People From Over There, Over Here!!!

Immersion In “Border” Culture

I went to a small restaurant that is located in west Phoenix at 43^rd Ave. and Indian School. This restaurant is called La Presa. It is a restaurant that is close to where I work and I have had the opportunity to talk to one of the owners. His name is Oscar, he was telling me that his family and he started these restaurants more than 8 years ago. They come from El D.F, or the capital of Mexico. They have now opened their third location and are very proud of there accomplishment. What makes this restaurant unique is that it offers a type of food that is considered Mexican food but by Mexican people. They offer “tortas”, a type of sandwich that is much more elaborated than your typical ham and cheese. You can get it with steak, chicken, bacon, different cheeses, and many other toppings. They all have there own names like: la cubana, milanesa, and ahogada.

            As we were talking we stumbled into the fact that there are many Mexican restaurants in the valley but there is only a few that offer typical foods that people in Mexico go out to eat. In Mexico we don’t go to a restaurant for tamales, menudo, or enchiladas, the food that we go out to eat includes tortas, hot dogs, tacos, and other dishes that are less elaborate, like cocktel de elote (corn cocktail). It is funny how people in the US think that the types of foods that we typically go out to eat are those that are commercialized by the big businesses like Macayos or El Torito. We have been trapped into thinking in the way that big corporations want us to think.