A member of a Christian motorcycle gang has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stabbing a rival in the stomach and trying to slit his throat in a Newport Beach bar fight.

Jose Enrique Quinones, 43, who authorities say belongs to the Anaheim-based Set Free Soldiers, was sentenced Thursday in Orange County Superior Court after pleading guilty to attempted murder and street terrorism.

Quinones was one of eight bikers who were arrested on a variety of felony charges after a brawl broke out between members of the Set Free Soldiers and the Hells Angels last July at Blackie’s by the Sea near the Newport Pier.

The 4-year-old Atwater Village farmers market, which is held on Sunday mornings in a bank parking lot, has escaped a threat of eviction, a bank spokeswoman says.

The Wells Fargo bank has let the Glendale Boulevard market use the lot for free, but earlier this month informed the manager, Joyce Chan, the market would have to leave by June 30, she said.

But a bank spokeswoman, Jennifer Langan, said Thursday that the market won’t be evicted after all.

The bank had some complaints about homeless people who were drawn to the Glendale Boulevard site and about its upkeep. Bank and market representatives, along with someone from L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti’s office, have a meeting scheduled next week to try to negotiate a solution.

Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, known as SEE-LA, runs the market and will do what it can to resolve any complaints, said Pompea Smith, who runs the organization. SEE-LA operates several markets, including the Sunday Hollywood Farmers’ Market.

The bank has been generous to the neighborhood, residents say. In addition to allowing use of the lot, it sponsors the holiday tree lighting.

“This community struggles with gang violence and economic hardship, and the market is one of the greatest accomplishments this community has done,” said Leonora Gershman Pitts, vice chairman of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council. “It would be heartbreaking to lose this market."

The market draws up to 2,000 people a week, she said.

[Updated 6:16 p.m.: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that Lenora Gershwin was the vice chairman of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Assn.]

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Carne asada tacos will soon be returning to a Los Angeles street corner near you, thanks to a legal team that included students from the UCLA law school's clinical program.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner has nixed a city law that cracked down on taco trucks and other food coaches. The ordinance, approved by the City Council in 2006, forced operators to stay on the go: Trucks were prohibited from parking in the same spot in a residential neighborhood for more than a half-hour, or in a commercial area for more than an hour.
 
Commissioner Barry D. Kohn on Friday ruled that the city overstepped its legal authority. Catering trucks are regulated by the state, although local governments have the authority to impose additional regulations to protect public safety or health. Kohn found that the city ordinance was not based on either.

The legal challenge was filed by Francisco Gonzalez, who has operated a catering truck in East Los Angeles for more than a dozen years and specializes in carne asada. He received a $150 ticket in December for violating the ordinance.

A few months before that, a judge in August overturned a controversial ordinance passed by Los Angeles County supervisors that made it a misdemeanor in unincorporated parts of the county to park a taco truck in one spot for more than an hour.

-- Phil Willon at L.A. City Hall

Photo: Los Angeles Times

America’s first theme park started with chicken.

At the height of the Depression, Walter Knott convinced his wife, Cordelia, to sell her delicious fried chicken at a berry stand outside of their farm in Buena Park to earn some extra money.

Soon the lines outside the Knott’s berry farm were so long that Walter Knott began adding old ghost town buildings to the farm to keep customers entertained while they waited for his wife’s chicken and pies. The Knotts named the restaurant, appropriately enough, the Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Eventually, Walter Knott added a covered wagon show, a narrow gauge railroad and the Bird Cage Theater, where comedian Steve Martin got his start.

Read the full story here.

-- Hugo Martín

And also check out this story and video about another Southern California food institution, Pink's on La Brea Avenue.

It was billed by Major League Eating organizers as a make-or-break moment for one of their biggest stars. Passersby just saw two guys eating lots of giant calzones really fast.

Six-time world champion Takeru Kobayashi of Tokyo faced current No. 1 ranked Joey Chestnut of San Jose on Saturday in Culver City in what was characterized as a chance for Kobayashi to show he's still a stomach to contend with. Kobayashi, 31, won by downing almost six calzones in six minutes, a feat he accomplished by taking several mouthfuls of calzone between gulps of water.

He disagreed with the contention that he had been eating to save his name. "I don't feel that way at all," he said through a translator. "I've always been the champion."

Afterward, he posed on stage for photographers and pretended to eat his calzone-shaped trophy. The two rivals will meet again July 4th in Coney Island for the annual hot dog eating contest.

--Raja Abdulrahim

The not-so-new L.A. food craze involves the Kogi taco truck, an Asian-Latino fusion street food creation traveling the streets of Southern California. Now, The Times' Rene Lynch reports that Kogi has some competition from two old hands -- the Two Hot Tamales: 

Pulling up alongside the Kogi taco truck? The Too Hot Tamales.

A Border Grill taco truck will be parked tonight at 433 S. Spring St. -- outside the new Ed Hardy store -- from 6 to 10 p.m. selling $2 tacos and $5 quesadillas made with hand-made tortillas. It'll also vend potato rajas, brownies, pomegranate lemonade and more as part of downtown L.A.'s monthly art walk.

Border Grill and Ciudad chef-owner Mary Sue Milliken -- who will be stopping by, along with business partner and fellow chef Susan Feniger -- said the taco truck is a bit of an experiment. But if customers seem to enjoy it, there could be more where it came from.

Read more on the taco trucks here.

--Shelby Grad

I'm sorry for the gross-out post about cow udders and bacon-wrapped hot dogs. (Well, not sorry enough to keep from linking to it again. Here. Ewww.)

So here's a review of a vegan joint the folks at LAist were nice enough to sample. Madeleine Bistro in Tarzana.

Recommended by many other vegans, the Waffles and "Chicken" ($12) is the perfect mix of savory and sweet. The Belgian waffles are crisp on the outside, joyously fluffy on the inside. The seitan "chicken" is light with a fried crisp "skin," an amazing mix when eaten with a waffle or mashed potatoes with gravy.

The Omelet ($12) is made out of spinach, cheese, asparagus, "facon" and shiitake mushrooms and is served with home fries. Even a seasoned meat and egg eater, as we were told by our dining partner, can enjoy this breakfast marvel, except they found the tempeh bacon over powering in flavor, kicking the freshness of the vegetables to a secondary taste. Other breakfast items include wheat-free pancakes ($8), french toast ($11), seven-grain porridge brulee ($7) and a tofu scramble with tempeh bacon ($11).

Madeleine Bistro, 18621 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, (818) 758-6971.

Trader Joe’s has  removed some Chinese items from  its shopping list. The Monrovia-based specialty grocery chain said its stores will no longer carry single-ingredient items grown in China, such as garlic or frozen spinach,  as of April 1. The company said it was acting in response to customers’ concerns about the safety of Chinese products.   Times  USA Today

(By Jesus Sanchez)