Louie Perez

* The songwriter-musician is a founding member of Los Lobos, the venerable East L.A. rock band that just released its 10th album, “This Time.”

Home Sweet Home: We’re on the road so much that when we’re home I like to visit good friends, eat some of my favorite foods and write a really great song. That’s the perfect weekend.

Born in East L.A.: When we’re recording in Hollywood, I like to come up early [from his home in Laguna Beach] and hang out at C&R; Auto Electric, which is a shop about two doors down from where I grew up in East L.A. The owner, Louie, is a friend, and we talk about cars and look out at the old neighborhood. I run into a lot of people I grew up with.

Nostalgia Breeds Hunger: If I’m there at lunchtime, we’ll send out for food at Manual’s El Tepeyac, which is a famous Mexican food place in East L.A. I’m a vegetarian, so I’ll usually get a bean burrito and guacamole, which is great.

Sweet Tooth: After lunch, I’ll stop at El Gallo Mexican Bakery, which is run by a friend of mine named Chuy. I’ll pick up some pan dulce, which is Mexican sweet bread. For about three bucks, you get a shopping bag full.

Creatures of Habit: When we take a break from recording, we’ll methodically go through a menu book, but we’ll always end up ordering from Angeli’s, an Italian place on Melrose. I’ll usually order the penne Arrabbiata, a spicy pasta. And they make this terrific bread.

Closer to Home: Probably the best Thai restaurant I’ve found is Thai Bros. in Laguna Beach. They’ve got the best Pad Thai, and the kids [he has three sons, ages 23, 13 and 10] like the pot stickers and the peanut sauce and all that. And another place that’s really incredible is Taco Loco, which is run by this old Mexicano hippie guy. On Thursday, he makes blackened mushroom tacos, and he makes a killer blackened tofu burger with fresh salsa and guacamole.

Proud Pop: On Saturdays I’ll take my youngest son to baseball. I’ve been a parent for a long time, but the other boys weren’t into playing sports. My youngest is really into sports, so this is a new experience for me. He pulls off all these cool moves and everybody kind of looks at me in the bleachers and I’m sitting there going, “Yeah, that’s my son.”