Local favorites like Valley Fusions, One Stop Taco Shop and TKB continue to represent the desert at the Empire Polo Club during this year’s festival season—and other local businesses, like Papa Headz, are being added to the fold.
Known for their burgers, shakes and fries, Papa Headz has been charming locals and serving hungry stomachs since 2020, evolving from pop-ups, to a food truck, to a physical location, connected to Gabino’s Creperie at 82868 Miles Ave. in Indio. During Coachella, they’re serving festival-goers in the 12 Peaks VIP area.
During a recent interview with owner Mathew Moreno, he said Papa Headz got its first festival invite in 2024.
“We got invited to the Stagecoach campgrounds, like, a month and a half before,” Moreno said. “It was super last-minute, so we were trying to figure it out. That’s how we got our foot in the door.”
Another local business with a presence at the festivals referred Papa Headz to the Coachella/Stagecoach food-vendor team.
“TKB had actually called us and said, ‘Hey, we just referred you to so and so, and they’re going to be giving you a call to have your food truck out there,’” Moreno said. “They called us the next day, and we were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
After wooing country fans at Stagecoach, Moreno and his team were invited to Coachella in 2025.
“They called us for some (other) event, and we couldn’t make it, and they said, ‘All right, well, just get ready for Coachella,’” Moreno said.
Going from days with one or two sales, to selling food at one of the planet’s largest music festivals, is “a dream come true,” Moreno said.
“You start out at the house, and you have intentions of going that route … and you’re like, ‘We’re so far from that; what do we gotta do to get to that?’” he said. “Once we finally got to that point, we were just like, ‘We did it. We made that one happen.’”
Moreno said one of the biggest obstacles to serving at the festivals is preparing for the volume of business.
“It’s one of the biggest festivals in the world, so you’re doing thousands of orders a day. It’s a lot of figuring it out,” he said. “Last year, I was on the line heavy with them, figuring it out and preparing a bunch of things in advance, so that when they come, by the time they pay, the food is already in their hand. Our thing is fast and affordable at Coachella.”
While serving can be hectic, the crew at Papa Headz does their best to inform fest-goers that they are in business in Indio year-round.
“Our front-of-house staff, they’re trained to talk to people a little bit,” Moreno said. “… That question usually comes across: ‘Where are you guys located?’ A lot of times, they’ll think L.A., but we’ll tell them, ‘No, this is our backyard. We’re actually in downtown Indio.’ (Some) actually come to the main location during the festival. Last weekend, it was insane at the shop—a lot of people came here from the festival.”
“Weekend 1, we had so many reposts, just because we really focused on making (our booth) look cool.”
Papa Headz owner Mathew Moreno
Moreno praised his staff, saying they nailed it when serving last year. When it came time to prepare for 2026, Papa Headz decided to step up their game further—for example, by improving their booth’s appearance.
“This year, all we focused on was the aesthetic of the booth, and how to make it look more ‘post-able,’” he said. “Weekend 1, we had so many reposts, just because we really focused on making it look cool. Our front-of-house staff are super high-energy and have big smiles. They killed it Weekend 1, and they’re killing it Weekend 2.”
With nearly 100 food vendors at the festivals, it’s important to be able to attract wandering souls. Since Papa Headz are in the 12 Peaks VIP area, they had to go above and beyond to be eye-catching to the elevated festival folk.
“In VIP, there are more celebrities and more influencers, so not a lot of them are eating crazily,” Moreno said. “You have to stand out for them to come and see you or want to walk up. This year, I put a bright light up. It’s such a bright light that if you walk into VIP, and you look at all the booths, you’ll see ours glowing.”
Moreno provided some words of wisdom to businesses owners who may want to one day vend at the fest.
“The only way to make it worth it … is to have no wait times,” he said. “If you have wait times, you’re kind of leaving money on the table. We don’t say that to be money-hungry; we say that because it costs a lot of money to buy the product and pay the staff. While you’re there, you want to be able to make as much money as you can so you can pay it off in the back end. For any newcomers, definitely focus on your volume.”
While Coachella’s musical offerings have lacked locals in recent years, local restaurants have proudly represented the 760.
“It’s super-important,” he said. “If we weren’t from Indio, I don’t think they’d have us out there, as much as I’d like to think our brand is going somewhere. We definitely have that local favoritism, just like all these other local businesses do, like Everbloom, Valley Fusion, Gabino’s and One Stop. I’m glad all of our friends are in there, and they can capitalize on what’s going on in the valley. I would love to see more locals be invited.”
Learn more at www.papaheadz.com.
