La Playa Taco Shop, located at 3973 Mission Boulevard, is expected to serve customers for the final time on Saturday, September 19. SanDiegoVille learned of the impending closure from a neighborhood resident familiar with the situation, who encouraged longtime customers to visit the restaurant one last time before it shuts its doors.
The closing comes less than a year after La Playa owner Victor Rodriguez Ocampo Sr. was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside his National City home on Halloween morning 2025. Rodriguez, then 54, was subsequently held for approximately two months at the Otay Mesa Detention Center before being deported to Mexico around the beginning of this year.
Rodriguez and his wife had operated La Playa for roughly three decades, building the unassuming taco shop into a familiar fixture along Mission Boulevard. The family-run restaurant became particularly known for its fish tacos and for the owners' longstanding relationships with generations of neighborhood customers.
When Rodriguez was detained, his family scrambled to keep the restaurant operating without the man they described as its central figure. His wife, Gabriela Rodriguez, continued working at the restaurant, while their son, Victor Rodriguez Jr., took on additional responsibilities at La Playa even as he prepared to leave San Diego for U.S. Navy boot camp.
The family said at the time that Rodriguez had lived in the United States for decades and repeatedly attempted to resolve his immigration status through legal channels. His son said his father had no criminal record and had supported three U.S.-born children while operating the restaurant, paying taxes and maintaining the permits required for the business. Those descriptions came from Rodriguez's family and supporters during the effort to prevent his deportation.
Rodriguez's detention triggered an outpouring of support from customers and other community members. A GoFundMe established by Victor Jr. to help cover legal expenses and keep the restaurant operating ultimately raised more than $18,500 from nearly 250 donors by the time Rodriguez's deportation was publicly confirmed in January.
Despite that support, Rodriguez was deported to Mexico after approximately two months in federal custody. His family confirmed the deportation in early January, and the restaurant continued operating under family management without him. At the time, Victor Jr. described his father as the "heart and soul" of La Playa and said the family was struggling to keep both the business and household together in his absence.
The family's difficulties running La Playa without Rodriguez had been apparent almost immediately after his detention. Gabriela Rodriguez told local media in November that her husband's absence left her handling responsibilities she was unaccustomed to managing, while Victor Jr. described the emotional and practical strain of attempting to fill his father's role at the restaurant.
Whatever the circumstances behind the final decision, Saturday's closing will mark the end of a taco shop that has occupied a small but enduring place in San Diego's beach community for nearly three decades. For regulars who watched the Rodriguez family work behind the counter year after year, La Playa's closure comes less than 11 months after the federal immigration action that abruptly removed its longtime owner from the business he helped build.
La Playa Taco Shop is located at 3973 Mission Boulevard on the border of San Diego's Pacific Beach/Mission Beach communities. The restaurant is currently listed as open from 11am to 7pm on Saturday, which is expected to be its final day of operation.
Originally published on September 17, 2026.
