tacos, paired with ice-cold Pepsi. The East Los Tacos event garnered strong media coverage, including a feature from Los Angeles Magazine<\/a>, underscoring the impact of the Local Eats Deserve Pepsi partnership and the cultural influence of the small businesses it champions.<\/p>\n

Across all three restaurants, the Rams and Pepsi served free meals to hundreds of Angelenos, strengthening community ties while amplifying the local businesses that shape the city’s food scene. Puka’s Picks successfully blended meaningful storytelling with real impact \u2013 honoring the city’s culinary culture, uplifting small businesses, and bringing fans together through food, football, and shared pride in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Rams and Pepsi teamed up for a yearlong collaboration celebrating food, city pride, and culture…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[3456,7,1014,58,2444,2611,6,4435,1088,424],"class_list":{"0":"post-683089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-community","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-los-angeles","11":"tag-los-angeles-rams","12":"tag-losangeles","13":"tag-losangelesrams","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-press-release","16":"tag-puka-nacua","17":"tag-rams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115907844117369398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}